The solar system took shape 4.57 billion years ago, when it condensed within a large cloud of gas and dust. Gravitational attraction holds the planets in their elliptical orbits around the Sun. In addition to Earth, five major planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) have been known from ancient times. Since then…
A central undertaking in astronomy is the determination of distances. Without a knowledge of astronomical distances, the size of an observed object in space would remain nothing more than an angular diameter and the brightness of a star could not be converted…
Since the late 19th century, astronomy has expanded to include astrophysics, the application of physical and chemical knowledge to an understanding of the nature of celestial objects and the physical processes that control their formation, evolution, and emission of radiation. In addition, the gases and dust particles around…
Astronomy, science that encompasses the study of all extraterrestrial objects and phenomena. Until the invention of the telescope and the discovery of the laws of motion and gravity in the 17th century, astronomy was primarily concerned with noting and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, originally for calendrical and astrological purposes and later for navigational uses…
Virology Definition “Virology is the branch of science that deals with the study of viruses.” What is Virology? Virology is the branch of microbiology which mainly deals with a study of various types of viruses, including their characteristics, agents, submicroscopic,…
Table of Contents What is a Virus? Viruses are non-cellular, microscopic infectious agents that can only replicate inside a host cell. From a biological perspective, viruses cannot be classified either a living organism or non-living. A virus can be an…
One of the very first organisms to evolve on earth was probably a unicellular organism, similar to modern bacteria. Ever since then, life has evolved into a multitude of life forms over many millennia. However, we can still trace our…
Archaea and Bacteria are two kinds of microorganisms that fall under the category of prokaryotes. Earlier, archaea were classified as bacteria, but now it is outdated as it has been found that they both have different biochemistry and different evolutionary…
Biotechnology is a broad field that deals with the exploitation of living organisms to develop products beneficial for sustainable development. It harnesses cellular and molecular processes to develop products and technologies that could help in improving human life on earth. It…
Biotechnology is an emerging field of research as it has the potential to solve many biological problems which have not been solved until now with the conventional techniques. Biotechnology extends its applications over a broad spectrum which includes medicines, agriculture,…