| hmm - wandring thru the O's this morning looking for onomatopoeic, so here's
what Webster's 9th Collegiate has to say:
osmoregulation: regulation of osmotic pressure, esp in the body of a living
organism.
osmoregulatory: of, relating to or concerned with the maintenance of constant
osmotic pressure.
(well, that was helpful...)
osmotic pressure: the pressure produced by or associated with osmosis and
dependant on molar concentration and absolute temperature: as a: the maximum
pressure that develops in a solution seperated from a solvent by a membrane
permeable only to the solvent b: the pressure that msut be applied to just
prevent osmosis.
sounds like dave maynard was confused...
...diane
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| In plain english, osmoregulation is the means by which some creatures (like
crabs and worms for instance) maintain their body fluids at a different salt
concentration than the surrounding medium (e.g, fresh water or salt water).
Humans don't need to osmoregulate because (even when immersed in water) our skin
is virtually waterproof (at least for a time).
Neil (former comparative physiologist)
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