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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.
Hospitals try to stay clean and reduce the spread of germs within their walls, but what happens when medicines and bacteria from the hospitals reach bacteria in the sewer?
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…
If you spend some time hiking around the American Southwest, you might be lucky enough to spot a Gila monster. But you probably won't see one climbing a tree.
When you visit a pond or the beach, what kinds of living things do you see in the water? Don’t let your eyes fool you… there’s a hidden world in water full of creatures too small to be seen!
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…
Three inquisitive young co-hosts, Stephanie Galindo, Anthony Delgado and Raenesha Willis visit with biologist and microscopist Page Baluch. Together with Dr. Biology they explore the tiny world of inner space and learn that…
So you think zombies are only on television and in the movies, think again. Dr. Biology learns the details of a nasty fungus and something called the "death grip" from biologist David Hughes. It turns out there are real live, well maybe not live, zombies. The good news is this…
Two AI bots meet in a coffee shop. This might sound like the start of a joke, but is it a joke? Today artificial intelligence (AI) is a popular topic. With new tools popping up daily it appears we are at the beginning of a brave new world. Some say the world will be amazing and others have dark…
Heavy Water
This activity explores how the temperature of water affects its density. You will need to gather the following materials: a pencil; a small paper cup; a small-mouthed, clear-glass jar (the cup…
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.
Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)
Pollen 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.
I Spy an Ecosystem
We hear the word ecosystems in the news and at school but just what are ecosystems? It turns out there are lots of ecosystems. You might even learn you have some inside you! Also in:…
Wordsearch | Crossword
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…
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Making the List
By the time the first endangered species list was made, many species had already gone extinct. Some species, like whooping cranes, were almost extinct at that time. But the US…
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Ants
There are so many types of ants that it's funny the animated movie about them centers on one type that doesn't exist: a male worker ant. In this story you can explore some of the types of ants…
Wordsearch | Crossword