The last time we
went to visit our column, nothing had changed. Maybe it needs some more time for
the next change to be noticed. The next pictures are an evolution of the column from the day we created it until today.
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| 1 month old. |
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| 2 months old. |
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| 3 month old. |
The evolution is clear: every time we went to see our column it was darker, due to the formation of iron sulfide. This means that there are still a lot of microorganisms living in our column that obtain energy by the reduction of iron, and consequently they create iron sulfide (FeS). Another observation we can do is that the water on top of the bottle gets more and more orange over time.
The last time we visited the lab we decided to experiment with the bottle, as we saw no changes in it. We put the bottle outside the box, at the window, and we spread yeast: Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This microorganism generates CO2 and ethanol in the process of fermentation. This process takes place when it lives in an environment rich in sugars (like D-glucose), but the column is not rich in sugars like this so fermentation will not take place. Our yeast will use other metabolic routs that allows to achieve a greater energy efficiency.
Now that summer is coming, it's time to say goodbye to our dear column... But we have good news! Our partner Alejandro Parra offered to take it home with him and take care of it. So maybe he keeps us informed about the next news!
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