Lecture Notes Review: Weird Biology of Naked Mole-Rats, Scientific Method, and Chemistry of Life

Vocabulary flashcards generated directly from lecture notes covering Naked Mole-Rat biology, scientific methods, scientific reasoning, chemical bonding, and biological macromolecules.

Naked Mole-Rat

A burrowing rodent native to Eastern Africa that lives in colonies like termites; it is the only known wild mammal without regular sleep-wake cycles and the only known cold-blooded mammal.

Naked Mole-Rat Colony Size

Naked mole-rat colonies have an average of $80$ individuals, with a maximum recorded colony size of $300$.

Naked Mole-Rat Queen

The only female in a naked mole-rat colony that nurses offspring; her spine grows longer when she becomes queen, and females will kill each other to attain this role.

Naked Mole-Rat Reproduction

Naked mole-rats have an average litter size of $11$ pups, with a maximum recorded litter of $28$.

Science

The body of knowledge about the natural world.

Biology

The study of living organisms, derived from the prefix "bio-" meaning life and the suffix "-ology" meaning the study of or branch of knowledge about.

Supernatural

Phenomena or entities that are not constrained by the laws of nature.

Scientific Theory

A body of scientifically accepted general principles that explain natural phenomena and can explain a large number of observations.

Microorganisms

Organisms that are too small to be seen with the naked eye.

Hypothesis

A proposed explanation for an observation or how a thing works.

Falsifiable

A characteristic of a scientific statement or hypothesis indicating that it must be capable of being proven false.

Testable

A characteristic of a statement indicating it can be evaluated through measurements of the known universe.

Deductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking that reasons out conclusions by working from facts and testing specific predictions of a hypothesis.

Inductive Reasoning

A form of logical thinking that relies on deriving general principles or conclusions from specific individual observations.

Double-Masked Experiment

An experimental setup in which neither the participants nor the technicians collecting data know which individuals are in the experimental group versus the control group.

Correlation

A relationship between two factors, such as outside temperature and the number of people with colds in a population.

Primary Source

Original reports of scientific results published directly in peer-reviewed journals.

Dependent Variable

The variable measured in an experiment to observe the effect of changing the independent variable.

Independent Variable

The variable that is changed or manipulated by the experimenter.

Cognitive Bias

A systematic error in thinking; being aware of cognitive biases is the first step to avoiding them.

Anthropomorphism

The cognitive bias of attributing human characteristics, emotions, or motivations to animals or inanimate objects.

Recency Bias

The tendency to place greater importance on the most recent events or information encountered, causing earlier information to be underweighted.

Pseudoscience

Weakly supported assertions of scientific evidence that lack rigorous backing.

Homeostasis

The steady-state condition that a living organism actively works to maintain.

Metabolism

All of the chemical processes that occur within living cells.

Element

A fundamental substance that cannot be broken down into any other substance.

Protons

Positively charged subatomic particles found within atoms.

Electrons

Negatively charged subatomic particles that equal the number of protons in a neutral atom.

Neutrons

Neutral (uncharged) subatomic particles found within atoms.

Ion

An atom that carries an electric charge.

Molecule

A structure consisting of two or more atoms bonded together.

Solute

A substance that is dissolved in a solution.

Electronegative Atom

An atom that strongly pulls shared electrons towards itself, producing partial electric charges.

Hydrophilic

Polar molecules that are "water-loving" and readily dissolve in water.

Hydrophobic

Non-polar molecules that fear water and tend not to dissolve in it.

Covalent Bond

A type of chemical bond formed when atoms share electrons.

Ionic Bond

A type of chemical bond involving the transfer of electrons from one atom to another.

Carbohydrates

Organic molecules composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen that serve as a major energy source for living organisms.

Glucose

A monosaccharide sugar with the chemical formula $C_6H_{12}O_6$.

Polysaccharides

Complex carbohydrates formed by long chains (polymers) of sugar monomers, such as starch.

Dehydration Synthesis

The chemical process that combines monosaccharides together into complex carbohydrates.

Hydrolysis

A chemical reaction process used to break down disaccharides into simpler sugar units.

Fats

A type of lipid composed of a three-carbon glycerol skeleton attached to three hydrocarbon-rich fatty acid tails.

Steroids

A type of lipid composed of four fused carbon-containing rings.

Phospholipids

Lipids composed of a three-carbon skeleton attached to two hydrocarbon fatty acid tails and a phosphate group.

Proteins

Essential macromolecules composed of amino acid subunits; an example is hemoglobin.

Nucleic Acids

Biological macromolecules composed of long chains of nucleotide monomers.

Nucleotide

The monomer subunit of nucleic acids, consisting of a sugar, a phosphate group, and a nitrogen-containing base.

Prokaryotes

Structurally simple, single-celled organisms lacking a nucleus, such as bacteria; they represent the earliest cells on Earth.

Natural Selection

A primary evolutionary process where environmental pressures select for organisms that are best fitted to their particular environment.