Know your Garden Microbes : Nostoc As gardeners, we often focus on the macro aspects of our garden such as the plants, trees, and shrubs. But, what about the tiny microbes that play a vital role in the health of our gardens? Today, we are going to focus on a particular type of bacteria that is often overlooked: Nostoc. What is Nostoc? N ostoc is a jelly-like microorganism commonly found growing on soggy lawns. While the discovery of the creature might be frightening for some gardeners, it poses no threat to plants or animals in the environment. Because the Nostoc grows in places where grass does not, it is likely to fill in any gaps left by the grass. Evidence of an imbalance in the ratio of fungus to bacteria can be easily identified. Figure 1: Nostoc Growing in the Garden. It was once believed that these strange-looking masses of matter came from the dust of shooting stars, which gave rise to the nicknames star jelly, star shot, and star slime beca...
Material Challenges of Cow Dung Brick Making “From finding suitable binders to selecting the right stabilisers, making high-quality cow dung bricks requires overcoming a host of material challenges” Making cow dung bricks 🐄🧱 can be a sustainable and eco-friendly alternative to traditional building materials. However, there are several 🤔 challenges associated with the production of these bricks that need to be addressed for them to be used in construction. In this article, we will discuss the challenges related to binder, micro...