In reality, how does technology change our lives?

Human beings have evolved from the most primitive eating raw meat and drinking blood to today's worry-free life. The rapid development of science and technology has played a role that cannot be underestimated. Whether it is the aerospace industry that ordinary people look up to, or the three meals a day, they are inseparable from technology. Take cooking as an example. Various home appliances have almost become a necessity in our lives. Especially when we are at home, it is hard to imagine how boring our lives would be without home appliances!

At this time, some people said, these are the most common things in life, how much technological content can they have? Even if it is technology, it is the most common, right? After all, when it comes to technology, it is all high-end, and ordinary people like us can't touch it at all, let alone operate it freely. In fact, many things that we take for granted in our lives are not as simple as we think. For example, the home appliances mentioned above; for example, nature is actually the most sophisticated designer, but many times we don't think about it seriously.

Let’s talk about this topic today.

01. Nature is the most ingenious designer

For example, a kind person loves mountains, and a wise person loves water. I guess you have all climbed a mountain. However, I wonder if you have ever paid attention to the plants and trees in the mountains while climbing?

If you think back carefully, you may remember that the plants in the mountain do not seem to be the same from the foot of the mountain to the top. At the beginning, there are often tall trees with dense branches and leaves, and the grass under the trees is also very lush. But as you climb, it seems that the trees have changed, and they are dominated by trees with small leaves such as pine and cypress, and the grass seems to be much shorter. As you continue to climb, it seems that there are fewer trees at this time, and the grass is more crawling on the ground.

I wonder if you have this memory. In fact, this phenomenon is very common everywhere. In geography, this phenomenon is called plant vertical zonation, and the main influencing factor is altitude. Behind the altitude, the main influence is actually temperature. Because the temperature changes dramatically with altitude, the distribution of vegetation also changes according to the corresponding temperature changes.

Of course, perhaps a more intuitive experience of temperature is in a greenhouse.

02. The importance of temperature and humidity to plants

Almost every big city has a botanical garden. I wonder if you have ever visited one. There is often a very special artificial venue in a botanical garden - a greenhouse.

Here, you can see all kinds of plants that cannot survive outdoors locally. Have you ever wondered how these plants can grow and develop in places that are not suitable for them to survive? You may even have wondered if you can simulate such a place in your own home. The secret behind this is probably the temperature. Yes, the greenhouse is first about temperature. Only by adjusting the temperature can plants from different places come to one place to grow.

However, temperature alone is not enough, there must be another dimension, which is humidity. Plants grow in the environment and also communicate with the outside world through leaves and other parts.

A typical example is transpiration, which refers to the process by which water on the surface of a plant diffuses into the air in the form of water vapor. This process is not only the power source for plants to absorb water, but also the power for plants to transport nutrients such as mineral elements. The most important factor affecting transpiration is air humidity. When the humidity is low, transpiration increases. Conversely, when the humidity is high, transpiration decreases.

Not only transpiration, in fact, humidity itself will affect the opening and closing of plant stomata. Plants need photosynthesis and respiration, which all depend on stomata, especially photosynthesis, which is the lifeline of plant growth. Therefore, the humidity of the air is directly related to the survival of plants.

Because of this, a complete greenhouse must be equipped with humidity control. Only when the humidity is adjusted to the right level can the plants grow smoothly.

Absorbs water to grow.

Temperature and humidity can be said to be the most important factors affecting plant growth and development, and are also the main factors that determine the distribution of vegetation in various places.

With the help of modern technology, we have been able to artificially simulate humidity and temperature to a certain extent, so that rare plants from all over the country and even the world can be seen everywhere.

03. Application of temperature and humidity in daily life

The importance of temperature and humidity is not only reflected in the growth of plants, but also in our daily lives. For example, changes in external temperature and humidity are related to our comfort and even affect our health to a certain extent. For another example, our three meals a day are actually related to the control of temperature and humidity.

We all know that cooking requires particular attention to the heat. If the heat is not right, no matter how good the ingredients are, they cannot produce excellent flavor. There will be huge changes in color and taste. To put it bluntly, it is actually affected by temperature and humidity.

In fact, we humans have realized this a long time ago. Since the ancient Paleolithic Age, humans were no longer satisfied with the life of eating raw meat and drinking blood. They began to look for more sophisticated ways to process this natural delicacy. For example, the earliest hot pot was discovered at the Xianren Cave site more than 20,000 years ago, using clay pots to cook venison. Imagine the scene: 20,000 years ago, when Homo sapiens from all over the world were still looking for caves, a group of Chinese people were eating hot pot and singing in the cave.

It can be seen that at that time, people had already begun to make delicacies that combined temperature and humidity. Later, our country of foodies used a variety of cooking methods to make the cooking as suitable as possible for the characteristics of the ingredients.

For example, there was once a question about why dishes cooked on induction cookers and gas stoves taste different.

The answer is the influence of temperature. Because the power of the induction cooker cannot maintain high heat, it causes the smell of cooked food.

Some foods are eaten directly, some need to be rinsed with warm water, and some need to be stir-fried with oil. We have a variety of steaming, frying, boiling and deep-frying methods. Behind it is not only the oil itself that plays a role, but more importantly, different foods have different requirements for temperature, so different methods are needed to make their delicious taste come out.

Of course, not only temperature, but humidity is also important.

People who like baking must be familiar with a baking technique, that is: water bath method. During the baking process, adding some hot water to the baking tray will make the cake more delicious. The reason behind this is the control of humidity.

It can be said that temperature and humidity are the core capabilities of cooking.

However, how to control temperature and humidity is really a test of people's skills and experience. It is estimated that many people have been confused by various vague descriptions in daily life, such as "low fire, high fire", "small amount, trace amount, appropriate amount" and so on. It is estimated that most people feel at a loss.

So, can we also make relatively precise considerations in cooking, just like the WHO's recommendation of no more than 6g of salt intake per day? In fact, some kitchen appliances have already started to make efforts in this regard.

In fact, many phenomena in life are like this. Those common phenomena often contain a lot of scientific principles behind them. Sometimes, if you pay more attention, you may make different discoveries.