Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

  • Blue

    A primary color of the spectrum; sky color; azure.  

  • Blowpipe

    A tube through which a gas or current of air is passed under pressure and directed upon a flame to concentrate and intensify the heat.  

  • Blowfly

    One of the flies belonging to the family Calliphoridae. Most blowflies are scavengers. Their larvae live in decaying flesh or meat, although occasionally they may live in decaying or suppurating tissue. However, one species, the screw-worm fly, Callitroga hominivorax, attacks living tissue, laying its eggs in the nostrils or open wounds of its domestic animal…

  • Blount’s disease

    A pathological bowing of the leg (genu varum). Unlike the physiological bowlegs of the infant and toddler, the bowing in Blount’s disease progressively worsens after the first 2 years of life and is often unilateral. The condition is more common in girls than in boys and more common in blacks than in European Americans. Most…

  • Southern blotting method

    A technique used in molecular genetics to analyze a small portion of DNA first by purifying it, then by controlled fragmentation, electrophoretic separation, and fixing the fragment identity using specific DNA probes. It is used most commonly for G cell and T cell rearrangement analysis, bcr gene rearrangement analysis, and fragile X syndrome analysis.  

  • Northern blotting method

    A blot analysis technique for analyzing a small portion of RNA. Operationally, this test is identical to Southern blotting except for the target (RNA) and the specific reagents used.  

  • Blotting method

    A technique for analyzing a tiny portion of the primary structure of genomic material (DNA or RNA).  

  • Bloom syndrome

    An autosomal recessive disease, found predominantly but not exclusively in persons of Jewish ancestry, marked by chromosomal abnormalities, facial rashes, dwarfism, and a propensity to develop leukemia. Bloom’s syndrome is a genetic disorder that predominantly affects individuals of East European Jewish ancestry. This syndrome is characterized by distinct physical features, including short stature, a butterfly-shaped…

  • Blood warmer

    A device that raises refrigerated blood or intravenous fluids to a desired temperature, usually 37.0°C, or a little above.  

  • Blood thinner

    A popular but erroneous name for an anticoagulant.  

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