Q: Animals and some bacteria and fungi carry out lactic acid fermentation. Lactic acid is a waste product of this process. Our muscles perform lactic acid fermentation during strenuous exercise, since oxygen cannot be delivered to the muscles quickly enough. The buildup of lactic acid is believed to make your muscles sore after exercise. Bacteria that produce lactic acid are used to make cheese and yogurt. The lactic acid causes the proteins in milk to thicken. Lactic acid also causes tooth decay, because bacteria use the sugars in your mouth for energy. Ben and Jack both loved microorganisms. Jack decided to study more about lactic fermentation, while Ben decided to study more about protozoa. Which person read less about bacteria?
A: Ben

Q: The major effect of transpiration is the reduction of soil pore water pressures which counteracts the loss of strength which occurs through wetting, this is most readily seen as a loss of moisture around trees. However it is not easy to rely on tree and shrub roots to remove water from slopes and consequently help ensure slope stability. The ability to transpire in wet conditions is severely reduced and therefore any increase in soil strength previously gained in evaporation and transpiration will be lost or significantly reduced, consequently the effects of transpiration cannot be taken into account at these times. However it can be assumed that the chance of slope failure following saturation by storm event or periods of extended rainfall will be lessened as a result of transpiration. Moreover, although changes in moisture content will affect the undrained shear strength, the effective shear stress parameters as commonly used in routine slope stability analysis are not directly influenced by changing moisture content, although the water pressures (suctions) used in the analysis will change.[2][3] The two teams took different approaches in reinforcing the highway embankment slopes when building segments of the interstate. Team A led by Chuck relied almost entirely on inspiration and good building materials therefore decreasing slope stability, while team B lead by Mike used nature as an ally by planting tens of thousands of trees and shrubs to prevent slope failures and moderate soil transpiration and evaporation. Will the slope built by team A be stronger or weaker than the slope built by team B?
A: weaker

Q: Middle adulthood lasts from the mid-30s to the mid-60s. During this stage of life, many people raise a family and strive to attain career goals. They start showing physical signs of aging, such as wrinkles and gray hair. Typically, vision, strength and reaction time start declining. Diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular or heart disease, and cancer are often diagnosed during this stage of life. These diseases are also the chief causes of death in middle adulthood. Adam and his older brother Chris were born almost 15 years apart from each other. Adam is 27 now which means Chris is 41. Lately Chris has started noticing grey hairs come in. When Adam and him play games together Chris also seems to lose more often now even though historically he has always been better. Given both Adam and Chris are about equally healthy, which brother has a lower chance of getting type 2 diabetes?
A: Adam

Q: Tropical forests (rainforests) receive more insolation and rainfall over longer growing seasons than any other environment on earth. With these elevated temperatures, insolation and rainfall, biomass is extremely productive leading to the production of as much as 800 grams of carbon per square meter per year. Higher temperatures and larger amounts of water contribute to higher rates of chemical weathering. Increased rates of decomposition cause smaller amounts of fulvic acid to percolate and leach metals from the zone of active weathering. Thus, in stark contrast to soil in forests, tropical forests have little to no podzolization and therefore do not have marked visual and chemical contrasts with the soil layers. Instead, the mobile metals Mg, Fe and Al are precipitated as oxide minerals giving the soil a rusty red color. David is an environmental scientist. Last summer he visited the tropical forest in Brazil. He labeled that part of his study as forest A. To understand the differences between forests he then visited the temperate forest in Germany. He labeled that part of his study as forest B. He found significant differences in these two types of forests. Which forest would see higher rates of chemical weathering, forest A or forest B?
A:
forest A