18 results for “molecules of life”
Chemistry
The Chemistry of Life
Life builds its large molecules in a clever way: by joining small units, like beads on a string
Article · 3 min read
Life & Biology
The Origin of Life
Life is built from a surprisingly short list of parts: amino acids, which link into proteins; nucleotides, which link into DNA and RNA; sugars; and fatty molecules
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
The Life of a Star
Stars are born in cold clouds, burn for millions or billions of years, and die as
Article · 3 min read
Chemistry
Water: The Strangest Ordinary Substance
molecule should follow. Those quirks are why life exists. Water is so common that it seems
Article · 3 min read
Life & Biology
What Is Life? The Cell
life takes place protected from the outside. Most are far too small to see; a typical human cell is about a fiftieth of a millimetre across, and a bacterium ten times smaller
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
Bacteria and Viruses
life would stop. They break down dead plants and animals and return their nutrients to the soil. They take nitrogen from the air, which plants cannot use, and convert it into forms
Article · 4 min read
Animals
The Octopus
life. Our intelligence comes from a backbone and a skull; theirs from the line that produced snails and clams. Meeting an octopus is the nearest thing we have to meeting a mind
Article · 3 min read
Animals
Animal Migration
life on the move, nothing else comes close. Finding the way Migrating animals carry several compasses and at least one map. Many birds and insects use the Sun, correcting for its movement
Article · 4 min read
Life & Biology
DNA and Genes
molecule that carries them is DNA, and the discovery of how it works is one of the great achievements of science. A twisted ladder DNA, deoxyribonucleic acid, is shaped like a ladder
Article · 4 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Comets, Asteroids and Pluto
molecules to the young Earth, and may have helped stock the oceans and the chemistry that led to life
Article · 4 min read
Planets & the Solar System
Saturn
molecules and hydrogen, chemical evidence that beneath the ice lies a global salty ocean in contact with warm rock. That is precisely the combination that supports life
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
The Immune System
molecules, distributed throughout your body, that recognises invaders, destroys them, cleans up the mess and remembers the encounter for the rest of your life
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
The Brain
life: learning a new skill, a language or a city's streets measurably alters its structure. After injury, undamaged regions can take over lost functions, especially in the young. What we still
Article · 4 min read
The Human Body
Digestion
molecules, starches, proteins and fats, far too large to pass into the blood. Digestion is the process of taking them apart into small pieces, sugars, amino acids and fatty acids, that
Article · 4 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Energy and Heat
molecules slow down. There is a limit: at minus 273.15 degrees Celsius, absolute zero, motion is as slow as the laws of physics allow. Nothing can be colder, and nothing has ever
Article · 4 min read
Matter, Energy & Physics
Atoms
life is built on it. Every reaction, from rusting to breathing to burning, is electrons moving between atoms. The familiar picture of electrons orbiting the nucleus like planets is wrong, though. Electrons
Article · 4 min read
Space & the Universe
Nebulae
molecules in the same volume. The best vacuum chambers on Earth are still denser than most nebulae. They only appear solid because they are so enormous, often tens of light-years across
Article · 3 min read
Planet Earth
The Atmosphere
life. Layers The atmosphere has no sharp top; it simply thins out until it merges with space. Half its mass lies below about 5.5 kilometres, and 99 percent below 30. Scientists divide
Article · 4 min read
