Cardiac Muscle Cells

Cardiac Muscle Cells (Cardiocytes, Cardiac Myocytes) are short, rectangular, striated fibers that make up the heart. Because the cells are branched, they have intercalated discs that connect the different branches. Cardiac Myocytes are regular eukaryotic cells, with one nucleus that is generally centered.

They are autorhythmic cells, which means that they contract rhythmically without stimulation from the brain. This is possible because of pacemaker cells that stimulate the cardiac myocytes into contracting.
Cardiac Muscle cells are what keeps the heart beating properly, which allows us to sustain life.


Get Body Smart - "Cardiac Muscle Tissue | Cardiac Muscle Fibers | Cardiac Muscle Cells."Cardiac Muscle Tissue | Cardiac Muscle Fibers | Cardiac Muscle Cells. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.
Inner Body - "Cardiac Muscle Tissue." InnerBody. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.
Pearson - "Pearson - The Biology Place." Pearson - The Biology Place. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.
Livestrong - "Cardiac Cell Functions." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 27 Jan. 2015. Web. 31 Aug. 2015.

Sweetness Lab

Today we did a lab where we experimented with the tastes of different carbohydrates. Included in our carbohydrates were sucrose, glucose (dextrose), fructose, galactose, maltose, lactose, starch, and cellulose. The listed carbohydrates are a combination of monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides. We found that for the most part, monosaccharides taste sweetest, and polysaccharides taste the least sweet. The more rings the sugar structure had, the less sweet it was.

I found that the fructose tasted a lot like a lot of candy, maltose tasted like malted candy (Maltesers, Whoppers), lactose tasted like milk, and galactose tasted like frosted cornflakes. Cellulose tasted like paper - which makes a lot of sense as paper comes from trees, which are made of cellulose.

According to Kids Health, we can taste foods because of our taste buds - sensory organs that completely cover the tongue. Live Science says that in every taste bud, there are between 50 to 100 receptors for each taste, which allow us to taste.