indianbanksassociation Chapter 661 Desert Becomes Cultivated Land
Chapter 661 Desert Becomes Cultivated Land
Song He's heart trembled. Has Ling Yiyi made any progress?
This girl's progress is frightening. Is there progress in normal research, or is the biochemical weapon she has been dreaming of taking shape?
Ling Yiyi took the teacher to the experimental table in the corner and took out a large amount of experimental data.
Song He took it and read it seriously, listening to her explanation.
"Originally, I planned to make a venomous bacteria that secretes venom." Ling Yiyi said.
"But after trying it for a while, it did not produce venom as expected. Instead, it evolved drought resistance, secreted a very weird sticky colloid, and formed a very thin carpet of bacteria."
"This discovery happened by chance. One day a year ago, I went to the open class of Nobel Prize winner Goss in the School of Chemistry. The old man was like a cross talk actor. He didn't give lectures well and only told jokes to amuse us. After I came back, I forgot a bottle. There were still cultured bacteria in the solid medium, but when I remembered it, the medium was dry and cracked."
"I thought that the bacteria in such a dry culture medium must have become mummified, so I planned to throw it away. Pu Songchun happened to be passing by and said why throw it away in a hurry. He wanted to see if there were any survivors. If there were any, Live bacteria can save one person at a time."
"I threw the culture bottle to him and asked him to save the bacteria. He was not angry. He observed it with a microscope for a long time and said that there were really live bacteria and they were very weird."
Song He happened to turn to a microscope photograph, and Ling Yiyi stretched out her little hand and poked it, "Yes, this is what I saw at that time!"
The scene in the picture is indeed subtle. Many cocci are arranged in very regular hexagons. There is a very thin layer of secretion near each cocci, and there is a very thick layer of secretion around each hexagon.
It looks like going to the supermarket to buy oranges. First put the oranges in small plastic bags for weighing, and finally wrap them in large plastic bags and take them away.
The overall shape is a large honeycomb, but it is not bees that live inside, but dormant bacteria.
"It's interesting." Song He's eyes changed slightly.
"I observed the whole process of the formation of this phenomenon. When the surrounding water is sufficient, the gelatin secreted by the cocci is round in shape, as if they are weaving cocoons for themselves."
"When the water content begins to drop, the round cocoon will tend to dry up, and due to the pressure from the outside to the inside due to dehydration, it will automatically collapse into a hexagonal shape under the action of mechanics, forming this honeycomb shape." Ling Yiyi said.
Song He nodded. The formation of honeycomb holes is the same. At first, the honeycomb holes are round. Over time, they will be pressured from all directions due to thermal expansion and contraction, and are gradually squeezed into a hexagonal shape, and then become stable.
There is also a special honeycomb conjecture in mathematics. The ancient Greeks thought that bees have mathematical talents and can instinctively build regular hexagonal nests. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. This small insect does not have that much brains, and neither did the ancient Greeks. Carefully observe the newly formed round honeycomb holes.
"After the culture medium dries, these bacteria will rely on the secreted gel cocoon to stay dormant for several days. There is some moisture in the gel itself, and the bacteria live on the moisture inside." Ling Yiyi continued to explain.
"If the bacteria multiply enough, a thick carpet of bacteria will form, which is as sticky as skin care products."
"We conducted detailed tests on the gelatinous secretions of this bacteria, and the ingredients are very complex."
Song He turned to the next page, and there was a chemical composition list of fungus secretions. It was really messy like a pot of porridge.
The most important thing is that the composition of fungal secretions from different batches varies greatly, indicating that the bacteria cultivated by Ling Yiyi are very unstable...
That's all, she's just a freshman who has just entered college. How good can she be expected to make?
"I named these bacteria Lingbacteria. I only know that they are very drought-resistant, but I don't know what their specific uses are." Ling Yiyi said, "Pu Songchun thought about it all morning, and suddenly ran to dig a jar of fine sand and came back. Add water and put the bacteria in."
With that said, Ling Yiyi opened the drawer under the experimental table, took out a dozen culture bottles in succession, and placed them in a row on the table.
Each culture bottle has a date label, and a bottle is made every other day, so the changes in the bottle over time can be seen at a glance.
Lingbacteria formed a thick gelatinous layer in the sand. In the first few days when there was water, the gelatinous layer spread to a thickness of 10 centimeters. Then the water was cut off, and the gelatinous layer gradually shrank, shrinking to 5cm and then slowed down.
"Pu Songchun said that Ling fungus can be used to control deserts." Ling Yiyi said excitedly, "The gelatin secreted by it can turn the surface sand into sticky soil, like pouring glue into the desert!"
"How is the water permeability?" Song He asked, "The sand layer that forms a gel will seep down when water is added to it?"
"Not necessarily, it depends on the time. It will seep very slowly in the first few days, but then it will seep faster."
"In other words, the gelatin secreted by Lingbacterium does not have a long shelf life and becomes loose after a few days without water?"
"That's the case so far." Ling Yiyi nodded, and then asked with an expectant expression, "Teacher, do you think there is hope? Use Ling bacteria to transform the desert?"
"There is hope, but the cheap technology to transform the desert has begun to be promoted." Song He frowned, "Someone has already made sand glue."
"Ah?" Ling Yiyi was surprised, "Does this technology already exist?"
"Professor Yi from Shancheng Jiaotong University. He is an expert in the field of fracture mechanics and should be the world's first person in sand-to-soil technology." Song He moved a chair and sat down. "He studied the mechanical differences between sand and soil. It is believed that there is a universal binding force between soil particles, which you can understand as a sticky feeling, but the specific theory is very complicated, and I am not a physics expert, so I won’t explain it to you.”
Ling Yiyi also moved a chair and sat down, listening carefully to the teacher.
"Why is it difficult for plants to grow in the desert? Is it because of low precipitation? No, crops can still be grown in many places with low precipitation. For example, in the Hetao Plain, there is little rain, but there are many crops."
"The reason why it is difficult for plants to grow in the desert is that it does not store water. When it rains, it will flow down the sand in an instant. So as long as the sand can store water, it becomes possible to grow plants. The key to the sand storing water is Universal binding binding force.”
"Professor Yi started from this and made a plant cellulose binder. After that kind of thing is mixed with sand, it will turn into a mud-like rheological state when there is water. After drying, it will become solid. He successfully transformed the sand into something similar to The state of the soil can store a certain amount of moisture.”
"The most important thing is that the cost of this thing is low enough! Traditional grass grid sand control will be re-eroded and rotted every four or five years, requiring repeated investment. But the sand binder made by Professor Yi can achieve once and for all The effect is that once plants are planted after the transformation, the fallen leaves of the plants will be replenished into the soil, making it thicker and thicker.”
Ling Yiyi was surprised, "Has this technology been tested in the desert?"
“Not only has it been tested, it has also entered the promotion stage!”
"ah?"
“In the deserts of Xinjiang, there is a sand-to-soil experimental field, which should now cover an area of more than 100,000 acres. Pennisetum, sorghum, radish and some small green vegetables have been successfully grown. Local pastures will purchase Pennisetum to use as feed for sheep, which is an important way to alleviate poverty. A key mode of work. I worked on a confidential project near there, and I tasted locally produced cherry tomatoes, which were produced in the sandy soil experimental field. The taste was quite good, not inferior to the cherry tomatoes grown in the eastern provinces."
“There are also sand-to-soil experimental fields in Ruoergai in Sichuan Province and Ulanbu in Mongolia Province. The local rainfall is slightly more, and some experimental fields are only watered once every five or six years. Crops can be produced entirely by rainfall from the sky, and the cost is very low. "
"There are some yellow sand islands in the South China Sea, and naval troops are stationed on them. They also use this sand to turn soil into fields. The sandy soil fields on Yongxing Island can produce thousands of kilograms of vegetables. The officers and soldiers eat them every day, which is better than the vegetables shipped thousands of miles inland. Much fresher.”
Ling Yiyi was dumbfounded, "Has it already reached this scale?"
"Silly boy, you are behind the times!" Song He laughed, "The goal of Professor Yi's team is to transform 1% of my country's sandy land into arable land, which is 26 million acres. This goal is actually set low."
"Set low?" Ling Yiyi blinked in shock.
"Look at the world! The Namib Desert is 50,000 square kilometers, the Atacama Desert is 180,000 square kilometers, the Australian Desert is 1.76 million square kilometers, and the Rub al-Khali Desert is 600,000 square kilometers..." Song He Take stock of all the precious things.
"If 1% of the arable land in these deserts is converted, how many more people can be supported? If 10% of the arable land is converted, how many more people can be supported?"
"If we send some agricultural companies to go overseas to enclose land around the world, lease some useless deserts for 99 years at cabbage prices, and then transform them into farms, what will the economic value be? How big will be the impact on food security? We How much more will its voice in the international grain market increase?"
Ling Yiyi was completely dumbfounded. This technological prospect undoubtedly broke through her worldview!
After a short period of sluggishness, she became frustrated again. Such an awesome technique, it was a pity that someone else had already done it first!
Others have been promoting it for many years, but she is just a small prototype in a culture bottle, completely uncompetitive!
"Don't be depressed. Do you think Ling Jun was born at the wrong time? You are absolutely wrong. I will show you two ways!" Song He changed the subject and raised two fingers.
Ling Yiyi was stunned and stared at the teacher intently, listening attentively.
"The adhesive made by Professor Yi uses industrial methods. Although the cost has been very low, there is still room for reduction."
"Your first option is to continue to transform Lingbacteria so that it can secrete qualified sand binder ingredients and stabilize the output. For example, Professor Yi's plan costs 3,000 yuan to transform an acre of desert. If you can use Lingbacteria Lower the renovation cost to 2,500 yuan, and the market will be yours!"
"If the price difference of 500 yuan is extended to tens of millions of acres of desert, it will be a listed company! If extended to hundreds of millions of acres of desert around the world, it will be a technology giant that will leave its name in human history!"
Ling Yiyi held her breath and turned pale. The cake the teacher drew was so huge that she was overwhelmed by the imaginary illness.
"The second way is actually easier." Song He changed the subject.