Category Archives: Current Events

Failing to Ask Better Questions

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We may be entering a time of greater economic hardship than many have known in their lives. The great age of mass consumption, non-returnables, and disposable goods may have peaked.  Boarding the Hummer or the Escalade to drive 5 miles to buy cigarettes and a Big Gulp may be a thing of the past for a greater number of citizens. Americans will have to adopt a lifestyle much more akin to Europe or Japan- reduced living space and reduced (kg of crap)/(person year), reduced portion sizes, more walking, local shopping, and increased use of rail transportation.

The Oil Shock of Summer 2008 snagged the suspenders of this nation of hydrocarbon addicts, sending us reeling into the election/market crash machinery like a drunken farmer pulled into the thresher. Out the back end of this nightmare comes the bloody oat chaff to hint that something horrific happened. Reality strikes, then … silence.

In spite of the plurality of media outlet channels into our collective consciousness, few infotainers are drilling into the core of the problem. The pace and timing of commercial media sets the rhythm of infotainment metered to the masses. Photogenic talking heads selected for their appeal read predigested content for broadcast to attention deficit channel surfers. People dulled by the sheer magnitude of content-dilute information streams and dazzled by the production value of infotainment are compelled to switch on HBO and hide from the world.

Here is what we must do. We must see to it that better questions are being investigated. Instead of asking about the replacement for gasoline, we must ask for a frank disclosure on the sustainability of high consumption. Instead of asking for better or hybrid automobiles, we must frame questions around the concept of a mass transportation network. How can we get intercity rail up and running? How can the Detroit automobile manufactures be cajoled into entering the rail infrastructure business? Where is the hydrogen going to come from to fuel the hydrogen economy? Does it make sense to consume energy to generate hydrogen and then turn around and burn it for propulsion?

The best answers come from the best questions.

The Cost of Scientific Information. Who Pays and Who Gets Paid?

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For anyone outside of academia who has not actually received an invoice from Chemical Abstracts for literature retrieval services, let me assure you that literature searches will cost you real money.

CAS has weighted the basic search operations and defined them in a menu of task equivalents. When you subscribe, you purchase a bundle of tasks. Tasks can be used like a chit- they can be applied for a variety of search operations. Some search operations are assigned a higher value than others. Obviously, a group of big wheels at CAS sat down in a room and hammered out what they perceive the value of a given operation to be.

At this point, it is useful to remind folks that price is not properly based on cost, it is based on what the customer is willing to pay. CAS has an army of clerks punching abstracts into the database, so they do have some real overhead. While CAS honchos are mindful of paying the overhead, they are also trying to find a pricepoint for their information services. On this I do sympathize with them.

However, where I part ways with this organization relates to the monopolistic arrangement they have with information paid for by citizens of this country. The major pipelines of chemical research information seem to plumb directly into CAS and the ACS.  Research that does not get published by the ACS goes to a variety of private publishing houses. The common thread is the transfer of copyright to the publishing house. By turning over the copyright of publically funded research to these organizations, the public relenquishes the right to free access to results it has paid for.

In a very real way, the published results of our university research complex represents national treasure. What do we do with it? We hand it over to publishing organizations who print it in exchange for the copyright. In this way, we can keep paying for access indefinitely.

In fact, lets highlight some of the features of this transfer of wealth and the cost to society of scientific literature-

  1. Citizens and corporations pay taxes to support the various funding agencies like NSF, NIH, DoE, DoT, DoD, etc., as well as provide private grants.
  2. Funding agencies award grants to institutions and researchers to pay for the conduct of research.
  3. Researchers take a combination of funds and pay for stipends, fellowships, materials, and overhead to support the people who do research.
  4. Research is performed and results are communicated as publications.
  5. Researchers sign over the copyright to their work in exchange for publication.
  6. Publishers such as the ACS, Wiley, Elsevier, etc., then hold a copyright on the content in perpetuity.
  7. For the rest of time, the citizenry who paid for the results have to pay a fee to get a copy of the paper, or travel to the nearest University library and hope that the publication isn’t in deep archival storage and unavailable that day.
  8. Thanks to the Bayh-Dole Act, institutions can patent the results of federally funded work. This means that the hopeful citizens of the USA are barred from the practice of the art they paid for. In fact, they have to work out a license agreement which will include a royalty (with audit trail) and probably a hefty upfront, non-refundable, fee to get the ball rolling.
  9. Despite this royalties cash stream that universities have access to, tuition and fees continue to rise well above inflation.
  10. If you are a chemical scholar out of the cover of academic discounting, you face the full brunt of literature search costs yourself. A monograph or book on any given chemistry topic could easily cost $10,000 in non-academic SciFinder charges (ie., $68 per reaction search). A typical technical book may provide an author $3,000 to $10,000 in royalties over 5 years.

Well, you say, the benefit is to society as a whole. The science we pay for goes into society where, like an incoming tide, lifts all boats.

Nonesense! This tide lifts the good ship Elsevier and the USS Chemical Abstracts. It helps large universities get larger. The generation of information has become a cash cow for a handful of organizations who are subject to precious little scrutiny by those who freely supply the scientific content that keeps the system going.

GM, Ford, and Lonely Chrysler

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With all of the pious talk of the importance of the big 3 auto makers, it is hard to dissociate ones feelings with the subject. American car culture and our affinity for happy motoring is woven into the Stars and Stripes. But our automotive manufacturers have come to the end of the road. Their myopic practice of pure market-pull business operations, as opposed to the technology push of industrial leadership, has left them stranded on a slender spit of sand surrounded by the rising tide of change. The very immensity and gravitas that allowed these corporate creatures to dominate the market now threatens to sink them as our unsustainable mania for consumption and wretched excess comes to a squealing halt.

Three ailing patients show up in the congressional emergency room and plead for help. But the market and the government must do triage on this group of patients lying on cots before us and throw resources at those who may live and wheel the living dead to expire in the dark hallways of the corporate morgue.

The delegation of big wheels from Detroit were apparently unsuccesful in their reconnoiter to DC looking for national treasure. Their bizjet faux pas was the finishing dab of paint on this silly cartoon. It was a signature blunder marking arrogance and an artless attempt to exploit the transient alignment of stars motivating congress to fund business institutions “too large to fail”.

These business dinosaurs need to become extinct so as to allow other more competitive creatures a chance at survival. I urge the Congress to stand back and allow these companies to enter into Chapter 11 and reorganize. Their cost structures are simply too bloated with overhead to go forward. If a company is willing to reorganize, then it may be worth advancing a loan of public funds to aid their survival. But as they are presently configured, they should not be encouraged to live on to produce more of the same.

PGM Prices Continue to Weaken

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20 November, 2008. EIB Rhodium bullion prices continue to haunt the cold, murky pricing depths of the metals market. Today, Rhodium opened at US$1250/toz. That’s just 12 % of the June ’08 highpoint of US$10,100/toz. 

Rhodium demand is heavily dependent on automotive and industrial catalyst applications. While chemical plants may still be chugging out hydroformylation products at reasonable levels, automobile manufacturers are having a hard time getting citizens to buy new automobiles. And strapped to the undercarriage of each automobile is a metal cannister packed with PGM-laced ceramic material. It is no coincidence that Rhodium prices and automotive sales have collapsed together.

Platinum pricing has fallen considerably as well, from the Feb ’08 high of US$2275/toz to todays opening price of US$780/toz.  While Platinum does have considerable automotive and industrial catalyst application, it is also subject to demand from the global jewelry market, which acts to dampen the price collapse.

Two bits of Platinum news may be strengthening Pt prices. An incident at the Angloplats Polokwane smelter will lead to a shortfall in Pt output by an estimated 200,000 toz.  Johnson Matthey predicted a 240,000 toz Pt shortfall for 2008. It was unclear whether that estimate takes into account the production stoppage at Polokwane. Matthey cited general safety stoppages and skilled labor shortages as being behind the anticipated Platinum shortfall.

California Governor Unveils Plan to Prevent Wildfires

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Nov. 17, 2008, Sacramento, California.   Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the development of a comprehensive plan to prevent the chronic and disabling fires prevalent in Southern California. The Governor spoke in his capacity as Titular Chairman of the La Brea Cinder, Sparks, and Soot Commission (CSSC). “The People of California are looking to its state leadership for putting an end to wildfires”, said the governor at the crowded press conference. “When our top scientists examined the fire triangle it became clear what must be done.”

Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Keep California From Burning Act which is to take effect June 1, 2010. In this plan, Los Angeles County and all adjoining counties will begin a comprehensive paving program with the goal of covering the entire metropolitan area with concrete and asphalt by the end of 2020. Eminent domain proceedings are scheduled to begin in early 2009. It is anticipated that approximately 15 % of the area targeted for coverage will be problematic due to citizen protest or Endangered Species Act issues.

The chairperson of the scientific advisory board to the CSSC, Dr. Pietr Detrietis, Director of Ignitions at the Jasper R. Heiny Institute of Flashpoint Studies at Pultroon College, disclosed the boards rationale in making this landmark recommendation.

“We have examined the problem very carefully and have come to the unavoidable conclusion that there are too many tonnes of fuel per hectare in the affected regions. The best solution appears to be paving over all of the fuel supply with concrete, brick, or asphalt.”

Dr. Detreitis continued with the observation that “the average Californian spends less than 2 % of their recreational time in the affected vegetated areas anyway, so paving over much of the state probably won’t be noticed.”

Governor Schwarzenegger added “The paving program will bring needed jobs to the people of California who are suffering from the effects of the economy. There will be horticultural exceptions for gardeners and a permitting process is in development for those who wish to plant approved ornamental shrubs and vegetables.”

The news was greeted with wild enthusiasm by garden centers who anticipate an uptick in demand for state approved plants. The California Paving Association was likewise enthused at hearing the news.

Not all are pleased with the news, however. The California Chapter of the American Fowl Society announced its intent to file an injunction which would block paving over certain areas known to be inhabited by Skarshanks Ground Parrot. This rare species of flightless bird is a distant member of the Parrot family and is one of the few Parrots known to be carnivorous and cannibalistic. Skarshanks Ground Parrot feeds primarily on lizards and geckos, though it has been known to attack and kill small pets. The parrot’s beak is adapted for tearing scaly flesh and dismembering skeletons. Known to inflict a serious wound, most hikers walk past the heavily camouflaged bird without realizing it is near.

Self-Regulating Nuclear Power Reactor

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Hyperion Power Generation (HPG) company has announced the commercial development of their Hyperion Power Module.  While there are numerous reports on the internet, it is more useful for curious and tech savvy folk to read the patent application (US 20040062340) for a detailed description of the device. While the idea has been knocking around for 50 years, it took the inventor, Dr. Otis G. Peterson, to work out the control issues for a safe, self regulating system.

The reactor uses the hydride of a fissile actinide like U-235 (as UH3 powder) at ~5% enrichment in U-238 to serve as a self-moderating nuclear pile. The marvels of chemistry, namely chemical equilibrium, play a large role here because the hydrogen content (as hydride) varies as a function of temperature. An increase in temperature of the UH3 leads to loss of hydrogen from the U to another hydrogen storing metal. Loss of hydrogen moderator leads to loss of reactivity and a downturn in heat generation. But the downturn in heat generation favors the return of hydrogen (as H2) to the uranium to make hydride. This causes the reactivity of the system to increase, so the rate of fission and heat generation rises as a result.

The system eventually reaches a steady state temperature where the rates of hydrogen gain and loss from uranium become equal and the rate of heat evolution reaches a steady output.

According to Table 1 of the appln, at 5 MW thermal the U-235 critical mass is 30 kg and at 50 MW thermal it is 215 kg. The table also discloses that at a loading of 30 kg U-235 the energy content is 78 MW years and at a loading of 215 kg U-235 the energy content is 540 MW years.

Of course, this is a patent and not a peer reviewed publication. But it was developed at Los Alamos so one would suppose it should have some credibility. The patent suggests that the reactor would be buried underground while in service. It is unclear if that is for shielding or security, or both.

Pre-Crime Division

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Good lord. The erosion of liberty continues to accelerate. Consider the case of Chambers v. United States.  SCOTUS is weighing in on the case of a defendant who failed to appear for confinement and was subsequently charged with committing a “violent” crime under the Armed Career Criminal Act.  The justices listened to arguments as to whether the act of failure to appear for confinement is an aggressive or a passive act and whether it should contribute to a felony escape charge.

“Deondery Chambers, who pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, had prior convictions for drug distribution and for robbery and battery. He challenged whether his conviction under an Illinois escape law for failure to report for confinement was a violent felony that supplied the third predicate conviction for enhancement of his sentence under the ACCA.” [Laurel Newby, Law.com]

The attorney for the defendant asserted that failure to appear does not constitute a violent crime. However-

“Assistant to the Solicitor General Matthew D. Roberts argued, however, that failure to report carries the risk of violent confrontation between the defendant and police officers who may come to bring the defendant into custody. He compared it to burglary — an enumerated offense under the ACCA — calling it ‘purposeful, violent, and aggressive in the same way as burglary.'” [Laurel Newby, Law.com]

To his credit, Justice Scalia commented in a very reasonable manner-

“Justice Antonin Scalia pointed out that Chambers was serving his sentence only on the weekends. “[I]t’s not common sense that the person who has been guilty of a crime so gentlemanly that they only made him report to prison on the weekends would confront the policeman with violence when he comes.”

“This guy doesn’t sound to me like Jack the Ripper. He really doesn’t,” Scalia said. [Laurel Newby, Law.com]

Obviously the defendant is not a choir boy. He must serve his sentence and suffer some consequence for failure to appear. 

“Statistics show that the number of robberies increases during the holiday season,” Chief Justice Roberts pointed out. The audience in the courtroom laughed.

“There is no indication, Mr. Chief Justice, that any further robberies were committed [by Chambers] during that period,” Hochman said.

“Well, there is no indication he meant to spend time with his family over the holidays,” the chief justice retorted.” [Laurel Newby, Law.com]

What makes the situation so disturbing is the glee with which an aggressive organ of the state exhibits in asserting that a passive violation can be equated to a jail escape and can thus carry the threat of a felony conviction. Most disturbing is the comment by the Assistant to the Solicitor- “failure to report carries the risk of violent confrontation between the defendant and police officers who may come to bring the defendant into custody“.

What!!?? Because there may be future risk to a police officer, the defendant should be charged with a felony? Excuse me?? This sounds like the movie Minority Report.

There should be a consequence for Chambers inaction, but the assertion that it was a type of violent act is wildly out of line and sets a terrible precedent for civil liberties.

Michael Crichton, Dead at Age 66

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I was sorry to learn of the passing of the writer Michael Crichton. My first introduction to his work was The Andromeda Strain, which I read as a student in high school. It was a good read in the 1970’s and many of us enjoyed it. The movie remains in my top 20 list. Juriassic Park was another enjoyable book.

I will say that some of his more recent books were constructed in a way that was a bit too much like television. But he was a talented writer for the scientifically tolerant mass market and I am sorry to hear that we will not be treated to more of his work.

Mass Media and the Monoform

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Some essays by Peter Watkins caught my eye recently. In particular, the essay about what Watkins refers to as the Monoform is especially well written and worth reading-

“The MONOFORM is the internal language-form (editing, narrative structure, etc.) used by TV and the commercial cinema to present their messages. It is the densely packed and rapidly edited barrage of images and sounds, the ‘seamless’ yet fragmented modular structure which we all know so well. This language-form appeared early on in the cinema, with the work of pioneers such as D.W.Griffith, and others who developed techniques of rapid editing, montage, parallel action, cutting between long shots/close shots, etc. Now it also includes dense layers of music, voice and sound effects, abrupt cutting for shock effect, emotion-arousing music saturating every scene, rhythmic dialogue patterns, and endlessly moving cameras.”

Watkins builds a case for the notion that what people see and hear in the media is the result of a type of editing philosophy that has become common over much of the world. In large part because of the precociousness of American media. What we see and hear is always a type of presentation put on by people who want to emphasize particular aspects of events in a manner that satisfies their need to supply a stimulating stream of imagery.

I think most of us have always understood that the mass audio visual media (MAVM) have always had a show business flair, but that the persuasiveness of editing was always secondary to content. Watkins suggests that editing is what primarily influences viewers in terms of the sequence and stimulus provided by well chosen cuts. It is an interesting viewpoint and one worth considering.

X-Ray Emission from Office Supplies

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The recent (re-)discovery of x-ray emission from unwinding scotch tape under vacuum makes me wonder how this phenomenon might be used. It would be interesting to see the emission spectrum. No doubt the physics boys at UCLA are pumpin’ out patents like pellets out of the back end of a rabbit.

The researchers report that duct tape does not provide the same effect as 3M Scotch tape. From the International Herald Tribune–

The tape phenomenon could also lead to simple medical devices using bursts of electrons to destroy tumors. The scientists are looking to patent their ideas.

And finally, there’s the possibility of nuclear fusion. If the energy from the breaking adhesive could be directed away from the electrons to heavy hydrogen ions implanted in modified tape, the ions would accelerate fast enough so that when they collided, they could fuse together and give off energy — the same process that lights the sun.

Good God. We’re extrapolating this finding into solutions for the energy crisis and cancer already!

The UCLA folks say that the Russians reported x-ray emission from tape in 1953, but nobody believed them. Could be a novelty-buster.  Hmmm. I wonder if my Post-It notes will emit x-rays in vacuo too?

I’ll wager that at this very moment, a group of industrious Poindexters at two or three national weapons labs are trying to weaponize triboelectric x-rays. Project BIG STICKY.

Here is a “Novelty Buster” for the public domain– What would high Z additives in the tape composition do to the x-ray output? Seems to me that the heaviest atom naturally in Scotch tape would be silicon in the release backing layer. What if they grafted some heavy metal bearing monomers (metal chelates with a vinyl or other monomer moiety) into the composition somewhere? Would that affect the output spectrum?