Wow. Jim Cramer was the very definition of contrition on the Jon Stewart show on Comedy Central. He just sat there and took his woopin’ like a man. Stewart verbally beat him like an egg sucking dog.
Cramer receives spanking
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Thoughts on the Panic of 2008
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
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.
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
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
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
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.
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
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?
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.
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!
Land of Enchantment
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.
Pi Day 3-14
Another magic day is before us- Pi Day on Saturday, March 14 (that’s 3-14). Lets hope that the celebration does not lead to jail time or excessive brain damage. Pi to a million decimal places, a partial listing of which is below-
3.
1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209 7494459230781640628620899862803482534211706798214808651 3282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102 7019385211055596446229489549303819644288109756659334461 2847564823378678316527120190914564856692346034861045432 6648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920 9628292540917153643678925903600113305305488204665213841…
In the interest of preserving bandwidth, I’ve deleted most of the first 50 thousand or so numbers.
…5115448491268584126869589917414913382057849280069825519 5740201818105641297250836070356851055331787840829000041 5525118657794539633175385320921497205266078312602819611 6485809868458752512999740409279768317663991465538610893
Bronx Cheer for National Geographic
After supper last night I parked in front of the tubule and switched on the Discovery Channel. There was an intriguing program on the Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) in Mexico. The Naica mine has become famous for its gigantic selenite crystals (calcium sulfate). National Geographic filmed a program on these wondrous crystals and it has been broadcast on the Discovery Channel.
What has raised my ire on this is not the production value. As usual, the cimematography was superb. What is disappointing is the story they chose to tell.
What I have noticed in the public science programming world is a particular weakness that quietly infects writers, directors, and producers. The weakness has to do with the fear of boring their audience. Rather than risk a pandemic of somnolence, writers kick up the script a notch with undercurrents of intrigue and a suggestion of danger for the intrepid parties crawling in the muck or harassing gators.
That’s fine. It never hurts to plan for short attention spans in the audience. But what suffers is a sense of proportion. When the focus shifts from the subject of the expedition to the members of the expedition, the program crosses the line into the tawdry world of show business.
Yes, it is quite hot in the cave. Yes, heatstroke is an issue to be wary of. But, what about the crystals?? What are they made of? Where is the water from which they were precipitated from? How does crystallization work?
And, where is the chemist on the team? National Geographic brought together a geologist, a planetary astronomer, a nuclear physicist, a biologist, and a few others who were not identified. This is a common omission on the part of people outside of the chemical sciences. Nobody knows what the hell we do!
For the showbiz effect, they brought in a planetary astronomer, Dr. Chris McKay, to examine the cave for possible implications on Martian exploration and the Evolution of Life. To media people, science equals- 1) Space Science, 2) Medicine, 3) Computer Science, and 4) oh, did I say Space Science?
It turns out I used to know Chris McKay. He was a TA in an astronomy course I took at the University of Colorado ca 1978. He was a geat guy and, unlike other misfits misanthropes bed wetters grad students in the astro/geophysics program, an attentive and caring instructor. He was (and is) a true believer in space exploration. We spent a long and chilly evening together in the Sommers Bosch Observtory at CU manually guiding the 24 inch telescope on a guide star for some lengthy time exposures of a string of galaxies. We used 3×5 Tri-X plates hypered in H2.
This showbiz reflex is a chronic condition and I am sorry to see National Geographic succumb to it.
Submersible Aviation
Sharpen your pencils boys and girls. DARPA is soliciting proposals for Submersible Aircraft. Here is the synopsis-
DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals on the topic of a Submersible Aircraft. In particular, DARPA is interested in a feasibility study and experiments to prove out the possibility of making an aircraft that can maneuver underwater. The proposal needs to outline a conceptual design along with identifying the major technological limitations that need to be overcome in order to maneuver an aircraft underwater. In addition to the conceptual design studies, performers need to outline experiments or computational models that will be used to demonstrate that the major technological limitations can be overcome.
Aircraft are constructed to withstand loads from particular directions arising from the airstream and from dynamic loads imposed on the airframe by accelerated maneuvers. A submersible aircraft must be constructed to withstand additional compressive loads all over the airframe from all directions due to conducting operations in water and at depth.
Perhaps crew chiefs will have to deal with seaweed and barnacles in addition to damage from FOD and birdstrikes. A whole new skill set will arise for naval aviators. Will these craft require anchors and bilge pumps? It is fun to speculate.
It may well be easier to devise a submersible aircraft carrier. I can see it now–
Sunset in the north Atlantic. A blood red sun sets over the gray Atlantic rollers. Suddenly, the surface is broken by a large craft abruptly surfacing. The bow rises into the air then splashes to the surface as the large gray ship glides onto the surface at full speed.
Moments later, a hatch on the offset conning tower opens and sailors spill onto the broad flat deck. Large sections of deck open skyward and elevators lift folded aircraft to the deck. These strange craft are rolled into position while scurrying crews fuel and arm them in the muted red running lights. Curling streams of steam spill to aft from vents on the carrier deck as the vessels screws push it forward.
Elsewhere on deck, sailors mount antenna arrays and open ports revealing defensive weapons. Soon, a fleet of submersible men-of-war have surfaced and set up a defensive perimeter around the submersible aircraft carrier.
After a few minutes, the aircrews run toward the aircraft and strap in. Turbine engines begin to whine as they spool up. Crews disconnect startup carts and run with their equipment to designated locations. As the aircraft power up, their wings unfold and lock into place.
Pilots engage the flapping box and the turbine powered ornithopters begin to flap their articulated wings. The pilot of the lead craft advances the throttle and rolls to the takeoff position while exercising control surfaces. The airboss clears the flight for takeoff and the pilot salutes smartly and advances the thrust to military power.
The black stealth gullwing craft diverts full power to the flapping mechanism and leaps into the air, vanishing into the dark sky. The vacancy is quickly filled by the next craft. Moments later, another takes wing followed by the rest of the squadron.
At altitude the squadron members meet and assume formation flight. Below, the carrier has already begun to submerge to loiter in position until the appointed time where it will surface and recover the flight if any manage to return. It will be a harrowing night.
Static in the Attic
Some scattered thoughts and links, each too small for a single post-
Given that we are near planting season for 2009, I wonder how the loan picture is for farmers wanting to borrow money for the upcoming crop. It’d be a form of catastrophy if money was too tight for farmers to buy seed, fertilizer, and diesel.
One of my favorite reference books is by Francis X. McConville, The Pilot Plant Real Book, 2nd Edition, FXM Engineering and Design, 2007; ISBN 0-9721769-2-6.
Glass blowing supplies are available here. Here is some coursework.
The Very Large Array (VLA) sits 50 or so miles west of Socorro, NM, just south of Hwy 60. A few hours east on Hwy 60, across White Sands, is Roswell, NM.
Atomic tourists should know that the Trinity site is open only twice per year: once in April and once in October.
Godwins Law.
A new POS (warning- really bad language!).
Lamentations on Chemistry 