Being Cold Can Increase Your Risk of Getting Sick Fact
Being cold doesn’t give you a cold, but cold weather can increase your risk of getting sick. Lower body temperatures suppress the body’s immune system and help some viruses thrive.
Cells
A cell is the basic biological unit that comprises all living organisms on Earth. Cells contain the DNA that make humans humans and plants plants. There are two basic types of cells that make up all life Eukaryotes and Prokaryotes.
1. Complex Eukaryotic cells make up plants, animals, fungi, slime moulds, protozoa, and algae. They contain their DNA in the nucleus.
2. Simple Prokaryotic cells that lack “organelles” (organelles are essentially a cells organs, like a nucleus for example) and contain their DNA in their cytoplasm. Bacteria and it’s weird cousin archaea are prokaryotic.
Scientists think complex cells (and thus likely all life as we know it) evolved from simple cells merging (with one cell becoming the host and the other the organelle over time) sometime after cells emerged on Earth at least 3.5 billion years ago. This could help explain why scientists just discovered in 2012 a third hybrid type of cell called a Parikaryotic which has aspects of both Eukaryote and Prokaryote.
Factoids tagged with "Cells"
Plants Have Senses Fact
Plant senses don’t work the same as human senses, but generally speaking, plants can see, hear, smell, feel, react, and even think.
Charles Darwin Coined the Phrase “Survival of the Fittest” Myth
Charles Darwin came up with the idea of natural selection, but he didn’t coin the phrase “survival of the fittest”, that was Herbert Spencer in 1864’s Principles of Sociology.
Flamingos are Born Pink Myth
Flamingos aren’t born pink. They are born with gray feathers. Flamingos become pink as the age due to a diet of organisms like shrimp and red algae which are high in pigments called carotenoids.
Sex, Gender, and Sexuality Are Binary Myth
Studies have shown there is no single determinant of sex, gender, or sexuality. In terms of both sex (genetic) and gender (a social construct), a binary distinction of “male or female” fails to describe a wide range of humans in practice. Meanwhile, sexuality (a preference) eludes any simple categorization as well. Simply put, despite some binary aspects (for example a person either has a Y gene or they don’t), Gender, Sex, and Sexuality are all non-binary and each is instead a complex spectrum… and we can prove it with science and logic.
Nettie Stevens Discovered the XY Sex-determination System Fact
Nettie Stevens and Edmund Beecher Wilson independently discovered the chromosomal XY sex-determination system (that males have XY and females have XX sex chromosomes).
All Mammals Start as Female Myth
Mammals don’t start as females, they start as a blank slate with XX or XY genetic code, and for the first 5-6 weeks of gestation only the X gene expresses.
Some People are Born Gay Fact
Science suggests people are born in a range of places in the gay and transgender spectrum, with both nature and nurture playing a role in sexuality.
Some Cells Can Live Forever Fact
Some cells appear to be able to live forever in a lab. However the Hayflick limit sets a cap on the number of times a cell can divide.
Mirror Neurons Fire When Observing and Preforming an Action Fact
Mirror neurons are neurons that “fire” when observing an action and when performing an action, this allows for learning through imitation (“mirroring”).
There are Different Blood Types Fact
There are four general blood types (A, B, AB, and O), each can be Rh ‘+’ or ‘-‘. Blood types differ by antigens on the surface of red blood cells.
Survival of the Fittest, Only the Strong Survive Myth
“Survival of the fittest” means that those who are best adapted to their environment thrive and tend to be favored by evolution due to “natural selection”. It does not mean that “only the most physically strong or mentally strong thrive”.
Humans Have About 86 Billion Neurons Fact
Studies show the average human has about 86 billion neurons and roughly as many glial cells, however the exact number of neurons and glial cells remains unknown.
Light Can Affect Mood Fact
Exposure to light in moderation, especially natural sunlight, can have an uplifting effect on mood, while excessive darkness can have the opposite effect.
Thoughts Can “Rewire” Your Brain Fact
Thoughts and other stimuli can essentially “rewire” our brain, strengthening useful synaptic pathways and weakening less used ones, this is called neuroplasticity (AKA learning and memory).
All Cells In a Human Start as One Cell Fact
All the cells in a human body start as one cell, a fertilized egg containing 1/2 the mothers DNA and 1/2 the fathers. That cell divides many times creating a unique human being.
All Cells in a Human Body Have the Same DNA Fact
With few exceptions, all cells in a person’s body have the same DNA and genes. As cells divide and grow different genes are expressed, resulting in different cell types.
Humans Have Many Different Types of Cells Fact
The human body has about 37 trillion cells, comprising 200 different types. Each cell has structures responsible for making hundreds of thousands of different proteins from 20 types of amino acids.
We Know How Complex Cells Evolved Fact
Complex cells (eukaryotes) likely evolved from single-celled organisms (prokaryotes) absorbing other prokaryotes, becoming single complex cells over time (endosymbiosis).
Humans Only Use a Small Part of Their Brain Myth
Evidence suggests that humans use virtually every part of their brain on a daily basis. Some areas function more than others at any given time, but every part of the human brain has a function.