Is Gongcai dried lettuce? | Bolan Daily

Is Gongcai dried lettuce?

Well, actually not really. You can't force it to be called Gongcai. Gongcai is of the same family as fresh lettuce, but they are different species. It's not the same as just dried lettuce.

The lettuce we usually eat is round-leaf lettuce, which matures earlier, is cold-resistant, poorly heat-resistant, and has good quality. It is usually cultivated over the winter. The dried Gongcai belongs to the pointed-leaf lettuce, whose seedlings are heat-resistant and suitable for autumn or winter cultivation. Compared with the lettuce we eat fresh every day, the lettuce made into Gongcai is more slender in shape and is a rare local variety.

Because Gongcai has relatively special requirements for its growing environment and its variety structure is relatively single, the current scale of Gongcai production is limited.

Loose-leaf lettuce, head lettuce, spinach, celery and tribute vegetable are all crops of the genus Lactuca in the Asteraceae family, and are all different species of the same genus Lactuca.

However, whether it is fresh lettuce, Gongcai, or romaine lettuce and lettuce, they are all common ingredients for hot pot, and various varieties of lettuce are finally gathered in the boiling hot soup.

Figure 1 shows dried lettuce, and Figure 2 shows dried Gongcai. You can clearly see the difference.

Are Star Wars lightsabers possible?

How do you make a lightsaber? Not with lasers as most people think.

The principle of laser is "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation", which is based on the transition of electrons in atoms between different energy levels, releasing or absorbing photons of specific energy. Because the energy of laser is very large, it can indeed be used to cut objects, but lasers that can cut objects are very large and difficult to hold. Moreover, lightsabers have a length, while lasers extend infinitely. Laser beams also have no mass and cannot achieve "collision" in a mechanical sense.

So is it possible to create a lightsaber that is closer to the description in the movie? In fact, the official answer has been given - plasma . Plasma is a high-energy state of matter composed of electrons and ions, with a temperature of about 5000 to 10000℃. Fire, lightning, gas discharge of fluorescent lamps, and solar wind that causes aurora are all plasma. Because plasma has an extremely high temperature, it can also cut objects, and the electrons and ions in it have mass, so the collision effect can be achieved. In addition, the plasma beam is not a light beam, and its length can be limited within a certain range.

In fact, tech geeks have already made a product that is close to a lightsaber. A team called Hacksmith used strontium plasma (4500℃) to create what may be the most lightsaber-like product currently available . You can see their videos on Bilibili.

If you think this is sci-fi, I'm sorry. Changing the name may make you understand it instantly but also break your fantasy: "Light sword" here ≈ large spray gun. "May the force be with you"~

Star Wars Lightsaber

This is what Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou looked like!

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou, Yuwen Yong, was the emperor of Northern Zhou during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period in my country. He reigned from 560 to 578 AD. During his reign, he defeated Northern Qi and unified northern my country, laying the foundation for the subsequent unification of the country by the Sui Dynasty.

The Northern Zhou royal family came from the Xianbei ethnic group, which was historically believed to have exotic appearances, such as thick beards, high nose bridges, and yellow hair.

In 1996, archaeologists discovered Emperor Wu's tomb in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province. After excavation, they found Emperor Wu's remains, including an almost complete skull.

Professor Wen Shaoqing's team at Fudan University in Shanghai conducted an in-depth study on it. With the development of ancient DNA research in recent years, the research team found more than 1 million single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Emperor Wu's DNA.

Figuratively speaking, the relationship between SNP and the human body is somewhat similar to the relationship between "zodiac sign", "blood type", "MBTI" and human personality, except that there are only 4 blood types, 12 zodiac signs, and tens of millions of SNPs.

Just like we often hear "Cancers are more family-oriented" and "Virgos are mysophobic", we can also use methods such as "People with XXX type SNP have black hair" and "People with YYY type SNP have round faces" to infer the connection between SNP and human characteristics.

The only difference between the two is that the scientific nature of SNP has been verified, while the scientific nature of zodiac signs and blood types is not so certain.

There are many personal genetic testing services on the market now, and the principle is to infer your risk of developing a certain disease by analyzing your SNP information.

Based on the SNPs found and the depth information of human soft tissue, the researchers combined the skull of Emperor Wu with 3D reconstruction of his face. The relevant research was recently published in the journal "Contemporary Biology".

The results showed that Emperor Wu had brown eyes, black hair, dark to medium skin, and facial features similar to those of today's North Asians and East Asians, rather than the foreign face as the legend has it.

This proves that the Xianbei people intermarried with the Han people when they moved southward into northern China, and also provides evidence for the process of ethnic integration in northern my country. This is important information for understanding how ancient humans spread across Eurasia and how they integrated with the locals.

In addition, researchers found many stroke-related SNPs in the DNA of Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou. According to historical records, Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou suffered from aphasia, ptosis and abnormal gait, which are all sequelae of stroke.

And considering that he died at the age of 36 and his son also died young, it is possible that they did have a familial stroke.

Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou restored from DNA (left) and Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou painted by Yan Liben of the Tang Dynasty (right)

Why is the black soil here becoming more and more fertile?

Changtu County has a crop planting area of ​​4.897 million mu and is a well-known grain-producing county in China. However, due to natural conditions, the black soil layer in Changtu County is relatively thin, with an average thickness of 20 centimeters. Improving the organic matter content in the soil has become an important issue in protecting the black soil here.

In recent years, the research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has worked together with local technicians and large grain growers to overcome difficulties and introduce technologies that are in line with local conditions, such as straw crushing and full return to the fields, composting and fermenting organic fertilizer and returning it to the fields, and deep plowing, shallow harrowing and heavy pressing.

Before sowing, the county will organize enterprises to use drones to spray microbial agents on the soil to accelerate the decomposition of organic matter and allow straw and organic fertilizer to form humus as soon as possible.

Farmers in Changtu County have also invented their own agricultural machinery - a compound machine for deep tilling and shallow harrowing with different depths. This machine can better retain moisture and nutrients in the soil, which is conducive to crop rooting; it does not damage the black soil layer, and can bury the crushed straw and scattered organic fertilizer underground, which is conducive to the formation of humus; it can also flatten the land. It can do three things in one go, reducing the number of operations and preventing the land from being repeatedly crushed.

In the past two years, the annual grain output of Changtu County has increased from about 5.3 billion jin to more than 5.5 billion jin. The main factor is the continuous increase in the organic matter content in cultivated land, which has fertilized this black soil.

Last November, the Changtu Modern Agriculture Experiment Station of the Institute of Applied Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in Changtu County. Starting from spring sowing in April this year, the Chinese Academy of Sciences will send 50 researchers to Changtu County every year to carry out modern agricultural research, demonstration, technology promotion and services. By improving the scientific and technological content and carrying out scientific management, the black soil here will become more and more fertile.

The legend of the blue sea is not as wonderful as it seems...

From April to June every year, blue fluorescence frequently appears on the vast sea surface in coastal areas of Fujian, Guangdong and other places at night. The surging sea water looks like a vast starry sky, which is extremely beautiful. This wonder is called "blue tears". The "blue tears" are caused by the massive reproduction of plankton in the ocean, such as Noctiluca scintillans and sea fireflies .

Noctiluca scintillans is one of the main algae species causing the "blue tears" phenomenon in China. It is a common red tide organism that will only cause red tides when it reaches a certain density. When a red tide forms, the sea area appears pink or even brick red during the day, and emits blue light at night. High-density Noctiluca scintillans gather with wind and waves. When disturbed at night, the large amount of luciferin stored in the body reacts rapidly under the oxidation of luciferase, converting most of the energy into blue fluorescence, forming the "blue tears" phenomenon.

Another bioluminescent organism, the sea firefly, is not a specific species, but a class of ostracod crustaceans. The sea firefly excretes the luciferin and luciferase in its body together. Only when these two substances meet water outside the body will the luciferase catalyze the luciferin to emit light.

Noctiluca and fireflies are not toxic in themselves, and people can touch the dreamy and beautiful "blue tears". However, "blue tears" may be sad tears shed by the sea, which is essentially a red tide. The appearance of red tide often means that there are some abnormal changes in the local marine environment, which may be eutrophication of seawater, or changes in wind direction and rainfall conditions, and most of these changes are inseparable from human influence.

The content is compiled from China Science Popularization Expo Weibo, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China National Geographic, People's Daily Online Science Popularization, Science Academy

This article was first published on China Science Expo (kepubolan). Please indicate the source of the public account for reprinting