What is the carbon cycle?

Carbon dioxide, or CO2 (excuse the missing subscript) is all around us, mainly in the air and water. Plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as they carry out photosynthesis. Once the carbon dioxide has entered the plant, it becomes carbon compounds within the plant tissues.

Plants are then eaten by animals (the primary consumers) - the carbon is passed on to those animals. It then gets passed on to each successive consumer. Of course, at some point, all of these organisms die - they leave behind carbon compounds in them. Microorganisms called decomposers then digest these carbon compounds. As they feed on dead organic matter, this is called saprobiontic nutrition.

The cycle continues as the carbon is returned to the air and water due to respiration. During respiration, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere.

There are times where carbon compounds end up where there's not decomposers - this might be deep oceans or bogs. This means that over millions of years, they are turned into fossil fuels by heat and pressure. When fossil fuels are burnt, the carbon is released - you might know this as combustion.

ANIMAL A-Z: OUT NOW!!!!

My new book, an A-Z guide to some of the hidden gems of the Animal Kingdom is OUT! Check out the links below:

The Print Edition

The Kindle Version

 

 

MY NEW BOOK! ANIMAL A-Z!!

My new book, an A-Z guide to the Animal Kingdom will be released in the next couple of days on Amazon and Amazon Kindle. The book contains a huge range of animals, from the weird to the wonderful and everything in between. Below is a selection of animals from the book:

• The Aye-Aye
• Antelope
• American Alligator
• The Tarsier
• Porpoise
• Seals
• Puffins
• Tasmanian Devil
• The Quagga
• Tigers
• Lions
• Sea Lions
• Clownfish
• The Yellow Billed Hornbill
• The Uakaris

There's this and a whole lot more in my book! When it's released, I'll add a link here so you can check it out :)



 

What is a receptor?

A receptor is an organ or cell which can respond to light, heat, or another external factor. They transmit an electrical impulse to the sensory nerve - this kick-starts the reflex arc.  There are many different kinds of receptors, all of which are specific to one kind of stimulus, they're all given names:

Mechanoreceptors - detect mechanical stimulus like pressure/vibrations

Thermoreceptors -  detect heat

Baroreceptors - detect high/low blood pressure in the heart

Chemoreceptors - detect chemical changes in the heart, so a change in oxygen, carbon dioxide or pH level

Fun Fact:

The retina of the octopus has up to 20 million light receptors :)

Big Cats vs Little Cats Part 1

Over the course of evolution, cats have gone from an apex hunter to living room lounger. These cats have got a lot in common with their fearsome ancestors. If they were bigger, they’d probably try to eat you – or would they?

 

When you think of the tiger or lion you probably think of a big dangerous cat, a crazy man eater. They can actually be super friendly and super nice. Granted, they can be aggressive, but it’s not the first thing I’d think of. They’re socially dependent, loving and affectionate creatures who need food!

When you look at Lions, they’re continually giving off communication all the time- professionals can easily get tuned into the small signs that Lions continuously give off. They’ve got little tale –tale signs, a rhythmic twitch for example. Even something as simple as yawning is quite a complex sign. Not always, but a lot of the time, Lions yawn to ‘show off’ their teeth – pretty much a dominance thing.

Your cat uses its own body language to communicate like a lion, except they’ve got one major difference. They have fewer facial muscles so they find it harder to communicate the way a lion does – domestic cats use their tongue, mouth, tail and ears to communicate.  Tail up – your cat is happy and approachable. Unlike dogs, if they’re ‘wagging’ their tail, they’re agitated. Surprisingly, I’d avoid giving your cat direct eye contact. This sends then mixed messages and even is a sign of aggression. If you blink slowly, you’ll reassure your feline friend, you’re not a threat and only in it for the cuddles! It also has the benefit, they’ll trust you!

The domestic cat is the latest addition to the cat family – a product of 10 million years of evolution. A lot of what your cat does comes from their wild relatives. Our cat has a huge love of acrobatics – an ability which has its roots in South East Asia- the birthplace of all cats. This hot and humid climate with trees up to 100m high was a perfect location for cats to hone their acrobatic skills. In this climate, climbing trees was the best way of getting food.

Over this period, cats evolved to leap and to swing through trees – reaching up to 40mph – quick enough to hunt birds and monkeys. One cat still lives in the treetops just like its ancestors, the Clouded Leopard, so rare we don’t know how many are left in the wild. Breeding centres are one of the only places to see these elusive Clouded Leopards. Its spotted coat makes for perfect camouflage amongst the dappled jungle light.

The Clouded Leopard’s tail is often longer than their body, this means they can balance like a tightrope walker, elegantly dashing through the trees.

Our cats have some of these amazing adaptations for climbing; they’ve got hooked claws up to 5cm long. They can grip most surfaces, their paws sense vibrations to check the route is safe.

 

Cats are one of the only animals born without a fear of heights – they’ve got one issue though! Unlike a lot of other animals, their front facing paws mean they can’t climb down easily. Some cats can get away with this because they’ve got rotatable paws. This is the reason why thousands of our pets get stranded high up in our trees every year.  When they get in that situation, where they are stuck - some cats pick leaping as their best option.

All of our cats have acquired some of the Clouded Leopards climbing abilities. Clouded Leopard kittens spend almost every waking minute playing – this is how your cat learnt too. Much like us they get the hang the hang of things by observation and repetition. When cats play, ‘happy’ chemicals are released in their brain; this encourages them to carry on playing and learning. One major game our cats enjoy – even through adulthood is stalking prey. They stalk it until they get close enough to pounce. They’re skills are so advanced that the prey rarely sees it until the cat until it’s too late.

 

 

ANDi the Monkey

ANDi was the first ever genetically modified monkey. He was given the name ANDi because it's backwards for inserted DNA. Whilst he was still an unfertilised egg, he was given a simple marker gene which can be easily identified within his genetic blueprint. The idea being, that we can then have laboratory animals carrying genes associated with specific medical issues.


The Scientist's goal was to show that a foreign gene could be inserted into a primate's chromosome to produce a functional protein. They chose this gene in particular because it emits a fluorescent green glow easily seen under a microscope. They then took tissue samples from ANDi's cheek, hair and umbilical cord. These samples confirmed the presence of the gene - but they could see no green protein. This could be for a variety of reasons, some as small as the quantity of the protein could be too small. They also say that some genetically modified animals don't start producing the foreign protein until after they're a year old.


Other than that, it looks as if he's perfectly normal, happy, healthy, playing with other monkeys as he should - enjoying monkey life!

Glow in the Dark Cats

This might seem a little odd - and a little like someone has just done a pretty good photoshop job, but I promise this is all true! Scientists have actually "created" glow in the dark Cats, Monkeys and fish. In 2007 South Korean scientists inserted the glow in the dark gene then cloned these cats. The end result? Fluffy, florescent felines! They did this through taking samples of skin cells from Turkish Angora cats. They then used a virus to insert genetic instructions for making a red florescent protein. They put this altered nuclei back into the eggs for cloning. You might now be thinking - what's the point? Well, scientists are hoping that they could, eventually create laboratory animals with human genetic disorders - although this does of course, create a massive ethical issue!

What is succession?

Succession takes place if there is a very hostile environment - by hostile, I mean pretty much inhabitable. Firstly, the pioneer species colonize the area, because they've colonized the area this causes a change in the environment. So if the pioneer species are plants then the fact they're photosynthesizing changes the environment - this change makes it less hostile to other organisms. This enables other species to colonize so the biodiversity of the area increases. This means the number of the pioneer species decreases. Going forward a good few years - the stability has now increased to a point where the environment is no where near as hostile as it was and a climax community has now reached.

How intelligent are gorillas?

The thing with intelligence is that it's hard to measure intelligence against different animals. Some might be able to do things others just can't do. Gorilla's intelligence is displayed through their ability to make natural materials to help them gather food more efficiently. In particular, Gorillas are known for there selective ability to select branches based on length - remove leaves from them and show incredible dexterity.Scientists reckon that this level of intelligence matches that of a young child. Some Gorillas are known to have particularly high intelligence levels. Take a Western Lowland Gorilla that lived in Buffalo Zoo in 2009 for example. This Gorilla actually used a bucket to collect water. An experiment was actually carried out in 2010 where a group of them were given five gallon buckets - two of the younger gorillas were able to successfully fill the buckets up. Another gorilla in particular, Koko has been taught and mastered over 1000 signs from American sign language. Although  these signs have been simplified to get around the issue of the gorilla not being able to form as complex hand signals. However intelligent you think Gorillas are, it definitely makes you realise that Gorillas and other animals have a very different kind of intelligence!

The Lost Clownfish

 

There are a number of problems which can arise as a result of Ocean Acidification - neurological problems in fish, are one of them.
 
Scientists have discovered that a lower pH can also affect neurological problems. A study showed that some young clownfish have lost the ability to navigate home because of changes to their sense of smell. This is because the fish can be attracted to smells they’d otherwise avoid, leading them to predators or leading them far away from their home. Scientists believe that the reason behind this is because of changes in a neurotransmitter in higher carbon dioxide levels. They also found that this might be reversible with the addition of a chemical. Although adding chemicals could be very costly, particularly as it would need extensive testing to make sure it wouldn’t harm other species. 

Grizzly Bears

Scientists classify any North American subspecies of the brown bear as a grizzly bear – although they’ve actually assigned them the name of a “North American Brown Bear”. However it was first given the name of the Grizzly bear due to its characteristic long, ‘grizzly’ hair. Characteristically, they’re very solitary, active animals. They gather once a year for the “great salmon run”- where they gather at rivers to catch the mass migration of salmon. These bears have one of the lowest reproduction rates across the whole of North America. This is due to many reasons, one being that they reach sexual maturity at around 5 years old – a lot later than most land mammals in North America. When they do reproduce, a female bear produces on average 2 cubs a litter. Once the cubs leave or are killed, the female might not produce a second litter for perhaps 2 or 3 years later.

Surprisingly, Grizzly Bears play a huge ecological role; they have mutualistic relationships with some plants, spreading their seeds. The bears actually help by increasing species diversity in the plants on the forest floor.

What is Speciation? | A Level Biology Revision

Speciation is pretty much the evolution of new species from existing species. A species being a group of organisms with similar genes which are able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring. If populations become seperated (geographical isolation) then they are no longer able to interbreed. This might be for a number of reasons  - lets take a huge mountain for example. Selection pressures will be different in both locations, for example ease of getting food or temperature may differ. Within these slightly different environments some are better able to compete than others - this  causes the allele frequencies to change in each population. The genes then, over time become so different they now can't interbreed.

Other keywords:

Stabilizing selection - this is selection which tends to favor the average (gets rid of the extremes)
Directional selection - this favors one extreme

This is specifically for AQA A Level Biology Unit 4

Reindeers | #SciSparksAdvent

For obvious reasons - reindeers are mostly known for their link to Santa Claus and make the ideal sleigh pullers. Aside from Christmas, they're more usually seen during their mammoth Arctic migration -  during this, North American herds may travel for more than 5,000km.
Reindeers are also the only kind of deer where both males and females sport antlers, although they still can reach epic proportions in male reindeers.


Throughout the year, Reindeer mostly eat grass but they also take a fancy to virtually any other plant. In the winter - they often eat 'Reindeer lichen', moss and fungi. They are also very sociable creatures, living in groups of 10-100 groups.


As far as breeding is concerned, they mate in October and have a pregnancy of 230 days and give birth in May or June. When they do so, they only give birth to one baby who becomes fully mature at 2 years old. In the wild, they live to between 12 and 15 years old, although some live until they're 20.

Like many animals, they're hunted and have been hunted since the stone age. In northern regions in particular, they eat the meat and use the fur, skin, antlers and bones for various products. The reindeer was first domesticated around 3,000 years ago in Siberia and Scandinavia. Since then, they've been used for transport and pulling sleds. Because they can live in very cold climates - this makes them the ideal animals for the job.  

How much does Santa's Sleigh weigh? | #SciSparksAdvent

7 days to go!

If we're trying to work out how much his sleigh actually weighs, you need to make a lot of assumptions. Lets say that every child on Earth receives Buzz Lightyears - these have a boxed weight of 1.2kg - in total that's 840,000 tonnes of toys. These require a staggering 5.6 million reindeer to pull. Each reindeer weighs around 600lb - so the whole procession has a mass of 2,363,310.33 tonnes - Santa needs a few more than 7 reindeer!

Sea Otters | #BigBlueLive #SciSparksAdvent

For day 10 of my advent calendar, I thought we'd have a flashback to this summer's Big Blue Live. You may remember that the Sea Otters of Monterey Bay stole the show!They relax on the waters just of the coast of America and surprisingly are fairly closely related to the weasel. They are perfectly adapted to spend their days lolling back on the water, with their thick fur they can stay warm and toasty

I thought I'd leave you with some of my favorite sea otter pictures.... (prepare for a overload of cuteness!)

I'm a Celebrity... Get me out of Here!!!! | #SciSparksAdvent

Last night, I'm a Celebrity crowned it's new Queen of the Jungle, Vicky Pattison - the show was a lively one but once again, it's come under fire this series for how animals are treated. Some animal charities (like Peta- People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) have raised concerns about the use of live animals during trials. This was particularly the case during Ferne McCann's trial where she ate a number of things including a live spider. The show also saw live crickets, cockroaches and snakes used. It's not just animal charities who are worried, the watching public was too, so much so, Ofcom received 553 complaints last night alone. So - do you think animals aren't treated like they should be in these shows? ITV does say that they comply with all the necessary regulations, do we treat the "cute and cuddly" animals better than the others? Have your say in the comments below.

How do scientists classify animals?

They use the binomial system. Every animal has a Latin name.

Every animal or species belongs to a:

• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

Take the domestic cat for example, it’s Latin name is Felis Catus. The first section, in this case is Felis – this is the genus. The second section, Catus, is the species. These are then combined to give the Latin name of Felis Catus. Your first question may well be, why bother? But this is a great way for scientists to combine their thinking and get over the issue of different languages internationally.

The Tasmanian Devil

The small, solitary animal is nocturnal and spends most of its days burrowed into hollow logs. This marsupial is known to get very feisty when feeding, dozens of them can mob a single carcass. Scientists have also discovered that it has the most powerful bite of any living mammal in the animal kingdom. It will also fly into rage when it feels threatened by a predator - in fact it was these displays which led Early European settlers to call the creature the "Tasmanian Devil".  Their method of reproduction is also strange compared to other animals - Mothers give birth after about three weeks of pregnancy. They give birth to 20 or 30 tiny young. Once they're born, they crawl up their mothers fur and climb into her pouch. Unfortunately, the mother can't sustain this many young so only a handful survive.

How are new species formed?

Speciation is pretty much evolution in action, two species emerge from a single one. Because they share gene pools they have similar genes.


This pretty much works from the fact that new species can only form from pre-existing species. The idea is that a group of organisms from the space species can become separated geographically so they can't reproduce, this is called geographical isolation. When the two groups are completely separated, the two areas can have different environments. Like in every habitat there are some individuals which are better adapted to compete. These are more likely to survive and reproduce, this means the alleles (genes they have) are more likely to be passed onto their offspring. This means that over many generations the allele frequency increases so the individuals are better adapted to live in that environment. Eventually, the alleles present in one group 'evolve' and can become completely different to how they were initially. Because they might be completely different they won't be able to interbreed to produce fertile offspring, so they're now no longer the same species. 


Definitions


Species: A group of organisms which can interbreed to produce fertile offspring, they also share a gene pool.

The Elephant

Elephants, the largest land animals in the world, have a huge heart. Their heart weighs between 26 and 47 pounds! They actually have a life expectancy similar to humans - over 70 years. Also like humans they can laugh and have a pretty good memory although they can't jump. They are also very sociable and are very sensitive animals - they know when other elephants are sad or happy. As a 'hello' they wrap their trunks together as a display of affection. In total, their trunks have around 40,000 muscles! Elephants have particularly crafty ears. They have large, thin ears - they're made up of a complex network of blood vessels which work to regulate the elephant's temperature. The Elephants circulate blood around their ears to cool them down.