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For example, in America in 2012 there were some 78 million dogs, 86 million cats, and 3.5 million rabbits. [55] [56] [57] There is a tension between the role of animals as companions to humans, and their existence as individuals with rights of their own. [58] Many animals are hunted for sport. [59]
Although alternative building materials are a newer concept, some buildings have already employed these materials, as well as other tactics, in pursuit of greater sustainability. One such example is the School of Art, Media, and Design located in Singapore. This school has a roof made completely of grass (an example of Earth-sheltering). [4]
Alternative environment A hidden life biosphere on Earth: A shadow biosphere is a hypothetical microbial biosphere of Earth that uses radically different biochemical and molecular processes than currently known life. It could exist, for example, deep in the crust or sealed in ancient rocks. [citation needed] Silicon biochemistry (Organosilicon)
Selenium, which is an essential element for animals and prokaryotes and is a beneficial element for many plants, is the least-common of all the elements essential to life. [ 3 ] [ 63 ] Selenium acts as the catalytic center of several antioxidant enzymes, such as glutathione peroxidase , [ 11 ] and plays a wide variety of other biological roles .
Tree remains that have undergone petrifaction, as seen in Petrified Forest National Park. In geology, petrification (from Ancient Greek πέτρα (pétra) 'rock, stone') is the process by which organic material becomes a fossil through the replacement of the original material and the filling of the original pore spaces with minerals.
Fossil skeletal parts from extinct belemnite cephalopods of the Jurassic – these contain mineralized calcite and aragonite.. Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, [a] often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues.
[6]: 16 Therefore, reuse can support increased food production and also provide an alternative to chemical fertilizers, which is often unaffordable to small-holder farmers. However, nutritional value of human excreta largely depends on dietary input. [2] Mineral fertilizers are made from mining activities and can contain heavy metals.
The possibility of using microorganisms in biomining applications was realized after the 1951 paper by Kenneth Temple and Arthur Colmer. [9] In the paper the authors presented evidence that the bacteria Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (basonym Thiobacillus ferrooxidans) is an iron oxidizer that thrive in iron, copper and magnesium-rich environments. [9]