Difference between revisions of "Lick the Moonmilk"

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(The Moonmilk)
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[[File:moonmilk_sprint_flyer.png|x350px]]
 
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Hack-Sprint at GaudiLabs and the mount Pilatus in Summer 2014.<br>
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Participants: Urs Gaudenz, Felix Bäntli, Medea Gaudenz, Gian Gaudenz, Thomas Vetterli
  
 
== The Moonmilk ==
 
== The Moonmilk ==
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== Mondmilchloch Lucerm ==
 
== Mondmilchloch Lucerm ==
  
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Luckily the cave Mondmilchloch, where Conrad Gesner first observed and described the moonmilk is in the Pilatus Mountain and not far from GaudiLabs Lucern [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondmilchloch]. The cave seems to be more than 100 meters long and bathed by a stream of water.
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[[File:map_mondmilchhoele.png|x350px]]
  
  

Revision as of 08:30, 22 September 2014

Moonmilk sprint flyer.png Hack-Sprint at GaudiLabs and the mount Pilatus in Summer 2014.
Participants: Urs Gaudenz, Felix Bäntli, Medea Gaudenz, Gian Gaudenz, Thomas Vetterli

The Moonmilk

What does Wikipedia say? [1]

Moonmilk (sometimes called mondmilch, also known as montmilch or as cave milk) is a white, creamy substance found inside caves. 
It is a precipitate from limestone comprising aggregates of fine crystals of varying composition 
usually made of carbonates such as calcite, aragonite, hydromagnesite, and/or monohydrocalcite.


And there are several hypotheses:

  • Is moonmilk the result of bacterial action rather than from chemical reactions?
  • Is moonmilk created by the bacterium Macromonas bipunctata?
  • Is possible that moonmilk carries dissolved nutrients that can be used by microbes, such as Actinomycetes?
  • Is it created by "moon rays" as Conrad Gessner, Swiss naturalist who coined the term "Lac Lunae" back in 1555, thought?


Moonmilk was dscribed as a remedy by Gesner in 1555. Like many other cave contents like bear bones or dripstones, moonmilk was mined and sold by pharmacies. It was prescibed until the 19th century. As it is simply calcite, it definitely cured acalcinosis and probably cardialgia by neutralicing the acid. [2]

This sounds interesting. Let's explore.

Mondmilchloch Lucerm

Luckily the cave Mondmilchloch, where Conrad Gesner first observed and described the moonmilk is in the Pilatus Mountain and not far from GaudiLabs Lucern [3]. The cave seems to be more than 100 meters long and bathed by a stream of water.

Map mondmilchhoele.png


"In an initial experiment (Peoc'h, 1986) was established that young chicks aged from 1 to 7 days could attract towards them a robot controlled by a random generator"

Ok, so not the chicks are attracted by the robot but the robot (with a candle mounted on it) is attracted by the chicks (in a cage) :-) And why? Because they are in the dark and want to go to the light. And use their psychokinetic force.

Believe it or not? Science is not about believing it's about testing, observing and understanding.
So let's try.

The Experiment

At the HackteriaLab 2014 we had by chance the perfect condition to carry out this experiment.

Cindy Lin, amateur naturalist, albeit always tempted to remove living things from their natural environments, "found" three young chicken during the retreat in Bumi Pemuda Rahayu Arts Center.