I was going to write about something that bored me even more than this ridiculous debate over the taxonomic status of Pluto. Then it dawned on me that nothing bored me more than this topic. So … nevermind.
Way off topic- Check out this link for a recipe for Weapons Grade Salsa.
It was gratifying to watch the American womens performance in the all around gymnastics round in Beijing. I think China needs a little bit of push back in this area. Congratulations to Liukin and Johnson for their outstanding performances.
Even as the father of a gymnast, I have only the slightest grasp of what it takes to do these things. I fully understand that if I tried gymnastics, I would be on the fast track to quadraplegic status.
I’m glad that the USA is able to scold CCCP Russia for its invasion of Georgia from our lofty position on the moral high ground. I suppose that the irony of our warning to Russia could be discounted as the delerium of a petroleum besotted empire in decline. While it may not be that bad yet, we certainly have been driven by our political leaders to a remote location in the desert and abandoned.
Western Civilization classes of the future will note that the inability of the USA to constructively engage post-communist Russia was perhaps one of the greatest opportunities lost of the 20th Century.
Thanks to a friend in Grand Rapids, I was linked to a blog hosted by the NY Times called Tierneylab.com. The writer of the post was sounding off about a pet peeve relating to the use of the term “Organic”. It seems that there is some confusion as to the use of the adjective organic in relation to certain carbon-containing substances. Tempest in a teapot, you ask? Let the chemistry community decide.
The problem begins to show itself when astronomers and planetary scientists start describing carbon containing materials found in planetary exploration as organic. Back on earth, the word organic is burdened with both common and scientific usage. So, when descriptions of organic materials found on other worlds begin to arise in discourse, the intent of the usage becomes unclear.
For instance, it could suggest to people that such discovered materials were put in place by some kind of life form. It could suggest to nondiscriminating audiences that the presence of carbon implies life, past, present, or future. Or it might well suggest to higher level audiences that biology-ready raw materials are in place.
The scientists working with the Phoenix Lander have an interesting analytical chore in front of them. Using a robotic platform on Mars, they want to distinguish the presence of organic vs inorganic carbon. What is meant by organic and inorganic is less than clear. But it seems that organic refers to something other than CO2 and carbonate.
In the relatively few journal articles I’ve seen relating to this, the authors are not always precise about the kinds of molecules they are referring to as organic. Irrespective of what is said in the articles, when this work gets to a public forum, the meaning behind the word organic becomes even less clear.
The TierneyLab post does bring up an interesting question about what is necessary for a substance to be considered organic. Do graphite, diamond, Buckyball, or soot forms of carbon qualify as organic? What about CO2, CS2, carbonates, CO, HCN, or calcium carbide? Does it make more sense to refer to organic and inorganic carbon, where inorganic carbon is defined as … well, what?
Seriously, what would it be? CO2? Carbon dioxide is incorporated into glucose by plants and this seems quite organic. Carbonate? This anion is used to balance our blood pH. Our own metabolic CO2 helps to provide carbonate. This product of metabolism should qualify as organic. CO? Well, Carbon monoxide undergoes Fischer-Tropsch reactions to produce aldehydes. This seems very organic as well. Perhaps the target is a substance with C-H bonds?
There is nothing inherently biological about the C-H bond. The Saturnian moon Titan is blanketed with a thick layer of CH4 (methane) and it seems unlikely that it is of biological origin. Indeed, hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and carbon the 4th. That hydrogen and carbon atoms could find each other to form trace methane in a proto solar system isn’t too much of a stretch.
Organic and Inorganic Carbon. How about we just leave it all as organic?
Here is what I think. It does matter if a scientist or writer is using language in an imprecise way. If writing or speech implies, for instance, that Mars is rich in life giving organic nutrients when in fact Martian organic matter is really carbonate and CO2, then I believe the language must be altered to reflect that condition. A writer should not leave an impression of past or incipient planetary fecundity when in fact the planet may be an inert ball of metal silicates dusted with a bit of carbonate when the 6 torr CO2 atmosphere kicks up a breeze.
San Francisco, California. 11 July, 2008. In a landmark decision, the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of decriminalizing the psychedelic drug LSD. The divided court ruled 4 to 3 in favor of striking down as unconstitutional the 48 year old statute banning recreational use of the substance.
Supporters and opponents alike held a contentious vigil outside the Earl Warren Building in San Francisco friday afternoon. The long anticipated Ergotte-v-State of California case has been a lightning rod for criticism and praise around the nation.
Dr. Besnik Keukomber, Chiquita Professor of Economics and Olfactory Studies at Pultroon College in Guapo, AZ, stated in an interview with CNN reporter Robert Stiphey that “This change is welcome in some large market sectors. LSD prices have been distorted by the unfortunate statutory freeze rendering the product illegal. The action of the court has put the supply of this product back on a rational economic basis. We are concerned, however, on the negative effect it will have on sellers of the LSD once the price drops.”
Pilsner Pharma Group stocks rose 5 % today on news that the pharmaceutical giant would start construction on a lysergamide processing facility in Quasimont, California. “We have been anticipating this for quite some time” stated CEO Hedrick van Preener.
Harriott Hotel Group announced that they will offer Psychedelic Suites in flagship hotels in selected California cities. Guests will have the opportunity to relax in the safety and comfort of a plushly padded suite and experience the pleasure of a supervised psychedelic experience. For the safety of the guests, psychedelic suite balconies have been replaced with a computer animated view courtesy of Industrial Light and Magic. The initial floor of Psychedelic Suites will open at the Marquis in Los Angeles in Late 2010.
Not all are pleased, however. Ephraim “Scarface” Erdstein, a South Bend, IN, drug kingpin operating out of a laundromat storefront said through his attorney that he plans on waging an appeal to the US Supreme Court in an effort to support prices by halting this unfortunate trend toward legalization.
Roland Basbo, spokesman for “Tatoo Nation”, the national Tatoo Parlor trade association, expressed concern for declining business. Basbo said “We believe that as the demographics of LSD users moves upscale, the demand for body art will see a modest decline. We’ve noticed that boomers are freaked out by skin art in the middle of an acid trip”.
The Space Shuttle Program is scheduled for shutdown sometime in 2010. At that time the reusable, tiled spaceplane concept (STS) will be put to rest in favor of the capsule-on-a-rocket design. According to plans, there will be a 5 year interlude between the retirement of the shuttle and the implementation of a new man-certified lifter. Many have suggested that this idle period with no manned launch activity could lead to a brain drain in the ranks of skilled aerospace workers.
The successor to STS is the Ares Launch system consisting of a man lifter (Ares I) and a cargo lifter (Ares V). Ares I is a two-stage system that will take a crew of 4 to 6 into low earth orbit. This vehicle will carry 55,000 lbs of provisions and astronauts to the ISS. Additionally, it will be used to lift a lunar exploration team into orbit for docking with the lander module placed into orbit by the Ares V lifter.
Ares V is a heavy lifter and is expected to be able to place 414,000 lbs into low earth orbit or send 157,000 pounds of payload to the moon. Ares V uses two solid rocket boosters derived from STS and a central H2/O2 liquid fueled rocket using a cluster of 6 engines derived from the Delta IV system.
Ares I & V. Photo Credit- NASA
NASA has awarded contracts for this program and work is underway.
What has recently transpired is an alternative system proposed by a group of engineers. This system is called DIRECT, and involves the use of a single lifter called Jupiter. The Jupiter lifter is derived directly from the STS lifter which consists of two solid rocket motors and a central H2/O2 tank which feeds the shuttle engines. The DIRECT system would take advantage of existing technology, but with the addition of an O2 tank extension, a cargo section, and a cluster of engines to the existing liquid fuel tank. The proponents of this system claim that their system could get the next phase of manned space flight going sooner, simpler, and safer.
It is an interesting proposal. I hope it gets some serious consideration by the Congress.
It is surely a sign of the End Times. Just as sure as the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and cats sleeping with dogs. A Belgian company buys Anheuser-Busch. Wow. Just the thought of it is too much for me to get my arms around. Michelob now has a kissin’ cousin named Stella Artois.
What was that old brain teaser an Austrian colleague once asked-
Can you name 10 famous Belgians?
I agree. It is a bit outrageous. I’m sure there are as many as 20 famous Belgians.
Who knows? This may be the European connection NASCAR has been looking for. Watery beer, fast cars, and drunken hooligans. It’s universal.
5 July, 2008. Boulder, Colorado. The climbing community mourns today as the recovery of six bodies continues from the 2008 Mt Kraznydang expedition. A makeshift morgue was set up in the capital city of Bleeny, in the Zapore Islands off the Kamchatkan coast near Gnoyniechok, Siberia. The international climbing team was lead by Gon Anandachopbalmanchoda, well known Thai explorer, climbing apparel designer, and raconteur.
Mt Kraznydang is the tallest mountain in the Podguznik range in the volcanic Zapore island chain. Also known as Stalin’s Carbuncle, 33,459 ft Mt Kraznydang has resisted several attempts at its summit since its height was revised in 2005 by satellite radar, making it the second tallest peak on earth.
The Anandachopbalmanchoda team was reportedly near the summit when an earthquake loosened a bank of snow, bringing the team careening down to the 9000 ft level in the avalanche. The last radio transmission was from an unidentified climber who exclaimed ” … Oh, for Petes sake!! … Son of a(garbled) … refund! (static)….”.
Bleeny is the Sister City of Boulder, Colorado. Services will be held at the Podguznik Mountaineering Center on the Pearl Street mall. Donations are appreciated.
The 2005 government report entitled Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management, by Hirsch, Bezdek, and Wendling, is a sobering tally of the current picture of oil production and consumption in the world today. Often referred to as the Hirsch Report, the authors take a “now shot” of the global oil production scene and speak directly to the matter of mitigating the approaching economic disruption that must usher an unprepared nation into a future of peak and declining oil production.
If you read the Hirsch Report and pay attention to current events, you may be gripped by a kind of cognitve dissonance, or a haunting sense resembling a schizophrenic episode of contradictory voices in the collective consciousness. While the global warming showboat is paddling up and down the Mississippi blowing steam and calliope music, nationalized oil producers are failing to answer calls for increased production in reply to a dramatic ramp-up in petroleum demand. Some call for increased exploration and others call for drop in replacements for petroleum. All the while, evidence accumulates that the ecosystem suffering from consumption and waste generation.
As with any discussion involving economics, it is possible for people to speak imprecisely when discussing supply and demand. Econobrowser takes Hirsch to task in this manner. It seems that many of us confuse demand with desire.
Supply equals demand today, supply will equal demand in 2025, and supply will equal demand in 2050. Whatever Hirsch means by “peaking of world conventional oil production,” it certainly isn’t the condition that “production will no longer satisfy demand.”
Our news media, now almost fully morphed into a perverse mix of gibbering Bill O’Reilly clones and entertainment news programming, prattles endlessly about the hurtful gasoline prices and truncated vacation plans. Government makes flatulent noises about more drilling, but hardly a peep about reduced consumption. Where is the journalist corps? Who is asking the tough questions?
In isolation, either climate change or an exponential oil shock are more complex than nimrods leaders in the Bush administration can process. Together, these stresses add up to a major challenge to the way we live. Maybe the situation is more complex than any nation can reasonably respond to. With global prosperity comes global demand for resources. Western nations have built a house of cards based on cheap petroleum. Instead of wage growth in the past 20 years, we have been given easier access to credit. Instead of increased savings, we have found ways to burn up discretionary income.
A major part of what has to happen to adapt to the new reality of petroleum scarcity is a remodel of our infrastructure. We need more passenger rail lines and terminals with the necessary right-of-way issues taken care of. Workers need to live closer to their place of employment. The airlines have to figure out how to operate profitably with reduced passenger miles. We must upgrade our electric power distribution system to accommodate the increasing reliance on electrical energy. If wages do not change, we must adapt to having less discretionary income to spend.
But a remodel of infrastructure will require that we adapt to living nearer to it. In the past, a proposal to build a power plant is met with a chorus of outrage or “concern”. It used to be called NIMBY- Not-In-My-Back-Yard. The latest acronym is BANANA- Build-Absolutely-Nothing-Anywhere-Near-Anything. New power transmission lines and generating plants will have to go up and it will have to happen somewhere. People naturally fret about real estate prices and their view from the dining room window. I foresee more exercise of eminent domain in the future.
June 22, 2008, Santa Monica, California. Comedian and satirist George Carlin died sunday evening after checking into a Santa Monica hospital complaining of chest pains. He was 71.
Carlin was a brilliant social satirist and comic. He had the ability to look at ordinary things from a different angle and see the obvious obsurdity in things most of us accept as simple background noise. This is one of the key attributes of a successful satirist and comedian.
I think it’s the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.
The very existence of flamethrowers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, “You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I’m just not close enough to get the job done.”
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, “Where’s the self-help section?” She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
There’s no present. There’s only the immediate future and the recent past.
Not only do I not know what’s going on, I wouldn’t know what to do about it if I did.
-George Carlin
Carlin was a serial quipster who pushed the boundaries of social norms. His Seven Dirty Words ended up as the center of a 1978 Supreme Court ruling that affirmed the right of the state to bar “indecent” of speech on the public airwaves.
While it is common for contemporary comedians to exploit “indecent” speech for shock value today, few seem to have the facility with language that Carlin had. He was able to reduce to a few short humorous sentences the dark uncertainties that many of us have with common subjects. Carlin’s observations on taboo subjects put him well ahead of his time.
Lamentations on Chemistry 