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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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Not all exercise is the same, but all exercise can help you grow strong and keep you healthy. Exercise can also help you with your homework and that science project due at the end of the year.

Humans use smell more than you might think. It helps us find food and tell if it is edible, helps us avoid some dangerous situations, and even helps us taste. This story explores how smell works.Also in: Español | Français

Dr. Biology continues his conversation with biologist Ed Wilson. Just what does it take to be a great scientist? What would he do to encourage students to become scientists? These are just a few of the things we learn in this show as well as what Ed Wilson would do or be if he…

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 ant anatomy from a close-up view. Ants have many body parts that are normally hard to see without a…

Not everyone has been on a hike and very few have hiked with a park ranger. Dr. Biology hikes South Mountain Park with not one but two park rangers. Park Rangers Liz Smith and Justin Olson are our guides for the 2.5 mile trip up Holbert Trail. This episode…

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

Get the 411 or in this case the ATGC on DNA and the new gene editing tool called CRISPR.

What would life be like on other planets? This is just one of many questions that Biochemist and author Nick Lane talks about while visiting with Dr. Biology. Listen in as Nick explores not only life on our Earth, but also what it might be like on other planets. Nick also reads…

Pollen Gallery (Pollen up-close)

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

Feather Zoom Gallery (Feathers up-close)

There is nothing like seeing a feather up close.

Ant Gallery (Get up-close to ants)

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

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.

crystallography

Making Life Crystal Clear

Much like a mechanical watch, living things only work when all the gears work together. Some of the tiniest of gears are proteins. Learning about the shape and size of these proteins is the job…

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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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Endangered animal list

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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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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