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Mechanical engineering involves the study of motion, energy, and force, and is concerned with designing, manufacturing, and maintaining mechanical systems. One important concept in this field is the couple moment, produced by two equal and opposite forces acting at two points in a rigid body separated by a certain distance.
When the rigid body undergoes a differential displacement due to a couple, its motion can be divided into two parts: equal translation of the two points to their final...

Overview

Cyclic Behavior Cyclic behaviors are patterns of behavior that repeat in a regular cycle. These behaviors help animals survive by keeping them in sync with nature’s rhythms. For example, animals might sleep at night and be active during the day (circadian rhythms), or migrate and hibernate based on the seasons.Studying cyclic behavior helps us understand how animals know when to eat, sleep, migrate, or reproduce, all without being taught!Science and Engineering Practices (SEP): Analyzing and...

PhotoperiodismHave you ever noticed that some flowers only bloom in spring or that certain plants lose their leaves as the days get shorter? That’s because of something called photoperiodism! Photoperiodism is how plants respond to the length of day and night. Plants don’t just need sunlight, they also pay attention to how much light they get each day. Some need long days to bloom, others need short days, and some don’t mind either way! Learning about photoperiodism helps us understand...

Information is everywhere and its presentation—such as how and when items are presented—can impact our perceptions and decisions surrounding the info. This broad concept umbrellas framing effects—influences that occur due to the way information is framed in its appearance, whether it’s purely the order or the specific wording of a message. Let’s take a look at numerous ways in which two versions of something can objectively say the same thing, yet we respond in...

The biological clock is involved in many aspects of regulating complex physiology in all animals. It was in 1935 when German zoologists, Hans Kalmus and Erwin Bünning, discovered the existence of circadian rhythm in Drosophila melanogaster. However, the internal molecular mechanisms behind the circadian clock remained a mystery until 1984, when Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash, and Michael W. Young discovered the expression of the Per gene oscillating over a 24-hour cycle. In subsequent...