Tagged Questions
1
vote
2answers
68 views
What organs are absolutely needed by the human body?
The title is my question: what organs are absolutely needed (fatal if injured/removed) by the human body and perhaps animals in general?
I'm not asking which organs are mechanically replaceable, but ...
3
votes
1answer
43 views
What limits the size of fish compared to marine mammals?
The largest extant fish species is the whale shark (Rhincodon typus). With a length of 13 meters and a mass of about 20-30 metric tons, the whale shark is relatively small compared to the largest ...
7
votes
1answer
128 views
How can an albatross stay airborne for months?
Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes. They range widely in the Southern ...
3
votes
2answers
139 views
Why is the frog genome so much larger than a fish's?
As we have heard in the summaries of the human ENCODE project, 80 per cent of junk DNA appears to have an essential function. Many fish have a genome with only one tenth the size of a usual vertebrate ...
4
votes
3answers
79 views
Do dogs have something different about their physiology that allows them to pant without hyperventilating?
I was wondering this as I considered how effective panting would be for humans as a means of cooling.
4
votes
1answer
118 views
Is there a way for a 19th century scientist to prove that the octopus doesn't revive?
Say a sophiscated scientist in the 19th century noted that applying soy sauce on a dead octopus leads to movement of the legs, as a result of the voltage differences resulting from the salt in the soy ...
3
votes
1answer
44 views
Is there such thing as “biological cycles” of activity/performance/etc in mammals?
I'm looking for some information about the cycles of increased/decreased activity, mental performance or endurance that are related to a mammal's age and the time of a season.
First of all, I'm not ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
Why are (some) cats attracted by bleach?
(Sorry if this question is only partly biological)
I have noticed that several cats (including the one that keeps sleeping in my house), are fond of the odor of bleach (eau de Javel) and chlorine.
...
2
votes
1answer
137 views
Why apes started to contemplate and become altruistic? [closed]
I was asking this first on philosophy forums, but it is suggested, that answer could be found from evolutionary view of point, so here we go:
Again my question raised when thinking of myths, their ...
16
votes
3answers
203 views
How is the blood volume of a living organism measured without killing it?
How is the blood-volume of an organism measured without killing it? NOTE: The blood-volume of an organism is defined as the total volume of blood present inside that organism.
8
votes
3answers
178 views
Why is blood pressure higher the more distal an artery is?
Why is blood pressure generally higher in more distal arteries?
11
votes
2answers
736 views
How do insects breathe?
Do ants even breathe? If they don't, how do they stay alive? On what resources do they depend upon to stay alive? How are they different form mammals?
