RobertMD

The specimen from the stove is surely fungal, possible Rhizopus spp, which is a very common strain of fungus at home (specially in old houses) even in leftover breads and pastries. The spores from these fungi are very resilient to disinfection that's why despite the (professional) cleaning done at your household, a lot of it still remained. I cannot extract much information from the photo of the specimen from the drinking straw. It could be anything, really, since the mouth is home to millions of microorganisms that can also be isolated using a petri dish.

Bicarbonate does not bind to heme. It is a byproduct of hydrolysis of carbonic acid as a result of carbon dioxide binding to heme proteins (carbaminohemoglobin). In this process, an H+ ion binds with hemoglobin and bicarbonate (HCO3) is transported out of the RBC in exchange for a chloride (Cl-) ion. Besides ions, oxygen (oxyhemoglobin), carbon dioxide (carbaminohemoglobin), and carbon monoxide (carboxyhemoglobin) are known to freely and reversibly bind with heme.

I stand corrected. Thank you, sir! Noted. I'll try to do better next time. CERN hasn't posted any substantial updates yet since their November 2013 update about finding evidences of Higgs bosons decaying into tau particles and fermions. Since its discovery in 2012, physicists in the LHC have been poring over LHC's collision data for more evidence of interaction involving the Higgs boson. The latest article published in the journal Nature Physics on June 2014 stated the confirmation that Higgs bosons indeed decay into bosons and fermions. I've read somewhere that LHC is preparing for a "big run" which is set on mid-2015. They're expecting to produce several times more than the existing data sample by making higher-energy proton collisions, thus producing Higgs bosons at higher rates. Ahh, I should be reading more. Sorry, but this is all I can contribute for now. Cheers!

In particle physics, what MIGHT happen would be largely dependent on the relativity of each atom. Though photons don’t normally interact, whenever they’re simulated to give enough energy gain through an increase in velocity (like how they do it in the Large Hadron Collider), something will actually happen. So, the absolute answer to this question would be theoretical. A good example of photon-photon interaction is made by colliding 2 beams of photons using the Large Hadron Collider. New particles will be formed as a result of a massive release of energy in the collision. These are Higgs boson particles, created by the hyper-excited photon decaying into electrons and hadron jets after an explosive collision.

Hi. I enjoyed reading Dr. Michio Kaku's books. Most of his books are indicated for general (science) readers, with decreased levels of technicality and complex topics. But they're good reads. It's just like reading a novel. Hyperspace, Parallel Worlds, Physics of the Future, Physics of the Impossible, and The Future of the Mind are my top picks. Dr. Brian Greene's books are also worth the shot. If you have it in your local bookstores, try looking for The Fabric of the Cosmos and The Hidden Reality. Really awesome. Good luck, future scientist!

In some diseases, it is possible. For example, in breast cancer screening and diagnostics, geneticists are able to isolate a genomic copy BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes from the host DNA via TAR (transformation-assisted recombination). The same goes in detection of Huntington's disease and retinoblastoma. However, in cases of male alopecia, I firmly believe that there isn't a specific test yet to isolate the baldness gene from your DNA and prove that you do not carry it. (anyone may correct me if I'm wrong, though) However, some studies show that if your maternal grandfather manifested with pattern baldness during his years, it poses a high risk that you also carry the gene. It's a genetic thing. For now, unfortunately, waiting is the only way to find out if you really possess the gene.