Messages

Alright.

I guess its still a good idea I don't drink distilled water. I don't eat a massive amount.

What's wrong with distilled water?

Because it lacks ions, it has a tendency to cause decline in concentration in tissues over time, especially bones. In metaphorical terms, since distilled water has nothing in it, it acts like an ion magnet, drawing ions downgradient out of cells.

Huh.  Okay, and I assume that includes storm drains too?

Output of storm drains is untreated, it is simply piped to the nearest stream or lake.

Right, so those storm pipes could possibly be used to generate power?

Especially if you designed a storm drain system that was meant to generate the most possible power. 

It could work. Would be event driven however. Only useful in the wettest climates.

http://www.elementfour.com/

A device that extracts potable water from thin air.

I'm skeptical, myself.  Anyone heard of these or seen them work?

I don't know about potable water but my parents have been using dehumidifiers for years. The problem is of course that A) it takes energy to draw humidity out of the air, usually by cooling a series of coils, and B) you have to have enough moisture in the air so there is a gradient. It also doesn't work well below certain temperatures.

Oh, and I forgot, its also distilled water, which is not healthy over extended periods.

Huh.  Okay, and I assume that includes storm drains too?

Output of storm drains is untreated, it is simply piped to the nearest stream or lake.

yeah, it's called "hydroelectric power".

Incidentally, I had an idea.  I'm obviously no engineer, but what's stopping us from getting hydroelectric from certain city sewer systems?

Mostly that sewage treatment already uses massive amounts of electricity for water pumping but even more so for aeration tanks, settling pools, and other aspects. Its an energy intensive process, and any down slope movement is slowed by settling pools, aeration tanks, mechanical (both passive and active) particulate removal, etc.

Why don't newspapers ever link to the article in question, or even give its name?

You mean this paper? 

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/322/5898/115

I can't read it since I don't have a subscription to Science magazine but you can probably see it since you are at a college.

Oh yeah, my college is ran by assholes who won't subscribe to Science or Nature.  Never mind that we have sizable biology, biochemistry, and chemistry programs.

Not even the library?  We used to have a problem with Resnet not getting subscribed journals, but they fixed out the program by putting the library and resnet on the same system.  It might be also worth checking sites like JSTOR to see if they have archived it at all.

Yeah, it doesn't quite make sense that your uni library wouldn't at least have hard copies.

Why don't newspapers ever link to the article in question, or even give its name?

You mean this paper? 

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/322/5898/115

I can't read it since I don't have a subscription to Science magazine but you can probably see it since you are at a college.

Oh yeah, my college is ran by assholes who won't subscribe to Science or Nature.  Never mind that we have sizable biology, biochemistry, and chemistry programs.

Thats pretty sad considering Science is the most prestigious science journal in the world.

yeah, it's called "hydroelectric power".

That was a cool piece of writing.


However, the title has now firmly locked into my mind that bit of Pabulum from "Godspell".


So I hate you.

Agreed a Cool peace of writing but what got stuck in my head was the theme song to Step by Step - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NpyGXErvpU

I thought Night and Day instead. Frank Sinatra much better than the above.

This is....this piece speaks to me. For one, if I could get my energy levels to where I want them, this is possibly how I would live, researching, thinking constantly, T'ai Chi Chu'an, Chi Gung, Ba Gua Chang, and drink green tea through it; reading, writing....fuck, why am I not living this right now? I could be a constant output of creativity, and yet I get stuck in the same daily ruts. I know I could do it, maintain the energy level of the above. Something needs to change.

So far, I've said or at least tried to say that every clean energy source is at least right now only part of the solution.  Our energy is going to have to come from many sources.  Noone wants to live in a nation that  runs entirely on air power, for example.  Many solutions at once is the key.

And yeah, lifestyle too.  Not having people leave their computers on all night would help, for instance.  Still, I'd argue that the economy and the environment would benefit from solar roofing in some areas.  At very least it would reduce reliance on power companies.

Unfortunately we are economically and socially used to centralized power. Multi-source power is an idea you have to convince the public is good, and then furthermore convince them to have it going on in their neighborhood. Right now most people think of power plants as being something that is /over there somewhere/, and point in a general direction or say "well, everyone knows that the power comes from a power plant..." People don't know where their power comes from, they don't know where their water comes from and where their sewage goes. Most people don't care, as long as the prices stay low, the power keeps coming, and they don't have to feel the perceived direct environmental and aesthetic affects. When people start caring in large numbers and become mindful of such things then change will happen because with that will be lifestyle changes. Right now I don't see the slightest inclination toward such a movement. In fact, I see a movement towards corporatization of water and sewage, municipalities selling off their systems to the highest bidder, and then realizing years later the results that have come from the poor job that these corporations do (ie Atlanta).

I think you would find that its not "no one would want a nation run on wind" but rather more "not many care about our nation running on coal, as long as they don't have to see it out their window".

Makes sense.

On the other hand, I wonder about the Methods and Materials section.

Solar doesn't work in all areas because a) you need the input energy to be consistent enough for large scale operations, ie the southwest and b) we don't have a good way to store the electricity or any electricity for that matter at this point. There are also environmental costs associated with it, as there will be with any large scale energy operation. Wind follows suit for the same reasons, and so does tidal power. Hydroelectric is environmentally unfriendly, it alters the flow regimes in rivers which can cause massive ecosystem problems both upstream (in the resevoir) and down stream. Its like a beaver dam except long term and on a massive scale. Its also unviable over the long term since the resevoir will eventually end up filled with silt. Coal is the old fasioned way to generate electricity, but its not exactly clean. Nuclear is clean but then you have the waste issue. Fusion is of yet a science fiction story. Biofuels for electricity and transport have some of the same environmental and efficiency issues as coal. Hydrogen fuels for transport are very costly and as of now are still utilizing hydrocarbons (ie oil) to derive hydrogen. Oil is not going to be around at transport viable levels forever, and has environmental problems associated with all aspects of its production.

In Wisconsin, you can't really use solar power, there aren't enough days of sun. Its okay for wind power but the people keep shooting down wind initiatives (not in MY backyard, they say). Hydroelectric dams are actually being dismantled on Wisconsin rivers rather than built, because people are becoming more ecologically concious. No one wants a new nuclear power plant or coal fire powerplant in their backyard either. Biofuels and hydrogen fuels are still not available, and oil is going down the tubes here. At the same time, the population of Wisconsin and its energy needs is growing. No one wants new power plants to handle the extra load, yet the load is there.

Which is why I say that the only real solution to our energy problems is lifestyle change. Since that won't happen, I'm convinced that things are going to continue to get worse until people are forced into it.

And we aren't even started talking about WATER, hah. Water is the new oil.   

Applying Science to Alternative Medicine
from the New York Times (Registration Required)

More than 80 million adults in the United States are estimated to use some form of alternative medicine, from herbs and megavitamins to yoga and acupuncture. But while sweeping claims are made for these treatments, the scientific evidence for them often lags far behind: studies and clinical trials, when they exist at all, can be shoddy in design and too small to yield reliable insights.

Now the federal government is working hard to raise the standards of evidence, seeking to distinguish between what is effective, useless and harmful or even dangerous.

It's about fucking time!!!  The FDA has been way too leinent on quackery for the last 7 years.

"The research has been making steady progress," said Dr. Josephine P. Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. "It's reasonably new that rigorous methods are being used to study these health practices."

http://snipurl.com/40063

LOL!  The CAM people actually do real research now?  I'd love to see that.

I think if they studied hard they'd find that most of "alternative medicine" is psychosomatic, if it works at all.

Today's Headlines - October 2, 2008

Water's Role in Martian Chemistry Becoming Clearer
from Science News

Perched on a vast plain above the arctic circle of the Red Planet, NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander has found new evidence that liquid water was once present in the north polar region and interacted with minerals there. Phoenix scientists reported the findings September 29 during a NASA press briefing.

Two Phoenix experiments identified calcium carbonates and clays in soil samples scooped up by the craft's robotic arm. On Earth, both minerals are associated with the presence of liquid water.

Carbonates such as limestones form on Earth when carbon dioxide from the atmosphere dissolves in liquid water, making carbonic acid. The acid eats away at rocks, which eventually become carbonate deposits such as the White Cliffs of Dover.

http://snipurl.com/3zsdm


Space Smash-Up Turned Planets to Dust
from National Geographic News

A dust cloud surrounding a nearby star 300 light-years from Earth may be all that remains from the collision of two rocky planets, researchers say.

The planets may have been similar to Earth in size, age, and distance from their sun. The bodies circled a binary star, or a pair of stars locked in tight rotation, known as BD +20 307. Until now, no other binary stars close to our solar system have shown evidence of having planets.

Using optical and x-ray telescopes to estimate the volume and temperature of BD +20 307's dust cloud, researchers concluded that it must have been produced by the violent collision of two planet-size bodies. Such planets would have been prime locations for the possible evolution of extraterrestrial life, experts say.

http://snipurl.com/3zsgs


New Genetic Test for Flu Virus Means Results in 4 Hours
from the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Registration Required)

ATLANTA (Associated Press)—The government approved a new genetic test for the flu virus Tuesday that will allow labs across the country to identify flu strains within four hours instead of four days.

The timesaving test could be crucial if a deadly new strain emerges, federal health officials said. The new test also could help doctors make better treatment decisions during a conventional flu season.

The new test was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Applied Biosystems Inc. of Foster City, Calif. The Food and Drug Administration approved the test kit Tuesday, and state health labs are expected to start using it this fall.

http://snipurl.com/401du


The First Sound Bites
from Science News

William Jennings Bryan was rarely at a loss for words. His impassioned oratory spellbound congressmen during his two terms in the U.S. House and thrilled thousands of voters during the presidential campaigns of 1896 and 1900. But during his third run for the White House, 100 years ago, Bryan had trouble speaking in the intimacy of his own home.

"Mr. Bryan seemed a little nervous when he first started, much more so, he said, than he ever felt in facing an audience of ten thousand people," Harold Voorhis recalled. Voorhis, an agent for the National Phonograph Company, was partly responsible for the candidate's discomfort: He had brought a phonograph into the library of Bryan's house in Lincoln, Neb., to record some of his speeches, old and current.

... Whether for profit or prestige, the 1908 campaign was the first in which presidential candidates recorded their own voices for the mass market. ... The sound-bite era was born.

http://snipurl.com/3zuwp


Applying Science to Alternative Medicine
from the New York Times (Registration Required)

More than 80 million adults in the United States are estimated to use some form of alternative medicine, from herbs and megavitamins to yoga and acupuncture. But while sweeping claims are made for these treatments, the scientific evidence for them often lags far behind: studies and clinical trials, when they exist at all, can be shoddy in design and too small to yield reliable insights.

Now the federal government is working hard to raise the standards of evidence, seeking to distinguish between what is effective, useless and harmful or even dangerous.

"The research has been making steady progress," said Dr. Josephine P. Briggs, director of the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a division of the National Institutes of Health. "It's reasonably new that rigorous methods are being used to study these health practices."

http://snipurl.com/40063


EPA Sets Nuke Waste Dump Radiation Standard
from the San Francisco Chronicle

WASHINGTON (Associated Press)—No one knows what the Earth will be like in a million years. But a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada must be designed to ensure that people living near it a million years from now are exposed to no more than 100 millirems of radiation annually.

And over the next 10,000 years, radiation exposure to the waste dump's neighbors may be no more than 15 millirems a year, or about the amount of exposure in an X-ray. People receive about 350 millirems a year of radiation on average from all background sources.

After three years of deliberations, the Environmental Protection Agency announced on Tuesday its radiation health standard for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a system of underground caverns 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas where the government hopes to keep highly radioactive commercial and military nuclear waste.

http://snipurl.com/400dn


NASA's Half Century of Space Exploration
from the Orlando Sentinel

The Sentinel celebrates NASA's 50th birthday with a series of articles and out-of-this-world photo galleries.

What lies ahead? With half a century of amazing accomplishments behind it, NASA is entering a second space age beset by uncertainty and searching for a renewal of "the right stuff."

Browse every launch of the space shuttle, from Columbia's first mission in 1981 to the most recent flight. And while you're at it, test your knowledge of space trivia. For example, what weird object saved the Apollo 13 crew from certain death?

http://snipurl.com/400ld


Study: AIDS Virus in Human Circulation for 100 Years
from USA Today

NEW YORK (Associated Press)—The AIDS virus has been circulating among people for about 100 years, decades longer than scientists had thought, a new study suggests. Genetic analysis pushes the estimated origin of HIV back to between 1884 and 1924, with a more focused estimate at 1908.

Previously, scientists had estimated the origin at around 1930. AIDS wasn't recognized formally until 1981 when it got the attention of public health officials in the United States.

The new result is "not a monumental shift, but it means the virus was circulating under our radar even longer than we knew," says Michael Worobey of the University of Arizona, an author of the new work. The results appear in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

http://snipurl.com/400xe


Driving to Vote Could Be Hazardous
from the Chicago Tribune (Registration Required)

CHICAGO (Associated Press)—Could voting for president be hazardous to your health? An analysis of Election Day traffic deaths dating back to Jimmy Carter's 1976 win suggests yes, but the authors say that's no reason not to go to the polls.

The study found that on average, 24 more people died in car crashes during voting hours on presidential election days than on other October and November Tuesdays. That amounts to an 18 percent increased risk of death. And compared with non-election days, an additional 800 people suffered disabling injuries.

The results were pretty consistent on all eight presidential Election Days that were analyzed, up to George W. Bush's victory over John Kerry in 2004. "This is one of the most off-the-wall things I've ever read, but the science is good," said Roy Lucke, senior scientist at Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety. He was not involved in the study, which appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

http://snipurl.com/40158


Using Math to Explain How Life on Earth Began
from Scientific American

Back in March the press went crazy for Martin A. Nowak's study on the value of punishment. A Harvard University mathematician and biologist, Nowak had signed up some 100 students to play a computer game in which they used dimes to punish and reward one another. The popular belief was that costly punishment would promote cooperation between two equals, but Nowak and his colleagues proved the theory wrong.

Instead they found that punishment often triggers a spiral of retaliation, making it detrimental and destructive rather than beneficial. Far from gaining, people who punish tend to escalate conflict, worsen their fortunes and eventually lose out. "Nice guys finish first," headlines cheered.

It wasn't the first time Nowak's computer simulations and mathematics forced a rethinking of a complex phenomenon. In 2002 he worked out equations that can predict the way cancer evolves and spreads, such as when mutations emerge in a metastasis and chromosomes become unstable.

http://snipurl.com/401q3