Saturday, 06 de December de 2008

[edit] Termites as a source of power

The US Department of Energy is researching ways to replace fossil fuels with renewable sources of cleaner energy, and termites are considered a possible way to reach this goal through metagenomics.^[13]

Termites may produce up to two litres of hydrogen from digesting a single sheet of paper, making them one of the planet's most efficient bioreactors. Termites achieve this high degree of efficiency by exploiting the metabolic capabilities of about 200 different species of microbes that inhabit their hindguts. The microbial community in the termite gut efficiently manufactures large quantities of hydrogen; the complex lignocellulose polymers within wood are broken down into simple sugars by fermenting bacteria in the termite's gut, using enzymes that produce hydrogen as a byproduct. A second wave of bacteria uses the simple sugars and hydrogen to make the acetate the termite requires for energy. By sequencing the termite's microbial community, the DOE hopes to get a better understanding of these biochemical pathways. If it can be determined which enzymes are used to create hydrogen, and which genes produce them, this process could potentially be scaled up with bioreactors to generate hydrogen from woody biomass, such as poplar, in commercial quantities.

Skeptics regard this as unlikely to become a carbon-neutral commercial process due to the energy inputs required to maintain the system. For decades, researchers have sought to house termites on a commercial scale (like worm farms) to break down woody debris and paper, but funding has been scarce and the problems of developing a continuous process that does not disrupt the termites' homeostasis have not been overcome.^[14]

[edit] Ground Water divining in Ancient India

Varaha Mihira (505 C.E- 587 C.E), the famous astronomer, mathematician and astrologer of Ancient India, in his treatise "Brihat Samhita" also spelt "Vrahat Sanhita" refers to Dakargala (Sanskrit word meaning 'Science of Underground Water exploration'), wherein the role of termite knolls, as an indicator of underground water has been elaborately explained. ^[15]

In Verse.S.54.9 of the Samhita, it is stated that sweet ground water would be found near a termite mound located east of a Jambu tree (botanical names - Eugenia Jambus,Engenia Jambolana), at a specific distance and a specific depth of 15 ft to the south of the tree. ^[15]

The above verse has been justified with an explanation:

Without exception the water requirements of the insects are generally very high, and they need to protect themselves against fatal dessication by living and working within the climatically sealed environment of their nest or within earth covered galleries. According to present level of research, the atmosphere within the nest has to be maintained practically saturation moisture level ( 99-100 % humidity). It is a matter of common observation that whenever a termite nest or runway, is damaged, the insects immediately rush to the breach and repairs it with wet soil brought up from within the nest. From an over-all consideration of the evidence it seems to be safe to conclude that, while normally the insects use every readily available source of water close to the ground surface, under condition of severe climatic stress, they can and they probably do descend to the water table, no matter how deep it may be. Hence, a well-developed, active, permanent colony of mound-building termites can be taken as an indication of underground springs in proximity^[15].

Two examples mentioned in the referred publication are, a) termiteries seen in the Katanga province (Congo Kinhasa) right up to the hill slopes where springs emerge, b) in the dry jungle uplands of coastal zone of Karanataka state (old Mysore state) and c) in the Deccan Plateau area^[15].

It is also asserted in the verse Vr.S.54.85 that among a group of termite mounds, a water vein is sure to be found below the taller of the mounds. Verse 52 mentions that in a desert region, if a group of five termite mounds are found, and if the middle one is in white colour, then water will be found within a depth of Fifty five Purushas (in Sanskrit one Purusha is equivalent to 7.5 ft) or 412.5 ft^[15].

As a common observation of a combination of different symptoms, termite mounds are said to be found close to trees, and ancient Hindus exploited this knowledge in the exploration of underground springs.^[15].

[edit] See also

Coatonachthodes ovambolandicus - beetle that mimics termites
Decompiculture
Stigmergy
Xylophagy

[edit] References

Grimaldi, D. and Engel, M.S. (2005). Evolution of the Insects, Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82149-5.
Engel, M.S. and K. Krishna (2004). "Family-group names for termites (Isoptera)". American Museum Novitates 3432: 1–9. doi:10.1206/0003-0082(2004)432<0001:FNFTI>2.0.CO;2.
Earthlife
Termite terms
Cretaceous termites

^ The evolution of fungus-growing termites and their mutualistic fungal symbionts by Duur K. Aanen, Paul Eggleton, Corinne Rouland-Lefèvre, Tobias Guldberg-Frøslev, Søren Rosendahl & Jacobus J. Boomsma
^ Fungus-farming insects: Multiple origins and diverse evolutionary histories by Ulrich G. Mueller & Nicole Gerardo
^ Professor Lobeck, A.K. 1939. Geomorphology: An introduction to the study of landscape. McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York.
^ "Termite." Encyclopædia Britannica Online Library Edition. Retrieved 19 November 2007.]]
^ Google Earth, at lat -14.6565° long 25.8337°. The smaller termite mounds are the light patches; the larger ones are clumps of bushes with lighter patches of bare earth. Retrieved 19 November 2007.]]
^ 403 Forbidden
^ Plant extract stops termites dead
^ "Termites are 'social cockroaches'", BBC News (13 April 2007).
^ Eggleton, P. &al. (2007), Biological Letters, June 7, cited in Science News vol. 171, p. 318
^ Lo, N. &al. (2007), Biology Letters, 14 August 2007, doi 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0264
^ Gay and Calaby 1970 Termites of the Australian region. in; Krishna K Weesner FM eds. Biology of Termites, Vol. II Academic Press NY p401
^ Evidence for Cocladogenesis Between Diverse Dictyopteran Lineages and Their Intracellular Endosymbionts
^ JGI - Organization responsible for sequencing the termite.
^ Original article on termites as bioreactors
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Pages 58 to 60 of the publication titled "Hydrology in Ancient India",published by the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee, India, as India's contribution to International Hydrology Programme (IHP), published in September 1990