Imagine the earth as distributed, massively parallel operating systems. Physical, chemical and biological conditions as $environment and available system calls. Seeds could be apps that can survive on certain hardware.
I learnt from a billion agave[1] project that in Chile where it touches 55 degree centigrade, they are the most resilient apps that thrive. In peak draughts, they're reviving techniques of fermenting the leaves as a fodder replacement. Tequila, I hear is mostly agave.
In native Karnataka, India they use the fibres for ropes, the tips as needles, the dehydrated leaves as roof tiles. A large suit manufacturer until recently would buy off local agave for very strong and lasting fabric. I learnt that a hammock weaved from the fibre would easily last 10 years in sun and rain.
You can see ancient agave roasting pits in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, if you know where to look.
Also, if you've ever run over an agave with a lawnmower while wearing shorts you'll soon experience a burning sensation on your legs, so props to folks that handle the leaves without issues...
I helped my mom transplant a large agave plant and got in contact with a considerable amount of sap in the process — it's extremely uncomfortable and it took probably 3 months for the resulting rash to go away on my inner arms.
The irritation comes from raphides [0], which are sharp calcium oxalate crystals that get into your skin. Definitely something to avoid if you can! I have no idea how folks work with bare skin around those plants...
Interestingly, pineapples and kiwis have raphides in them as well, so if your mouth feels cut up after eating some, that is why.
The “cut up” feeling that can occur after eating kiwi or pineapple is more likely to be caused by the natural proteases present in the raw fruit (actinidain and bromelain, respectively) as the “cut up” feeling generally does not occur in cooked or canned fruit due to denaturing of the protein proteases. Raphides, which are sharp, insoluble calcium oxalate crystals, are generally not destroyed by boiling (as stated in your link) as so would still be present in the cooked fruit, suggesting that they are unlikely to be responsible for the “cut up” sensation.
Fascinating! Agave looks a lot like Aloe, but apparently they're not closely related. I wouldn't expect looking at an Agave for it to be a skin irritant.
The manual construction of the horno oven for roasting agave for mezcal is a lovely piece of traditional labour, long may it continue. The workers could do with some respiratory protection, though, looks smokey.
When a common word from another language is borrowed into English, it tends to take on a more specific meaning. Most native English speakers wouldn't use "salsa" to describe any other sauce. Horno oven sounds perfectly reasonable in English to specifically describe an earth oven in that style, not the common household appliance.
EDIT: Probably the reason this happens is that most English speakers wouldn't be familiar with the foreign word, so the speaker uses it as a modifier to the standard English word. The listener doesn't need to know anything specific about the foreign word in that case and can just assume it's a type of the common item.
Curious as to why the title of this post was changed. The process of preservation here is just as much - if not more - important to the article than the actual practice.
There is a limit on the size of titles on HN, and I cannot imaging the original title would fit that limit. Thus, someone made a choice on what to remove.
That would make sense. I saw it initially on the home page with the listed headline, and then saw it changed. I would think title length would be validated on submission.
Readit News
I learnt from a billion agave[1] project that in Chile where it touches 55 degree centigrade, they are the most resilient apps that thrive. In peak draughts, they're reviving techniques of fermenting the leaves as a fodder replacement. Tequila, I hear is mostly agave.
In native Karnataka, India they use the fibres for ropes, the tips as needles, the dehydrated leaves as roof tiles. A large suit manufacturer until recently would buy off local agave for very strong and lasting fabric. I learnt that a hammock weaved from the fibre would easily last 10 years in sun and rain.
Amazed to learn of the edible properties!
[1] https://regenerationinternational.org/2024/06/17/the-billion...
The irritation comes from raphides [0], which are sharp calcium oxalate crystals that get into your skin. Definitely something to avoid if you can! I have no idea how folks work with bare skin around those plants...
Interestingly, pineapples and kiwis have raphides in them as well, so if your mouth feels cut up after eating some, that is why.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raphide
https://youtu.be/IEEsu6PFGF0
EDIT: Probably the reason this happens is that most English speakers wouldn't be familiar with the foreign word, so the speaker uses it as a modifier to the standard English word. The listener doesn't need to know anything specific about the foreign word in that case and can just assume it's a type of the common item.