Science & technologyFarming and the climateHow to toilet train your cowAnother way to fight climate changePuppies can be taught. So can human children, though not for the first couple of years.Now, in the hope of fighting climate change, Dr Jan Langbein, of the Fredrich-Loweffler-Institut in Germany, and his colleagues hope they can train cows to use the toilet, too.Cow urine contains urea, a nitrogen-rich compound that, when broken down by enzymes in cow faeces, is converted into ammonia.Bacteria in the soil, in turn, convert that ammonia into nitrous oxide.Best known as a dental anaesthetic, the stuff is also a potent greenhouse gas.And agriculture is a big source of it.In the European Union, livestock farming accounts for around 70% of ammonia emissions.Collecting and treating cow pee before the ammonia can be produced might, therefore, seem like a good idea.But it has proved difficult in the past without confining the cows to small areas, which is bad for their welfare.As Dr Langbein describes in Current Biology, this conundrum could be solved if free-roaming cows could be persuaded to voluntarily relieve themselves in a latrine.
科技板块农业与气候如何训练奶牛上厕所应对气候变化的另一种方法小狗可以被驯服，人类幼崽也可以，尽管头几年做不到。现在，为了对抗气候变化，德国Fredrich Loweffler研究所的扬・朗本博士和他的同事们希望也能训练奶牛上厕所。牛尿中含有尿素，一种富含氮的化合物。当尿素被牛粪便中的酶分解时会转化为氨，土壤里的细菌反之将氨转化为氧化亚氮。众所周知，这种物质是一种牙科麻醉剂，同时也是一种强效温室气体。而农业是这种物质的主要来源。在欧盟，畜牧业约占氨排放量的70%。因此，在氨产生之前就对牛尿进行收集和处理似乎是个好主意。但事实证明，在过去，如果不把牛限制在小范围内饲养(不利于牛的福利)，那么很难对牛尿进行收集和处理。正如朗本博士在《当代生物学》中所描述的那样，如果能够说服自由漫步的奶牛自愿在厕所中小便，那么这个难题就可以解决。
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