Redoubt Volcano Continues to Show Activity

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The Redoubt volcano is making its presence known. It has played havoc with some petroleum infrastructure (Drift River Oil Terminal) and has begun to dump ash. Lahar activity has flooded a runway and generally made a mess. The photos below do not show the volcano in a major eruption. Most of the AVO/USGS close up shots seem to be taken when the mountain is quiet.

Mud & debris flows from Redoubt (Photo AVO/USGS)

Mud & debris flows from Redoubt (Photo AVO/USGS)

North Flank of Redoubt 1-31-09 (Photo AVO/USGS)

North Flank of Redoubt 1-31-09 (Photo AVO/USGS)

Redoubt Eruption Plume from MTSAT (photo National Weather Service)

Redoubt Eruption Plume from MTSAT (photo National Weather Service)

Redoubt Fumaroles 1-31-09 (Photo AVO/USGS)
Redoubt Fumaroles 1-31-09 (Photo AVO/USGS)

For detailed information on the Redoubt Volcano and it’s ashfalls and other activity, click to the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO).

Software from Symyx

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I was interested to learn that Symyx offers a chemical structure drawing package called Symyx Draw 3.1. Naturally, a company as deep into cheminformatics as Symyx is has much to offer in regard to data management. The company offers a large variety of software packages. Unfortunately, I was unable to get any pricing information straight off the web. They require that you contact them for a quotation. Having been in sales, I understand the reasons for this, but it is still less than convenient.

It would be interesting to hear from readers who have used Symyx Draw do a compare and contrast with ChemDraw.

The lab as a shop

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Just sent multiple kgs of a rare earth reagent out the door. It may have been one of the larger scaleups of this stuff. I hope it does the job for the customer. Meeting certain specs turned out to be more difficult and time consuming that I had anticipated. But getting it certed and shipped is quite satisfying.

Lots of new projects in the shop for examination and custom synthesis. Some process safety tests, some analytical development, and some synthesis. It’s a good mix and quite diverse in chemical elements.

No business like show business

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Just got the call from the director. My audition for a part in a local play was successful. Good god. What have I done?

Doing live theater is a real kick. It has to be seamless and on cue every time. One of the perks is partying with the other actors after a show. The only bummer is striking the set when it is all over.

What I find difficult is memorizing my lines and the cues from the other parts. After a career of chemical structures and learning rules and generalizations and applying them to problems, I find that rote memorization of detailed text is contrary to my learning style. Thus, it takes considerable and concerted effort to commit large tracts of text into memory. The sticky part the first time was the process of coming to this realization.

Thoughts on the Panic of 2008

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While the congress and the various media are grinding their battle axes and taking swings at each other, I hope that we all remember that the absence of suitable regulations on the financial markets is really not the cause of the Panic of 2008. The cause of this trainwreck can be found in the practices and mindsets of certain elite players in the market. This is a pathology of the marketplace, our culture, and ultimately, of human behavior.  

Blaming government for the excesses of the market is like blaming your doctor for your riotous and drunken merrymaking.  In the end, the participants in this orgiastic financial frenzy should be called to account for themselves in front of something like an angry mob. The rest of the herd needs to cull the troublesome members, either through the courts or through social stigma like excommunication or shame.

Obviously, the government was asleep at the wheel in its regulatory duties. But to some extent it was plainly maneuvered out of the way of Wall Street.  While we are hurling epithets at congress, we should not forget that the boards of directors and executives of the troubled corporations have neglected their fiduciary responsibilities to the shareholders. These are the same smug bastards who will hammer you if you miss a mortgage payment. Surely they should be held to a similar accountability as a mortgagee.

As long as we are considering accountability, the show business component of this is the broadcast media (the Fourth Estate). The commercialization and show business aspect of news reporting can only lead to structural biases that favor the needs of the corporation. If news and commentary is regarded as entertainment (ie., Mad Money, Rush Limbaugh, etc), then it is inevitable that it will be conducted like any other carnival enterprise- it becomes a traveling freakshow meant to attract the eyes of a gawking but uncritical public.

It is not in the nature of corporate governance to accept divisions that are not profitable. Important but dry news will be replaced with anything that meets the definition of “compelling”.  Panem et circenses. Celebrity becomes a credential and the drama of controversy becomes more important than the particulars of the case.

If the information feedback loop to other members of the marketplace is filtered by self-serving players, then the equilibrium is fundamentally shifted in favor of the owners of the filter. Inescapably, the broadcast media are part of this whole Panic phenomenon.

Bat flys to that big belfry in the sky

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Pity Brian the Bat. This innocent winged creature just wanted a place to rest. Unfortunately, he chose to rest upon the liquid fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Discovery prior to liftoff. Brian was last seen clinging to the shuttle as it cleared the tower during launch into the night sky.

Brian Bat resting on Shuttle Discovery. NASA Photo.

Brian Bat resting on Shuttle Discovery. NASA Photo.

It is not known how far Brian rode the spacecraft. NASA speculates that Brian was blown into the exhaust plume shortly after clearing the launch tower and fried to a crisp. The acoustic energy on the exterior of the shuttle during launch is around 149 db. The little bugger was surely stunned by the noise.

The Brian Bat foundation has been started in its honor (wink wink, nod nod). I’m sure that all people of goodwill will contribute to memory of this hapless fellow.

Carlsbad Caverns

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Carlsbad Cave Popcorn

Carlsbad Cave Popcorn

The problem with Carlsbad Caverns today is the same problem that plagued it from the very beginning- it is very isolated and is not even on the way to many other places of major interest (except El Paso, of course). For the first 20 years or so, the cavern was primarily a source of bat guano fertilizer for the California citrus orchards. Slowly, and with the persistance of a few key individuals, word of this wondrous underground cathedral spread.

Today, Carlsbad Caverns is visited by approximately 500,000 people per year. The cavern is in remarkably good shape considering the large number of people who walk the several miles of underground trails 364 days per year.  Curiously, one of the big pollution concerns is lint from the clothing of shuffling visitors which settles on the formations.

The above photo is a snapshot of a common evaporite formation referred to as cave popcorn. The box in the photo encloses an area about the size of the palm of your hand and if you look closely, you can see water droplets clinging to the small mineral protuberances.  The colors in the photo are a good representation of most of the cavern.

Entrance to Carlsbad Caverns

Entrance to Carlsbad Caverns

The decorated caverns are the result of several kinds of chemical processes. The internal spaces were dissolved out of the regional limestone formation. This formation is thought to be the remnant of an ancient reef. It is believed that aqueous hydrogen sulfide migrated up from the anaerobic permian formations below and was subsequently (air) oxidized to more corrosive species.

The park people point out that H2S was oxidized to sulfuric acid which is responsible for the chemical digestion of the limestone. Sounds reasonable to me, though the chemistry of sulfur oxidation is full of many kinds of intermediary species on the way from sulfide to sulfate. The presence of gypsum (calcium sulfate) inside the cavern supports the claim that sulfuric acid was the corrosive agent. What was not mentioned was whether or not sulfate is found in the surrounding formations. [Note: a commenter made a good point about the bio-oxidation of sulfide]

Stalactites festooned with cave popcorn, Kings Palace caves, Carlsbad Caverns

Stalactites festooned with cave popcorn, Kings Palace caves, Carlsbad Caverns

The decoration of the interior spaces left by digestion of the limestone happened by the action of seepage of rainwater and carbonic acid though the upper layers of sedimentary rock. The water dissolves many mineral components including calcium. The calcium carbonate rich liquors seeping in from the roof of the caverns wetted the surfaces below and deposited calcite and other mineral species by way of intermittant accretion.

If you examine the few smaller and broken mineralizations along the trail, you can clearly see that the accretion results in substantially crystalline material. So, while the formations are not large calcite or aragonite crystals, the small scale structure is crystalline.

There is much to see in the world if you just bother to look. Along I-25 in southern Colorado is a modest looking feature. It is called Huerfano Butte and sits along the highway near Walsenburg. This igneous intrusion is more resilient to weathering than the surrounding sedimentary formations.  Radiating from the nearby Spanish Peaks are an array of dikes indicating the presence of past magma intrusion.

Huerfano Butte- a weathered igneous intrusion.
Huerfano Butte- a weathered igneous intrusion.

An synthetic chemist is in a great position to absorb some geochemistry. Once one is keyed into a bit of geology, the mechanisms of mineral formation begin to become apparent, with a little study of course. For myself, this is a great motivation to kick around in the weeds and explore the world. Gotta watch out for rattle snakes, though.

Encounter with Roswell, NM

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No trip to Roswell is complete without a visit to the UFO Museum. While this may be one of the most amateurish exhibitions apart from the county fair, it does put a face on the UFO phenomenon in the USA.

Which One is From Outer Space?

Which One is From Outer Space?

Most of us have heard of the supposed crash of an alien spacecraft near Roswell (or Corona), New Mexico in 1947. The whole fantastic tale seems to be based on a few slender threads of testimony. A trip to the museum clinches the notion that the whole phenomenon is based on innuendo and 2nd or 3rd party stories.

It’s another example of people hustling to conclusions based upon low signal-to-noise observtions. Faint indications of phenomena against a noisy background. Like cold fusion in the 1980’s, a whisper of signal appears now and then.

I recall from freshman psychology that the human brain is especially vulnerable to such glimmers of off-normal stimulus. Gamblers are attracted to the very irregularity of positive feedback that is provided by random events. Perhaps there is a similar neurochemical origin in the obsession with spaceships and alien abductions. It seems to be more than simple curiosity.

It is apparent by casual observation that the city of Roswell has not lovingly embraced the UFO phenomenon with an enthusiastic plunge into full scale commercial exploitation. The Wal-Mart on the north end of town is decorated with a few fanciful alien festoons, but the extent of it amounts to a “museum” and a few worn looking establishments along the main drag.

Saucer Crash

The saucer shape we have come to associate with alien spaceships is based on early sightings of unidentified flying objects. Latter day sightings (LDS? wink wink) comprise a range of shapes and designs.  What I would like to know is this- does the saucer shape make any sense in the context of interstellar travel? What are the aerodynamics of the saucer shape through the full range of velocity regimes? A saucer must eventually transition from operation in a vacuum to hypersonic entry into an atmosphere. Also, the ratio of surface to volume is relatively high, so how do you pack enough luggage & provisions for a lengthy trip?

Take me to your cola!

Take me to your cola!

Land of Enchantment

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Th’ Gaussling & family are off on a springbreak motoring tour of that mysterious Land of Enchantment, New Mexico. The main destination is Carlsbad Caverns. We’ll take a cave tour and refresh ourselves with the wondrous magic of decorative columnar evaporites and ancient guano. Along the way we’ll visit Roswell for a close encounter with cosmic kitsch. In Sante Fe we’ll see Pueblo kitsch. And in Almagordo, there is space kitsch. Remember Col. John Stapp?   

Like Texas, New Mexico has an abundance of miles and miles of miles and miles. We’ll see about six hundred of them, one at a time.

Ciao, baby.