The energy of morning coffee. Column in ComputerreOnline #15

←
Dmytro Shabanov
→

Dmytro Shabanov Strategies We Do Not Recognize The Energy of Morning Coffee What Is Reflected in a Cup of Coffee?

Column in KompyutterOnline #14 Column in KompyutterOnline #15 Column in KompyutterOnline #16 Many of my columns are devoted to the biological basis of human behavior. Unfortunately, time and again I stumble over a single misunderstanding. Many readers think that because I speak of our biological nature, I am insisting that we are exhausted by it. Where does such categorical thinking come from: “Are we humans or animals?” “Animals live by instinct, and humans by reason!” “Animals adapt to the environment, and humans change it” (“to take it from them by force is our task,” the echo answered…).

Of course we are both humans and animals (every herring is a fish, but not every fish is a herring; every person is an animal, but not every animal is a person); we do not relate ourselves to mushrooms or plants! In our behavior both general mechanisms and those characteristic only of our species are manifested. Are you ready to acknowledge that our anatomy differs from the anatomy of the bonobo chimpanzee (Pan paniscus Schwartz, 1925), and that we together with bonobos differ from the elephant (Loxodonta africana Blumenbach, 1797)? Note that the scientific names of species are written in Latin: the genus and species names (italicized), the author of the original zoological description, and the year of publication. Now consider that our behavior and our psyche are grounded in our anatomy, from the overall brain structure to the details of individual neural networks. And although our behavior differs from that of bonobos, many traits common to us and bonobos distinguish us from the same elephant. Moreover, there is a set of behavioral traits common to us, bonobos, elephants, and many other species that sets all of us apart from the bathroom sponge (Spongia officinalis Linnaeus, 1759), a more distant representative of the kingdom Animalia. There is no fundamental watershed between Homo sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 and the millions of other animal species, but there are unique features of our species. This is not surprising: every species possesses specificities determined by its way of life and evolutionary history. Whoever argues, we are originals; evolutionary events of the last six–eight million years have taken us far from our closest relatives, though they have not turned us into beings of another nature. Apparently, the time has come to discuss our unique features. How to organize the discussion? By looking at ourselves from the outside. Therefore I (temporarily!) declare a moratorium on discussing our rich inner world. I do not deny it! I am least inclined to ignore the special space of culture or to dispute the significance of art for grasping reality. I will simply speak now about something else, about the biological foundation. By the way, this foundation also shapes the contours of our culture. So, what features fundamentally differentiate the way of life of members of our animal species from the way of life of our relatives belonging to all other species? If you wish, imagine that you are observing Earth through an alien telescope. Here beavers are building a dam. Here humans are building a dam. How does their activity differ in principle? You might say that a person works, while a beaver acts instinctively. But how, excuse me, can one see that from afar? The telescope does not reveal the inner world of the human builders or the beaver builders. Both humans and beavers exchange signals; human signals are more complex and diverse. Without delving into their content, we can establish that this difference is quantitative. Are there qualitative, principled differences? Moving beyond the inner world of our psyche and our culture, we step onto the territory of ecology—the biological science of interactions (no need to argue: nature conservation and environmental quality control are not ecology). The interactions described by ecology concern the exchange of matter, energy, and information among organisms and supra‑organismic biosystems (populations, biogeocenoses, etc., up to the interaction of the largest biosystem—the biosphere—with its planetary and cosmic environment). For simplicity, let us start at the organismal level, from something close and understandable… For many years, like many readers of KT, I have begun each day with an important ritual. I toss a certain amount of powder from roasted coffee‑tree fruits into a metal container, add sucrose from sugar beet, pour water over it, and place it on a heat source. The details of the procedure may vary: at home I use a copper cezve and a gas stove, while in field practice with students (where I am now) I use a stainless‑steel mug and an electric heater, and sometimes even a kettle and a fire. One must catch the moment when the mixture balances on the brink of boiling, stop heating, and let it stand briefly. Soon one can take the first small sip… What energy is contained in a cup of coffee? Metaphorically one can speak of the “spiritual energy” that this psychostimulant provides. This is the action of caffeine (amplified by habit). Caffeine is a chemical weapon of the coffee tree, a substance that disrupts the behavior of coffee‑berry consumers. This defensive compound is used not only by members of the genus Coffea but also by many other plants. We drink coffee for small doses of this toxin. The impact of aroma, taste, ritual—secondary circumstances, conditioned reflexes. Is there a principled peculiarity in such behavior of our species? No. For many mammals (and probably not only them) the use of psychoactive substances is typical. Have you seen videos of lemurs nibbling poisonous millipedes, smearing themselves with their secretions, and entering a narcotic bliss? Better to talk about energy in the physical sense: the capacity to do work. What are its sources in morning coffee? Our bodies obtain metabolic energy by breaking down the organic substances of coffee beans and, especially, sugar. The main part of the energy is extracted in mitochondria, the cellular organelles where the “energy carriers” of coffee are oxidized to carbon dioxide and water (with some exceptions). Where did the energy get into these substances? Coffee trees and sugar beet stored it while forming the precursors of these substances during photosynthesis (from the same pair of substances, carbon dioxide and water). Light quanta supplied the energy. They were emitted from the visible surface of the Sun, heated by thermonuclear reactions (the fusion of two hydrogen nuclei into a helium nucleus). What is unusual here? This mode of obtaining solar energy, transformed by photosynthesis, is typical for heterotrophic (feeding on ready‑made organic matter) organisms, including animals. Coffee also contains a certain amount of thermal energy. It is easy to calculate: heating one gram of water by one degree Celsius requires one calorie. Where did this energy in coffee come from? It was obtained during heating. Where did that heating come from? The simplest case is a fire. This energy is obtained by the oxidation of firewood—a product of photosynthesis. The energy in the wood is stored from the same source as in sugar and coffee. If coffee was heated on a gas stove, the natural gas was oxidized. This is also a result of the photosynthetic conversion of solar energy that occurred in past geological epochs! If coffee was brewed on an electric stove, it received energy from a multitude of processes that feed our electric grid. Primarily, this is solar energy transformed by photosynthesis in past epochs, extracted from fossil fuels: coal, gas, shale, etc. Then there is energy obtained by the fission of heavy elements in nuclear power plants. Where does the energy in uranium, which can be extracted, come from? Uranium is extracted from the Earth’s interior; how did it get there? The Sun shines thanks to nuclear fusion energy. Energy can be released when nuclei of elements lighter than iron fuse; when heavier nuclei fuse, energy is consumed. To create heavy nuclei whose decay releases energy, something must have supplied that energy to them. This happened in supernova explosions. When a star “burns out” one type of thermonuclear fuel and switches to another fusion reaction, it can explode, bombarding the surrounding material with its own matter. Colliding nuclei fuse, forming heavy elements. When gravity gathers cosmic nebulae into stellar systems, part of the heavy elements become incorporated into planets. Thus, at nuclear power plants we extract the energy of previous generations of stars. At hydroelectric plants we extract solar energy transformed by the water cycle. The Sun heats the Earth’s surface and evaporates water. Because heating is uneven, the atmosphere circulates and carries steam‑enriched air from the oceans to the continents. We extract a small portion of the potential energy of water that has been lifted relative to sea level using hydroelectric stations. What remains? Minor items. Combustion of modern biomass (already discussed). Wind energy (solar energy driving atmospheric circulation). Solar energy captured by photovoltaic panels. Wave energy (the same as wind energy). Tidal energy (the energy of motion in the Earth‑Moon system, remaining since the formation of this celestial pair). Geothermal energy (heat from the Earth’s interior). It was provided by the gravitational differentiation of the Earth’s interior in the early stages of the planet’s history (the sinking of iron components and the “floating” of lighter rocks upward, which significantly heated the planet), as well as by the decay of radioactive elements in the Earth’s mantle. Did I forget anything important? You probably understand the direction I am leaning toward. But that will be for next time.

←
Dmytro Shabanov
→

Dmytro Shabanov Strategies We Do Not Recognize The Energy of Morning Coffee What Is Reflected in a Cup of Coffee?

Column in KompyutterOnline #14 Column in KompyutterOnline #15 Column in KompyutterOnline #16