Solar energy heats the surface of the earth, including the ground, rocks, and even roadways. as the temperature of these surfaces increases, heat energy is released back into the atmosphere, forming a pocket of warm air. as the warm air pocket rises, it is replaced by cooler air. this process is responsible for many of the weather patterns in our atmosphere, and is known as

The gene that causes sickle-cell disease is present in a higher percentage of residents of sub-saharan africa than among those of african descent living in the united states. even though this gene causes sickle-cell disease, it also provides some protection from malaria, a serious disease that is widespread in sub-saharan africa but absent in the united states. discuss an evolutionary process that could account for the different percentages of the sickle-cell gene among residents of the two regions.

How can antibodies "remember" a particular bacterial invader or "antigen" on that invader?

To answer this question, researchers studied populations of the dusky salamander (desmognathus ochrophaeus) living on different mountain ranges in the southern appalachian mountains. the researchers tested the reproductive isolation of pairs of salamander populations by leaving one male and one female together and later checking the females for the presence of sperm. four mating combinations were tested for each pair of populations (a and b)—two within the same population (female a with male a and female b with male b) and two between populations (female a with male b and female b with male a). the proportion of successful matings for each mating combination was measured. for example, when all the matings of a particular combination were successful, the researchers gave it a value of 1; when none of the matings were successful, they gave it a value of 0. then the researchers calculated an index of reproductive isolation that ranged from 0 (no isolation) to 2 (full isolation). the reproductive isolation value for two populations is the sum of the proportion of successful matings of each type within populations (aa + bb) minus the sum of the proportion of successful matings of each type between populations (ab + ba). the table provides data for the geographic distances and reproductive isolation values for 27 pairs of dusky salamander populations.