Environment and Biology : Part 1 - The Criteria of Life (When do we say a thing is living?)

Dr Abe V Rotor

The Coral Reef is sanctuary of "living fossils" Painting in acrylic by AVR

All of us may have witnessed in one or many occasions the transformation of the landscape when the first monsoon rains finally put an end to a long, hot summer.

The hills and the mountains begin to turn green; the fields come to life with frogs croaking, mudfish or dalag emerging from their encrusted abode, and herons hovering over the paddies. It is a moment of rejoice, a new beginning of life.

Let us analyze the scenario in the context of biology.

As the landscape turns from brown to green let us examine the germinating seeds, the young plants and the new shoots of shrubs and trees. What brought them suddenly to life? What broke the dormancy of buds of stems and tubers and made them sprung to life? What loosened the soil and made the sleeping seeds germinate'? Where did the mushrooms come from? And mosses carpeting the rocks? This scenario depicts one most appropriate to call “a celebration to life."

Here we see that the monsoon brought in the life giving substance that no other planet within our knowledge possesses - water. With water, the nutrient in the soil are released and made available to plants and animals. Water feeds the brooks and rivers and on its way down to the sea, wakes up the aestivating organisms, releasing them from their prison of mud crust.

Animals respond to the favorable change in season, and now they have food to eat. They emerge from their lair and soon move to new places, mate and multiply. Among the first organisms to dominate the fields are insects that will soon become food of birds, and fishes. Food chains are restored and new ones are built which in turn will form food webs and food pyramids.

This is a microcosm of a web of life simultaneously taking place in many parts of the world at a particular time. It is the essence of changing seasons that influences the living world. The elements of the physical world determine the kind of life that exists in a place, and how its diverse forms interact among themselves and with their immediate environment.

Biology, the Science of Living Things

We are studying biology, from the Greek word bios meaning "life", and logus, meaning study or "science of”. The scenarios we presented could well be traced to early man visioning his environment, and not only to students and scientists. But more than mere curiosity to know what was happening, our ancestors were more interested on plants and animals that relate to his survival. We can then say that biology to early man was an applied form as he searched for food and shelter, sought for cure from plants, and later, as he domesticated plants and animals he found useful to him and the settlement he built.

We have been mentioning the term life. What really is life? When do we say a thing is alive? It is possible that there are non- living things that exhibit certain properties attributed to living things. For example, there are rocks and stones that "grow," but their increase in size is by accretion and not by any biological means. Even those that exhibit life-like functions like viruses, according to scientists, are not living things even if they possess fragments of genetic materials that enable them to stay inside living cells.

The best way to determine whether a thing is alive or not is to follow these criteria which are fundamental properties shared by all living things. They are the following:

1. Molecular organization
2. Hierarchical organization
3. Metabolism
4. Reproduction
5. Development
6. Heredity

Let us take up these criteria one by one. Living things, without exception, are made up of large, complex organic molecules which are of four kinds, namely, carbohydrates, protein, lipids and nucleic acids.

Molecular Organization Based on
Four Basic Organic Compounds

Let us imagine the scenario after the first heavy rain and relate how these compounds became products of the newly germinated plants. The first product of photosynthesis is simple sugars which are then assembled into carbohydrates, calorie-rich food passed on through the food chain. Thus it is called "go" food.

Proteins, on the other hand, are built from amino acids produced through a series of chemical reactions in the cells. They are the building blocks of the cells and tissues, and equally important is their role as enzymes. We eat protein-rich food often referred to as "grow" food.

Lipids on the other hand, are components of fat and oil which are actually reserve food, and chief material that makes up the cell membranes. If we look under a special microscope the inside of a nucleus of every living cell, be it plant or animal - or protist for that matter - we find chromosomes which contain the genes. The genes in turn contain nucleic acids that constitute the code in transmitting hereditary characters from one generation to the next.

These four types of molecules are found all living things and are basically the same in both plants and animals, except in certain molecules which differ in form and configuration such as the case of enzymes. It is no wonder then to see plants and animals, and unicellular organisms, sharing with one another these compounds through the food chain and food web in which they are a part. We recall the second scenario after the first heavy rain when plants and animals have established themselves ecologically. The key to renewal of life is in the universality of these four organic substances in the living world. (Continued)

Part 2: The Criteria of Life (When do we say a thing is living?)

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Air

Binding of virus with host cell, initial step

Adenovirus, Obesity is suspected to be caused by this type of virus (Ad-36), lower photo. The virus is not considered by biologists as a living organism because it cannot meet all the criteria of life.

Hierarchical Organization: Organelles to Organ- System

Let us imagine a ladder with four rungs. Cells make up the bottommost rung, tissues occupy the second, while the third is made up of organs, and finally the topmost rung comprises of the organ-systems. Since many cells make up a tissue, and tissues make up an organ, and several organs make an organ-system. The ladder in our mind has a broad base tapering at the top.

At the top are the "higher" plants such as the mango and "higher" animals such a Philippine eagle - or man, himself. The more complex an organism is, the more developed are its organs and organ-systems. The circulatory system in man, for example, consists of a pumping organ - the heart, and a network of blood vessels with specialized functions, locations, size and structure, through which blood flows. Whereas the circulatory system of an insect consists merely of a simple pumping organ and blood that openly circulates in the body cavity.

But what about the unicellular organisms - the protists and monerans? Do the paramecium and euglena for example, also have organs?

We do not call their body parts organs, but rather organelles, since these parts are confined in their single-cell body structure. They are "organs" of the cell.

To illustrate, the amoeba ingests food with its pseudopodia (false feet), and is stored and consequently digested in food vacuoles. Here the pseudopodia are organelles for locomotion and ingestion, while the food vacuoles are the organelles that function like a digestive system.

Community to Ecosystem

Another hierarchical organization in the biological world maybe similar imagined as another ladder, but in this case, the lowest rung consist of the organism, followed on the next rung by the population of that organism, which together with the population of other organisms form a community. Communities form ecosystems, and ecosystems make up the biosphere which constitutes all parts of the earth where life exists.

In the physical world we also realize the existence of a hierarchy of atoms of an element, which join to produce molecules of a compound which resulted in the combination of a compatible element. These molecules combine to produce macromolecule, which brings us back to our study of carbohydrates, proteins lipids and nucleic acids.

We wonder if the course of evolution, looking at the hierarchical organization of organisms, a cell might have "deviated" and "emerged" from its own organization, hence became an independent unicellular organism, a protist or a moneran. On the other hand, could it be that a group of independent cells united and "emerged" into an organ, which became the precursor of a prototype multicellular organism? Evolutionists believe in both. This is true to certain facultative bacteria to demonstrate the first case, and to the Poriferans - the sponges- for the second.

And yet we know that certain protozoans have developed affinity to their host, and vice versa, that together they are almost integral as one. This is the case of the termite and its protozoan-symbionts living in its digestive system. Could we consider another case whereby certain cells or tissues "deviate" from their structure and function, if and when the conditions of their existence and well-being are threatened? If such a deviation is dictated by a primitive evolutionary archetype, then we are looking into a new field of research about cancer.

Metabolism: Acquisition and Expenditure of energy

All organisms, with no exception, needs energy. How they acquire it distinguishes four groups of organisms, namely:

1. Photosynthesizers - Plants, algae and Eubacteria or BGAs, formerly known as blue- green algae.

2. Chemosynthesizers - Sulfur bacteria

3. Herbivores and carnivores - predators, foragers, parasites, and most animals, including man.

4. Saprophytes - carcass feeders and decomposers, mainly fungi and archaeobacteria, and many protists.

The distinction of each kind is not well defined. We know that there are organisms which obtain their energy by not only one means. The Euglena for example, obtains energy in three ways, namely, by photosynthesis (it has chloroplasts), by feeding on microscopic algae (herbivore), and by ingesting dead organic matter: (saprophyte). Man is both herbivore and carnivore, or in short, omnivore. There are bacteria that are parasitic; they cause diseases, at the same time decomposers.

Thermodynamics in Biology

Organisms expend energy to carry out various life processes. We call this respiration or catabolism (destructive metabolism) as distinguished from anabolism (constructive metabolism, or energy acquisition). All organisms are governed by the law of thermodynamics, which principally explains the transformation of energy from one form to another, as it is passed on from one organism to another through the food chain. Solar energy is transformed into chemical energy (sugar), and the organism that feeds on this sugar releases it into mechanical energy, heat energy, or a kind of electrical energy which makes nerve cells and brain cells function. In all organisms, energy is stored, transformed, and converted through a complex bio- chemical process involving the compound adenosine tri-phosphate or ATP which releases the energy, while its counterpart, adenosine di-phosphate (ADP) absorbs energy, both compounds working in a synchronized cycle.

Reproduction

When does reproduction start? Let us look at it this way. On the part of unicellular organisms, a simple fission or budding is itself reproduction. In higher organisms, reproduction means the birth of one or more individuals. The union of gametes or fertilization precedes this. In plants, reproduction may be by cutting, grafting and other vegetative means. And in a very rare case like in certain insects, an immature individual may produce young even without reaching maturity, which is called paedogenesis, a rare phenomenon in the living world which demonstrates the possibility of "virgin" birth.

On the cellular level, cells divide as the organism grows develops, and reproduces. For somatic or body cells, cell division is called mitosis, while in the reproductive organs or gonads, cell division which results in the production of male or female gametes is called meiosis.

Growth and Development

When we talk of growth and development, which are two biological processes intertwined, we have in mind the illustration of a life cycle. That illustration maybe a circle divided into parts, each part representing a phase.

It may be a square to emphasize the four-stage development of say, a butterfly or a triangle, which is represented by organisms undergoing simple metamorphosis. Arthropods like shrimps and spiders have only three stages in their life cycle - egg, young, and adult.

In plants, algae and other protists, we encounter the term, alternation of generation. It is worth to mention that algae and the lower plants, for example, are dimorphic - sporophyte and gametophyte - so that their life cycle is made up of two parts. A living thing, no matter how simple, changes throughout its life span, growing in size, duplicating its parts as this is necessary in duplication.

Heredity and Genetics

All living organisms, modem and primitive, carry a genetic code, which is passed on from one generation to the next, the DNA. The DNA is the plantilla of organisms so that their offspring will carry the characteristics of the parents. The vehicle of this genetic code is the gene. The genes on the other hand, are built in larger structures called chromosomes. The science that deals with the study of heredity is genetics. Today's genetics encompasses such revolutionary techniques as genetic engineering and cloning.

Response and Adaptation

All living organisms respond to the conditions of the environment in which they live in two ways. First, is day-to-day response as the organism undergoes through its life cycle, as influenced by weather, biological rhythms, and the like. The second is a long-term response called adaptation. Harsh changes of the environment may force organisms to adopt to such conditions, otherwise they perish. The survivors carry the acquired characters and pass them on their offspring. Over time these characters may be accumulated, ultimately setting the conditions of evolution in which case new species may arise, a process called speciation. This is the basis of the Darwinian principle of evolution summarized in a very simple phrase, “survival of the fittest".

Re-creating Life through DNA

While we look at these criteria to guide us in differentiating living and nonliving things, we cannot help picture in our mind "Jurassic Park" which showed the possibility of re- creating a long dead if not extinct organisms from its DNA imprints. If this will be true in the future, then life would assume a new dimension, and therefore a new definition. We would think of the day when organisms or tissues "sleeping" in cryonics laboratories would be brought to life, in a similar way the DNA of a dinosaur was reconstructed to life.

But whatever breakthroughs about life that science and technology shall bring, we do recognize that there is but one and only source - an Omnipotent Being – who is the Author of life, the Creator of all living things, and the Maker of the whole universe. ~

NOTE: This lesson provides a framework for further studies in biology and related studies. On the other hand, it can be simplified for basic instruction.

Rockpool: "A world in in the deep unknown"

Rockpool 

A world in the deep unknown

Dr Abe V Rotor

Rockpool in acrylic by AVR

A world in a world their own
deep in the deep unknown;
domain of the bold and mean,
lovely, yet lonely, unseen.

Hantik - Green Tree Ant: A Classical Case of Social Behavior

Nest of Green Tree Ants

Abe V Rotor

“Go to the ant sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” (Proverbs, Chapter 6, 6-8)

“Hantik!” my friend cried in panic and pain as he hurriedly abandoned the fruit laden mango tree fighting off dozens of golden brown ants clinging on his skin and clothes. He had trespassed into a nest of green tree ants, Oecophylla smaragdina, and now the colony had broken into a swarm. I had my share of the bites and stings as I helped my friend repel the insects. Well, boys are boys, but this gave us a lasting lesson, and for me it opened a door to my career as an entomologist.

Years after when I put up residence in a middle-class subdivision in Quezon City I came across the world of this enigmatic organism once more. This time it came to live with my family. It built nests on two towering trees, ilang-ilang (Cananga odorata) and talisay (Terminalia catappa) which stand on the front yard and across the fence on the sidewalk, their long and thick branches virtually forming one huge crown. There is no escape from the ants; not the garden, the pond, clotheslines and pathways.

No one likes to live with a pest anyway. So I hired a woodcutter who claimed to have been responsible for cutting down some of the oldest balete trees (Ficus benjamina) on ghostly Balete Drive. (Remember the white lady stories?) Armed with bolo and salt allegedly to drive evil spirits, he climbed the talisay tree. Hardly had he began cutting the main branches when the colony of ants broke loose. It was exactly a repeat performance of that incident which happened forty years ago. My plan was abandoned, and I realized my intention was carrying a residue of prejudice.

In the study of insects (entomology), insects are classified into beneficial and destructive species. Honeybees and silkworm are classical examples of the good insects, while the plant-eating and parasitic ones are considered as bad ones. But to ecologists without insects there can be no true balance in the biosphere. What that suggests is the universal idea that every living thing has a place and purpose in this planet. But where does the hantik belong?

It is difficult to pass judgment unless the facts about this insect are presented. Ants are among the most successful evolutionary creatures. They did not only survive millions of years as groups but have, in fact, together with bees, reached the highest evolutionary level - Order Hymenoptera of the largest phylum of animals (Arthropoda). The secret of this success is closely linked with their social life which has fascinated man. Insects inspired autocratic societies, such as those founded on feudalism and dictatorship. Definitely, the caste system where members are categorized according to function, was structured following that of ants, bees and termites.

Basis of Social Behavior

Social scientists and biologists believe that social behavior among living things have a biological basis. The genes which carry the double helix deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) control social behavior. That is why social life models somehow follow that of other species. To sociobiologists, led by EO Wilson of Harvard, this is also true with humans. A proof of this is that our history is rich with autocratic cultures and civilizations, among which are the great Egyptian civilization, Roman Empire, Chinese Civilization and other civilizations of the Aztecs, Mayans, and American Indians.

In our age of biotechnology, scientists are looking at the possibility of isolating the gene that controls social behavior in insects which can be spliced into the genes of other organisms in order to make them socially cohesive or adaptable to specific cultural conditions. The same gene may be responsible for dictating the sex of individual organisms and even populations. The basis of this thesis is that worker ants and bees are infertile females, predetermined in their immature stage. With this knowledge, genetic engineering may be able to develop techniques of mass extermination of destructive insects by modifying their sex. Already, in the case of tilapia (plapla), sex reversal (hormonal change) has been the key for preventing overpopulation and competition, and in improving weight gain.

On the practical side, ants are natural predators. They kill other insects, even those much bigger than themselves, as food. Their presence in our yard has caused the disappearance of most garden pest: caterpillars, termites and even other kinds of ants like the red fire ants (Solenopsis geminata rufa) which herd and milk aphids and mealybugs. No, the hantik is not a symbiont of destructive insects of any kind. They are nature’s sweepers and janitors. They carry off morsels and leftovers which would otherwise attract flies and other vermin.

What triggers swarming other than perceived assault? I have seen members coming to the rescue of wounded members, or to carry their dead while the rest is alerted for defense or assault. I have observed advance parties exploring new territories, ants that tap the nest to warn the colony of danger, and those which weave nests by clamping the edges of leaves together, and fastened with a sticky secretion of larvae.

When the prey is big, an army is set in place to tear it down in due time. In peaceful times members form a column toward a food source, each carrying a bit to their granary. But always, there is the courteous “kissing”, their antennae tapping and touching, mandible-to-mandible, or head-to-hind, and all in some kind of frenzy and spontaneity. Pheromone, the chemical that binds members and the royalty (queen) together, is transferred and shared this way.

According to Klaus Dumpart of JW Goethe University, several substances work together in raising alarm. One alarm triggering secretion comes from the mandible gland which includes hexanol. Just the scent of this complex substance can be picked up and interpreted by the members. Apart from this secretion, formic acid is secreted by the Dufour gland found at the posterior part of the abdomen. It serves both as pheromone and poison. The ant injects this poison into the victim when it stings. To paralyze a prey or fight an enemy, an ant bites tenaciously with a pair of huge mandibles, while at the same time, injecting poison with a retractable needle at its posterior end.

Extracts from the glands of ants and bees are useful in medicine for the cure of arthritis and rheumatism. Although induced stinging on affected area of the skin and joints of people suffering of acute arthritis is not new, the growing popularity of alternative medicine has even made the practice available in a number of US hospitals and clinics.

It is interesting to know that the eggs and larvae of hantik are gathered for food (it is cooked adobo style), and it is claimed to be an aphrodisiac, according to barrio folk in Abra. This is also a common practice in tropical rainforests in Asia and in the savannahs of Africa where these ants abound.

I look back the nest of the hantik ants without culinary designs nor a residue of a past painful experience, and I think of them now as good neighbors. If, for any reason I receive a sting or two, I complain not, for I believe that sting is good for the heart. Hantik ants prove to be very friendly and cooperative. Pavlov is right after all. ~

Energy, A Self-Administered Test (Modified True or False, 50 Items)

Dr. Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly Tenorio
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-of-Air) DZRB 738 KHzAM 8-9pm Monday to Friday
Linked with Living with Nature - School on Blog avrotor.blogspot.com

Wind is the second most abundant energy on earth. Wind turbine in Bangui, Ilocos Norte.
One turbine can generate enough electricity

Here is a practical set of questions to guide you in teaching general science, in helping you answer some of the most common queries about energy. You may download this lesson, print, share with your family and friends. You may come up with a term paper based on this lesson. The answers are provided at the end of the lesson.

1. You need less energy to boil water on the lowland (sea level) than on the highland (mountaintop).

2. When water boils at sea level, and you want to increase the temperature, all you need to do is burn more fuel, and even prolong it.

3. The temperature of boiling water inside a pressure cooker can be raised above 100ºCelsius.

4. It is cooler on the mountain top than on the lowland, because the air is thinner.

5. One-half of the fossil fuels we use for heating, in generating electricity, and running our machines is actually lost; it’s really a waste of energy.

6. All over the world, the contribution of each of these main energy sources is as follows: oil and gas 35 %, coal 60%, nuclear 5%.

7. Worldwide, eighty (80) percent of energy used for cooking comes from firewood.

8. Under normal condition, firewood smoke is generally harmless to health and the environment. If fact smoke from firewood drives pest and other vermin, induces flowering and fruiting of fruit trees.

9. The most popular local firewood comes from madre de cacao (Gliricida sepium) and ipil-ipil (Leucaena glauca).

10. Firewood farming can be integrated into the forestry program, mixed tree farming, strip and contour farming. It helps reduce erosion and siltation.

11. SALT means Sloping Agricultural Land Technology, a program of the DA and DENR to protect our hillsides and uplands.

12. Forests, irrespective of its kind and location, increase supply of O², absorb CO² from the air, create a mini-climate, attract cloud and increase rainfall.

13. Biofuel refers to energy derived from farm wastes, oil from plants such as Jatropha, consuelda, castor bean, lumbang, bitaog, and the like.

14. Gasohol or alcogas is a mixture of ethanol and kerosene.

15. Proper car maintenance includes observing "carless day," planned route, and car pool.

16. There will be one billion cars in the world by 2018. There are some 600 million cars in the world today which consume 20 million barrels of oil a day.

17. Driving at a speed of 100 kph on NLEX is more economical than driving at 80 kph.

18. New sails for sea vessels are being developed – but this is not significant to reduce energy consumption of sea vessels which would rather run on fuel.

19. House plan and design should be environment friendly, low in energy consumption, and easily and economical maintenance.

20. Surging energy of the sea - waves, tides, differential heat and salt content, ocean currents – are just dreams as alternative energy sources.

21. Practice recycling not only to reduce waste, but energy consumption as well.

22. Austerity in electric energy consumption is necessary. The cost of electric energy in the Philippines is one of the highest the world. Ironically our GDP per capita is among the lowest.

23. The world continues to build new nuclear power plants, in spite of the Chernobyl (Kiev) and Fukushima (Japan) nuclear accidents. US and Sweden have recently built new ones.

24. The next generation of cars will be powered by electricity. Just plug battery to charge overnight for next day's use of the car.

25. Energy of falling water is also called gravitational energy. Hydroelectric plants make use of this principle.

26. SWIP means Small Water Impounding Project is self contained for small communities which provide electricity, recreation and irrigation.

27. Energy efficiency in agriculture and industry is crucial in attaining sustainable productivity.

28. Green movement includes greening of city lawns and rooftops, installation of portable solar panels and wind mills, using green charcoal, designing buildings and houses with low-energy requirement.

29. Some 1 million cars are manufactured everyday, 80 percent are sold in developed countries.

30. The old Dutch windmills are coming back in the form of wind power farms. (Remember the windmill Don Quijote fought in Miguel de Cervantes’ novel – Don Quijote?)

31. Ethanol comes from sugarcane, sugar beets and root crops (cassava). One objection to biofuels is direct competition between food and fuel, thus affecting food supply and nutrition, particularly to poor countries.

32. Home biogas generators are mostly found in China and India. We have in the Philippine a commercial biogas model at the Madamba Maya Farms in Rizal.

33. These are some uses of solar energy: reflected light (mirror concentrator) to generate electricity, desalination for potable and irrigation water, direct drying, solar panels, solar battery/cell.

34. Among the alternative sources of oil which are being investigated in the light of spiraling oil price, are the following species of Family Euphorbiaceae, to which the rubber tree belongs.
• Soro-soro (Euphorbia neriifolia),
• Gatas-gatas (E. pilulifera),
• Consuelda (E. tirucalli),
• Physic nut (Jatropha curcas),
• Castor-oil plant or tangantangan (Ricinus communis)

35. The ultimate source of energy is the sun, either directly or indirectly.

36. Starlight (other than our sun, of course) can be harnessed as source of power.

37. We have succeeded in inventing the “Perpetual Machine,” a long dream of mankind. Eliminating friction means tremendous energy saving.

38. The human body is a perfect machine in terms of energy conservation and utilization, which no human invention can compare.

39. There are now hydrogen powered car running on the streets – the promise to replace fossil fuels.

40. Magnetic shield protects the earth from deleterious radiation from space.

41. Living organisms do not use energy during dormancy – aestivation and hibernation.

42. Hydrogen bomb works on the principle of fusion, while the atomic bomb works on the principle of fission.

43. Polysaccharides or complex sugars directly release energy in the body.

44. Prisoners become emaciated when, due to prolonged and extreme lack of food, the body converts adipose and muscle tissues into energy.

45. The nemesis of moving parts that reduce fuel efficiency is friction.

46. Synergy means there is "more energy than the sum of its parts."

47. The ultimate end result when energy is transformed from one form to another is low level heat.

48. Energy is neither created nor destroyed.

49. A single lightning bolt, if only it can be stored, is enough to light a community for days.

50. Overall conclusion and recommendation in conserving energy can be summarized into
“Less is More”

ANSWERS
1. False, at sea level water boils at 100ºC; 3,000m – 90ºC; 6,000m – 81ºC; 9,000m – 75ºC)
2. False, Water boils at 100ºC, and remains at this temperature, water will simply change from liquid to gaseous form – steam.
3. True, usually at 120ºC for typical pressure cookers.
4. True. Air absorbs and conserves heat. There is less air at higher elevation.
5. True. 50% is wasted
6. False. Oil and gas 60%, coal 35% nuclear 5%
7. True. In rural communities firewood is the main cooking fuel.
8. True. Environment-friendly. Too much exposure is harmful though. It could lead to resource depletion.
9. True. in the Philippines, or where these trees grow in abundance.
10. True
11. True
12. True. Forests provide food, energy, shelter and serve as wildlife sanctuary. They also “catch” smog (suspended layer of fog and smoke).
13. True
14. False. Alcohol and gasoline
15. True
16. False, computation is based on 1 billion cars.
17. False
18. False. New sails can replace engine power.
19. True
20. False. There are pioneer projects such as gully wave generator, wave power, OTEC Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion, CLAM – British wave pressure system, Japanese osmosis system at estuaries.
21. True. Recycle water, wood waste, scrap metal, used tires, plastics. Of all recycled metals, aluminum has the highest recovery.
22. False, exaggerated data. But practice energy conservation, such as fewer and more efficient light bulbs, limit laundry (ex. sun dry, bulk washing and ironing), limit using electricity in bath, pressurized water system)
23. True. There are 500 nuclear plants all over the world – now there is a slowdown for new ones. France, Germany, Belgium and Japan will produce more electricity from nuclear reactors
24. True
25. True
26. True. It is also important in the development of fisheries and forestry in the area.
27. True
28. True
29. False
30. True. But there are only 20,000 wind turbine generators (WTGs) in the world with 15,000 located in California. Total production is only 5,000 MW.
31. True
32. True
33. True
34. True. Anglo-French link – the Old Red Sandstone – produces 76 ºcentigrade, hot enough to heat buildings. We tap volcanic heat at Los Baños, Laguna, and in Tiwi, Albay.
34. True. However, many of these potential energy sources are in the pioneering stage of development.
35. True. Including fossil fuels, wind and water energy.
36. True, potentially, that is. Imagine how dark the night is without stars.
37. False. The rule is, “energy in, energy out.” We still have to solve friction, decay, imprecision, etc.
38. True
39. False. By and large, the Hydrogen engine is still on experimental stage.
40. True. Magnetic lines run from South Pole to North Pole, creating beautiful aurora borealis and aurora austalis
41. False. Energy consumption takes place at very low rate.
42. True
43. False. Hydrolysis before respiration/oxidation.
44. True
45. True
46. True, say the maximum weight the left hand can lift is 20 kg and the right hand is 20 kg, both hands can lift not only 40 kg, but more - perhaps 50 kg. This does not follow the laws of physics.
47. True
48. True
49. True. But we don’t have yet the technology to harness the energy of lightning.
50. True. Conserve so that there will be enough energy for everyone.

Enigmatic "Tainga ng Daga" (Auricularia Mushroom)

Dr Abe V Rotor

Native Auricularia species. Note white spores and velvety external surface. Stem is very short, almost unrecognizable.

Cultured Auricularia may grow extensively, the thalli converging into one fleshy mass. Mushroom Burger, Tagaytay City.

Dried up specimen from natural habitat such as dead tree. Spores have been disseminated and the remaining ones wait for the next growing season, usually during the rainy season. Surprisingly the dried thalli (fleshy biomass) become rehydrated and continue to function biologically, which is one of the mysteries of life. When is a living thing considered dead? Can a dead organism resurrect to life? What is the true meaning of aestivation? To what extent can an organism remain dormant?

Tainga ng daga is the popular name of this favorite mushroom which makes chopsuey truly a complete recipe. It belongs to Class Phragmobasidiomycetes, Order Auriculares, Family Auriculiaceae. Although it belongs to the class of mushrooms, it has deviated from the mushroom's typical structure. Its general shape is thin, lobed and veined like an ear, hence its name. This mushroom is sold fresh or dehydrated. Dehydrated Auricularia is first soaked in water before it is cooked with other ingredients of chopsuey. ~