[Lex Computer & Tech Group/LCTG] FW: Researchers potty-train cows to reduce ammonia emissions

L Wittig 9423lew at gmail.com
Fri Sep 24 19:10:38 PDT 2021


According to https://www.termidorhome.com/Termites/TermiteFacts "It is
estimated that for every human on Earth there may be 1,000 pounds of
termites. That’s about the same weight as a full-grown cow!"
-- Larry

On Tue, Sep 21, 2021 at 7:11 AM Robert Primak <bobprimak at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Cows do emit a lot of methane, which contributes to climate change.
> Ammonia is another contributor, so this does have implications for climate
> action. Unfortunately, cows cannot be trained not to belch out methane.
> Termites also contribute a lot of methane.
>
> -- Bob Primak
>
>
> On Monday, September 20, 2021, 11:31:25 PM EDT, David Lees <
> joeoptics at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
> Probably on the list.
>
> David Lees
> Galaxy Tab S5e
>
> On Mon, Sep 20, 2021, 10:58 PM L Wittig <9423lew at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Sounds like a good candidate for the Ig Nobel awards.
>
> On Mon, Sep 20, 2021 at 4:53 PM john rudy <jjrudy1 at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> This is important stuff
>
>
>
> John Rudy
>
> 781-861-0402
>
> 781-718-8334 (cell)
>
> John.rudy at alum.mit.edu
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>
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> 13 Hawthorne Lane
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> *From:* Gizmorama <ezine at gophercentral.com>
> *Sent:* Monday, September 20, 2021 11:01 AM
> *To:* jjrudy1 at comcast.net
> *Subject:* Researchers potty-train cows to reduce ammonia emissions
>
>
>
> Researchers potty-train cows to reduce ammonia emissions
>
>
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> Gizmorama
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> September 20, 2021
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> *-- Mars rover's first rock samples reveal lengthy water exposure --*
>
> The first two rock samples examined by NASA's Mars rover Perseverance give
> scientists a firm belief that water inundated Jezero Crater for a sustained
> period of time, the agency announced Friday.
>
> "We determined salt granules in the rock indicate it was exposed to
> water," Julia Goreva, a NASA scientist for the rover program, said in a
> news conference from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
>
> The rocks, drilled Monday and Wednesday, came from an igneous or volcanic
> rock. The agency previously knew that water once filled the crater, but not
> for how long.
>
> The salt deposits mean NASA can now rule out a sudden "flash in the pan"
> water event, the agency said in a news release.
>
> "It looks like our first rocks reveal a potentially habitable sustained
> environment," said Ken Farley, project scientist for the mission, said in
> the release. "It's a big deal that the water was there a long time."
>
> The rover sampled a rock NASA dubbed Rochette on a ridge named Artuby. The
> two samples are named Montdenier and Montagnac after a French mountain and
> region, respectively.
>
> Scientists chose the Rochette drilling site after a previous attempt to
> drill a sample failed because the brittle rock target crumbled.
>
> The samples now are stored and sealed inside the rover as part of a
> multinational effort to bring Mars rocks back to Earth by 2031, said Kate
> Stack Morgan, Perseverance deputy project scientist.
>
> The samples may be dropped on the Martian surface for a future rover to
> retrieve and launch into space, where another spacecraft would catch them
> and return them to Earth. Ultimately, the goal is to use advanced equipment
> on Earth to analyze the rocks for signs of ancient life on Mars.
>
> "We plan to continue exploring Jezero Crater ... for about two Earth
> years," Stack Morgan said in the news conference. "We will make decisions
> then on which samples we'd like to put down in that first cache."
>
> The samples, about the thickness of a pencil, were 2.4 inches long and 2.6
> inches long, which are nearly ideal, said Jessica Samuels, the Perseverance
> surface mission manager, at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
>
> "Reflecting on this moment, it has been the culmination of so many years
> of so many people's hard work and time and effort," Samuels said.
>
> "While it definitely was a very long time waiting, I think all of us can
> say that it feels fantastic to ... be up here and share this with you."
> *-- Researchers potty-train cows to reduce ammonia emissions --*
>
> <https://ptv.gophercentral.com/?a=474&oc=440&c=22742&p=r>[image: Wow21]
> <https://ptv.gophercentral.com/?a=474&oc=440&c=22742&p=r>
> <https://ptv.gophercentral.com/?a=474&oc=440&c=22742&p=r>Researchers are
> potty-training cows to go to the bathroom where their feces and urine can
> be collected and treated, reducing ammonia emissions.
>
> When cattle are allowed to relieve themselves as they graze, their waste
> can collect in fields and contaminate local waterways. If confined to a
> barn, urine and feces can mix together and yield ammonia, an indirect
> greenhouse gas.
>
> Both scenarios are problematic for human and environmental health.
>
> To keep barns more sanitary, waterways clean and greenhouse gas emissions
> low, researchers have started training cow to urinate and defecate in
> designated areas.
>
> Scientists described their efforts -- a system they named MooLoo training
> -- in a new paper, published Monday in the journal Current Biology.
>
> "It's usually assumed that cattle are not capable of controlling
> defecation or urination," study co-author Jan Langbein said in a press
> release.
>
> "Cattle, like many other animals or farm animals are quite clever and they
> can learn a lot. Why shouldn't they be able to learn how to use a toilet?"
> said Langbein, an animal psychologist at the Research Institute for Farm
> Animal Biology in Germany.
>
> To potty-train the young cows participating in the study, researchers in
> Germany and New Zealand offered food rewards to calves that urinated in the
> latrine. Afterwards, researchers allowed the cows to enter the latrine from
> the fields when they needed to go.
>
> To discourage urination outside the latrines, researchers tried fitting
> the calves with headphones and playing unpleasant sounds whenever they peed
> in the barn. It didn't take.
>
> "We thought this would punish the animals -- not too aversively -- but
> they didn't care," Langbein said. "Ultimately, a splash of water worked
> well as a gentle deterrent."
>
> In just a few weeks, researchers trained 11 of 16 cows to regularly use
> the latrine to relieve themselves. According to the study's authors, the
> cows' potty-training performance was comparable to children and superior to
> very young children.
>
> The ammonia produced when feces and urine mix doesn't directly contribute
> to global warming, but when it is leached into the ground, it gets broken
> down by microbes that release nitrous oxide, the third-most significant
> greenhouse gas after methane and carbon dioxide.
>
> Agriculture is the number one source of ammonia emissions, and livestock
> account for more than half of the industry's output.
>
> Now that cows can be cooperative partners in the quest to reduce ammonia
> emissions, researchers hope to adapt their MooLoo training for outdoor
> farms.
>
> "In a few years, all cows will go to a toilet," Langbein said.
>
>
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