Our skin is able to maintain itself even after hours of soaking in warm/cold water. Cells begin to swell as they soak up water and our outermost layer of skin doubles or even triples in size, causing our skin to … Continue reading
Not directly related to biochemistry, but it’s definitely worth thinking about how van der Waals interactions may affect these Newtonian fluids. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/04/29/306911004/whats-the-secret-to-pouring-ketchup-know-your-physics
The other week as we were discussing the biochemical mechanisms of poison ivy and how that works got me thinking about other unpleasant encounters in nature, namely jellyfish stings! How does a poison work to a) bring about pain and … Continue reading