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Welcome to blobs.org - science put simply (and with lots of friendly blobs!). For user-friendly scientific explanations, you've come to the right place. Ranging from DNA to the heart, there is a wealth of resources from which to choose, and all in an accessible format designed to cater as far as possible to the most inexperienced of users.

Science?

Sitting in the classroom day-after-day failing to understand a thing the teacher's talking about? Or perhaps entertaining a desire to develop what you learnt at school? It's annoying when scientific subjects just don't make sense. Sometimes it's because there's too many long words; other times there aren't enough clear pictures.

This website tries to solve those two difficulties, integrating colourful illustrations with a friendly tone to make science accessible and understandable. With heavily linked articles to draw the reader to other areas, blobs.org is hopefully very helpful!


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Below is a list of all articles and questions answered on blobs.org:

12-Lead ECGs - What is a 12 lead ECG?; Which parts of the heart do the leads look at?; What are the posterior leads?;
Acids and Bases - What is an acid?; What is a base?; What is a conjugate acid-base pair?; What is Ka?; What is the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation?; What is Kw?; What is pH?; What is pKa?; What is a buffer?;
Acquired Immunity - What is acquired immunity?; What is an antigen?; What is the major histocompatibility complex (MHC)?; What is an antigen presenting cell?; How does the body respond to a foreign antigen for the first time?; How does the body respond to a foreign antigen from then on?;
Amino Acids and Proteins - What are amino acids?; What is an alpha helix?; What is a protein?; What is a beta-pleated sheet?; What are tertiary (3°) and quaternary (4°) structures?; What is super-secondary structure?;
Anatomy - What is anatomy?; What is coronal?; What is sagittal?; What is transverse?; What is oblique?; What are anterior and posterior?; What are superior and inferior?; What is the midline?; What are medial and lateral?; What are flexion and extension?; What are abduction and adduction?; What is ipsilateral?; What is contralateral?; What are proximal and distal?;
Anion Gap and Osmotic Gap - What is an anion gap?; How do you calculate the anion gap?; What is an osmotic gap?; How do you calculate the osmotic gap?; How do you interpret an anion gap?;
Antibodies - What is an antibody?; What do antibodies do?; What are antibody isotypes?;
Apex beat - What is the apex beat?; What is the apex beat character?;
Atoms - What is an atom?; What is an electron shell?; What is a sublevel?;
Baroreceptor reflex - What are baroreceptors?; What is the baroreceptor reflex?; How do baroreceptors work?;
Blood - What is blood?; What are red blood cells?; The life of a cell; What is oxygenated blood?; What are platelets?; How does blood clot?;
Blood Gas Interpretation - How do you interpret a blood gas result?; What is acidosis?; What is alkalosis?; What is respiratory acidosis?; What is respiratory alkalosis?; What are respiratory and metabolic compensation?; What is metabolic acidosis?; What is metabolic alkalosis?; What is mixed acidosis or alkalosis?;
Blood Gas Sampling - What is an arterial blood gas (ABG)?; What is blood pH?; What is pO2?; What is pCO2?; What is bicarbonate?; What is the base excess (BE)?; What other types of blood gas sampling are there?; What is lactate?; What is oxygen saturation?;
Blood Vessels - What are blood vessels?; What is an artery?; What is a vein?; What are arterioles and venules?; What is a capillary?;
Blood acidity - What is the pH of blood?; What is the carbonic acid equilibrium?; How is the pH of blood calculated?;
Blood pressure - What is blood pressure?; What are vasoconstriction and vasodilatation?; How is blood pressure normally controlled?; How is blood pressure measured?; What are Korotkoff sounds?;
Bonds - What is a chemical bond?; What types of chemical bond are there?; What is a covalent bond?; What is an ionic bond?; What is a hydrogen bond?; What is electronegativity?; What is a peptide bond?;
Cartilage - What is cartilage?; What is hyaline cartilage?; What is fibrocartilage?; What is elastic cartilage?; What is a chondrocyte?;
Cell access - What are ion channels?; What is exocytosis?; How do things get into cells?; What is endocytosis?; What are transporters?; What is facilitated diffusion?; What is active transport?; What is secondary active transport?; What is a co-transporter?;
Charge - What is (electrical) charge?; What are positive, negative and neutral?; What is polarity?;
Clinical Examination - What is a clinical examination?; What is a differential diagnosis?; What is inspection?; What is palpation?; What is percussion?; What is auscultation?; What is a stethoscope?;
Collagen - What is collagen?; What types of collagen are there?;
Complement - What is complement?; What is the classical pathway?; What is the membrane attack complex?; What is Mannan-Binding Lectin pathway?; What is the alternate complement pathway?; What else does complement do?;
Concentration and Pressure - What is concentration?; What is pressure?; What is partial pressure?; What is a molar fraction?;
Cookies - How does blobs.org use cookies?; Why do people dislike cookies?; What are cookies?;
DNA - What is DNA?; How does DNA fit together?; How does DNA replicate?; What is RNA?; What is transcription?; What are 5' (5 prime) and 3' (3 prime)?; What is a right-handed helix?;
Death certificates - What is a death certificate?; How do you fill in a death certificate?; When does a case need to be reported to a coroner?;
Diffusion and Osmosis - What is diffusion?; What is osmosis?;
ECG interpretation - How do you interpret an ECG?; What is the rate?; What is the rhythm?; What is the cardiac axis?; What is the P wave?; What is the PR interval?; What is the QRS complex?; What is the ST segment?; What is the T wave?; What is the QT interval?;
Enzymes - What is an enzyme?; What is a substrate?; What is an active site?; How does temperature affect the activity of an enzyme?; How does substrate concentration affect the activity of an enzyme?; How does enzyme concentration affect the activity of an enzyme?; How does pH affect the activity of an enzyme?; What else affects the activity of an enzyme?; What is an inhibitor?; What is allosteric regulation?;
Equilibria - What is an equilibrium?; What is an equilibrium constant?;
Examining the abdomen - How do you examine the abdomen?;
Examining the cardiovascular system - How do you examine the cardiovascular system?;
Fatty Acid Metabolism - What is fatty acid metablism?;
G-proteins - What is a G-protein coupled receptor?; What is a G-protein?;
Genes and Nucleotides - What is a gene?; What is a nucleotide?; What is a nitrogenous organic base?; What is a purine?; What is a pyrimidine?; What is adenine?; What is cytosine?; What is guanine?; What is thymine?; What is uracil?; What is a base pair?;
Glycolysis - What is glycolysis?;
Haemoglobin - What is haemoglobin?; What else binds to haemoglobin?; What other forms of haemoglobin are there?; What is the oxygen-haemoglobin dissociation curve?; What are the Bohr and Haldane effects?;
Heart Valves - What are heart valves?; What is the mitral valve?; What is the aortic valve?; What is the tricuspid valve?; What is the pulmonary valve?; What is mitral stenosis?; What is mitral regurgitation?; What is aortic stenosis?; What is aortic regurgitation?; What is a (heart) murmur?; What is a valve cusp?;
Heart sounds - What are heart sounds?; What is S1?; What is S2?; What are added sounds?;
Hormones - What are hormones?; What is the endocrine system?; What types of hormones are there?;
Hydrolysis of ATP - How does the hydrolysis of ATP release so much energy?;
Hydrophobia and Hydrophilia - What is hydrophobic?; What is hydrophilic?;
Ions - What is an ion?; What is a cation?; What is an anion?;
Joints - What is a joint?; What is a fibrous joint?; What is a cartilaginous joint?; What is a synovial joint?;
Kidney Function - How does filtration occur in the kidney?; How does the kidney control concentrations of electrolytes and other solutes?; How does the kidney control acidity?; How does anti-diuretic hormone (ADH) work?; What is kidney function?;
Kidney function tests - What are U&Es?; What is urea?; What is creatinine?; What causes urea to change?; What causes creatinine to change?; What other tests of kidney function are there?; Why are U&Es a good measurement of kidney function?; What are GFR and eGFR?; Why does pH affect urea production?;
Kidneys - What are kidneys?; How do kidneys filter?; What is the anatomy of the kidney?; What is the structure of the kidney?; What do kidneys produce?;
Liver - What is the liver?; What is the anatomy of the liver?; How does the liver clean the blood?; What is the structure of the liver?; What does the liver produce?; What else does the liver do?;
Logarithms - What is a logarithm?; Logs Law of Addition; Logs Law of Subtraction; Logs Law of Powers; Logs Law of 1; Logs Law of 0; Logs Law of Changing Base;
Lymphocytes - What is a lymphocyte?; What is a T cell?; What is a B cell?; What is a Natural Killer Cell?;
Mass, Volume and Density - What is density?; What is mass?; What is volume?; What is the difference between mass and weight?;
Membranes - What is a membrane?; What is a phospholipid?; What is the resting membrane potential?; What is the sodium-potassium pump?; What is an action potential?;
Metabolism - What is metabolism?; What is ATP?; What is CoA?; What is NAD+?; What is FAD?;
Moles and Molarity - What is a mole?; What is molarity?; What is the ideal gas equation?;
Muscle - What is a muscle?; What types of muscle are there?; What is skeletal muscle?; What is a skeletal muscle cell?; How do muscles contract?; How are myofibrils arranged?; What is the sarcoplasmic reticulum?; What is the crossbridge cycle?; How do muscles grow?;
Muscle terms - What is a tendon?; What are pennate muscles?; What are parallel and converging fibres?; What are the origin and insertion of a muscle?; What is an agonist muscle?; What is an antagonist muscle?; What is a fixator?; What is a synergist?; What is a ligament?;
Nerve Cells & Synapses - What is a nerve cell?; What is ACh?; How do nerves work?; What is a synapse?; What is the NAChR?; What is AChE?; How is an AP signalled?;
Organelles - What is an organelle?; What is the endoplasmic reticulum?; What is the Golgi apparatus?; What is a vesicle?; What is a ribosome?; What other organelles are there?; What is the cytoplasm?;
Osmotic pressure - What is osmolarity?; What is oncotic pressure?; What affects plasma osmolarity?; What affects plasma oncotic pressure?; Why are osmolarity and oncotic pressure important?; What is osmotic pressure?; What is osmolality?; What is osmotically active?; What is an osmole?;
Oxidative Phosphorylation - What is oxidative phosphorylation?; What is a mitochondrion?; What is CoQ?; What is the electron transport chain?;
Rates of Reaction - What is the rate of a reaction?; How does temperature affect the rate of a reaction?; What is the rate equation?; What is a catalyst?; How do concentration and pressure affect the rate of a reaction?;
Receptors - What are receptors?; What is affinity?; What is efficacy?; What is an agonist?; What is an antagonist?;
Renin-Angiotensin System - What is renin?; What is angiotensin?; What is angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE)?; What is aldosterone?; How do drugs affect the renin-angiotensin system?; What is the renin-angiotensin system?; Why does the juxtaglomerular apparatus stop secreting renin?;
Signs in the hands - What is clubbing?; What are splinter haemorrhages?; What is peripheral cyanosis?; What are Osler's nodes and Janeway lesions?; What is capillary nailbed pulsation?;
Solutions - What is a solution?; What is a solute?; What is a solvent?; What is dissolving?;
Subatomic Particles - What is a subatomic particle?; What is a proton?; What is an electron?; What is a neutron?;
Superantigens - What is a superantigen?; How do superantigens work?; What do superantigens do?;
The Abdomen - What is the abdomen?; What is the portal circulation?; What are the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall?; How is the abdomen distinguished?;
The Aorta - What is the aorta?; What are the diseases of the aorta?; What is the anatomy of the aorta?;
The Cell - What is a cell?; What is a prokaryote?; What is a eukaryote?;
The Heart - What is the circulatory system?; What is the heart?; How is blood pumped through the heart?; What is the cardiac cycle?; What is systole?; What is diastole?;
The JVP - What is the jugular venous pressure (JVP)?; What is the JVP waveform?; What is an abnormal JVP waveform?;
The Lungs - What are the lungs?; What is the diaphragm?; What are the airways of the lungs?; What are alveoli?; What is gas exchange?;
The Nervous System - What is the nervous system?; What is the central nervous system?; What is the peripheral nervous system?; What is the somatic nervous system?; What is the autonomic nervous system?; What is the sympathetic nervous system?; What is the parasympathetic nervous system?; What is an afferent nerve?; What is an efferent nerve?;
The Nucleus - What is the nucleus?; What are heterochromatin and euchromatin?; What is a nuclear pore?;
The Pulse - What is the pulse?; What is the pulse character?;
The TCA Cycle - What is the TCA cycle?;
The Thorax - What is the thorax?; What is an intercostal space?; What is the rib cage?;
The Upper Limb - What is the upper limb?; What is the clavicle?; What is the scapula?; What is the gleno-humeral joint?; What are the rotator cuff muscles?;
The electrocardiogram (ECG) - What is the conducting system of the heart?; What is the cardiac action potential?; What is the sino-atrial node?; What is the electrocardiogram (or ECG)?;
Thermodynamics - What are thermodynamics?; What is enthalpy?; What is entropy?; What is free energy?;
Tissues and organs - What is a tissue?; What is an organ?; What is an organ system?;
Toll-like Receptors - What are Toll-like receptors?; How do Toll-like receptors work?;
Translation - What is translation?;
Types of RNA - What is messenger RNA?; What is transfer RNA?; What is ribosomal RNA?;
White Blood Cells - What are white blood cells?; What is a neutrophil?; What is a monocyte?; What is an eosinophil?; What is a basophil?;