Is there a set quota of white blood cells that the human body produces over its lifetime, and if so do routine vaccines (e.g. the flu) tax the immune system enough to significantly shorten the person's lifespan? [more inside]
posted by foulowl on Nov 19, 2009 - 33 answers

Help me find a half-remembered anecdote about robotics and computing taking a cue from ant- or bee-like, hive-mind biological processes -- a story about a car factory's paint process organized with just three rules. [more inside]
posted by Cool Papa Bell on Nov 3, 2009 - 2 answers

What is the most important scientific question of our time? [more inside]
posted by Demogorgon on Oct 12, 2009 - 44 answers

I'm toying with an idea for a short story or maybe a long story or maybe no story, but the idea has led me to a point where I have a question for those of you who have some knowledge about science and biology. Read on, brave adventurer! [more inside]
posted by kbanas on Oct 12, 2009 - 19 answers

Are the benefits of sauna therapy real? Some family members of mine talk about saunas being useful for "getting out heavy metals." Supposedly, the body sweats them out. [more inside]
posted by mdpatrick on Oct 3, 2009 - 11 answers

What have been the significant advances in biology since 1993? [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on May 15, 2009 - 18 answers

Looking for a good source to search for biology, ecology, conservation, zoology, etc, type jobs in the San Francisco Bay Area [more inside]
posted by CTORourke on Apr 6, 2009 - 4 answers

I’m trying to remember the name of a set of themed encyclopedias for children from my childhood. [more inside]
posted by studentbaker on Mar 9, 2009 - 11 answers

Can somebody help me identify this ancient lab equipment? I'm doing some research and have posted two photos to my flickr account, here and here. (PS, I know what the typewriter is!) Thanks!
posted by soulbarn on Feb 9, 2009 - 13 answers

As a senior-level science PhD student, how do I find an academic conference to go to? And how do I know if a conference is going to be suitable, both it for me and vice versa? [more inside]
posted by shelleycat on Nov 26, 2008 - 9 answers

i want something sort of like this, only more to my liking. recommendations, please. [more inside]
posted by gcat on Apr 17, 2008 - 4 answers

I'm going to college soon. (Age 24; been working a desk job in health care since I was 18.) I've got an inkling I want to study biology. Recommend me some books to help me get the lay of the land and get fired up about this. [more inside]
posted by Attackpanda on Apr 4, 2008 - 23 answers

Help me find a book about evolution by Kirchner. [more inside]
posted by vilcxjo_BLANKA on Mar 19, 2008 - 4 answers

Scientific History Filter / Native German Speaker Filter. What did Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard's 1985 exclamation, "Das war ja toll!" mean? [more inside]
posted by kisch mokusch on Feb 25, 2008 - 11 answers

I need teaching resources about race: the biology of human "races"; why "race" is not biological but social; how racial categories have shifted over time and place; and related questions on teaching about race? This is as a supplement to reading The Mismeasure of Man in a university "Critical Thinking" class. I need more science and verifiable cross-cultural examples to back up my "there are no biological races" claim. [more inside]
posted by LobsterMitten on Nov 5, 2007 - 38 answers

I am looking for gardening experiments [more inside]
posted by pracowity on Oct 21, 2007 - 9 answers

"A human is halfway in size between an atom and the known universe"... This is a paraphrased quote I have come across several times. I like it. Who said it first? How true is it in the most literal sense? And, finally, what errors arrive in postulating a universe, or an atom, which can be measured AT ALL from our singular, relativistic, perspective? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Feb 18, 2007 - 14 answers

Were Native American men (before any intermingling with other peoples) really unable to grow facial hair? [more inside]
posted by Jess the Mess on Feb 11, 2007 - 15 answers

How often is a human body completely "new"? Or: No cell composing my body existed a month, a year, [the time I'm looking for] ago. [more inside]
posted by Korou on Oct 5, 2006 - 22 answers

I've got a probably horribly complicated question about death. How long after the brain stops braining does the body actually die? [more inside]
posted by twine42 on Jul 7, 2006 - 15 answers

Biology Research Filter: How do you make your own TMB substrate solution for use with an ELISA kit? [more inside]
posted by sicem07 on Jul 6, 2006 - 4 answers

What is the cause of curly hair, and further, why does the curliness of hair differ? Proteins? If so, is it genetic? How do "hair-straightening" products work? [more inside]
posted by Frankieist on Apr 24, 2006 - 6 answers

EndOfTheWorldFilter: Biologists in the house? What happens to all the animals if men were to disappear? [more inside]
posted by frogan on Feb 21, 2006 - 26 answers

Are there any animals that have evolved a use for radioactivity? If so, what ways is it used? If not, why has this not happened? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Nov 23, 2005 - 32 answers

Why do our bodies reject new organs but not blood transfusions, assuming the blood transfusion is of the same blood type?
posted by IndigoRain on Jul 2, 2005 - 5 answers

What are some up-and-coming topics in biological research, and who's investigating them? [more inside]
posted by greatgefilte on Feb 18, 2005 - 13 answers

Is there some scientific explanation for the human eye locking onto a focal point involuntarily? Example: Blankly staring out of a car window, my eyes always end up locking on to roadside trees or something and moving along with them. Or am I crazy?
posted by xmutex on Jan 13, 2005 - 18 answers

Multiregional or Out of Africa?
posted by four panels on Oct 28, 2004 - 13 answers

Is there a limit to scientific advancement? If there is only a certain number of elements to the universe, will there reach a technology plateau? [more inside]
posted by the fire you left me on Jul 17, 2004 - 24 answers

If moths like lights so much, then why don't they come out during the day? [more inside]
posted by armoured-ant on Dec 12, 2003 - 12 answers