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Welcome to Ask A Biologist. This site has a large collection of biology learning materials that includes stories, games, activities, videos, and a podcast.

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While our water may look crystal clear, there are actually countless microbes that live in it. Kerry Hamilton is working to find the bad bacteria in our water and to learn how we can manage these organisms.

A tiny creature that flies and swims at the same time caught the attention of Arizona State University Professor Richard Satterlie a few years ago.

While cannibalism is fairly common among insects and crustaceans, most backboned animals avoid feeding on their own kind.

Thousands of orange and black shapes flutter through the trees. Welcome to one of the few wintering homes of the monarch butterfly. Also in: Español | Français

No, that is not a typo in the episode title. My guests today are collaborating on the study of animal movement, including humans. Both researchers use tools to document and analyze movement in animals. One tool is a symbolic language that has been in use since 1928 and the other is a new…

If you had x-ray vision, where would you look first? Some of our biologists have looked inside of beetles to learn more about how they breathe and fly.

Did you know the westerly winds in the Southern Ocean have been helping to keep our planet livable? Yes, they have been responsible for soaking up half of the human-made carbon dioxide (CO2) along with a whole lot of excess heat. Dr. Biology has the opportunity to talk with geoscientist

If you think of the instruments used to study and explore the world of biology it is clear that most are visual.  So what if you cannot see? How would you understand the structure of – say a cell?   Dr. Biology discusses a new tool for learning about biology with newly graduated…

an eye with an eyebrow

How Vision Works

Read How Do We See? and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

What's Lurking in Lunch?

A game about discovering the cause of a foodborne illness outbreak.

Bone Zoom Gallery (Up-close Inside Bones)

Take a look at the microscopic world of bone in our virtual bone histology lab. Just pick a microscope slide from below and click on it to view under the virtual microscope.

Feather Zoom Gallery (Feathers up-close)

There is nothing like seeing a feather up close.

Tiger Beetle Zoom Gallery (Up-close with tiger beetles)

Some of the fastest animals on Earth are below. That’s right, if these tiny insects were as large as a horse they would be running 200 miles an hour.

Ant Gallery (Get up-close to ants)

Now is the time to check out these amazing animals from the safety of your own computer.

Ants carrying puzzle pieces

Collecting Ants

There are several different ways to get ants for an ant farm, depending on when you would like to start the farm and how long you would like for your ant farm to last.

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Time traveling seeds

Time Traveling Plants

Every year billions of babies are dried and buried, not to be unburied for weeks, months, years or even decades. Don't worry, these are not babies like your little brother or sister, these are…

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jigsaw sail boat

Why Are English Sailors Called Limeys?

Imagine you are on a sailing ship in 1747. You left England only a couple of months ago and you felt fine. Now you are so tired you can barely walk. Dr. Lind wants to discover what is causing…

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Sea Urchin

Sea Urchins Do Research

No, urchins are not indigenous to the desert. The usual home for Strongylocentrotus purpuratus is the ocean's rocky floor for grazing along the intertidal and subtidal areas. Also in:…

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