Demystifying the Bacterial Kingdom "Adventures in the Bacterial World" by Gao Shiqi

Since the winter of 2019, a small creature, the new crown virus, has invaded the human world. As of today, the death toll due to the new crown virus: more than 3.8 million worldwide, including 600,000 in the United States, 490,000 in Brazil, 370,000 in India, the global economy is in a depression, and human travel is restricted...

Even dolls who have just learned to speak know: "There is a virus, less gathering, frequent washing of hands, wearing a mask."

The result of the covid-19 epidemic is that everyone is at risk and talks about the discoloration of bacteria.

But is this the venerable coronavirus a bacterium? What are bacteria? What do they look like? Are all bacteria dangerous? Are they all sick?

If you have the same questions, just open this "Adventures in the World of Bacteria" with me

The author of this book, Gao Shiqi's grandfather, is a pioneer and founder of China's science popularization cause. The author incarnates as a "fungus child", endows the characteristics of bacterial people, and takes us into the mysterious bacterial kingdom with a unique vision. This book has also been rated as an excellent work of the International Children's Literature Awards and is a must-read list for primary and secondary school students.

Below, I will give you three small knowledge in the bacterial kingdom: 1, to know the bacterial family; 2, small body, great ability; 3, distinguish between good and bad, sweep away evil.

1. Understand the bacterial family

Let's first get to know the inhabitants of the bacterial kingdom, which can be roughly divided into big and small according to their size:

In the bacterial kingdom lives a group of big men, who can be regarded as giants of the family. They have tall legs and black round covers like paper umbrellas, and they are also the most familiar home-cooked delicacies for human beings: shiitake mushrooms, oyster mushrooms and the like.

These big men attach themselves to the trunk of a tree and look almost like a plant. Maybe you thought these were plants, but they actually have a name called "fungi", which belong to the authentic family of bacteria.

In contrast, the other people in the bacterial kingdom, such as the "fungus", are pitifully small. They can only be seen under a microscope that can be magnified up to 1,000 times. How small is it? As small as a grain of dust smaller than the top 100 times smaller, and 1000 times smaller than the eye of a fly. How light is it? So light that even hundreds of thousands of them hang at the feet of flies, and they don't feel heavy.

After looking at the body type, let's take a look at what they look like:

Fungi species, diverse, fungal offspring, thousands of species. In addition to the large fungus that humans are most familiar with, the thousands of people under the microscope can be divided into six categories from the appearance: one is the chrysanthemum-like "actinomycetes", the second is the "silk bacteria" like gossamer, the third is the "branch fungus" like a broken branch, the fourth is the "cocci" like a small leather ball, the fifth is the "bacillus" like a small stick, and the sixth is the "Vibrio" that bends over backwards.

Knowing their appearance, the inside of course can not be ignored.

The bacterial family is a nomadic people, and if you want to give them some nickname, you might call them "Earth Pass". No matter where the earth is, they can be found wherever there is water vapor and "organic matter". Or in the air, or in the soil layer, or in the intestines of animals, or in water. In short, they are everywhere.

Everyone has their own preferences, and bacteria are no exception. Their favorite ambient temperature is 37 ° C, so the human belly is about their paradise. Above 60 °C they are not angry, and above 100 °C they can hardly see them. Dry like the desert, cold like a glacier, there are very few.

2, small body, great ability

Knowing the bacterial family, you must be wondering what these guys can do, right? "Fungus" said: Don't look at me as small, I am a great hero of mankind! Don't believe you look at them:

Good partners for wine and food: fermented children, moldy children, sour children, and millets

Among the bacteria, there are fermentation skills: big fat yeast, long-lived lactobacillus and capable millet. Yeast helps people make wine, mold helps people make glycerin, bread, buns and steamed buns, lactobacilli make kefir for people, and Qiu'er makes tofu and soy sauce for people.

Good assistant for cold protection and warmth: linen is the superior material for clothing, and animal skin is the premise of leather making. Leaving bacteria, dipping hemp and tanning became empty talk. With bacteria, the fibers of flax are eliminated, and the hide can be turned into soft without smelling. In this way, the suit and leather shoes can not be separated from this little guy!

Turn decay into magic: soil bacteria

"Falling red is not a merciless thing, and it is more protective of flowers when turned into spring mud." The poet always laments the wonder of life, not knowing that all this depends on bacteria that we can't see and touch.

From the moss green algae, self-mutilated flowers and dead leaves, so that human beings, all living things on the earth, do not die, and when they die, they must be returned to the soil. When the bacteria see it, they eat it around, and slowly break down the complex proteins, or cellulose, little by little, into nutrients that plants can absorb, and it is no wonder that the soil can become fertile and fresh.

3. Distinguish between good and bad, and sweep away evil

Man has to distinguish between right and wrong, and in the bacterial kingdom, we have to distinguish between good and bad. We must treat the great heroes of mankind well. As for the evil forces, they must not be tolerated.

Which are the evil forces of the bacteriological kingdom?

Living in water comes exactly from feces, such as typhoid bacteria, such as dysentery bacteria, such as cholera bacteria; early in meat and vegetables, such as intestinal heat poison, such as dachshund bacteria; and tetanus bacteria in the soil; syphilis and gonorrhoea bacteria crawling on human skin. In addition, there are the poisonous bacteria that cannot be named but lurk in the human insect beasts, and the terrible infectious diseases that bring human beings at any time and anywhere, such as tuberculosis, meningitis, pneumonia, influenza, plague, rabies.

The poisonous bacteria are like wolves and tigers one by one, friends should be careful! Remember what your mother said: wash your hands frequently, drink boiled water, talk about hygiene, wear a mask, and don't forget to get a preventive injection!

After listening to me talk so much, do you instantly feel that your knowledge is shallow?

Ha ha... This book allows us to know the bacterial family, to understand that their small bodies hide great powers, and to know the evil forces in the bacterial kingdom - poisonous bacteria.

The bacterial world is not as simple as we think, so terrible. Bacteria and humans, not absolutely.

By the way, is the coronavirus a bacterium? Come and flip through Grandpa Coats' Adventures in the World of Germs.