reproductive behaviour: Natural selection and reproductive behaviour: …favourable rather than less favourable period will eventually dominate succeeding generations. This is the basis for the seasonality of reproduction among most animal species.

toxin, any substance poisonous to an organism. The term is sometimes restricted to poisons spontaneously produced by living organisms (biotoxins). Besides the poisons produced by such microorganisms as bacteria, dinoflagellates, and algae, there are toxins from fungi (mycotoxins), higher plants

estuary: Primary productivity: The high level of plant production in estuaries supports a correspondingly high level of production of invertebrate animals and fish. Estuaries often contain beds of shellfish such as mussels and oysters and large populations of shrimps and crabs. Fish such as plaice and flounders

biological psychology, the study of the physiological bases of behaviour. Biological psychology is concerned primarily with the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events—or, in other words, the mind-body phenomenon. Its focus is the function of the brain

global warming: Carbon dioxide: Another process, the “biological pump,” involves the uptake of dissolved CO2 by marine vegetation and phytoplankton (small free-floating photosynthetic organisms) living in the upper ocean or by other marine organisms that use CO2 to build skeletons and other structures made of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). As these organisms expire…

regeneration, in biology, the process by which some organisms replace or restore lost or amputated body parts. Organisms differ markedly in their ability to regenerate parts. Some grow a new structure on the stump of the old one. By such regeneration whole organisms may dramatically replace

Antarctica: Biological resources: Marine resources first attracted people to Antarctica and provided the only basis for commercial activity in this region for many years. More marine resource extraction takes place in the subantarctic and the rest of the Southern Ocean than in the waters of Antarctica’s…

therapeutics: Biological response modifiers: Biological response modifiers, used to treat cancer, exert their antitumour effects by improving host defense mechanisms against the tumour. They have a direct antiproliferative effect on tumour cells and also enhance the ability of the host to tolerate damage by toxic chemicals…

biological rhythm, periodic biological fluctuation in an organism that corresponds to, and is in response to, periodic environmental change. Examples of such change include cyclical variations in the relative position of Earth to the Sun and to the Moon and in the immediate effects of such

allometry, in biology, the change in organisms in relation to proportional changes in body size. An example of allometry can be seen in mammals. Ranging from the mouse to the elephant, as the body gets larger, in general hearts beat more slowly, brains get bigger, bones get proportionally shorter

biological soil crust, thin layer of living material formed in the uppermost millimetres of soil where soil particles are aggregated by a community of highly specialized organisms. Biological soil crusts are found primarily in open spaces in the dry and extremely cold regions of all continents,

David Baltimore: …worked with Dulbecco at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California (1965–68), studying the mechanism of replication of the poliovirus.

therapeutics: Biological therapy: Blood transfusions were not clinically useful until about 1900, when the blood types A, B, and O were identified and

poetry: Major differences:

composting toilet, waterless sewage-treatment system that decomposes human excreta into an inert nitrogen-rich material similar to humus. Because they eliminate the water use associated with typical toilets, composting toilets circumvent the costs associated with traditional sewage treatment.

Feodosiya: …the earliest documented use of biological warfare.

biological weapon, any of a number of disease-producing agents—such as bacteria, viruses, rickettsiae, fungi, toxins, or other biological agents—that may be utilized as weapons against humans, animals, or plants. The direct use of infectious agents and poisons against enemy personnel is an ancient

Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), international treaty that bans the use of biological weapons in war and prohibits all development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, or transfer of such weapons. The convention was signed in London, Moscow, and Washington, D.C., on April 10, 1972, and

biological determinism, the idea that most human characteristics, physical and mental, are determined at conception by hereditary factors passed from parent to offspring. Although all human traits ultimately are based in a material nature (e.g., memorizing a poem involves changing molecular

biology, study of living things and their vital processes. The field deals with all the physicochemical aspects of life. The modern tendency toward cross-disciplinary research and the unification of scientific knowledge and investigation from different fields has resulted in significant overlap of

marine biology, the science that deals with animals and plants that live in the sea. It also deals with airborne and terrestrial organisms that depend directly upon bodies of salt water for food and other necessities of life. In the broadest sense it attempts to describe all vital phenomena

philosophy of biology, philosophical speculation about the concepts, methods, and theories of the biological sciences. The sharp increase in understanding of biological processes that has occurred since the mid-20th century has stimulated philosophical interest in biology to an extent unprecedented

bioluminescence, emission of light by an organism or by a laboratory biochemical system derived from an organism. It could be the ghostly glow of bacteria on decaying meat or fish, the shimmering radiance of protozoans in tropical seas, or the flickering signals of fireflies. The phenomenon occurs

trophic cascade: Biomanipulation in lakes: In lakes, trophic cascades are used to improve water quality through biomanipulation, a management practice in which humans intentionally remove whole species from ecosystems. The goal of biomanipulation is to reduce the concentration of harmful phytoplankton, such as toxic blue-green

biomarker, a measurable and quantifiable biological parameter that serves as an indicator of a particular physiological state. In a medical context, a biomarker is a substance whose detection indicates a particular disease state or a response to a therapeutic intervention. Examples include the

biomass, the weight or total quantity of living organisms of one animal or plant species (species biomass) or of all the species in a community (community biomass), commonly referred to a unit area or volume of habitat. The weight or quantity of organisms in an area at a given moment is the

materials science: Materials for medicine: These materials, known as biomaterials, include synthetic polymers and, to a lesser extent, biological polymers, metals, and ceramics. Specific applications of biomaterials range from high-volume products such as blood bags, syringes, and needles to more challenging implantable devices designed to augment or replace a diseased human organ. The latter…

Biombo, region located in western Guinea-Bissau. Biombo region surrounds (but does not administratively include) Bissau, the national capital. The regional capital is located at Quinhámel. The western and northern borders of the region are formed by the Mansôa River, which flows east-west and

Jaime Torres Bodet: …employed Japanese verse forms in Biombo (1925; “The Folding Screen”). He was the first editor (1928–31) of Contemporáneos, a cultural and literary magazine influential among Mexican poets.

biome, the largest geographic biotic unit, a major community of plants and animals with similar life forms and environmental conditions. It includes various communities and is named for the dominant type of vegetation, such as grassland or coniferous forest. Several similar biomes constitute a

biome: Several similar biomes constitute a biome type—for example, the temperate deciduous forest biome type includes the deciduous forest biomes of Asia, Europe, and North America. “Major life zone” is the European phrase for the North American biome concept.

biomechanics, antirealistic system of dramatic production developed in the Soviet Union in the early 1920s by the avant-garde director Vsevolod Meyerhold. Meyerhold drew on the traditions of the commedia dell’arte and kabuki and on the writings of Edward Gordon Craig for his system, in which the

biomechanics, in science, the study of biological systems, particularly their structure and function, using methods derived from mechanics, which is concerned with the effects that forces have on the motion of bodies. Ideas and investigations relating to biomechanics date back at least to the

biomedical engineering, interdisciplinary field that brings together engineering, medicine, and biology to generate solutions that improve health and patient care. Biomedical engineers design and build tools such as artificial joints, heart monitors, imaging machines, and prosthetic limbs, which

ethics: Abortion, euthanasia, and the value of human life: …with the endpoints of the human life span. The question of whether abortion or the use of human embryos as sources of stem cells can be morally justified was exhaustively discussed in popular contexts, where the answer was often taken to depend directly on the answer to the further question:…

animal disease: Animals in research: the biomedical model: What do you think? Explore the ProCon debate

complementary and alternative medicine: Historical perspectives: …care became increasingly centered on biomedicine, and a division of labor proliferated. Some doctors, for example, specialized in surgery, whereas others focused on areas such as infectious disease, human development, or mental health. In addition, beginning in the 19th century, scientists discovered ways to isolate and synthesize the active ingredients…

chemical analysis: Ion-selective electrodes: Biomembrane electrodes are similar in design to gas-sensing electrodes. The outer permeable membrane is used to hold a gel between the two membranes. The gel contains an enzyme that selectively catalyzes the reaction of the analyte. The internal ion-selective electrode is chosen to respond to…

Cambrian Period: Extinction events: …to define biostratigraphic units called biomeres. (Such units are bounded by sudden nonevolutionary changes in the dominant elements of a phylum.) Each of the Cambrian biomere events eliminated several trilobite families, which collectively contained most of the genera and species that were living on the continental shelves. Less attention has…

biometrics, measures of individuals’ unique physical characteristics or behavioral traits that are typically used in automated recognition technology to verify personal identity. Physical characteristics used include fingerprints, faces, retinas, and voice patterns. Biometric authentication may be

biometrics, measures of individuals’ unique physical characteristics or behavioral traits that are typically used in automated recognition technology to verify personal identity. Physical characteristics used include fingerprints, faces, retinas, and voice patterns. Biometric authentication may be

Karl Pearson: …Galton, Pearson founded the journal Biometrika, the first journal of modern statistics.

probability and statistics: Biometry: The English biometric school developed from the work of the polymath Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin. Galton admired Quetelet, but he was critical of the statistician’s obsession with mean values rather than variation. The normal law, as he began to call it, was…

regenerative medicine: …seeding cells onto natural or biomimetic scaffolds (see tissue engineering). Natural scaffolds are the total extracellular matrixes (ECMs) of decellularized tissues or organs. In contrast, biomimetic scaffolds may be composed of natural materials, such as collagen

bone mineralization, biological process by which minerals—primarily calcium and phosphate in the form of hydroxyapatite crystals—are deposited into the collagen matrix of bone, forming a hardened structure. Bone mineralization is essential for giving bones their strength and rigidity. An intricate

biomolecule, any of numerous substances that are produced by cells and living organisms. Biomolecules have a wide range of sizes and structures and perform a vast array of functions. The four major types of biomolecules are carbohydrates, lipids, nucleic acids, and proteins. Among biomolecules,

biomonitoring, the measurement of chemical compounds or their metabolites (versions of the compounds that are transformed in the body) in biological specimens. Biomonitoring measurements can be conducted on nonhuman biological samples, such as plants and animals, but use of the term is primarily

Western painting: Fantasy and the irrational: Biomorphic abstraction, in essence the method of Tanguy, extended the resources of Surrealism, and the Chilean Roberto Matta, who began painting in 1938, used it with dramatic effect. A poetic version of the style, rooted in an emotional response to landscape, was evolved in England…

Frank Gehry: Stardom and later works: …decade include the brightly colored Biomuseo (2014), a biodiversity museum in Panama City, Panama, and a number of buildings for Facebook (2015 and 2018) in Palo Alto, California.

Bion was a minor Greek bucolic poet. The Lament for Bion, written by an Italian pupil of the poet, suggests that he lived in Sicily. The 17 surviving fragments of Bion’s Bucolica, mostly concerned with love and only occasionally with bucolic themes, strike a playful, sometimes sententious note.

Bion of Borysthenes was a Greek philosophical writer and preacher. He was a freed slave and the son of a courtesan and has been credited with originating the Cynic “diatribe,” or popular discourse on morality, whose style may have influenced that of the Christian sermon. Few of his writings

Dick Biondi: The fast-talking wild man of Chicago radio, Dick Biondi called himself “The Screamer,” “The Big Mouth,” “The Big Noise from Buffalo,” “The Wild Eye-tralian,” and “The Supersonic Spaghetti Slurper.” Praising his energy, presentation, and appeal to young listeners, pioneer radio programmer Mike Joseph called Biondi…

Flavio Biondo was a humanist historian of the Renaissance and author of the first history of Italy that developed a chronological scheme providing an embryonic notion of the Middle Ages. Biondo was well educated and trained as a notary before he moved in 1433 to Rome, where he was appointed

Christina Aguilera: …returned to dance pop with Bionic (2010), though the album was considered a commercial disappointment, as was its follow-up, Lotus (2012). Her 2018 release, Liberation, earned glowing reviews. She later contributed the songs “Haunted Heart” and “Loyal Brave True” to the soundtracks for Addams Family (2019) and Mulan (2020), respectively.…

bionic eye, electrical prosthesis surgically implanted into a human eye in order to allow for the transduction of light (the change of light from the environment into impulses the brain can process) in people who have sustained severe damage to the retina. The retina is a light-sensitive tissue

The Bionic Woman, American television show, a spin-off of science-fiction thriller The Six Million Dollar Man, about a bionically enhanced secret agent. The show aired for three seasons, first from 1976 to 1977 on ABC and then from 1977 to 1978 on NBC. The show’s eponymous character, Jamie Sommers

bionics, science of constructing artificial systems that have some of the characteristics of living systems. Bionics is not a specialized science but an interscience discipline; it may be compared with cybernetics. Bionics and cybernetics have been called the two sides of the same coin. Both use

ecology, study of the relationships between organisms and their environment. Some of the most pressing problems in human affairs—expanding populations, food scarcities, environmental pollution including global warming, extinctions of plant and animal species, and all the attendant sociological and

Carolyn R. Bertozzi: She coined the term bioorthogonal chemistry to describe the use of click reactions—quick, simple chemical reactions—to study living cells. In particular, she showed that such reactions could be carried out inside living cells to map molecules and cell function, without disturbing normal cellular chemistry. For her groundbreaking contributions to…

pharmaceutical industry: Biopharmaceutical studies: In addition to the animal toxicity studies outlined above, biopharmaceutical studies are required for all new drugs. The chemical makeup of the drug and the dosage form of the drug to be used in trials must be described. The stability of…

Björk: Solo albums and acting career: For the ethereal Biophilia (2011), Björk used tablet computers to help her compose songs, which were released, in addition to conventional formats, as a series of interactive iPhone and iPad apps.

biophilia hypothesis: Wilson in his work Biophilia (1984), which proposed that the tendency of humans to focus on and to affiliate with nature and other life-forms has, in part, a genetic basis.

biophilia hypothesis, idea that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life. The term biophilia was used by German-born American psychoanalyst Erich Fromm in The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), which described biophilia as “the passionate love

biophilia hypothesis: Biophilia and technology: Both perspectives were offered in The Biophilia Hypothesis (1993), a work coedited by Wilson and American social ecologist Stephen R. Kellert. Among the collection of views the work presented were those of American biologists Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan and Indian ecologist Madhav Gadgil, who considered the possibility that the…

biophilia hypothesis: The human relationship with nature: …nature comes from studies of biophobia (the fear of nature), in which measurable physiological responses are produced upon exposure to an object that is the source of fear, such as a snake or a spider. These responses are the result of evolution in a world in which humans were constantly…

biophysics, discipline concerned with the application of the principles and methods of physics and the other physical sciences to the solution of biological problems. The relatively recent emergence of biophysics as a scientific discipline may be attributed, in particular, to the spectacular

Vandana Shiva: In her 1997 book, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, she charged that these practices were tantamount to biological theft. Shiva expounded upon her ideas on corporate trade agreements, the exponential decrease in the genetic diversity of crops, and patent law in Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the…

bioplastic, moldable plastic material made up of chemical compounds that are derived from or synthesized by microbes such as bacteria or by genetically modified plants. Unlike traditional plastics, which are derived from petroleum, bioplastics are obtained from renewable resources, and some

biopoiesis, a process by which living organisms are thought to develop from nonliving matter, and the basis of a theory on the origin of life on Earth. According to this theory, conditions were such that, at one time in Earth’s history, life was created from nonliving material, probably in the sea,

genetically modified organism: Role of GMOs in environmental management: …microbially produced biodegradable plastic called Biopol (polyhydroxyalkanoate, or PHA). The plastic was made with the use of a GM bacterium, Ralstonia eutropha, to convert glucose and a variety of organic acids into a flexible polymer. GMOs endowed with the bacterially encoded ability to metabolize oil and heavy metals may provide…

bioelectricity: Bioelectric potentials are generated by a variety of biological processes and generally range in strength from one to a few hundred millivolts. In the electric eel, however, currents of one ampere at 600 to 1,000 volts are generated. A brief treatment of bioelectricity follows. For…

universal grammar, theory proposing that humans possess innate faculties related to the acquisition of language. The definition of universal grammar has evolved considerably since first it was postulated and, moreover, since the 1940s, when it became a specific object of modern linguistic research.

biopsy, medical diagnostic procedure in which cells or tissues are removed from a patient and examined visually, usually with a microscope. The material for the biopsy may be obtained by several methods and with various instruments, including aspiration through a needle, swabbing with a sponge,

metabolic disease: Disorders of amino acid metabolism: …result from impaired metabolism of biopterin, an essential cofactor in the phenylalanine hydroxylase reaction, may not consistently respond to therapy.

amphibole: Crystal structure: The term biopyribole has been used to describe any mineral that has both I beams and sheetlike structures. The name comes from biotite (mica), pyroxene, and amphibole. Biopyriboles have chain widths and repeat sequences like pyroxenes (single-chain repeats), amphiboles (double-chain repeats), and triple-chain repeats. The latter are…

hazardous-waste management: Treatment: …case the process is called bioremediation.

gall wasp: Major species: …larvae of the gall wasp Biorhiza pallida. About 30 such larvae may develop in a single “apple,” or gall.

biological rhythm, periodic biological fluctuation in an organism that corresponds to, and is in response to, periodic environmental change. Examples of such change include cyclical variations in the relative position of Earth to the Sun and to the Moon and in the immediate effects of such

Birr, urban district and market town, County Offaly, Ireland, on the River Camcor. A monastery was founded there by St. Brendan of Birr (died c. 573). In 1620 Birr Castle, the principal stronghold of the O’Carrolls, and the surrounding area were granted to Lawrence Parsons of Leicestershire,

BIOS, computer program that is typically stored in EPROM and used by the CPU to perform start-up procedures when the computer is turned on. Its two major procedures are determining what peripheral devices (keyboard, mouse, disk drives, printers, video cards, etc.) are available and loading the

Biosatellite, any of a series of three U.S. Earth-orbiting scientific satellites designed to study the biological effects of weightlessness (i.e., zero gravity), cosmic radiation, and the absence of the Earth’s 24-hour day-night rhythm on several plants and animals ranging from a variety of

Biosatellite: Biosatellite 1 (launched Dec. 14, 1966) was not recovered because it failed to reenter Earth’s atmosphere. Biosatellite 2 (launched Sept. 7, 1967) was a complete success. It involved an assortment of biological experiments, including one concerned with mutations induced in the offspring of insects exposed…

Biosatellite: Biosatellite 2 (launched Sept. 7, 1967) was a complete success. It involved an assortment of biological experiments, including one concerned with mutations induced in the offspring of insects exposed to ionizing radiation in space. The flight of Biosatellite 3 (launched June 29, 1969), scheduled to…

Biosatellite: The flight of Biosatellite 3 (launched June 29, 1969), scheduled to last 31 days, had to be cut short when the trained pigtail monkey that was aboard became ill.

soil: Organisms: …and fauna is termed a biosequence. To return to the climosequence along the Cascade and Sierra Nevada ranges discussed above, the vegetation observed along this narrow foothill region varies from shrubs in the dry south to needle-leaved trees in the humid north, with extensive grasslands in between. In the middle…

BioShock, computer and console electronic game created by game developer 2k Boston/2k Australia and released in 2007. BioShock impressed critics with its detailed story line and innovative play, which helped earn the game a coveted top-20 slot on GameRankings.com, a Web site that tracks game

community ecology, study of the organization and functioning of communities, which are assemblages of interacting populations of the species living within a particular area or habitat. As populations of species interact with one another, they form biological communities. The number of interacting

biosolids, sewage sludge, the residues remaining from the treatment of sewage. For use as a fertilizer in agricultural applications, biosolids must first be stabilized through processing, such as digestion or the addition of lime, to reduce concentrations of heavy metals and harmful organisms

biosphere, relatively thin life-supporting stratum of Earth’s surface, extending from a few kilometres into the atmosphere to the deep-sea vents of the ocean. The biosphere is a global ecosystem composed of living organisms (biota) and the abiotic (nonliving) factors from which they derive energy

Biosphere 2, scientific research facility located in Oracle, Arizona, U.S., designed to emulate Earth’s environment (Biosphere 1) that was perhaps best known for two missions conducted in the early 1990s in which crews were sealed inside the enclosure to study survivability. The driving force for

biosphere reserve, in general, a discrete parcel of terrestrial, marine, or coastal ecosystems that is managed according to special regulations for the purpose of conserving habitats and biological communities within the context of highlighting how people live in balance with their environment.

life: The biosphere: In The Biosphere (1926) Vernadsky outlines his view of life as a major geological force. Living matter, Vernadsky contends, erodes, levels, transports, and chemically transforms surface rocks, minerals, and other features of Earth. If the biosphere is the place where life is found, the biota (or…

geochronology: Stages and zones: …to develop a number of subdivisions of the Tertiary of the Paris Basin based on the quantification of molluskan species count and duration. Lyell noted that of the various assemblages of marine mollusks found, those from rocks at the top of the succession contained a large number of species that…

bioherm: …not moundlike is called a biostrome. Bioherms and biostromes occur in sedimentary rock strata of all geological ages, providing definitive information on paleoenvironments in the vicinity of their occurrence.

anabolism, the sequences of enzyme-catalyzed reactions by which relatively complex molecules are formed in living cells from nutrients with relatively simple structures. Anabolic processes, which include the synthesis of such cell components as carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids, require energy in

British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the central Indian Ocean, established in 1965. Since 1976 it has been coterminous with the Chagos Archipelago. Lying at the centre of the Indian Ocean region and out of the path of cyclonic storms, the territory is

Jean-Baptiste Biot was a French physicist who helped formulate the Biot-Savart law, which concerns magnetic fields, and laid the basis for saccharimetry, a useful technique of analyzing sugar solutions. Educated at the École Polytechnique, Biot was appointed professor of mathematics at the

Biot-Savart law, in physics, a fundamental quantitative relationship between an electric current I and the magnetic field B it produces, based on the experiments in 1820 of the French scientists Jean-Baptiste Biot and Félix Savart. A current in a loop produces magnetic field lines B that form loops

biogeography: …in the average composition of flora and fauna. It is thought that the present-day distribution patterns of plant and animal forms, as reflected in such biogeographic regions, are the result of many historical and current causes. These causes include present climatic and geographic conditions, the geologic history of the landmasses…

biotechnology, the use of biology to solve problems and make useful products. The most prominent area of biotechnology is the production of therapeutic proteins and other drugs through genetic engineering. People have been harnessing biological processes to improve their quality of life for some