h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yep, and that is QI. They were mostly Irish.

BTW - found this, a bit opaque but I sort of get what it means.

'The present invention relates to the use of blood in the construction and building industry, whereby blood and extracts of blood containing haemoglobin are used as air entraining colloids. The recommended process for preparing a lightened material consists in associating a construction element chosen from the cements, mortars and concretes, with at least one air entraining colloid chosen from whole blood, globules, red blood corpuscles and haemoglobin. The invention also relates to the lightened material obtained according to this process.'

I take from this that the blood offers strength but lightness due to its' air retention. Why can't scintists talk English? I trained originally in Enviromental Science and it soon became obvious that you should never use one word where three will do!

Haemoglobin is a very ancient molecule. For a long time it was a matter of open speculation amongst biologists that the gene for it's production may have been 'ferried' between plant and animal by bacteria.

The prevailing idea was that some species of plants had borrowed haemoglobin from animals in just such a manner.

The Humble pea (family leguminosae) have on their roots 'nodules.' Inside of these lurk bacteria, the function of which is to extract nitrogen from the atmosphere, which makes plants happy.

This is, incidentally why, farmers will often include a legume crop in rotation, as by ploughing them under, they introduce valuable quantities of nitrogen which acts as a natural fertiliser.

Why am I talking about pea and nitrogen?

Well because the nodules are reddish in colour - and this is because they contain a form of haemoglobin, similar to the oxygen-transporting molecule in our blood. The genes for making the haemoglobin are in the pea's genome and not the nodule-dwelling bacteria's, but haemoglobin is important to the bacteria who use it's oxygen-transporting properties to thrive.

This might be seen as a bit of symbiotic quid pro quo, the bacteria's gives to the plant it's unwanted nitrogen, and the plant lends to the bacteria this terribly useful oxygen-carrying molecule and also somewhere to live: everybody's happy.

Since we are accustomed to associating haemoglobin with blood, biologists wondered if the bacteria had been the method by which the gene first got introduced into this system Prokaryote's like bacteria, excel at sharing their Dna, it's what make's the buggers so difficult to kill, it's a little like the measles only in reverse, once day spotty bacteria turns up to school and then before you know it: so does everyone else. Up crops an immunity, and the whole class goes down with it, and then divide exponentially - oh happy days - plants being simpler in evolutionary terms it was thought one or two of them may have have reverted back to even more ancient bacterial way of doing things, direct gene to genome splicing, none of that messy sex getting in the way. So it was entirely possible that a bacterium with a knack for making haemoglobin *could* have shared it's haemoglobin with the plant, who then returned the favour by making the haemoglobin for the bacteria to use.

However as enticing as this story is, it is entirely wrong.

Modern molecular biological evidence shows that haemoglobin's are part of ancient plant genomes, and not a relatively recent and aberrant introduction. They've been knocking about in one form or another (most wonderful!) since before the eukaryotic line diverged into plant and animals.

Brilliant Clive. That was really impressive. Points shall be yours for being interesting! I did not know about most of that. Do you know why the blood was used in mortar though, as I still do not have a definitive answer.

Cuz it's sticky. And then it gets all hard and scabby.
Didja ever try to pick a scab. Tuff stuff.


~hwf~

drt.


Thank Richard Dawkins, I read that in his new book yesterday.

Been following with interest...

Canal man must be James Brindley.

Most famous construction...Pont Cysyllte Aqueduct, near Llangollen...




GT

D*mn this Berlin Wall documentary and its infernal subtitles! I was unable to listen and type simultaneously and now my chance to answer has been snatched away, just 30 mins ago.


EYG

I was going to spell it 'Pontysylltau' because that's the nearest equivalent to how I've heard it pronounced.

Both Mark Williams (Industrial Revelations) and the late Fred Dibnah have done programmes which feature the aqueduct and go into detail about the unusual construction methods.


EYG

P.S. With regard to scabs, most of their strength is due to the protein <./>fibrin</.> which has fascinatingly changeable properties of its own.

( Why did fibrin turn into a link?)

Must be a new thing.

Because I made it a link.

I must confess this is not the first time I've linked to a hypothetical guide page during draft and then omitting to even check that the page exists after I've posted.


EYG

You can't link to regular Entries with words, just A-numbers.

<./></.>

Like that?

Well, yes, you can put anything in those tags, but I doubt there'll be a help page titled "fibrin"

There isn't. I get 'page not found'

Re your post 23 Clive....

Tenuous link there between this QI and 'Living in the Past'

'Turnip' Townshend advocated growing clover as a fourth crop, as that too fixes its own nitrogen in root nodules....



GT

Can we award BBC Wales Today -5 for describing the aqueduct as "Thomas Telford's", in a news article, today?


EYG

EYG

Brindley was Canal Engineer

Telford was the Aqueduct Engineer...

Caught off guard there!!


Sorry


GT

No problem.

Looks like Taff will be due a refund on his klaxon and plus points for correctitude.



EYG