Icelandic Hydroelectric Power Stations

During exercise the rate can increase as much as sixfold.) The oxygen is taken up by the mitochondria. These are the cellsБЂ™ power stations, and there are about a thousand of them in a typical cell, though the number varies considerably depending on what a cell does and how much energy it requires. You may recall from an earlier chapter that the mitochondria are thought to have originated as captive bacteria and that they now live essentially as lodgers in our cells, preserving their own genetic instructions, dividing to their own timetable, speaking their own language. You may also recall that we are at the mercy of their goodwill. HereБЂ™s why. Virtually all the food and oxygen you take into your body are delivered, after processing, to the mitochondria, where they are converted into a molecule called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. You may not have heard of ATP, but it is what keeps you going. ATP molecules are essentially little battery packs that move through the cell providing energy for all the cellБЂ™s processes, and you get through a lot of it ...»