Bone

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Bones are rigid organs that form part of the endoskeleton of vertebrates. They function to move, support, and protect the various organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells and store minerals. Bone tissue is a type of dense connective tissue. Because bones come in a variety of shapes and have a complex internal and external structure they are lightweight, yet strong and hard, in addition to fulfilling their many other functions. One of the types of tissue that makes up bone is the mineralized osseous tissue, also called bone tissue, that gives it rigidity and a honeycomb-like three-dimensional internal structure. Other types of tissue found in bones include marrow, endosteum and periosteum, nerves, blood vessels and cartilage. There are 206 bones in the adult human body and 270 in an infant.

Functions Bones have ten main functions:

Mechanical

Synthetic

Metabolic

For more information about Bone, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with bone

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Scientists use virus to kill cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- A virus that in nature infects only rabbits could become a cancer-fighting tool for humans. Myxoma virus kills cancerous blood-precursor cells in human bone marrow while sparing normal blood stem cells, a ...


Extinct goat Myotragus balearicus

Extinct goat was cold-blooded

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 18, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (39) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- An extinct goat that lived on a barren Mediterranean island survived for millions of years by reducing in size and by becoming cold-blooded, which has never before been discovered in mammals.


Ancient Flying Pterosaur Also Sailed Seas (Update)

Ancient Flying Pterosaur Also Sailed Seas (w/ Video)

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (14) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Tapejara was an excellent flyer that also had an innate nautical knowledge of sailing.


Going out on a limb

Going out on a limb: 'Scaffold' to regenerate lost or damaged bones and tissues

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 19, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Mother Nature has provided the lizard with a unique ability to regrow body tissue that is damaged or torn ― if its tail is pulled off, it grows right back. She has not been quite so generous with human ...


Crushed bones reveal literal dino stomping ground

Crushed bones reveal literal dino stomping ground

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 14, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (9) | comments 7

Imagine the gruesome sound of bones snapping as a thirsty, 30-ton dinosaur tramples a heap of fresh carcasses on his way to a rapidly shrinking lake.


Inside the First Bird, Surprising Signs of a Dinosaur

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Oct 08, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The raptor-like Archaeopteryx has long been viewed as the archetypal first bird, but new research reveals that it was actually a lot less “bird-like” than scientists had believed.


Mice Levitated for Space Research

Mice Levitated for Space Research

Physics / General Physics

created Sep 11, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 21

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have managed to levitate young mice in research carried out for NASA. Levitated mice may help research on bone density loss during long exposures to low gravity, such as in space ...


New Hope for Deadly Childhood Bone Cancer

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Aug 31, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have shed new light on Ewing’s sarcoma, an often deadly bone cancer that typically afflicts children and young adults. Their research ...


Watching stem cells repair the human brain

Watching stem cells repair the human brain

Biology / Biotechnology

created Aug 19, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (14) | comments 0

There is no known cure for neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. But new hope, in the form of stem cells created from the patient's own bone marrow, can be found ― ...


Scientists program blood stem cells to become vision cells

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 31, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (14) | comments 7

University of Florida researchers were able to program bone marrow stem cells to repair damaged retinas in mice, suggesting a potential treatment for one of the most common causes of vision loss in older people.


Nanodiamonds deliver insulin for wound healing

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jul 27, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (7) | comments 7

(PhysOrg.com) -- Bacterial infection is a major health threat to patients with severe burns and other kinds of serious wounds such as traumatic bone fractures. Recent studies have identified an important new weapon for fighting ...


Scientists closer to making implantable bone material

Scientists closer to making implantable bone material

Chemistry / Materials Science

created Jul 26, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists are closer to understanding how to grow replacement bones with stem cell technology, thanks to research published today in the journal Nature Materials.


Implant bacteria, beware: Researchers create nano-sized assassins

Implant bacteria, beware: Researchers create nano-sized assassins

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Jun 26, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (8) | comments 0

Staphylococcus epidermidis is quite an opportunist. Commonly found on human skin, the bacteria pose little danger. But S. epidermidis is a leading cause of infections in hospitals. From catheters to prosthetic ...


Ancient well, and body, found in Cyprus (AP)

Ancient well, and body, found in Cyprus

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jun 24, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (8) | comments 0

(AP) -- Archaeologists have discovered a water well in Cyprus that was built as long as 10,500 years ago, and the skeleton of a young woman at the bottom of it, an official said Wednesday.


World first: Chinese scientists create pig stem cells

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jun 02, 2009 | popularity 4.2 / 5 (5) | comments 4

Scientists have managed to induce cells from pigs to transform into pluripotent stem cells - cells that, like embryonic stem cells, are capable of developing into any type of cell in the body. It is the first time in the ...