Calcium

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Calcium (pronounced /ˈkælsiəm/) is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft grey alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. Calcium is also the fifth most abundant dissolved ion in seawater by both molarity and mass, after sodium, chloride, magnesium, and sulfate.

Calcium is essential for living organisms, particularly in cell physiology, where movement of the calcium ion Ca2+ into and out of the cytoplasm functions as a signal for many cellular processes. As a major material used in mineralization of bones and shells, calcium is the most abundant metal by mass in many animals.

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


News tagged with calcium

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Acid test: Study reveals both losers and winners of CO2-induced ocean acidification

Acid test: Study reveals both losers and winners of CO2-induced ocean acidification

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (11) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- As the world’s seawater becomes more acidic due to rising atmospheric carbon dioxide, some shelled marine creatures may actually become bigger and stronger, according to a new study.


All decked out: Networks of chitin filaments are integral components of diatom silica shells

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A whole microcosm of various bizarrely shaped life forms opens up when you look at diatoms, the primary component of ocean plankton, under a microscope. The regularly structured silica shells of these tiny ...


Nature's fine designs: Scientists find modern lessons in ancient creations

Nature's fine designs: Scientists find modern lessons in ancient creations

Biology / Other

created 22 hours ago | popularity 4.5 / 5 (4) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Nature and its bottom-up processes for creating robust and responsive materials are inspiring new generations of synthetic materials and creative design.





Search results for calcium


Researchers find increased dairy intake reduces risk of uterine fibroids in black women

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created 18 hours ago | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) researchers at the Slone Epidemiology Center found that black women with high intake of dairy products have a reduced incidence of uterine leiomyomata (fibroids). This report, based ...


Sandtrapped Rover Makes a Big Discovery

Sandtrapped Rover Makes a Big Discovery

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (37) | comments 12

Homer's Iliad tells the story of Troy, a city besieged by the Greeks in the Trojan War. Today, a lone robot sits besieged in the sands of Troy while engineers and scientists plot its escape.


ERK's got rhythm: Protein that controls cell growth found to cycle in and out of cell nucleus (w/ Video)

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Time-lapsed video of individual breast tissue cells reveals a never-before-seen event in the life of a cell: a protein that cycles between two major compartments in the cell. The results give researchers a more complete view ...


Spinons -- confined like quarks

Physics / General Physics

created Nov 29, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (15) | comments 2

The concept of confinement is one of the central ideas in modern physics. The most famous example is that of quarks which bind together to form protons and neutrons. Now Prof. Bella Lake from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (Germany) ...



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