Dog coats come in a seemingly endless variety of patterns, lengths, textures and colors, determined by their genetic makeup. Just 8-14 different genes are responsible for most of these differences in coat color and pigmentation. Dogs inherit two alleles, or variations, of each of these genes, one from the father and one from the mother.
For a long time, ecologists have asked: why are there so many species? How is it possible that there can be so many species of, for example, phytoplankton that exist at the same time? They all use the same resources, like light, carbon and nitrogen, and all are prey to the same types of animals,
How many times has this happened to you before? You walk into a room–it could be one you've stepped foot in a dozen times that day, or never at all– and hesitate by the doorway. There is something about that space that is nagging at the back of your mind. You decide that, somehow, you
When you think of salt, your mind likely wanders to the last bit of food you seasoned. We all know salt improves the taste of food. However, most probably don't recognize its importance in human history or its role in agriculture. It was once lauded for economic value (hence the phrase “worth one's saltâ€), as
While I'm often left paralyzed by apple choice in Kroger, I know the breadth of options at grocery stores mask a far different reality: we've lost roughly 90% of the world's crop varieties in the past 100 years. This threat to future food security is referred to as genetic erosion and primarily attributed to the
At the Kennedy Space Center, NASA is finalizing preparations to launch the Mars 2020 rover in July. One of the aims of the Mars 2020 mission is to search for signs of past microbial life through biosignatures. Biosignatures typically present themselves in traces of nitrogen, oxygen, or methane, indicating some active life form in either
