| Date Answered | Questioner (age, location) | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| August 19, 2008 | abinaya (age 16, chennai/ india/) | if there is any change in the universe | The universe is always changing. Nothing stays the same. From atomic reactions to galaxies, there are always changes occurring. |
| July 3, 2008 | Cholo (age 17, South Carolina) | 3 examples of organic substances? | An organic substance is a complex carbon-containing substance; often produced by a living organism: for example, sugar, honey, alcohol. |
| July 2, 2008 | Sean (age 12, NC U.S.) | In biomes located on land, abiotic factors are used to classify the differnt biome types. What are these abiotic factors? | Abiotic components are the nonliving components of the biosphere. Chemical and geological factors (like rocks and minerals), and physical factors (temperature, weather, etc), are abiotic components. |
| June 24, 2008 | CHELSE (age 11, PENNSYLVANIA) | HOW DO FUNGI CELLS DIFFER FROM PLANT CELLS ? HOW ARE THEY ALIKE | Fungi have cell walls (like plants) but the cell walls are composed of chitin. The cell walls of plants and some protists are composed of cellulose. |
| June 23, 2008 | DURRIYA (age 21, PAKISTAN) | what is the relation between hydrosphere and biosphere? | The intearction between the hydrosphere and the biosphere is very complex and dynamic, but there is an element that can't be miss: animals necessitate water for metabolic processes or, in other words, without water there will not exist life as we know it. |
| May 29, 2008 | urja (age 12, india maharashtra) | are we humans progressed enough to find all the remaining secrets of the universe?? | No by far! Scientists keep studying the universe, life, etc. to understand them more and more. There are so many things that we still don't know! |
| April 30, 2008 | rahul (age 11, kerala/india) | is there life in other planets | Scientists have not found extraterrestrial life, but they keep looking! |
| March 27, 2008 | Tifani (age 27, north carolina, usa) | How many comets, meteors, etc. can be realated to the apperance of life on earth? | You will find here information on this topic. |
| March 18, 2008 | Jenn (age 14, USA) | What is the difference between a procariotic cell, and a eukariotic cell? | Prokaryotic cells have no nucleus or organelles enclosed within membranes. Eukaryotic cells have a nucleus and organelles that are surrounded by membranes. Each organelle does a specific cell function. |
| March 18, 2008 | hillary (age 11, canada) | could there be other "creatures" in another glaxie? | Scientists have not found extraterrestrial life, but they keep looking! |
| March 17, 2008 | brandon (age 14, ca usa) | is ther life in the entire Universe | Well, yes, on our planet. Scientists have not found extraterrestrial life, but they keep looking! |
| February 13, 2008 | Nripendra (age 21, Nepal) | Can life exists in the universe forever? | I believe life will always evolve under the right conditions. |
| February 13, 2008 | Nyoka (age 13, Qld Australia) | Do you think Aliens are real,and that they can survive/live on other planets | So far, the efforts to find extraterrestrial life have not been successful. |
| February 4, 2008 | brittany (age 15, mississippi united states of america) | how do you contrast archea bacteria and eubacteria? | The Domains of Life are Archaea (very primitive forms of bacteria), Eubacteria (more advanced forms of bacteria), and Eukaryota (all life forms with eukaryotic cells including plants and animals). OPlease, visit our web pages Archaea and Eubacteria for further information on them. |
| January 25, 2008 | radwa (age 14.5, egypt) | is there any life on other planet corresponding to earth in other galaxy? | So far, the efforts to find extraterrestrial life have not been successful. |
| December 27, 2007 | jimmy (age 12, Australia) | Is there any life in space besides earth? | So far, the efforts to find extraterrestrial life have not been successful. |
| December 17, 2007 | cdabney (age 8, California USA) | what is the difference between a biome and an ecosystem? | There are several definitions for both, among them: Biome: A living community characterized by distinctive plant and animal species and maintained under the climatic conditions of the region. Ecosystem: a functional unit consisting of all the living organisms (plants, animals, and microbes) in a given area, and all the non-living physical and chemical factors of their environment, linked together through nutrient cycling and energy flow. |
| December 10, 2007 | candy (age 27, philippines) | why are cells called the building block of life | The Cell Theory states that all living things are made of cells, which are the basic units of life, and that cells come from other cells. More information in our web page Cells Introduction. |
| November 5, 2007 | kenneth (age 13, philippines) | can we still breath at the peak of Mt. Everest?"because they said that we can't breath because atmosphere is composed of carbon-dioxide...but for me we can still breath because the atmosphere has 4 layers the first is the troposphere which is the nearest to the ground and contains air we breath so it means we can still breath(for my own explaination only)... | At 10,000 to 14,000 feet, the available oxygen is only 60 to 70 percent that of sea level. As you climb higher and higher, it gets harder to breathe. |
| October 15, 2007 | omon (age 18, sydeny) | compare and contract the past and presentenviroment of archaea | I believe you will find the information you are looking foe in our web page archaea. |
| September 24, 2007 | Courtney (age 12, Alabama) | More than 2 billion years ago what produced oxygen? | Plants created the Earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere. Over one billion years ago, in Earth's early ocean, the most complex life was bacteria surviving by extracting chemical energy from minerals. But then, a bacteria made an extra-ordinary evolutionary leap by learning to live on sunshine and water. This ability to extract energy from the abundance of sunlight and water was a great advantage, and these evolutionary innovators proliferated and spread. Extracted from Ancient Forests. The Balance of Life. |
| August 17, 2007 | mary (age 70, ohio) | are cell phones safe during a electrial storms? | In general, no metallic objects should be used during electric storms, including cell phones. |
| August 15, 2007 | Partha (age 11, India) | Can there be life in other conditions other than the conditions found on earth, if yes then why are scientists not looking into this also? | Life has been found under very harsh conditions, like around hydrothermal vents or vent chimneys at the bottom of the oceans. Scientists study these (different) life forms to understand better the origin and evolution of life. |
| July 23, 2007 | Ethan (age 10, newbury) | how many life forms are on mars | So far none, but we keep looking! |
| July 21, 2007 | ruchika (age 15, faridhabad/india) | where,when and how the cysts are formed in the life of a amoeba | A special membrane is secreted under adverse conditions to protect the amoeba. This membrane is called a cyst membrane. This “encystment” occurs to keep the amoeba alive until it reaches an adequate area. |
| July 21, 2007 | Yvette (age 13, Zambales, Philippines) | can we consider rock as a living thing? | In a very broad sense, life is a condition that distinguishes organisms from inorganic objects. Following this definition, a rock is not considered a living thing. |
| July 18, 2007 | jim (age 36, california usa) | how important it's a manta ray fossil? | All fossils contribute to the study of our past. I believe they are all important. |
| June 28, 2007 | kendra (age 15, ny) | can life as we know it be found on venus?? please answer its due soon. | The average temperature on Venus is 457 oC (855 oF). This temperatures are extreme for life as we know it. |
| May 10, 2007 | brandon (age 9, new yok ) | describe how living how living things are divided into groups | Living things are divided into three groups based on their genetic similarity. The three groups are: Archaea: very primitive forms of bacteria. Eubacteria: More advanced forms of bacteria. Eukaryota: All life forms with eukaryotic cells including plants and animals. For a more detailed information, visit our web page Classification of Living Things. |
| May 5, 2007 | kiwi (age 16, canada) | how does kingdom protista affect us? | Members of the Kingdom Protista are the simplest of the eukaryotes. Protistans are an interesting assemblage of organisms classified for what they are not. Protistans lack characteristics shared by plants, fungi, and animals, but they're not bacteria. Essentially, this Kingdom is home for the "leftover" organisms that couldn't be classified elsewhere! Protists are used in toothpaste, scouring pads, filters, puddings, salad dressings, and others. Protists also cause amoebic dysentery, African sleeping sickness, malaria, plant blights, red tide (from dinoflagellates), and others. |
| February 12, 2007 | fairy (age 17, alaska) | does eubacteria have cell walls | Eubacteria, also know as “true bacteria”, are microscopic prokaryotic cells. They don't have nucleus or organelles enclosed within membranes, but they do have cell walls. For more information visit our web page The Domain Eubacteria, and for a diagram of prokaryotic cells visite Cells. |
| January 21, 2007 | Marissa (age 15, Florida) | What are some examples (organisms) of Autotrophs? | Examples of autotrophs are plants and algae. More information about autotrophs is available at our page Autotrophs. |
| January 5, 2007 | aleashia (age 14, alaska/u.s) | where can i find pictures of each of the five kingdoms? | You can start your search in our site. A good starting point could be our web page Classification of Living Things. I believe you will find many useful pictures and information. |
| November 12, 2006 | nick (age 15, arizona) | What kind of scientific degree do you have? How many years did it take you to get your degree? How many hours a week do you work? Could you describe a typical day at work? Do you enjoy being a biologist? |
You can find information about the Windows to the Universe team at this page Thank you for using Windows to the Universe! |
| September 24, 2004 | Hazel (age 13, philippines) | What are examples that fall in the classification of Kingdom Protista? | A one-celled amoeba and sea kelp are both examples of organisms that are under the Kingdom Protista. |
| November 10, 2003 | brittany(age 13, Illinois, USA) | What is microbacteria ranae? | Mycobacterium ranae is a bacterium that sometimes causes disease in frogs (rana is the Latin word for frog). It is spread through the water, and enters the frog through skin abrasions or cuts. |
| January 31, 2003 | Ariannas (age 12, Florida, USA) | What do living things need nitrogen for? | Living things depend on nitrogen because our bodies need amino acids, DNA, RNA, vitamins, and other small molecules to live, and these molecules all contain nitrogen atoms. |
| November 22, 2002 | Chris (age 14, Texas, USA) | What are the producers and consumers of the tundra ecosystem? | Even though vegetation is limited in the tundra ecosystem and there are no trees, producers include lichens, mosses, grasses, and bushes. Consumers can be abundant and include herbivores such as caribou and musk oxen, and carnivores such as polar bears. Visit our tundra section for more information about tundra ecology. |
| July 31, 2001 | Rachel (age 15, Australia) | What factors and conditions influence biodegradability? | Biodegradability is determined by a lot of different factors. One of the most important is the number and variety of microorganisms growing in the area in question, and the abilities of these organisms to deal with chemicals that are not normally found in nature (these chemicals are sometimes called xenobiotics). Other important factors include the temperature of the environment, the pressure, the chemistry of the environment (oxygen availability, pH, and other factors like this), and even less obvious factors like how isolated the environment is (for example, is there moving water or air that would replenish the environment, or would toxic byproducts eventually build up and poison any microorganisms). |
| July 23, 2001 | Steven (13, New South Wales, Australia) | I am doing a science project about a'life-bubble' in space and I need to know what types of things I am going to need to sustain life and how to do it, could you please help me? | The most basic things needed to support human life are oxygen, food, and water. To be supported in space people would also need to be kept at a good temperature (probably 60-90 F or so), and pressure would also have to be regulated.
For longer time periods, waste products would need to be disposed of (this includes CO2 as well as body fluids). |
| July 11, 2001 | Kim (15, USA) | What is the significance of a coacervate in terms of chemical analysis? | Coacervates are significant in study of the chemistry of life because they show that the molecules associated with life (proteins, lipids, carbohydrates) can form life-like structures without any special circumstances. This means that a lot of of the complexity in biochemical structures can be formed naturally with a pretty simple set of ingredients. |
| November 10, 2000 | Kristy (age 11, Washington, USA) | What is the difference between DNA and RNA? | Both have a sugar/phosphate backbone and 4 nitrogenous bases. The sugar found in DNA is deoxy-ribose, while the sugar in RNA is ribose. Also, they share 3 bases (adenine, guanine, and cytidine), but DNA's 4th base is thymidine, while RNA's 4th base is uracil. That's why you'll see DNA is made up of G, A, C and T's when written out (guanine, adenine, cytidine and thymidine). RNA will be written as a string of G, A, C, and U's. |
| October 9, 2000 | Sammy (age 16, Michigan, USA) | What is your theory on how the dinosaurs became extinct? | The most popular theory is that a large comet or meteor crashed into the Earth. This changed the climate so much, that the dinosaurs couldn't survive. |
| July 28, 2000 | Fred (age 12, Canada) | How many known kinds of monera are there? | Since bacteria are included in the monera kingdom, there are perhaps thousands of types (maybe even millions!) of monera. Here's a partial listing if you're interested in any specific bacteria! |
| June 28, 1999 | Neil (age 14, Minnesota) | What is the largest known fungal colony? | The largest fungal colony known is in Washington state. It covers over 1500 acres and started from one spore around 1000 years ago. A similar fungi in Michigan which covered 37 acres was estimated to weigh 110 tons, the same size as a blue whale. |
| June 25, 1999 | Michelle (age 18, Mass.) | What are the elements in living cells | Six elements make up over 98% of living cells by mass. These six are oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Oxygen makes up a whopping 65% of our bodies by mass! Beyond these six, several others (potassium, sulfur, sodium, magnesium, chlorine, iron, and iodine) show up in small amounts but play very important roles. |
| March 12, 1999 | Arnon (age 36, Oregon, USA) | What is life? Is there artificial life? Can you give me a definition of life beyond the ability to reproduce? Are virus's alive? | Here is our What is Life page. Artificial life does not yet exist, but there are many people who are working toward creating it someday. Some people say viruses are half alive and half dead...however, the scientific view is that they are not alive at all, since they do not fulfill all the conditions for life. Viruses cannot respire, grow or reproduce on their own. |
| June 13, 1998 | Steven (Age 26, Australia) | What is the name of the creature that was half man and half goat, of which Pan was one? | As far as I know, creatures that are half men and half goat are referred to as satyrs in Greek mythology and fauns in Roman mythology. Pan, the pastoral god in Greek mythology, is an example of a satyr. |
| December 2, 1997 | Benjamin (Texas, USA) Victor (age 14, Corvallis, Oregon, USA) |
How old is the Sun? How old is Earth and what is the oldest known living life form known to man? How old is it? | Most scientists agree that our solar system began to form about 4.5 billion years ago following the explosion of a star (called a supernova). This means that the Sun and all the planets, including Earth, are roughly the same age -- about 4.5 billion years old.
The oldest known organisms are "heterotrophic anaerobic bacteria". This simply means "bacteria that can't make their own food (like plants) and don't breathe oxygen". Fossils of these bacteria have been found in Australian rocks that date back to 3.5 billion years ago. Some types of these bacteria still survive today, including Clostridium, the bacterium which causes botulism (a type of food poisoning). |
Last modified February 21, 2008 by Eduardo Araujo-Pradere.
The source of this material is Windows to the Universe, at http://www.windows.ucar.edu/ at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR). © The Regents of the University of Michigan. Windows to the Universe® is a registered trademark of UCAR. All Rights Reserved. Site policies and disclaimer