Science Ain't So Bad

The Danger To The Hubble Telescope, Itself

Based on an image by Somadjinn and taken from morguefile.com

HUBBLE: BALANCING THE RISK.

The Hubble Space Telescope is located in a high orbit where there’s lots of “space junk”. This makes me wonder how long it’ll last up there AFTER lives are risked and money is spent.

There are worries enough about the crew of the Atlantis which is servicing the Ol‘ Gal. Each Shuttle flight – each ONE – has a little less than a 1% chance of destruction. It’s a horrible thought in terms of the crew and it’s also a gamble with “The Peoples Money”.

You’re going to say (aren’t you?) that the odds for Christopher Columbus were no better. And it didn’t put off Queen Isabella. But maybe she didn’t have to explain herself to the taxpayers.

Anyway, Atlantis is now off fixing up the broken – down Hubble. Supposedly, it’s harder than it looks to do mechanical repair work while weaving around on a wiggily mechanical boom, trying to focus on the job instead of the consequences of vomiting into your helmet.

Past Hubble repair missions were designed around modular packages which were intended to be handled by humans trapped in expando suits where zero gravity movements are unnatural and awkward. But, for this expedition, the job requires that they swap out “board level” components, keep track of each screw that’s removed, and, at the end of the job, put them back into the same holes. And no scrounging in the parts bin for spares. If it works, this may be one of the crowning achievements of the “manned” (means human) space program.

JUNK

Space debris (or “space junk”), always a worry, has gotten even worse this year. NASA’s chief scientist said that it isn’t anything to lose sleep over because the chances of a “catastrophic” collision for the Atlantis are “less than 1 in 221″ (so about .5%) . The logic? Shuttle flights are already so full of risk, what’s a little more? Would YOU lose sleep if your flight to Cincinnati had a probability of blowing up of 1 in 221? I know I wouldn’t.

And I know that’s a not-quite-fair low blow.

Anyway, there IS a point to all this. If the odds against the shuttle failing to survive a few days up there are that bad, what are the risks to the Hubble, itself, of dodging a debris bullet for five full years? After all, if the risk is bad enough, this noble mission is pretty silly.

Science Ain’t That Bad is trying (at least) to be a little more of a primary news source. But, in researching this, I didn’t bother NASA because there’s already public info about the Hubble and its debris dance. An article from 2002 (a little old and there’s more debris now but the principles are the same) claims that the Hubble gets popped often but the odds of destruction are small. Obviously, a hole in the skin WOULD be more consequential if the telescope needed oxygen as much as an astronaut does. But the Hubble, being a telescope, doesn’t mind a hole in its skin as long as the impact doesn’t damage a critical instrument or part of the optics (or contain enough kinetic energy that the impact blows everything to bits). In time, the odds will catch up to each instrument package. And, this time, as each one fails, death will be permanent.

The final end of the Hubble may be largely in the hands of space junk.

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T-shirts ‘n mugs ‘n such with the ScienceAin’tSoBad dog (above) on them at zazzle .

Edging Toward A Cure For Hearing Loss And Deafness

Photo of me by me.

“I hope that in five years, we are at a point that we can say that it is possible to cure deafness, at least in an animal.” Dr. Stefan heller. August 7, 2006

Stick your fingers in your ears. Both of them. Can you hear your cell phone ring? Is the guy on CNBC saying “vrumph, vrumph, vrumph?”

It’s called “hearing loss”.

I’ve had “fingers stuck in my ears” for years. And there are invisible fingers lusting for your ears too. About 10% of the population has hearing problems. If you stick around long enough, it’ll probably happen to you. More than half of “seniors” are affected by this annoying and, often, disabling thing.

HAIR CELLS AND HEARING

If the gills of our swimming ancestors hadn’t evolved into the ears of homo sapiens, we wouldn’t have developed speech. No point in talking if you can’t hear the words. And, without speech, we humans could still stand up straight and could still throw rocks. But it wouldn’t be quite the same, would it? So imagine how disappointing it is to discover that our wonderful and much taken for granted ears wear out! In fact, they are SO delicate! A good thumping beat at a high volume slowly and inexorably grinds up our gears. It’s like your mother said, “Turn down the damn VOLUME before we BOTH go deaf!”

You may remember from biology class, that the ear has a cochlea that looks like the spirals of a sea shell. Inside this cochlea are hair cells (“stereocillia”) on a membrane. They’re made of actin, the same stuff that makes mucles flex. When sound waves wash over the hair cells, they’re bent back and forth, converting mechanical motion into electrical signals for the nervous system.

This structure, the cochlea, tantalizes researchers. Obviously, this is where the action is. But, because of its location in the body, it’s hard to study. The size of the hair cells, a few hundredths of a millimeter in width, doesn’t help much either. But it is these delicate cells that are complicit in the most common type of deafness: age-related hearing loss (presbycusis). Once damaged, they’re gone forever. It’s this sad fact that explains why most of us adults are slowly, slowly losing our high frequency hearing. Or worse.

Image is from 29th edition, Gray’s Anatomy via Wikipedia Commons and, ultimately, from Wikipedia article on the inner ear.

FIXING THE PROBLEM

In the modern era, some hearing problems can be addressed with surgery or by removing impacted ear wax. Leaches, ear candling, aldosteron, B12, folic acid, and hypnosis are all in there somewhere too. But there doesn’t seem to be much you can do about the slow drip-drip-drip of age-related hearing loss except go find yourself a hearing aid (see rant below).

HOWEVER, in the 1980′s, it was discovered that hair cells in the ears of birds DO regenerate. Sensational news!

As the scientific world discovered the potential of stem cells which can differentiate into all kinds of things, researchers, such as Stefan Heller of Stanford University, began to look for connections. In 2002, Dr. Heller, then at Harvard, discovered that stem cells are present in the inner ear of human beings, suggesting that there’s a latent potential for regeneration of hair cells. One of his goals is to develop a drug that can be introduced into the ear as an ear drop.

I don’t mind admitting that he’s one of my heroes. In this video, he describes what he’s up to.

THE AUDACITY OF HOPE

Headlines can be heartbreakers. I like science. Why ELSE would I write about it? But headlines like Cell Transplants May Cure Deafness and Cultivated Ear Cells May Lead To Cure For Deafness raise hopes only to crush them again under the cruel heel of “maybe” and “someday”. These breakthroughs ARE important steps and MAY lead to a cure. But, not to be cynical, they’re more likely to lead to another round of grants for the lab. I guess that’s a TERRIBLE way to introduce this section because there IS a lot of great science being done:

The role of neurotrophins, chemicals that bathe the auditory nerve, is being worked out by Robin Davis, Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers.

Dr. Karen Avraham, Department of Human Molecular Genetics, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, has shown that “microRNAs” can be responsible for hair cell death. Link. If I understand this right, it’s an exciting insight for people who’s hearing starts to go at a younger age. The therapy would involved inserting microRNAs directly. Science now. Medicine later. Maybe.

Hair cells are kept “tuned up” by certain proteins. Knowing how this happens seems to be another important step in understanding what can go wrong. Very interesting and very basic.

Helge Rask-Anderson, Professor of Experimental Otology, Uppsala University, is studying growth of stem cells and trying to find ways to coax them into the right places with electromagnetic fields. Cool!

Marcelo Rivolta of the University of Sheffield is working with human ear cells created in the lab with foetal cells.

Work in Itay with stem cells from human umbilical cored blood. Link.

HEARING AIDS – A RANT

What’s wrong with hearing aids? Don’t get me started!

WHAT a disconnect between the wearer, often elderly or very young, and a device which is easily damaged and high maintenance! Good ones are expensive, rarely covered by medical plans, and are often uncomfortable. And you gotta be SO good to use these things right. Choosing the right one, inserting it right, maintaining it, keeping it free of wax and knowing what to do under which conditions, dealing with telecoils and various “program settings”, manipulating tiny controls in crazy places. This is hard stuff. And I’m a Biomedical Engineer! No wonder so many hearing aid users give up.

Knowing when they’re on the fritz and need a trip to the audiologist might SEEM like the easy part. But it isn’t. The changes in hearing may be gradual and hearing isn’t as obvious as sight. Maybe your spouse is mumbling.And getting caught in the rain or forgetting to remove them before showering can destroy an investment of thousands of dollars.

Even IF your’re really good at all this stuff, hearing aids just don’t bring you all the way back. Not even the best of them. It ain’t like the old days. The High Fi’s gone.

But they help. And I don’t mean to be ungracious.

Large Hadron Collider Saves Paper

Base image from morguefile.com

I try to be selective about the things I write. There’s a lot of scientific work being done and, realistically, I can’t report on all of it. But this work by physicist Andre Martin at the Large Hadron Collider (Switzerland) is too important to ignore.

You know how the tables at outdoor cafes ALWAYS seem to need a napkin tucked under one of the legs so that you don’t spill your wine? Dr. Martin has studied this problem and, with some preliminary experimentation and then with the rigor of mathematics, he has shown us a way to remove the napkin and keep the table steady.

STEPHEN HAWKINGS

As to my previous post concerning the health of Dr. Stephen Hawkings, happily he is reported to be recovering.

DEAFNESS

Almost 9% of Americans (me too!) are hard-of-hearing or deaf. We now know it can be reversed or cured. We’re not there yet, but lots of the pieces are understood already. It sounds like a decade-ish kind of thing. I’ll write about the progress on the regeneration of “hair cells” (I hope) in my next post.

SECURITY OF SHIPPING

Surely you remember my rant about pirates . Captain Richard Phillips, the merchant marine captain who’s remarkable leadership and pluck saved his ship and crew was OBVIOUSLY pursuaded by my irresistable logic (or something). He is calling for ships to carry guards and for the crews to be trained and armed.

How People Will Be Saved In A Future "9/11"

Highrize Lifeboat.

Drawing by me.

Stephen Hawkings

I said that I would describe our system for extracting people from a damaged high rise building, but, first: Stephen Hawkings.

Dr. Hawkings, according to the wire services, has been taken to the hospital in very bad shape. This is really awful news. Dr. Hawkings is one of a handful of people who have qualities that truly surpass belief. As a very young man, and at the start of his career as a theoretical physicist, Hawkings developed symptoms of “Lou Gehrig’s Disease” which disabled him to the point that he needed a specially designed console that, word-by-word, articulated for him with an artificial voice. Working, almost entirely within his head, and without the ability to scribble a single equation, turn a dial, or flip a page, Dr. Hawkings became one of the very most important and revered scientific thinkers of his age. Among the things for which he is best known: our understanding of Black Holes and our modern understanding of the Big Bang (Inflation) .

This is certainly not a eulogy. On the contrary, I just want to wish him a speedy and complete recovery. We’re in no mood to lose a guy like you, Dr. Hawkings. PLEASE. Get better. You are very much needed, appreciated, and admired.

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Image from MorgueFile

A HIGH RISE RESCUE SYSTEM

When the World Trade Center towers were hit on 9/11/2001, we learned some excruciating lessons about getting people out of a burning and structurally damaged high rise. We learned that the fire stairs that are, theoretically, available to evacuate people, can fail in many ways as they fill with smoke, become blocked by disabled individuals trying to make their way down or by people assisting them. The stairs can also collapse or be blocked by rubble. And the doors to the stairwells can disappear into the flames, fumes, and confusion. Even when the fire stairs do remain intact, they don’t work well when emergency crews with bulky equipment are trying to struggle UP the stairs against a flow of panicked building occupants who are fleeing DOWN.

The 9/11 disaster at the World Trade Center won’t be the last one in a high rise structure. Possibly (though I hope with all my heart I’m wrong) not even the last terrorist attack.

Let me describe our proposed solution, the Highrize Lifeboat. As always, comments are appreciated or, at least, tolerated.

DOPEY LOOKING. BUT IF IT SAVES YOUR BUTT..

Our “Lifeboat” (see illustration at top) has a cabin that can carry approximately 10 people from an upper floor to the ground or can carry rescue personnel and equipment from the ground to an upper floor. It is operated by a cable from the roof since the rails of an exterior elevator could twist or be blocked by debris. That’s why elevators aren’t used during a fire.

The Lifeboat is controlled by trained rescue personnel with a wireless remote control console. This allows them to board it and bring themselves and their equipment to the impacted area as well as remove victims FROM the area.

THE “RAPPEL KICK”

The “High Rise Lifeboat” moves vertically, rolling over the surfaces of the exterior wall on its roller/tires. Obstacles such as cornices or protruding beams are “hurdled” by thrusters (actuators) in the roller/tire assembly. The thrusters push off like a mountain climber would while rappelling down a mountain face, kicking out with his/her legs to swing out and past obstacles during the descent.

TRAVELING ALONG THE BUILDING FACE

Moving the cabin vertically along the face of a building that has suffered severe damage can be tricky. First of all, a suspended cabin without a rail system can be unsteady as people and things move around. So the cable mount has load sensors and a way to adjust its point of contact, thus keeping the cabin properly vertical.

Also, there may be thermal updrafts from the heat of a fire and debris can rain down. These are, obviously, horrendous circumstances. So how do you keep the cabin stable so that it doesn’t spin uncontrollably? A ducted fan forces the Lifeboat against a set of roller/tires (each side) which “ride” the wall of the building. This stabilizes it during its journey.

STEERING AROUND OBSTACLES

Sensors and cameras warn of obstacles that would impede vertical travel. Where necessary, the wheels can “steer” around an obstruction (within the limits of its cable suspension) . This, in combination with the “Rappel Kick” maneuver described above, gives the Hirize Lifeboat a good set of obstacle avoidance tricks.

BOARDING

Rescue “docking” is achieved when the roller/tires “retract” (the cabin slides itself along the horizontal strut on which the rollers are mounted, thus allowing the cabin to come into contact with the wall surface). The horizontal pressure of the fans holds the cabin in place for safe boarding operations.

The proposed system could also have a role in building maintenance. Window washing and such.

Anyway, that’s the idea. Never did a thing with it. It’s in the public domain. Maybe someone’ll read this and think it has some merit. You never know.

A Smartphone Explosion Could Impact Science

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SMARTPHONE

The future of computing is in your pants (pockets). Or your bag. Anywhere, actually, but your desktop. “Smartphones”, once geeky, are now “cool”, having been blessed by Apple and the iPhone. Generally, smartphones offer computer-ish functionality combined with highly integrated mobile phones. And they’re finding ways to distinguish themselves by incorporating hardware such as accelerometers to adjust the orientation of the display, touch screens (becoming standard), GPS, high resolution cameras, WIFI, Bluetooth, removable storage, swappable batteries, fold-out keyboards, RFID scanners and you-name-its. With all that stuff on board, you wouldn’t think a bird could easily fly off with one of these devices. But they are both light and, often, lovely to behold.

As the current smartphone champ, the Iphone, to many, represents the future of ultra mobile computing. Small, elegant, and engaging, it is fun to use. But the race for dominance is just beginning. Five major competing systems are aiming at Apple’s iPhone which presents a moving target as it carefully evolves its own product line. At present, the iPhone, though quite terrific, offers only a “soft” (simulated) keyboard, relies on the AT&T network (good but, arguably, not best), has some significant battery limitations (most Smartphones do, actually), and that very nice glass screen behaves as you might expect it to when it collides with something hard.

Google’s Android has the biggest/goodest company in the world behind it though it is still anchored to T-mobile’s come-from-behind network which, in the US, isn’t necessarly an advantage though it’s strong in Europe. Its first phone, G1, was well reviewed and several more phones are likely to be released this year. Android, with Google behind it, may find acceptance in other devices such as “net computers” and desk top boxes. And Google’s committment to cloud computing in which Google, itself, supplies the processing power from its remote computing “clouds” sounds like the perfect match for the limitations of an elegant but tiny cell phone. There are many who think it is Google which will, ultimately, displace Apple in the mobile world.

The Blackberry Storm was released this year and was initially seen as a possible iPhone crusher. But, the usually competent Research in Motion, may have rushed a bit and the implementation, while full of promise had flaws. A new “Storm 2″ is expected later this year and the software for the current version is being updated to address some of the original imperfections.

Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, which doesn’t get the credit it deserves (my opinion) for pioneering so MANY of the ideas that current smart phones now use, is seen as SO pre-iPhone. And Microsoft is working on Windows Mobile 6.5, its newest weapon. I should note that with a little ingenuity, even the current version of Windows Mobile is perfectly capable of supporting a darn nice phone as evidenced by the omnia.

And pesky Palm, instead of going away gracefully, has returned with the Palm Pre which is at the “reviewers love this thing” stage. Often, this presages the, “What were they THINKING?” stage but that won’t be possible till it really gets into the hands of the pesky populace.

Finally, there’s Symbian which I was going to describe as “a proprietary operating system which was commonly used on advanced phones until the era of the smartphone,” but I see that Nokia has completed its purchase of Symbian and, as a part of its strategy, has opened Symbian to Linux developers. Symbian, with Nokia’s help, has the potential to surprise.

And if you think I’ve lost my way, I have not. I AM back to science. Very much so. Science is a product of the human brain – the human brain and all its trappings which now include the many computers upon which we rely. Try to imagine astrophysics or biochemistry without the digital mishmash of acquisition systems, controllers, analyzers, displays, and whatnot. Barely possible.

Because computer-ish phones are already such a commonplace – so familiar, so small, and so cute, it’s easy to mispercieve the importance of this development of TRULY personal computing and its affect on science as well as on us. They, these pocket things, will, no doubt, BECOME our newspapers, our entertainment, our new friends and helpers (in countless ways), turning us into citizen reporters, capable, if amateur, creative geniuses, and, perhaps, citizen legislators as well. Maybe, even, the eyes and ears of the police. Just imagine what they will do for the scientist in the field. Or in the lab.

But, maybe I am making too much of all this.

After all. They’re just phones.

A BIG STEP IN PAIN MANAGEMENT

Chronic pain is so very common. Often, it’s disabling and, much too often, nothing seems to really help. This work at Children’s Hospital, Boston, could do much good if it makes it to the clinic.

Why We SHOULD Arm Our Ships Against Pirates

Credit to morguefile.com for source images (combined here)

PIRATES

This being my blog, I get to have an occasional rant even if the link to science/technology is imperceptible. Today: Pirates. And no apologies for the topic.

As you surely know, modern day pirates are adding to the tension between “old ways” and “new ways” that has been boiling for some time. Most of the briggands are currently from the “horn” of Africa. The captain of the Maersk Alabama, recently held hostage on a capsule lifeboat, was reported released a few minutes ago after an intense standoff between the pirates and the US Navy.

Great news. However, after a weekend of profound concern, it is troubling to me, MISTER ScienceAintSoBad, that all solutions are being considered to this problem EXCEPT the obvious one.

The long-term (and, perhaps, elusive) solution is, indeed, to end the desperation of those who would risk their lives attacking modern vessel. But in the short-term, shouldn’t these ships be armed and armored? Shouldn’t the points of vulnerability such as the wheelhouse have heavy armor or other kinds of protection which can be deployed against the bullets and small explosives that the crews are likely to encounter? Shouldn’t these ships carry weapons and individuals trained in their use?

The principle arguments against these measures seem to be:

1. Much higher insurance costs for the shippers. BUT the long-term costs including the costs that have to be born by the crews and families of these ships need to be considered. Perhaps some private or public leadership here.

2. Complex laws governing arms in each port. Again. This can be sorted out with some determined leadership.

3. Some cargoes are flammable or explosive. But wouldn’t that be a great reason to raise the risk to would-be pirates of using our ships for target practice?

4. And this one I really love: we don’t want to start an arms race. We don’t want to start an arms race between the guys who have the big guns (that would be us) and the guys who can’t afford them? WHO’S side are we on?

My rant is over. I will return to science and technology.

Earthquake Prediction Riddle Solved

EARTHQUAKE in central Italy.

The quake in Italy killed over 200. More than a thousand injured. There was a lot of economic disruption and property damage. You can understand the terror if you’ve lived through such a thing; otherwise, you simply can not. Terrible suffering and misery. And, reportedly, the Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, in a Bush-esque moment, suggested that the thousands of survivors of the quake would do well to conduct themselves as though on a “camping weekend”. This is more heartless than he intended, I think.

A local scientist claims that he predicted the quake and was then muzzled by authorities. At any moment, of course, many people are predicting many things. Sometimes this is because they’re smart. More often it is because they’re drunk. So there’s always SOMEONE to say “told ya!” after an unexpected event.

That local scientist was probably both serious and sober but this does remind us of a previous discussion in Science Ain’t So Bad about what science is and how its propositions get validated. Since, however, the focus here is on earthquakes, I’ll shake that thought off and continue the original discussion of earthquakes.

The basic science of earthquakes (link) has advanced in this century but the excitation (the quake itself) IS a bit on the unpredictable side. In fact, there is no reliable way (except, arguably, that local scientist’s technique) to know. Could be big. Could be small. Could be next year.

But if you DO want to predict a quake, you need to look at the system, both the quake, itself, and the objects shaken such as buildings and bridges. Since we can’t nail the quake, we need to concentrate on the things that get shook. THIS we know something about. Numerous construction methods have been tested recently on giant shaker tables and some have shown considerable promise. A group at the University of Nevada just simulated a truly huge quake (twice as strong as a magnitude 7.6), against a full scale house constructed of straw bales and, thus, practical for many parts of the world that can’t afford expensive solutions. The straw bale house (details) did great. No report on the dishes.

By the way, I did write, a while back, about my team’s Sonic Beacon (patent pending) which is designed to rescue people from the rubble of collapsed structures. That post, should you be curious, is called The Work Goes On .

CHIMPS

In an earlier post, Risky Chimp Behavior, I discussed a recent attack by a seemingly very domesticated chimpanzee. This attack was one of several that highlights the ungodly power that chimps appear to have. What is the source of this phenomenal strength? Details.

GUM REPAIR

Gene therapy is starting to make a difference. This is real: [Skipping The Surgery]

SOLAR SATELLITES

In a comment , Alan Wild wonders about orbiting solar collectors.

Peter Glaser (MIT) promoted this idea in the sixties. He even owns a patent on this technology. It’s a legitimate idea but Glaser was probably “before his time”. To work, ultra efficient solar panels would be required (to reduce the area and, thus, the number of missions to deploy the thing) and lots more needs to be understood about the practical effects of microwave transmission of an intense energy beam through the atmosphere. I believe that some simple lab experiments have demonstrated “proof of concept”. Who or what would get fried by the beam? We don’t know.

New Science Ain’t So Bad products: Click to View

Planes and Boats and Us Too

Bill Groves working his engineering magic

A STEP BACK FROM SCIENCE

We hear from people (mostly relatives and friends) who want to try out our LectricLifter (US patent numb 7517221) to raise their electric outlets up conveniently. Only one request, so far, to protect puppies and such from electric shock (though that’s from a store). ‘Course it would help if we had some. And it would help even more if we got them approved and started marketing our inventions. In fact, three months have evaporated while we’ve been trying to figure out the best way to make the first set (called “pre-manufacturing prototypes” in case you wondered).

In our own defense, this delay is partially because we don’t have a budget for extruded plastic parts and custom circuit boards which forces us to spend extra time being ingenious. For example, we couldn’t justify the money for a custom housing. Instead, we went to a fence manufacturer and bought plastic fence posts of about the right size. You can see how it looks below with the “rotatable plug” poking through. Of course another reason for the delay is that we haven’t been on fire to get this thing to market in the middle of a recession. But with the economy (maybe) beginning to pull out of its dive, we’ve been running out of excuses so Bill Groves, one of the engineers on our team, (plug for Bill: ee@sachem.com to get a quote on electronic or electromechanical projects) took over the work and things began to jell.

We spent lots of time “cad-ing up” the method of holding that plug in place. We tried several approaches till we could agree on a good way. Now we’re working our way through other details: wiring techniques, fastening methods for the cord management knobs, and so on. It shouldn’t be long now till we have enough prototypes to do some “sanity checks”, show them to retailers, and get safety approvals.Meanwhile, we have two more products that’re stuck in the patent office and STILL haven’t budged. Maybe the USPTO needs a stimulus.

AVIATION AND SHIP FUEL

As I’ve mentioned previously, the transformation of energy sources is now underway in a serious way worldwide. My sister, Adele C Schwartz, who writes about and has considerable knowledge about aviation and airports, says her industry is already working on the shift to biofuels which, she says, is “huge”. According to Adele, the motivation is that already ” .. some countries in Europe are penalizing airlines for emissions, even though commercial aircraft are just a tiny part of the problem.”. “Air New Zealand,” she says, “has done some successful test flights recently using part jatropha and part kerosene. A lot of different mixes are being tested, and all the reports I’ve seen are positive for all of them.”

And an NOAA study says that ocean going vessels produce as much polution in a year as ALL THE CARS IN THE WORLD do in six months. The shipping companies, like the airlines, seem to understand that change is inevitable. Sooner rather than later.

I’ll continue to expand coverage of developments related to energy.

NOTE: CORRECTION

Erin ( New England Cockapoos, her link), breeder to the stars AND breeder of our own Bella Luna, reminds us that it isn’t just stores that want the pet protecting version. She needs the LectricLifter too and quick. Before June.

Workin’ on it, Erin.

Economics. Dismal Science?

BlastingThruDgDr copy Dr. Bella Luna, World Economics Chair at the London School of E.

DNA shmee-n-a. Particles shmarticles. This is the year of the buck.

Biology, physics, all the rest are taking a back seat to economics this year. The “Dismal Science” is crowding everything out as the public tries to figure out how we got into this “mess” and how we get out.

Economics. That’s a science right? Dismal. But science?

To answer this vexing and, sometimes, elusive question, I talked with someone who should know. When you think of science, who do you think of first? Bella Luna, of course. London School of E. Dr. Luna’s work, “The Cosmological Constant of The Political Economy”, is still regarded as the seminal work in this field. I asked Dr. Luna for a few minutes of her time.

“Ugh! You want to cover economics on a blog about science?”

“No huh? So economics doesn’t qualify as serious science?”

“It does.”

“It DOES?”

“Sure. A scientific proposition merely has to be capable of being proven false. That applies. There’re plenty of assertions about economics that can be shown to be wrong. In fact, practically all of them are wrong.” Dr. Luna, searching in her drawer for a grooming comb, blinked at me. “They call it dismal because we can’t DO much about the big stuff like the economy. ”

“ECONOMICS can’t do anything about the ECONOMY?”

“Can meteorologists do anything about the weather? Do we call weather forecasting the dismal science? Heck no. Because they’re on TV all the time with blond hair and neat blazers. And they have interactive maps. ”

“But if economists can’t do anything about the economy, what good are they?”

“What good are cosmologists? In fact, what good is this crappy blog of yours? ”

Dr. Luna was getting a little heated up so I thanked her for her time and said we would pick up this matter another time.

Tentative conclusion: Economics shouldn’t be called the dismal science anymore.

Maybe the useless science.

CANCER CURE

A long-enduring metaphor for the unachievable has always been “Finding a cure for cancer”. And the hallmarks of cancer, itself, are its abilities to spread and to overcome our meager drugs. Of course, another hallmark of cancer, is how easily our hopes rise and fall when a new promising “breakthrough” occurs. Still, I will risk that by calling attention to two stunning developments.
Come on tumor. Make my day! , Critical understanding of metastasis .

EVACUATING TALL BUILDINGS

This is probably SO 2001, but evidently we still don’t have much scientific basis for evaluating buildings . Which reminds me, I will shortly, publish our solution for high rise evacuation (if anyone cares anymore about such things).

Theoretical Frustration plus The Battery Thing

Bella Luna, Principal Investigator, Higgs Phenomena

MASS MYSTERIES

Matter consists of electrons, protons, neutrons, a passel of quarks and neutrinos, and some other stuff. 19 different different particles in all, according to the (slightly cheesy) “Standard Model”. Unfortunately, the particles it describes are ephemeral things with no mass. They would float right through you. YOU would float right through ME. This redoubtable theory describes something. But it could use a touch of realism.

To that end, Peter Higgs (and others) made a lot of physicists happy by proposing that particles are swimming in a “soup” (a field) which, lucky boy, got named after him. The Higgs field. According to Higgs, particles that DO have mass, acquire it by moving through this field. To me, this sounds far fetched. Some kinda aether. But physicists like it. They say it’s elegant.

Why I’m not a physicist.

Anyway, they’ve been searching for the particle (Higgs Boson) which is responsible for the Higgs field for years. The searching is done with particle accelerators. And the largest of them all, the Large Haydron Collider in Switzerland. will start looking as soon as it recovers from the temporary embarassment of shutting down after its Grand Opening ceremony.

So far, no luck. There are still, however, places (energy levels) left to look. What if, ultimately, they come up dry? If there’s no Higgs, either our national obesity problem is solved in a flash (no mass, no weight), or the Standard Model may be in trouble which (my opinion) is a good thing. Science thrives on disappointment. Maybe this is good for M-Theory (another time).

NEW BATTERY TECHNOLOGY

It’s hard to get it right as far as energy is concerned. We’ve had several big energy crises and society’s misfired each time, either failing to react with enough resources or entering politically popular cul de sacs such as corn ethanol.

But the last round of oil price rises made a real impression. The cure for cancer may be delayed for a while because everyone’s working on windmills.

This week saw two announcements about advanced battery technology (needed to provide storage for renewable energy schemes):

The Maryland NanoCenter says it’s found a way to make batteries that’re up to 10 times more efficient using nanotechnology. And Gerbrand Ceder (MIT, Materials Science & Engineering) has gotten astonishing press play with his technique for speeding up charging/discharging of batteries.

Give Dr. Gerbrand’s battery a 9. Give the MIT Press Office a 10. Gerbrand’s Battery

Three things that I would like to give brief mention to:
COLD FUSION: Remember this? Pons and Fleischmann weren’t able to back up their claims of a simple fusion device and their reputations suffered for it. They just couldn’t prove that neutrons were present. But Lo, Behold, The Space And Naval Warfare Systems Center (Mosier-Boss and others) found a way to prove that electrons ARE being produced. Science. You NEVER know, do ya? Low Energy Nuclear Reactions

CANCER FRONT: Dr. Joseph Bauer reports a fundamentally different way to approach cancer. The extremely preliminary results, 4 dogs, look fascinating. But stay calm. Curing cancer’s a long, long road. Lots of ways to be disappointed. Still. Best of luck with this wonderful work. Trojan Horse Approach

GENE FOR WEIGHT LOSS: Back to getting rid of mass. Gene Therapy For Obesity