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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"Bond. Bacterial Bond."
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BACTERIA THAT CAN HOLD UP A BUILDING... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE: TALK ABOUT BEING "ON SHAKY GROUND". WITH ALL OF ITS EARTHQUAKE-SAFETY CONSTRUCTION, THIS BUILDING--BECAUSE OF WHERE IT'S LOCATED--COULD STILL CRUMBLE. LET'S GO DEEP UNDERGROUND--BELOW THE FOUNDATION OF THE BUILDING: THE SOIL IS SANDY; IF THIS SANDY SOIL SHIFTS, LARGE AREAS OF GROUND AT THE BASE OF THE BUILDING COULD FLOW AWAY, LIKE WATER. THE CURRENT METHOD OF STRENGTHENING SANDY SOIL INVOLVES INJECTING EPOXIES INTO THE SAND, IN ORDER TO HARDEN IT. THESE CHEMICAL EPOXIES WORK--BUT ALSO INTRODUCE TOXINS INTO THE GROUND. NATURE HAS A SOLUTION--AND RESEARCHERS AT U-C-DAVIS ARE PUTTING IT TO THE TEST, IN THEIR LAB. MEET "BACILLUS PASTEURII": A HARMLESS NATURAL SOIL BACTERIA THAT THE RESEARCHERS ARE INJECTING INTO SANDY SOIL. PUMP IN SOME OXYGEN AND NUTRIENTS, AND THESE GUYS GO TO WORK--STABILIZING THE SOIL, BY CAUSING CALCIUM CARBONATE TO BE DEPOSITED BETWEEN THE GRAINS, CEMENTING THEM TOGETHER. THESE BACTERIA ARE SO EFFECTIVE THAT THEY CAN NATURALLY TURN SAND INTO SANDSTONE. BACTERIAL BUILDING BLOCKS: BREAKING NEW GROUND--IN KEEPING THE GROUND FROM BREAKING. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
