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Bioinformatics

Bioinformatics is the field of science in which biology, computer science, and information technology merge to form a single discipline. The ultimate goal of the field is to enable the discovery of new biological insights as well as to create a global perspective from which unifying principles in biology can be discerned. At the beginning of the ...

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Bioinformatics
Biology

What's The Difference Between A Sweet Potato And A Yam?

What's in a name? Although supermarkets offer both 'yams' and 'sweet potatoes,' in fact they are all sweet potatoes. True yams are rarely seen in the United States, and are actually quite different ... Continue reading

SweetPotatoYam
Geology

Old Faithful - Thar She Blows!

Hot springs are what you get when you mix ground water with underground volcanic activity. They may be very acidic, containing sulphurous compounds or just mineral laden. Hot springs were the original ... Continue reading

OldFaithful
Biology

Splitting Hairs

Pluck a single strand of hair from your head and you've lost what scientists call the hair shaft. The shaft is made of three layers, each inside the other. The outer casing is the cuticle. Under an ... Continue reading

SplittingHairs
Biology

Endangered Species - The Hawksbill Turtle

The hawksbill turtle's status has not changed since it was listed as endangered in 1970. It is a solitary nester, and thus, population trends or estimates are difficult to determine. The hawksbill is ... Continue reading

EndangeredSpeciesHawksbillTurtle

Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?

TimeAnybodySo, what, exactly, is the watch on your wrist, Big Ben in London, or the national atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, actually measuring? The first definition of a second was 1/86,400 of the average solar day; in other words, a division of the average period of rotation of Earth on its axis relative to the Sun. This definition lasted until the mid-20th century, when the needs of international air and sea navigation and international communications required much more precise measurements of time. In 1956, the International Committee on Weights and Measures redefined the second to be 1/31,556,925.9747 of the length of the year 1900. This definition, known as the second of Ephemeris Time, was ratified by the General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960. The definition was not to last very long, however, because of new developments in atomic physics.

In 1949, Harvard professor Norman Ramsey had developed a method of studying the structure of atoms by sending them through two oscillating electromagnetic fields. The procedure allowed a microwave oscillator to be synchronized with the unvarying atomic oscillations and could be used to measure the passage of time with great precision, thus providing the basis for the modern cesium atomic clock. In 1964, the International Committee on Weights and Measures acknowledged this new type of clock by provisionally defining the second based on the microwave frequency that drives the transition between two energy levels of a cesium-133 atom. In 1967, this definition became the sole definition of the second.