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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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2016 Ugly Bug video

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to hold a baby Giant Panda in your lap? Listen in while Dr. Biology talks with two scientists who have gotten up close and personal with Pandas. Andrew Smith is a returning guest and WEI Fuwen is a visiting scientist…

Nicholas Stephanopoulos works with tiny structures so small you can only see them by using powerful microscopes. Some might say he's a builder, but he actually gets the molecules to do the building themselves.
Forget all the robots you might have seen or imagined. This biologist is making colorful coiling snakes and other robots to study animals in the wild. Dr. Biology expands his idea of what robots look like and what they can do when he meets and talks with roboticist and biologist Talia Yuki…
The life of a biologist may not be what you expect. It is not all white lab coats and microscopes. There are remote islands, makeshift shacks that serve both for sleeping and a field laboratory. For this guest, it also includes cricket serenades and nighttime scuba dives in the ocean filled with…

Around 4,000 years ago, on the wind-swept island of St. Kilda, Scotland, people started creating a food storage of sorts. They moved a population of sheep to the island, likely as a backup food resource for when times were tough. Little did they know that their actions would affect 21st-century…

An interview with biophysicistGerry McDermott of the National Center for X-ray Tomography. Dr. Biology tours the synchrotron that is also called the giant monster. Dr. Biology learns how the football sized facility is used to power a new kind of microscope.

Imagine a day at work where your clients range from tiny reptiles to massive elephants, each with their own unique health needs. That's a regular day for our guest in today's episode, Dr. Gary West, the Senior Vice President of Animal Health and Living Collections at the Arizona…

Zoomed in picture of grassbug

Ugly Bug Contest 2011

Ugly Bug Contest 2012

Manduca Caterpillar Growth Experiment

Manduca Caterpillar Growth Experiment

Dr. Biology has teamed up with with the scientists in the laboratory of Jon Harrison and started an experiment to see how different temperatures can change how an animal grows. The Virtual…

Some fruits and food

What's GMO?

Read What's a GMO? and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Feather Zoom Gallery (Feathers up-close)

There is nothing like seeing a feather up close.

Plankton Zoom Gallery (Plankton up-close)

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

Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)

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

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.

Darwin and Mendel's Afternoon Tea

Darwin and Mendel's Afternoon Tea

An imaginary conversation between two great thinkers, Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel. While the monk, Mendel, had read Darwin’s publications - Mendel's work only came to be known later. We…

Wordsearch | Crossword
Nerve impulse thumbnail

A Nervous Journey

Let’s take a ride. It is going to be a fast one, so be prepared. Where are we going? We are going to start at your head and end up at your toes. It may not seem like a long trip, but it is…

Wordsearch | Crossword
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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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:…

Wordsearch | Crossword