ScienceIQ.com

What is Herd Immunity?

No vaccine is 100% effective and usually does not work in 5% of those immunized. In addition, another 5% lose immunity after time. That means that, even after you are immunized, you could contract the disease. But if everyone around you is also immunized, there is no way for you to get infected, because the community provides immunity. This is ...

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WhatisHerdImmunity
Biology

What Causes Wrinkles?

Elastin and collagen are proteins in the skin's underlying layers that give it firmness and elasticity. As we age, skin begins to lose its elastin fibers. The fibers start to tangle in disorganized ... Continue reading

WhatCausesWrinkles
Geology

Types of Volcanoes

Geologists describe four types of volcanoes. Cinder cones, the simplest of volcanoes, grow as pieces of congealed lava rise from a central vent and form a funnel-shaped crater. Lava domes arise from ... Continue reading

TypesofVolcanoes
Geology

Devils Postpile National Monument

Established in 1911 by presidential proclamation, Devils Postpile National Monument protects and preserves the Devils Postpile formation, the 101-foot Rainbow Falls, and the pristine mountain scenery. ... Continue reading

DevilsPostpileNationalMonument
Biology

What We Learned From The Songbirds

Once, neuroscientists believed that our complement of nerve cells was created prenatally and during the first years of life, and that no new neurons could be generated. Now we know that this belief ... Continue reading

WhatWeLearnedFromTheSongbirds

Who Moved My Moldy Cheese?

MoldyCheeseThere are few things less appetizing than a fuzzy, moldy piece of cheese. However, one of the most popular cheeses, Blue Cheese and its varieties, the French Roquefort, the English Stilton and the Italian Gorgonzola, derives its taste, flavor and blue color from the Penicillium mold. This cheese traces it origin to the early part of the first century when sheep or cow’s milk was allowed to ripen in limestone caves. The caves were a perfect breeding ground for Penicillium mold which easily took up residence in the cheese.

Molds belong to the same family as mushrooms and yeast. Because they share some common characteristics with plants they were once considered to be part of the plant family. But the most important thing that plants do, molds cannot do - make their own food through the process of photosynthesis. Instead, they produce special enzymes that break down organic material and absorb it. In the case of blue cheese, they are literally eating away the cheese. What we enjoy in a blue cheese is the result of the Penicillium mold doing its work. Molds reproduce through spores that float in the air. It was these early floating spores that found that cheese and the rest is culinary history. But don't expect that moldy cheese in your refrigerator to taste as elegant as a bit of Roquefort spread on your French baguette, most molds taste, well, rather moldy.