ScienceIQ.com

Starburst, No, Not The Candy

A starburst galaxy is a galaxy experiencing a period of intense star forming activity. Although this activity may last for ten million years or more, that is like a month in the life of a ten billion year old galaxy. During a starburst, stars can form at tens, even hundreds of times greater rates than the star formation rate in normal galaxies. ...

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StarburstAstro
Chemistry

Warmer Hands (And Toes) Through Chemistry

A popular item for skiers and snowboarders, hunters and people who have to work outside in cold areas, and found in many outdoors shops, are disposable hand warmers. If you haven't used them before, ... Continue reading

WarmerHands
Astronomy

Introduction To Jupiter

With its numerous moons and several rings, the Jupiter system is a 'mini-solar system.' Jupiter is the most massive planet in our solar system, and in composition it resembles a small star. In fact, ... Continue reading

IntroductionToJupiter
Astronomy

Galaxy Cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927

A color composite image of the galaxy cluster RDCS 1252.9-2927 shows the X-ray (purple) light from 70-million-degree Celsius gas in the cluster, and the optical (red, yellow and green) light from the ... Continue reading

GalaxyClusterRDCS125292927
Biology

The Developing Brain

During embryogenesis (the process by which an embryo is converted from a fertilized cell to a full-term fetus), brain cells develop at the astounding rate of over 250,000 per minute. There are several ... Continue reading

TheDevelopingBrain

What Are Stem Cells?

StemCellsWhen an egg is fertilized by a sperm cell, it quickly becomes a single cell from which all cells of the body-to-be will be created. This 'mother of all cells' is what biologists call a totipotent stem cell, meaning that it has unlimited creative power. Within a few days, the totipotent stem cell begins a process of division into a hollow sphere (a blastocyst) containing a slightly more specialized level of stem cells. These stem cells are known as pluripotent, meaning that they are capable of generating most, but not all, the cells of the developing organism - all the cells except for the placenta and other supporting tissues a developing fetus would need to survive in the uterus.

From the pluripotent stem cells, further levels of increasingly specialized cells are created, leading ultimately to each individual cell of the body. Some types of stem cell continue to exist in the body after birth - indeed, throughout the life of the organism. Blood stem cells, for example, generate new red blood cells, white blood cells, and blood platelets ad infinitum. They cannot generate all the types of cell in the body, so they are not totipotent or pluripotent, but they are still multipotent, capable of generating a number of different kinds of cells of a general type, such as blood or skin.