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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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A True Bug is triumphant in the Ugly Bug Contest 2010.

The open ocean is the largest biome on earth and it is the least understood. What undiscovered life might float in the dark, deep, depths of the sea?Also in: Français | Español

If you could travel back in time what would you find 50 million years ago? What was the climate like? Would you find the same plants? What animals were crawling, walking, and flying around? Paleoentomologist Bruce Archibald takes Dr. Biology back in time to explore the planet…

We are gathering some 360 views of the different biomes that you can use to explore and learn about each biome. It is like having your own private window looking into these amazing places.

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!

An interview with arachnologists Eileen Hebets and Lisa Taylor. Two women that defy the convention that women are all afraid of spiders. Listen in as Dr. Biology learns there are no Miss Muffets in this show.
Life in the year 2050, what will it look like? Will it be the age of intelligent computers? Could this happen even sooner? Physicist and author Max Tegmark talks about the future of artificial intelligence and how it might impact biological life on this planet. Dr. Biology learns…

When was the last time you folded a piece of paper to make a fun shape? Maybe you made a paper plane or tried origami to make a swan. Believe it or not, the building blocks inside your body also need to fold into the right shapes to work properly. In this activity, you can build your…

a feather

Bird Feathers

Read Feather Biology and then take this quiz to test your knowledge!

Poppy flower

Composting

Microorganisms in action! Turn a pile of grass clippings into an experiment.
Keys to the Ocean Taxonomy Game

Keys to the Ocean Game

Play the Keys to the Ocean GameOur world is full of different plants, animals, bacteria, and other life. But how do we know which species is which?…

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.

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.

Feather Zoom Gallery (Feathers up-close)

There is nothing like seeing a feather up close.

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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Astronaut

Spaced Out Physiology

Being an astronaut is a cool job, but before you sign up you should know life in space isn’t all fun and games.  The lack of gravity can make our bodies act in strange ways.

Also in…

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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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Tree lizard puzzle

Mighty Morphing Tree Lizards

Biologists at Arizona State University hope that by learning more about animal behavior, they will also be able to understand why people act the way they do. Also in:…

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