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• DNA damage detectionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigDNA damage detection
  
  It's estimated that the DNA of a mammalian cell is severely damaged several thousand times per day. In order to preserve the integrity of the genome, cells need to be able to accurately and rapidly detect when damage has occurred. How this is achieved is currently unknown.
• Polymer crystallizationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigPolymer crystallization
  
  It's been known since the 1930s that polymers (plastics etc) are not entirely random amorphous molecular chains as was once thought. In ordinary plastics for example, between 10 and 80% of the structure is 'crystalline' - or, in other words, atomically arranged in regular repeating patterns.
• The Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP)plugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP)
  
  The Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP) was first described (and named) in 1958 by professor Jack D. Rogers at the University of California, Berkeley, US.(ref.)
  
  It's an important everyday practical issue for almost any manufacturing company involved in planning what to manufacture, when to manufacture it, and how much to manufacture.
• Multifocal motor neuropathyplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigMultifocal motor neuropathy
  
  "Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) was distinguished from other motor neuropathies in 1986 and has since become a well defined condition due to its distinctive clinical presentation and response to treatment, as well as its characteristic laboratory and electrophysiologic features. It is characterized by slowly progressive, predominantly distal, asymmetric limb weakness and wasting, predominantly in the arms, as well as muscle cramps and fasciculations within an ana…
• Insect flight evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigInsect flight evolution
  
  "Sometime in the Carboniferous Period, some 350 to 400 million years ago, when there were only two major land masses, insects began flying. How and why insect wings developed is not well understood, largely due to the scarcity of appropriate fossils from the period of their development in the Lower Carboniferous."
• Hand and digits evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigHand and digits evolution
  
  "How the hand and digits originated from fish fins during the Devonian fin-to-limb transition remains unsolved. Controversy in this conundrum stems from the scarcity of ontogenetic data from extant lobe-finned fishes."
  
  Source :
• Human Evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigHuman Evolution
  
  "[...] over the past 15 years, almost every part of our story, every assumption about who our ancestors were and where we came from, has been called into question. The new insights have some unsettling implications for how long we have walked the earth, and even who we really are.
• Flowering plants evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigFlowering plants evolution
  
  The evolutionary pathways that produced the flowering plants (the Angiosperms) have been studied for at least 140 years.
  
  The flowering plants appear very suddenly (geologically speaking) in the fossil record, at around 100 million years ago. Before that, all known plants were
• Feather evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigFeather evolution
  
  It has been known since the mid 1800s that many species of dinosaur had 'feathers'. Until the 1970s, it was widely assumed that the evolution of feathers happened concurrently as animals became able to 'glide' or fly.
  
  In the 1970s, fossils of several species of
• Avian flight evolutionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigAvian flight evolution
  
  It's now widely agreed that modern-day birds evolved, during the Mesozoic Era, from dinosaur species which survived the Cretaceous / Tertiary extinction event. (See: Avian K-T survival )
  
  But the question of how and why birds acquired the ability to fly is still being debated.
• Cell sizeplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCell size
  
  A detailed explanation of the factors which regulate cell size (i.e. the size to which cells grow) has not yet been found. Since (most) cells stop growing when they reach a specific size, it's suggested that there must be some feedback mechanism to restrict growth beyond that point.
• The Nuclear Matrixplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Nuclear Matrix
  
  First described in 1948, the Nuclear Matrix refers to a network of fibres found inside the nucleus of all animal, plant, fungi and bacterial (etc.) cells, It has also been termed the “Nuclear-Scaffold” or "NuMat".
  
  The function of the matrix is disputed. Some theorists suggest that it's an active structure involved in biochemical and genetic transport - as it contains proteins, chaperones, DNA/RNA-binding proteins, chromatin remodeling and transcription factors (Source :
• Golgi Apparatusplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigGolgi Apparatus
  
  The Golgi Apparatus (a.k.a the Golgi Body and Golgi Complex) is an 'oganelle' (small component) found in almost all cells that have a nucleus (i.e. eukaryotic cells).
  
  It packages 'vesicles' (i.e. small packages of protein wrapped in a fatty membrane) and dispatches them to the correct destination within the cell (i.e. outside the nucleus). It is a fundamentally essential part of the 'machinery' of the cell, and therefore of all complex organisms.
• Centrioles (cell biology)plugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCentrioles (cell biology)
  
  Centrioles (a.k.a. Basal bodies) are found in many* cells that have a nucleus. They were discovered when advances in microscopes made it possible to look closely at the inner structure of living cells.
  
  They feature a central cylinder or barrel-like structure, about 450 nm high and 250 nm in diameter, with various 'appendages' attached in a nine-fold symmetrical pattern. It's known that the structure features more than 100 different proteins.
• Cellular vaultsplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCellular vaults
  
  Vaults are microscopic structures found in nearly all cells which have a nucleus. They were first seen in 1986 using electron microscope 'negative staining' techniques.(ref.)
  
  They are highly regular in structure, made of specialsed proteins, and with a strict 36-fold symmetry (

• DNA damage detectionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigDNA damage detection
  
  It's estimated that the DNA of a mammalian cell is severely damaged several thousand times per day. In order to preserve the integrity of the genome, cells need to be able to accurately and rapidly detect when damage has occurred. How this is achieved is currently unknown.
• Polymer crystallizationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigPolymer crystallization
  
  It's been known since the 1930s that polymers (plastics etc) are not entirely random amorphous molecular chains as was once thought. In ordinary plastics for example, between 10 and 80% of the structure is 'crystalline' - or, in other words, atomically arranged in regular repeating patterns.
• Multifocal motor neuropathyplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigMultifocal motor neuropathy
  
  "Multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) was distinguished from other motor neuropathies in 1986 and has since become a well defined condition due to its distinctive clinical presentation and response to treatment, as well as its characteristic laboratory and electrophysiologic features. It is characterized by slowly progressive, predominantly distal, asymmetric limb weakness and wasting, predominantly in the arms, as well as muscle cramps and fasciculations within an ana…
• The Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP)plugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP)
  
  The Economic Lot Scheduling Problem (ELSP) was first described (and named) in 1958 by professor Jack D. Rogers at the University of California, Berkeley, US.(ref.)
  
  It's an important everyday practical issue for almost any manufacturing company involved in planning what to manufacture, when to manufacture it, and how much to manufacture.
• The Beeswax wreckplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigThe Beeswax wreck
  
  The beeswax wreck is an as-yet-undiscovered shipwreck which is believed to be located somewhere off the coast of the U.S. state of Oregon, near the mouth of the Nehalem River in Tillamook County. The ship, thought to be a Spanish Manila galleon that was wrecked in the late 1600s, was evidently carrying a large cargo of beeswax, lumps of which have been found scattered along Oregon's north coast for at least two centuries.
• 'Borg' DNAplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_big'Borg' DNA
  
  'Borgs' are newly discovered (2021) large functional DNA sequences found in the cell nucleus, but outside the chromosomes.
  
  They have been found, in abundance, in some species of the micro-organisms Archaea - in particular, ones which can oxidise and remove methane from the environment. On a global scale, the activities of these organisms are crucial for controlling methane levels (methane being a naturally occurring and powerful 'Greenhouse Gas').
• Nematocytes mechanismsplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigNematocytes mechanisms
  
  Nematocytes (a.k.a nematocysts, cnidocysts or cnidae) are the stinging cells found in jellyfish, hydra, sea anemones &etc.
  
  "Though an enormous amount of work has been done on nematocysts, the problem of how they are discharged remains unsolved. There are really two separate problems. First, what is the natural stimulus which excites the cnidoblast; second, what is the physical mechanism by which the nematocyst itself discharges? There is more work on the mechanics of di…
• Cushing's diseaseplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCushing's disease
  
  Cushing's disease, (a.k.a Cushing's syndrome and hypercortisolism ) is a rare, life-threatening, hormonal imbalance disorder.
  
  "Cushing's syndrome, also called hypercortisolism, is a rare endocrine disorder caused by chronic exposure of the body's tissues to excess levels of cortisol - a hormone naturally produced by the adrenal gland. Exposure to too much cortisol can occur from long-term use of synthetic glucocorticoid hormones to treat inflammatory illnesses. Pituitary ade…
• Hadamard conjectureplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigHadamard conjecture
  
  "A Hadamard matrix is a type of square (-1,1)-matrix invented by Sylvester (1867) under the name of anallagmatic pavement, 26 years before Hadamard (1893) considered them. In a Hadamard matrix, placing any two columns or rows side by side gives half the adjacent cells the same sign and half the other sign. When viewed as pavements, cells with 1s are colored black and those with
• Cluster headacheplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCluster headache
  
  "Cluster headache (CH) always involves pain that is one sided (although it can switch sides) and the main defining feature is the association with one or more of the 'cranial autonomic' features normally described as follows: • Reddening and tearing of the eye • A runny or blocked nostril • Droopy eyelid • Constriction of the pupil • Flushing and facial sweating
• Auction optimizationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigAuction optimization
  
  "A major difficulty in designing auctions is that valuations are private and bidders need to be incentivized to report their valuations truthfully. The goal is to learn an incentive compatible auction that maximizes revenue. In a seminal piece of work, Myerson resolved the optimal auction design problem when there is a
• Tobacco smoking and Parkinson's diseaseplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigTobacco smoking and Parkinson's disease
  
  Beginning in the early 2000s, the results of various studies which examined lifestyle choices as possible factors in the development of Parkinson's disease (PD) began suggesting a strong link with long-term smoking.
  
  A 2016 'review study' which compiled and compared results from groups of earlier research papers, was published in
• Musical pitch perceptionplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigMusical pitch perception
  
  "Pitch is a perceptual property of sounds that allows their ordering on a frequency-related scale, or more commonly, pitch is the quality that makes it possible to judge sounds as 'higher' and 'lower' in the sense associated with musical melodies. Pitch can be determined only in sounds that have a frequency that is clear and stable enough to distinguish from noise."
• Firefly light display synchronyplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigFirefly light display synchrony
  
  There are many documented accounts (including video footage) of large groups of 'Fireflies' (typically beetles of the Lampyridae family) flashing their bio-luminescent lights in a synchronised display.
  
  It's not known why they have developed the synchronised displays, and recent research is suggesting that the methods used to synchronise are less straightforward than was previously assumed.
• Water - its originplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigWater - its origin
  
  One obvious difference between Earth and other planets in the Solar System is that it's 70% covered in liquid water. There are at least five major (and very different) theories proposing the origins of such a large volume of water (estimated at around 1.3 billion cubic kilometres).