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This question is tricky because some precipitating raindrops may not fall at all, if the surrounding wind has a sufficiently strong upward component. In still air, the terminal speed of a raindrop is an increasing function of the size of the drop, reaching a maximum of about 10 meters per second (20 knots) for the largest drops. To reach the ground from, say, 4000 meters up, such a raindrop will take at least 400 seconds, or about seven minutes.
The online giant is testing out a "Home Services" line. You can get a TV mounted on your wall. You can find a plumber. And you can rent a herd of goats to chomp on unwanted vegetation in your yard.
I typed my Maryland ZIP code into "Hire a Goat Grazer." Sorry, "no providers available." It turns out that Amazon is wrangling goats only in the Seattle area right now, although a spokesman promises that more cities will be added.
As a goat admirer and editor of a blog called "Goats and Soda," I wanted to learn more about the grazing habits of goats — especially their alleged immunity to poison ivy. For enlightenment, I turned to Jean-Marie Luginbuhl, professor of crop science and animal science at North Carolina State University.
Why are goats not allergic to poison ivy?
We don't really know.
Do you have any theories?
If you look at the world population of goats, which is about 937 million, 95 percent of them are within the tropics, north and south of the equator. So they evolved in very arid areas and basically had to survive on plants that contained noxious compounds. So goats evolved this ability to detoxify noxious compounds much better than cattle or sheep [can]. I think that's one of the reasons.
If a goat ate poison ivy, could I catch poison ivy from that goat's milk?
Some people have had concern that whatever compound [a goat ate] would be passed into the milk. But it's not.
And just to confirm: Cattle and sheep might get sick from a plant that wouldn't bother a goat.
When you look at books that talk about poisonous plants to livestock, a lot of the data are from cattle or sheep. If you see goats eating pokeweed and say, "Wait a minute this is a poisonous plant [to livestock]" — it doesn't affect goats.
So bring on the goats!
Here in North Carolina I have done work to clear up pastures and an abandoned orchard. We used goats, and they did a wonderful job getting rid of all the invasive vegetation: broadleaf weeds, woody perennials like greenbrier, honeysuckle, black locust, multiflora rose. We have cleared areas full of kudzu [an incredibly invasive vine native to Asia]. We grazed several plots about six times from early June to early October and basically got rid of the kudzu. Maybe 3 percent of it grew back the next year. But if you want to get rid of plants with goats, you have to start early in the spring and [have the goats] defoliate everything, get rid of all the leaves. So the plant has to use root reserves to make the first leaves. And if you do that over and over, these plants spend all of their root reserves and cannot grow anymore.
But I guess you do have to be careful that goats won't eat plants you like.
If you leave the goats there all the time maybe they will be a little hungry and if they don't have any green matter to eat, they will start to debark trees because they know the sap is under the bark. They will kill trees. That's good or bad, depending on the trees.
Can any plant harm a goat?
A lot of ornamental plants are poisonous to goats. Piedmont azalea are not going to necessarily kill goats unless they eat a lot but would make them really sick and throw up. Once they have that experience they would stay away from these plants.
There are a lot of goats in the developing world. Do people there use goats to clear unwanted vegetation?
In Africa they don't use goats to clean a pasture. But they do use the boughs of whatever woody shrubs are around to feed their goats.
Do goats eat tin cans?
Naw, it's just a joke. They are very curious. And so they are going to try to eat a lot of things that we see as crazy. But even when they see a piece of plastic they are not going to eat it. They just take it in their mouth and spit it out.
So no to plastic. What about paper?
We had a student working in one of the pastures at a little station where we used to record temperature, soil moisture, wind speed in a notepad. The student put the notepad down to do something with one goat. When she turned around, one month of data had disappeared! She thought she would be fired on the spot. We laughed so hard. [Reply]
If you look at the world population of goats, which is about 937 million, 95 percent of them are within the tropics, north and south of the equator. So they evolved in very arid areas and basically had to survive on plants that contained noxious compounds. So goats evolved this ability to detoxify noxious compounds much better than cattle or sheep [can]. I think that's one of the reasons.
If a goat ate poison ivy, could I catch poison ivy from that goat's milk?
Some people have had concern that whatever compound [a goat ate] would be passed into the milk. But it's not.
So bring on the goats!
.
I'm immune to poison ivy. Or at least not sensitive to it like others.
Discovered it as a kid playing in the woods near our house. Everyone of my friends got it. I didn't. So we went back and I rolled my arm in it. Nothing. Told my parents, accused me of lying. Took then down there and walked through it and pulled it up with my hands. Nothing happened. Parents told the doctor on the next visit. He didnt believe it either, dismissed it out of hand, Said my parents must think another plant is poison ivy, told them about the other kids getting it from the same plant, he said your mistaken no human is immune from poison ivy.
Last time I ran into to it was at the in-laws farm clearing out brush and land. Was clearing out an area, The people I was with started yelling thats poison ivy, get out of there. Nothing happened but did have gloves on. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Buehler445:
Problem with goats is they eat the fuck out of everything. Whatever you turn them out on will be bare dirt if you leave them on long enough.
And you need a hell of a fence.
Yup. They don't even eat some of it. I've seen them completely strip the bark off of willow trees just because they are seemingly bored. They chew it up and then spit it on the ground and go back for more. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
I'm immune to poison ivy. Or at least not sensitive to it like others.
Discovered it as a kid playing in the woods near our house. Everyone of my friends got it. I didn't. So we went back and I rolled my arm in it. Nothing. Told my parents, accused me of lying. Took then down there and walked through it and pulled it up with my hands. Nothing happened. Parents told the doctor on the next visit. He didnt believe it either, dismissed it out of hand, Said my parents must think another plant is poison ivy, told them about the other kids getting it from the same plant, he said your mistaken no human is immune from poison ivy.
Last time I ran into to it was at the in-laws farm clearing out brush and land. Was clearing out an area, The people I was with started yelling thats poison ivy, get out of there. Nothing happened but did have gloves on.
About 25% of the population is "Less sensitive" to urushiol, the oil in poison ivy. But the doc is correct, nobody is really truly immune to it. [Reply]
Can you name the elements in the human body and what they do? Nearly 99% of the mass of your human body consists of just 6 chemical elements: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus. Another 5 elements make up most of the last percentage point: potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium. Here’s a look at these elements in their pure form and their function in the human body. Note that the percentage are estimates. Hydration level (how much water you drink) makes a big impact on the amount of oxygen and hydrogen in your body and affects the relative composition of the rest of the elements in your body.
This periodic table shows the percent composition of the average human body. So, for example, oxygen accounts for 65% of the mass of the body, while nitrogen is 3% and so on. It’s worth noting most of the noble metals are not found in detectable quantities in the body. Neither are the noble gases. In both cases, the two sets of elements are fairly inert. The synthetic radioactive elements are missing, but a few natural radioactive elements, such as radium, thorium, and uranium are found in trace quantities.
Function of Elements in the Body
Oxygen (O) – 65% of body weight
Atomic Number: 8
Liquid oxygen is blue. (Warwick Hillier)
Oxygen is the most abundant element in the human body. It’s mainly found bound to hydrogen in the form of water. Water, in turn, makes up about 60% of the human body and participates in countless metabolic reactions. The element oxygen acts as an electron acceptor and oxidizing agent. It is found in all four of the major classes of organic molecules: protein, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids. Because it is a key element in aerobic cellular respiration, large amounts of oxygen are found in the lungs and in the bloodstream. Hemoglobin in blood bind the oxygen molecule, O2, from inhaled air. Oxygen is used by the mitochondria in cells to produce the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate or ATP. While it’s essential for human life, too much oxygen can be deadly, as it can lead to oxidative damage to cells and tissues.
Carbon (C) – 18% of body weight
Atomic Number: 6
Carbon Graphite (USGS)
Carbon is the second most abundant element in the human body and the element that is considered the basis of organic chemistry. Every single organic molecule in your body contains carbon. The element bonds to itself to form chains and ring structures that serve as the basis for all metabolic reactions in the body. Carbon in carbon dioxide is expelled as a waste product when you breathe.
Hydrogen (H) – 10% of body weight
Atomic Number: 1
Hydrogen Discharge Tube (Alchemist-hp)
Most of the hydrogen in the body is bound with oxygen to form water, H2O. Hydrogen, like carbon, is found in every single organic molecule in the body. Hydrogen also acts as a proton or positive ion in chemical reactions.
Nitrogen (N) – 3% of body weight
Atomic Number: 7
Liquid NItrogen (Cory Doctorow)
Because most of air consists of nitrogen, nitrogen gas is found in the lungs, but it is not absorbed into the body that way. Humans get nitrogen from food. The element is an important component of amino acids, which are used to build peptides and proteins. Nitrogen is also an essential component of the nucleic acids DNA and RNA and all of the other molecules derived from the nitrogenous bases.
Calcium (Ca) – 1.4% of body weight
Atomic Number: 20
Calcium Metal (Tomihahndorf)
About 99% of the body’s calcium is found in bones and teeth, where the element is used to build strong structural compounds, such as hydroxyapatite. Although most of the calcium is in bones and teeth, this is not the mineral’s most important function. Calcium is an important ion, used in muscle contraction and protein regulation. If any critical function has insufficient calcium, the body will actually pull it out of the bones and teeth. This can lead to osteoporosis and other problems, so it’s important to get enough dietary calcium.
Phosphorus (P) – 1% of body weight
Atomic Number: 15
Phosphorus Allotropes (Materialscientist)
Like calcium, the element and mineral phosphorus is found in the bones and teeth. The element is also found in nucleic acids and energy molecules, such as ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Potassium (K) – 0.25%
Atomic Number: 19
Electrochemistry in the body depends on ions. Of these, the cation potassium is among the most important. Potassium is used in nerve conduction and regulating the heart beat. All cells in the body require potassium in order to function.
Sulfur (S) – 0.25%
Atomic Number: 16
Sulfur is found in several important amino acids, which are used to build proteins in the body. Sulfur is found in biotin, methionine, thiamine, and cysteine.
Sodium (Na) – 0.15%
Atomic Number: 11
Sodium, like potassium, is an essential cation. This element is important for nerve transmission and muscle function.
Chlorine (Cl) – 0.15%
Atomic Number: 17
Chlorine is an important anion. One of its functions involves the transport of the enzyme ATPase, which is used to supply energy for biochemical reactions. Chlorine is used to make hydrochloric acid, which is found in the stomach and digests food.
Magnesium (Mg) – 0.005%
Atomic Number: 12
Magnesium binds to ATP and nucleotides. Its cation is an important cofactor for enzymatic reactions. Magnesium is used to build healthy teeth and bones.
Trace elements include iron, fluorine, zinc, silicon, rubidium, strontium, bromine, lead, copper, and many more. Some trace elements are essential or have a beneficial effect on the body, while others have no known function or appear to be toxic.
Breaking News: Astronomers have found a potential sign of life in the clouds of Venus, a planet long overlooked in the search for extraterrestrial life.https://t.co/UmA0cWxX6M
