The use of food and water resources was discussed at the forum at INRTU
The All-Russian Conference "Water and Life" was held at INRTU. The participants discussed the influence of fluorine and lithium on living organisms, creation of fertilizers and means to improve soil quality based on food waste.
The forum was organized by the Department of Physics of School of Power Engineering and the student scientific society "Carbon". The event brought together schoolchildren, students, postgraduate students and teachers. Researchers from the Irkutsk region and Buryatia presented more than 20 reports on three topics.
The leaders of the "Water ecology" section were young researchers of "Carbon" SU, future biotechnologists Egor Boukreev and Valery Toporkov. The first-year students conduct experimental research using bacteria to process food waste. The introduction of such methods, the students believe, will help solve the problem of recycling food waste that is generated in food processing areas (cafeterias, canteens, snack bars, etc.). The owners of these establishments will collect them in special containers and take them for recycling instead of throwing them into landfills. Rotting waste emits methane and carbon dioxide, which contributes to the greenhouse effect.
The idea is based on the development of foreign colleagues who ferment substrate from garbage (watermelon and citrus peels). INRTU students propose to replace fruit peels with vegetable peels, which are more common in Siberia.
"During fermentation, bacteria and fungi that form colonies on potatoes, carrots, and beets react. They produce special enzymes - oxidoreductases - capable of decomposing harmful organic compounds to a safe state. The resulting liquid phase can be used as a fertilizer or a means of cleaning the soil from toxic substances, such as used motor oils," Valery Toporkov clarified.
INRTU students conducted test experiments on a homemade machine. In the near future they will have to conduct the process of deep fermentation and study the chemical composition and reactivity of the substrate. Professors Nikolay Konovalov and Svetlana Timofeeva support the project.
"One possible focus of this research is the purification of petroleum products using a trash substrate. We plan to develop a theory about the formation of special immunity in bacteria. This property can be used in the study of antibiotics," added Yegor Boukreev.
Nedolivko brothers from Usolya Sibirsky - Semyon and Savely - were also awarded the first degree prize. The schoolchildren impressed the jury with their presentation about the impact of used batteries on water and living organisms. With the support of Quantorium "Siberia" guys took part in the campaign for the collection and recycling of lithium batteries. In addition, they studied the survival of plants and snail eggs placed in the liquid with old batteries.
Yana Rudykh, a tenth-grader from Zhigalovo District, was recognized as the author of the best speech in the English-language category. The topic of her report was the influence of fluorine (F) on human health.
According to the student, high fluoride content in drinking water contributes to destruction of tooth enamel. Yana set a goal to find out how urgent this problem is for the Angara area. She took water samples from artesian springs in Irkutsk and wells in Zhigalovo. Chemical analysis showed that all the samples had fluoride levels above the norm. The student conducted the study together with her classmate Victoria Pavlova under the guidance of teacher Lyudmila Galichina.
To confirm the hypothesis, the authors additionally conducted experiments with eggshells, the closest composition to dentin of teeth. The eggshells were placed in different containers with liquid, one of which was covered with fluoridated toothpaste. After a week, the fluoride-enriched surface turned yellow and began to crumble easily.
We analyzed three years of data from the archives of the Zhigalovo polyclinic regarding children's dental health. As it turned out, every fifth child suffers from tooth decay, regardless of the level of oral hygiene. According to doctors, the quality of water played an important role here.
I think that it is necessary to attract attention of the population and trade networks to this problem. For example, it is important to include F-free pastes in the assortment of stores", - said the winner.
In addition, the first degree diploma was awarded to Danil Volygin, a student of the Baikal School of BRICS. The young man looked at the issues of E-Fuel application. Mikhail Vasilyev, a sophomore, was recognized as the best in the "Water in technological processes" field. The future chemist conducted a study on the topic "Water at the thermonuclear substation".
Nikolai Konovalov, head of the Physics Department, thanked the authors for their interesting projects and proposals. He expressed special gratitude to the teachers who prepared students for the forum.
"Every idea and fantasy is a hypothesis. If it comes to life, then the goal will be achieved. So experiment bravely!", the professor admonished the participants.
