Microscope.com

Immersion oils for microscopy have a high refractive index to increase the numerical aperture of the objective lens. The typical immersion oil has a refraction index of 1.515. Before the advent of synthetic immersion oils, Cedar tree oil was used. As with other oils, Cedar oils primary disadvantage is in its absorption of ultraviolet and blue light as well as a number of other problems. Long story short, go with the synthetic.

You note Wikipedia in your question so I'm going to refer you back for your answer > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest But for those casually browsing, it says forests cover 9.4% of the Earth's surface, or if you account for only the land area, then 30% of dry land. Additionally, this site has information on historic forest coverage > http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange2/current/lectures/deforest/deforest.html This Google search was particularly helpful when looking at the historic bit > http://bit.ly/rJiYzR

I'd be interested in hearing more on your theory.

I found this definition for you - Source: http://blog.deanandadie.net/2010/03/bacterial-chemotaxis/ Hope that helps you out!

She may be talking about the high percentage of highly processed foods we consume now (rather than whole foods)? Hard to say, but after watching Food, Inc. my diet has dramatically changed from what it used to be and I can say I feel (physically and mentally) much better for it.

In short, yes. Not only higher rates in birth defects but also infant mortality. This article on (gasp) Wikipedia, gives some direct percentages on the chances for two alleles to be identical by descent (which is the problematic bit) > http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Inbreeding.

Well, you could calculate a normalized rate of "healthy" cell division (for the type of cell as some cells (e.g. liver versus pancreas) may divide faster or slower in mitosis) and then set a constant based on the averages that, if exceeded, would indicate the cells being analyzed should be scrutinized further as possible cancerous. This is a "shoot from the hip" answer but is a logical methodology.

I think you're okay using the term "centrifugal" to describe the tendency to flee the center. Centrifuges are used in biology as well. Additionally (and you may already be aware of this), you can use Google to search for definitions. Just append the word "define" before your term in the search box. So typing "define centrifugal" returns the definition with links to other dictionaries if you want to cross reference the definition. Here's an example > http://bit.ly/ue4A7B

You might find this article from The Journal of Experimental Biology helpful. It's called "The dual roles of red blood cells in tissue oxygen delivery: oxygen carriers and regulators of local blood flow". It's pretty technical but you can find a summary answer at the very beginning.