Introduction to Molds

Molds are not plants, they are not plants because they have no chlorophyll, nor do they have leaves, roots, or stems, and they have no firm cellulose based cell wall. Mold cell walls are made of chitin, the same stuff crab and shrimp shells is made of.

Mold is compiled of microscopic thread like structures called hyphae; in fact the root word mould is an old North Western European term possibly a Viking term meaning fuzzy.

Mold is made of microscopic fibers, and it produces microscopic spores, but mold is not microscopic. Like you and me, it starts out as a single microscopic cell, after a while it grows into a visible, fuzzy, smelly, colorful, living mass of fibrous connected cells.

It always amazes me that many mold inspector claim on the internet that mold is microscopic, then two lines later the same mold inspector says it has a fuzzy appearance. If it is microscopic it would not have any appearance because it would be too small to see. If it is microscopic then why do we use terms like green mold, and black mold. If it is microscopic then how do we see it growing on rotten fruit, or on or clothes in moldy closets, or on walls. How does a mold inspector inspect for mold if it is microscopic. Most mold is not microscopic, it is Macroscopic, that means it is big enough to be seen with the necked eye. Do not schedule a mold assessment or testing with the dude that claims we will perform a visual inspection for something that is microscopic.

Molds are found existing everywhere, indoors as well as outdoors. Spores indoors are more hazardous than an outdoor spores, it is not that they are different; it is just that when produced indoors mold spores can become easily concentrated. Also we spend so much time indoors that we are exposed to mold indoors to such a degree that they make us sick. Mold spores indoors are at an elevated health risk to residents or employees in an office. Some of the most common indoor molds are Aspergillus, Alternaria, Cladosporium, Chaetomium, Fusarium, Penicillium, and Stachybotrys. As mold spores are perilous to health, even the dead or dormant (stationary while waiting for surplus moisture to continue growth) molds are perilous, such that even getting a whiff of dead or dormant molds can make mold-sensitive people ill. Some people are very sensitive to mold, others are not as sensitive, and as such there are no government set exposure limits to mold.

Customarily, it is observed that mold infestation is regarded to be advancing if indoor mold samples exhibit higher spore counts than outdoor levels during testing. Pregnant ladies, infants, the unborn babies in the mother's womb, elders, and especially people with allergies, asthma, and immune system defects are at greater risk from mold. If you fit the above category or if you are a human and expect a problem call a mold inspector for testing and inspection of your property.

Mold spores do not reproduce or grow in a deficiency of moisture. So, indoor mold growth can be prevented by controlling indoor moisture and humidity. If organic materials stay moist or damp for more than 24 to 48 hours they may become moldy but in the real world it sometimes takes a week or so. It is highly impossible to remove all the indoor mold spores as they will be present inside the house dust and hovering in the air.

Mold growth is a result of negligence in maintenance. This negligence permits moisture to enter the building, making it a toxic mold building or house. The house owner or employer must fix this water problem that facilitates mold growth. Effective measures to kill the mold with home remedy or treating it by cleaning and mold home remedy recipes should not be tried in most cases. First the owner must fix all the water problem areas such as roof or plumbing leakage. Next it is recommended to call a certified mold inspection firm who will send out a mold inspector to detect and diagnose the mold infestation quandary and provide clear written explanations and recommendations regarding your mold condition.

An Accredited mold inspection service, Inc is dedicated to understanding the root causes of toxic black mold and IAQ or indoor air quality problems. Our qualified testing firm services West Palm Beach, Ft Lauderdale, and Miami. If you are looking for more information on mold and IAQ issues, or need to find a mold inspector in your area, click on the links.

E2macpets
Ball Python Supplies
E2macpets
Tortoise Supplies
Pet Reptile Supplies
Best New Cell Phones
Bluetooth Accessories
Cell Phone And Pda Accessories
Cell Phones And Smartphones
Pdas And Pocket Pcs
Phone And Sim Cards

Frogs and Salamanders are Amphibians

Not many people know that the common garden frogs and toads come under special category called amphibians. They are called amphibians because they can live both on ground and inside water. They have a special set of lungs that assist respiration irrespective of the location of the animal. The term amphibian is so commonly used these days that any thing that relates to dual life inside water and on ground is referred to as amphibious. They are also called amphibians because there is involvement of water at one particular level in the life cycle of the animal. Let us examine these amphibians one by one.

The amphibians include the general garden frog, salamander, giant salamander, newt, Caecilians, South African Ghost frog, Dancing frog, Bull Frog, Dart Frog, Tree Frog and Gardenia Seychelles. All these animals lead a dual life. They spend more or less equal amount of their life cycle on water and land. For instance, it has been found that amphibians find it extremely difficult to survive in the absence of water. Even, the common garden frog is found in places where there is a lot of moisture. You can even find the garden frogs inside the water tank or fountain in the park or house garden. The frogs are fond of water for several reasons. Whenever they mate, the breeding takes place inside water. The frogs need water as the medium to lay their eggs. The initial phase of the newly born tad poles also known as younglings of frogs need water to sustain a living. These tadpoles contain a special set of gills using which they breathe while in water. Interestingly if the tadpoles are taken out of the water, they will not survive for long. Such is the bonding between the frog's life cycle and water.

After spending a larger part of their life inside water, the tadpoles transform into frogs. During this transformational period, these tad poles rely extensively on water for their food. They feed on a lot of microbial animals called planktons. It is said that a garden water tank is always clean in the presence of frogs. In the absence of water, frogs find it extremely difficult to breed. Some tree frogs, which live inside the jungles with little or no flowing water, have found an innovative way to breed. These frogs rely on the flower dew and tree sap for breeding. For instance, the frogs lay the eggs inside the dew collected flower in which the tadpoles become active once the egg hatches. The tad poles have very little space to move around. However, they continue to survive in such as small space. Unlike garden frogs, which lay eggs in thousands, the tree frogs lay only a few eggs. Since the absence of the ecosystem for breeding is poor when compared to that of the garden frog, the number of eggs laid is less.

Newts are some times tadpoles that fail to grow into the full size of a frog. Such conditions are very normal in the amphibian world. The limbless amphibians are also found in the fresh water.

Article written by Cassaundra Flores, owner of skyfireproducts.com

E2macpets
Ball Python Supplies
E2macpets
Tortoise Supplies
Pet Reptile Supplies
Best New Cell Phones
Bluetooth Accessories
Cell Phone And Pda Accessories
Cell Phones And Smartphones
Pdas And Pocket Pcs
Phone And Sim Cards

Science Project Ideas

Science Project Ideas are sometimes hard to come by. When your child comes home from school usually in January or February and says, hey Mom and Dad my teacher sent home this note that we have a science project due in three weeks. Here are the details of what we need to do and here is a project board.

You suddenly feel overwhelmed. You were just getting back on track from the Holidays and are dealing with beginning of the year issues like tax preparation and finalizing out end of year work issues. Now you have to help your child find a science project that is interesting enough, creative and unusual, but yet unique enough so that it will not be like the other students science projects at school.

Also children have a tendency to rely on their parents to help prepare much of the project. No matter how much we try we have to help in some capacity.

Here is a science project idea that is simple and easy and that you child can do himself or herself. Depending on the age of your child you will need to supervise them because it uses matches which will need to be lit and batteries.

This science project will also be a great demonstration at a science fair where students need to present their idea and information about why it works.

For this science project idea you will need only three things.

A glass

Matches

2 AA Batteries

You are going to tell everyone that water will burn.

Fill the glass with water.

Drop the batteries in the water and leave them in the water for 30-40 minutes.

Remove the batteries.

Now light a match and hold over the water. The water should ignite and burn inside the glass.

Why does the water light and burn? Did the batteries leak or what energy is been put into the water?

Make sure your child researches those questions above to find the answers. I know you probably want the answers but we provide science project ideas. The kids still need to research why something works the way it does. That is why we make them do a science project so they can research and learn.

Get more science project ideas and science projects for your next assignment.

Lesa Bolt is a contributor to http://scienceprojects.fetching.us

E2macpets
Ball Python Supplies
E2macpets
Tortoise Supplies
Pet Reptile Supplies
Best New Cell Phones
Bluetooth Accessories
Cell Phone And Pda Accessories
Cell Phones And Smartphones
Pdas And Pocket Pcs
Phone And Sim Cards

The Dinosaur That Never Went Extinct

The tuatara (Sphendon punctatus) is a spectacular reptile that only lives in New Zealand. Often called the living dinosaur, the tuatara has resisted both extinction and change. The tuatara is the only survivor of the reptilian order Sphehodontia. Evolutionary biologists believe that it lived together with early dinosaurs in the Upper Triassic some 200 million years ago.

Recently, researchers found an interesting detail about the tuatara. David Lambert and his colleagues at the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution analysed DNA sequences they found in the bones of tuatara estimated to be 8000 years old.

They published their findings in the journal Trends in Genetics. As reported by EurekAlert and LiveScience, their discoveries were astounding: they found that the tuatara is the fastest evolving animal. "What we found was that the tuatara has the highest molecular evolutionary rate anyone has measured," professor Lambert says according to EurekAlert. Lambert's study suggests that the tuatara has been evolving faster that animals like the cave bear, lion, ox or horse.

So how can an animal that has shown no signs of change for aeons be changing faster than many others? Professor Lambert says, "the rate of molecular evolution was uncoupled from the rate of morphological evolution." In other words, inner change or change at the molecular level does not correspond to what we see on the outside.

Yet evolutionary theory predicted that slow change or no change would have corresponded to slow change or no change at the molecular level. Far from supporting the neo-Darwinian theory of molecules-to-man evolution, the "living dinosaur" shows that there are grave problems with the view.

Like other living fossils such as the crocodile, army ant, cockroach, Coelacanth and horseshoe crab, the tuatara is evidence for resistance to the type of change that Darwinian evolution desperately needs.

Some animal species have a history of incredible change. The dog (Canis lupus familiaris), which according to Linnean classification belongs to the same species as the gray wolf (Canis lupus), is capable of an enormous amount of variety, brought about by artificial selection. But this is not the kind of change that evolution in its neo-Darwinian sense requires.

And neither is the variety evident in the DNA of a reptile that has resisted change for a very long time.

Joel Kontinen is a translator and novelist currently living in Finland. His background includes an MA in translation studies and a BA in Bible and Theology. He likes to keep up-to-date on science news and often comments on creation/evolution and origins issues.

Blog: http://joelkontinen.blogspot.com/

E2macpets
Ball Python Supplies
E2macpets
Tortoise Supplies
Pet Reptile Supplies
Best New Cell Phones
Bluetooth Accessories
Cell Phone And Pda Accessories
Cell Phones And Smartphones
Pdas And Pocket Pcs
Phone And Sim Cards