Have people in Northeast China ever eaten cranberries? | Bolan Daily

Have people from Northeast China ever eaten cranberries ?

Fuyuan is a small border town in the Northeast. This easternmost city in my country's territory is not only my country's "City of the Rising Sun", but also has the largest cranberry planting base in China and even in Asia.

Cranberries have some special requirements for their growing environment. They like to grow in swamps in cold regions. Their soil requirements are also quite different from other fruits. They prefer acidic soil. Even on a global scale, cranberries are only grown in temperate and cold regions such as the United States, Canada, and Chile.

However, under such multiple restrictions, Fuyuan and Wisconsin, the largest cranberry producing area in the United States, are not only similar in latitude, but also have similar climatic conditions such as temperature and precipitation. The soil in both areas is mainly weakly acidic peat, which provides good natural conditions for cranberry cultivation.

Not only that, the "Northern Red Bean" blueberry, which is called "Yagda" by people in Northeast China, is a "same genus" brother of cranberry and looks very similar to cranberry.

Image source: pixabay

Can Vitamin C Really Boost Immunity?

The human body can obtain the vitamin C it needs from vegetables, fruits and animal offal in the diet. If the diet is healthy, there is no need for additional supplementation.

Vitamin C deficiency does lead to scurvy, but it takes months for the deficiency to gradually manifest. And as long as vitamin C is supplemented in time, health can be restored within a few weeks. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has good water solubility and antioxidant properties, and can be added to food as an antioxidant (you can find it in the ingredient list of Oriental leaves).

In the body, the most important function of vitamin C is to participate in the formation of collagen (some skin care products add vitamin C, but water-soluble vitamin C cannot be absorbed by the skin). It also participates in oxidation-reduction, immunity and other processes.

However, a large number of studies have pointed out that additional vitamin C supplementation has no benefits or disadvantages for diseases such as cancer and bacterial infection. As a water-soluble vitamin, additional intake of vitamin C is generally safe because excessive vitamin C is not absorbed by the intestines, but excessive intake may cause adverse reactions such as diarrhea and abdominal pain.

Chinese scientists discover giant magnetocaloric effect in spin supersolid state

A century ago, humans liquefied helium for the first time, and since then, ultra-low temperature refrigeration technology using liquid helium has been widely used.

For example, some large scientific facilities, deep space exploration, materials science, quantum computing and other high-tech fields. However, the helium element, which is indispensable in cryogenic technology, is in short supply globally. Is there any way to achieve ultra-low temperature refrigeration without helium?

A joint research team consisting of Professor Su Gang from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Researcher Sun Peijie from the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Li Wei from the Institute of Theoretical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Associate Professor Jin Wentao from the Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, through a combination of theoretical and experimental research, discovered for the first time the existence of supersolid state (spin supersolid state) in frustrated quantum magnets in cobalt-based triangular lattice quantum magnetic materials.

Further research was conducted on the spin supersolid quantum phase transition of materials controlled by magnetic fields, and the giant magnetocaloric effect at ultra-low temperatures was discovered. An ultra-low temperature of 94 mK was achieved under adiabatic conditions, realizing ultra-low temperature refrigeration without liquid helium in the sub-kelvin range.

The discovery of this new state of matter and new effect is an important breakthrough in basic research, and provides a new solution to the problem of ultra-low temperature refrigeration in my country's deep space exploration, quantum technology, material science research and other fields.

Oribatid mites: What doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger

Oribatid mites mainly live in the soil, where there are many predators, such as spiders, pseudoscorpions, ants, etc. These predators feed on soil animals, especially the large number of oribatid mites.

Faced with these predators, oribatid mites have to evolve stronger physical defense capabilities in order to survive. For this reason, oribatid mites are also called "little supermen" in the animal world.

Studies have shown that oribatid mites secrete substances called holotoxins, which are homologous to the venom of spiders and scorpions and are toxic enough to cause respiratory paralysis in mice.

Not only that, it also has strong physical defense capabilities. The shell of the oribatid mite is formed by the mineralization of calcium salts (such as calcium carbonate, hydrated calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate, etc.), which makes the shell of the oribatid mite extremely hard. In addition, the oribatid mite also has wing-shaped epidermis and upright bristles to protect its legs. These make the oribatid mite have the survival ability that can be called "little superman".

It should be noted that the oribatid mite is different from the mite that everyone hates. It is a beneficial insect that only exists in the soil.

The content is compiled from China Science Popularization Expo Weibo, Science Popularization China, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Academy of Sciences.