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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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Even with 'tiger' in their names, life is hard for these fast and often colorful insects. Also in: Deutsch | Español | Français…

What can evolution teach us about getting sick and how do we make use of what we are learning? Dr. Biology gets over a cold while visiting with Randy Nesse, Founding Director of the ASU Center for Evolution & Medicine. The two talk about why we get sick and some of the…

Television portrays the lives and work of forensic artists, but what is it like to really be a forensic artist? Are the tools you see on the big and little screen really used by the people who recreate the face of someone when there might only be a skull or parts of a scull to use as a starting…

Some people gaze out at the landscape and see plants. Associate Professor Kathleen Pigg of Arizona State University sees the latest chapter in a long story.

Extreme environments can be found on Earth, in space, and in the depths of the ocean. Dr. Biology and physiologist, astronaut, and mountain climber Scott Parazynski sit down and talk about what life is like to explore these environments. So hold on to your seat as we blast off…

Giant beetles, flying treadmills, oxygen and prehistoric insects are just a few of the things that Dr. Biology learns about when visiting with biologist Jon Harrison.

Dr. Biology gets the skinny on our largest organ - our skin. Professor and author Nina Jablonski talks about the important ways our skin works for us each day.

The 2013 Ugly Bug Contest has come to an end and all the clues point to a single suspect.

Build an Ant Farm

Have you ever watched ants going into and out of their nest, and wondered what was going on underground? It’s pretty hard to find out from the surface. If you dig up the nest, the ants get…

Cell viewer game

Cell Parts Game

Explore the Cell Viewer Game Cells are the basic building blocks of life, but what all do cells hold? You can now look inside of cells to learn more…
Can you see DNA?

Seeing DNA

Every living thing uses DNA as the instructions for life. But how can we be sure that something so small is actually there at all? Here is one experiment that you can do at home or school that…

Plankton Zoom Gallery (Plankton up-close)

Plankton comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.

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.

Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)

Pollen comes in many shapes and sizes. These are just a few of the thousands of examples.

Large Ants

Face to Face with Ants

Imagine being the size of an ant. Be careful - a face-to-face encounter with an ant would be scary and potentially life-threatening! But, if you avoided being eaten, you could learn a lot about…

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Orchid bee

Bee Jeweled

Orchid bees come in an amazing array of shapes and colors. You could call them the jewels of the bee kingdom. Also in: Nederlands |

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Ants in nest

Ant Farm

Farming ants might sound like a crazy thing to do unless you might like to eat chocolate covered ants. It turns out we can learn a lot from ants and the best way is to build your own ant farm.…

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Two-headed kingsnake

The Tale of the Two-Headed Lampropeltis getula californiae

A Common Kingsnake, Lampropeltis getula californiae, but this snake was anything but common. From the title of our story, you may have guessed that our snake, or maybe we should call it snakes…

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