The dawn of the DNA test
Back in the 1700s, the best way to determine paternity was by a good hard look and the child, followed by a good hard look at the father. Enough coincidences and maybe a relationship could be proposed. A hundred years later, eye color was discovered to be a paternity identifier. This theory has had its flaws exposed because of recent DNA advances. We now know that eye color is determined by at least six alleles, or genetic markers. Paternity testing has become a lot easier and affordable over the past few years due to advances in DNA science. Although an estimated 200,000 DNA tests are conducted each year by states needing to sort child-support and welfare issues, few people are willing to conduct their own at-home paternity test. They don't realize the simplicity and convenience of an at-home paternity test.
How does a home DNA test work?
Paternity testing requires a painless sample from both the child and possible father. Even without a sample from the mother, DNA paternity test results are up to 99.9999% accurate–that's one-in-a-million odds your results are incorrect. Most companies provide a free home kit for you to provide the samples and require you to send the kit back to the laboratory with the accompanying fee.
Because many companies are aware of the discomfort of drawing blood from a child in order to get a sample, buccal (mouth) swabs are being accepted as an alternative. By gently massaging the inside of the child's mouth, cheek cells are collected. These cells are then sent to the lab for testing. Labs analyze up to sixteen genetic markers of the child and match them against the markers of the alleged father. Because each of us receives half our genetic markers from each parent, the results of DNA paternity testing are still accurate without the DNA information of the mother. Most labs will have results in 10 days and charge about $290 for a basic paternity verification test.
What else can a DNA test do?
DNA kits can also be used to analyze siblingship, establish cousin or grandparent relationships, determine twin zygosity (i.e. whether twins are fraternal or identical), identify ancestral origin, verify Native American decent, assure parents they left the hospital with the right baby, and most important, provide legal evidence–be prepared to pay a bit more for legal tests. Legal tests can be used to settle adoption issues, settle child-support disputes, and provide information for immigration files.
How to choose a DNA laboratory
# Accreditation is a vital part of choosing a laboratory. Accredited labs have an annual audit and inspection, undergo internal and external reviews, and have their equipment calibrated for accuracy. Look for an ISO and/or AABB certification. Accredited labs will have a good reputation and near 100% track record for court cases.
# Look for hidden fees. Some companies will charge you for the kit and then charge you again for the results. Also, double check when you order your kit that you're only buying the results you need.
# Ask about privacy. Make sure that your identity and intentions are kept secure.
Enjoy piece of mind
Be confident that the questions you have can be answered. DNA testing is safe and stress-free. Find a free kit and an information packet and you're on your way to getting the piece of mind that you deserve.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Feb. 12 is "Darwin Day" -- Secular Americans Celebrate B'day of Evolution Champ
This Feb. 12 marks the 196th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth!
The day has special significance for America's nearly 30 million nonreligious people. In the humanist community, Feb. 12 is "Darwin Day."
"Darwin has become an all-purpose icon for humanists, who champion reason and science while rejecting superstition and dogma," said Matt Cherry, executive director of the Institute for Humanist Studies in Albany, N.Y. "Darwin is the definitive rebuff to fundamentalism."
In 2004, a Gallup poll found that only one-third of Americans believe Darwin's 19th century theory of evolution is a credible scientific theory. The same poll found that 45 percent of Americans believe God created humans in their present form roughly 10,000 years ago.
Massimo Pigliucci, Ph.D., a professor of evolutionary biology at SUNY-Stony Brook and author of the Web column "Rationally Speaking", is shocked by how few Americans have a basic understanding of evolutionary biology and the nature of science in general. "If people had a better understanding of both we wouldn't be embarrassed in front of the rest of the world by cases such as the one currently going on in Dover, Pa., where administrators are walking around local classrooms talking about 'intelligent design' and other nonsense," he said.
Pigliucci's course on "Evolution, Creationism and the Nature of Science" is available at the Continuum of Humanist Education, the online school of the Institute for Humanist Studies.
Though an unofficial humanist holiday, Darwin Day has been steadily gaining popularity in the humanist community since it first appeared in the early 1990s. Not long after the event took hold, the International Humanist and Ethical Union decided against making Darwin Day an official holiday. Board members at the time argued that humanists should not ape saints days or elevate humanist heroes to the status of secular idols.
Yet many humanists simply see Darwin Day as a way to celebrate scientific thinking and progress. Humanists are quick to note that science has evolved since the time of Darwin. But that, according to humanists, is a tribute to Darwin and to science.
"Science should be celebrated as something that makes our lives better –- just like family, love, nature, civil rights and the many other things we already celebrate," said August E. Brunsman IV, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance.
The Secular Student Alliance is an Ohio-based nonprofit educational organization. This year, the SSA supplied Darwin Day idea packets to more than 50 college campus affiliates. Serious ideas include lectures and debates. Some lighthearted possibilities include hosting an Evolution Banquet with Primordial Soup, or wearing ape costumes and handing out parodies of the disclaimer stickers that have appeared on biology textbooks in some states. The stickers were recently found to be an unconstitutional violation of the first amendment.
Why Don't Moths Fly to the Moon
Surely, in the days before man invented artificial light, moths would have been attracted to the only light source at night - the moon. Wouldn't they have just kept on flying until they dropped from exhaustion? In fact does this not happen today in sparsely populated areas, where the moon is still the only night-light available?
Navigation
Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no concrete answer - only theories. The prevailing theory of the moment is that many moths do not directly fly to light - and therefore wouldn't try to make a trek to the moon. No, what they do is use the moon as a navigational aid. If you wanted to keep moving in one direction and the moon was your only reference point, you would keep the moon at a particular angle to your direction of travel. For instance, you may keep the moon at 45 degrees to your left, and as the moon is relatively static in the sky, you would be sure to travel in the same direction.
"The Moon Just Moved!"
Now, to a moth, with its poor eyesight and fairly simply outlook on life, a street lamp that is only 3 feet away may look pretty much like the vast moon that is thousands of miles away. I guess that moths have never heard of the term “perspective”. So, the moth makes its way past the lamp only to find that angle of the lamp is changing rapidly. So it corrects its flight to try to keep the lamp to its left. Just as it does so, the lamp has moved again… and so the moth just circles around the lamp.
Collision Course
The above covers the “circling” moths. There are, however, other species of moth that fly directly to light. I have not uncovered any accepted theories about this (please email me if you have any!). One possible explanation is that the moon is once again used as a navigational aid, but this time these “direct flyers” simply keep the moon in front of them in order to fly in a straight line. As there is no prospect of bumping into the moon this is as good a way as any to travel forwards. Remember that a moth’s main purpose in life is to mate - and not to mate with the moon - so they would only use this navigational aid for limited journeys (until they found a mate). How are they to know that what they thought was the moon is actually a street lamp – no wonder a collision is inevitable!
General Moth Information
There are numerous species of moth and they can be a problem for stored food products, mainly through the risk of foreign bodies. Most moths are attracted to ultra violet light, although green light is often an even stronger attractant.
Navigation
Sorry to disappoint you, but there is no concrete answer - only theories. The prevailing theory of the moment is that many moths do not directly fly to light - and therefore wouldn't try to make a trek to the moon. No, what they do is use the moon as a navigational aid. If you wanted to keep moving in one direction and the moon was your only reference point, you would keep the moon at a particular angle to your direction of travel. For instance, you may keep the moon at 45 degrees to your left, and as the moon is relatively static in the sky, you would be sure to travel in the same direction.
"The Moon Just Moved!"
Now, to a moth, with its poor eyesight and fairly simply outlook on life, a street lamp that is only 3 feet away may look pretty much like the vast moon that is thousands of miles away. I guess that moths have never heard of the term “perspective”. So, the moth makes its way past the lamp only to find that angle of the lamp is changing rapidly. So it corrects its flight to try to keep the lamp to its left. Just as it does so, the lamp has moved again… and so the moth just circles around the lamp.
Collision Course
The above covers the “circling” moths. There are, however, other species of moth that fly directly to light. I have not uncovered any accepted theories about this (please email me if you have any!). One possible explanation is that the moon is once again used as a navigational aid, but this time these “direct flyers” simply keep the moon in front of them in order to fly in a straight line. As there is no prospect of bumping into the moon this is as good a way as any to travel forwards. Remember that a moth’s main purpose in life is to mate - and not to mate with the moon - so they would only use this navigational aid for limited journeys (until they found a mate). How are they to know that what they thought was the moon is actually a street lamp – no wonder a collision is inevitable!
General Moth Information
There are numerous species of moth and they can be a problem for stored food products, mainly through the risk of foreign bodies. Most moths are attracted to ultra violet light, although green light is often an even stronger attractant.
Pre-empt the Radiation or Die
At West Point, in a speech, President George W. Bush shared the doctrine of pre-emption with his cadets that he articulated as a countermeasure to September 11 attacks. Pre-emption, defined as the anticipatory use of force in the face of an imminent attack, has long been accepted as legitimate and appropriate under international law. In the New National Security Strategy, however, the Bush’s first administration was broadening the meaning to encompass preventive war as well, in which force may be used even without the evidence. This particular idea had still been severely debated and really staled but Professor Lawrie Challis’s invention has brought the President’s angle back into perspective.
A simple magnetic bead can reduce the radiation from hands-free mobile phones to virtually zero. His set of kits stops the radio waves traveling up the wire and into the head. His take was mobile industry should start using it as a standard and promote it as a marketing material.
Mobile Manufacturers Forum rejected Professor Challis's call for them to be used on hands-free kits. They said, “Beads can have an impact. But the bigger issue is that mobile phones are tested to be comply with standards and have been passed safe.”
Reducing emissions to the head to zero is possible but manufacturers neglect to put them on hands-free kits. Ignorance is bless. Tests are king. The reality is, even one customer with skepticism of practices is enough for an avalanche in the industry.
Look at the tobacco industry… Undoubtedly, the most regretful people not to come up with such an idea like Bush’s were they. The most reviled industry has reached the peak level of saturation but could not cope with ceaseless accusations since the beginning of the 90s and lost enormous ground. The strategy of being contentious in good, old days - just like telecom is doing today - triggered looming litigation threats, which in turn, caused big tobacco companies’ stock market value to plummet dramatically.
Today, ranging from pharma to food, plenty of industries would be feeling the same pressure that tobacco guys had a decade ago. The lesson is obvious. If a considerably large company is somewhat related to health, it is to their benefit to take extra care of sanitary issues.
Professor Challis accepts that there is no evidence saying mobile phones are harmful to health. Though, he also points out that people have not been using them long enough for us to be sure. He, as the chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research Program, has a concrete point.
Adding to that, customers need to see companies doing everything they could to better serve to their health. Customers are customers but they are more hostile than competitors when it comes to the reasons of their doctor visits.
The simple, softheaded strategy is pre-empting the attack through applying Challis’s technology. This is a golden opportunity given to the mobile manufacturers. Take it, don’t leave it!
On one of those “Today Show” with Matt Lauer, Donald Trump said: “I learned a lot from my brother who was an alcoholic… And I watched his life just be destroyed, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke. I never had a drug in my life ... alcohol is a drug. I mean, alcohol and tobacco are both terrible drugs. And, you know, I’d like to see the lawyers start going after the alcohol companies, cause I think alcohol is a much greater detriment than cigarettes.”
Legendary icon can be called sentimental. Though, he is pointing fingers in front of the public and lawyers would be excited to follow his order. However, the reality is that, the effect would not be as bad as tobacco industry as they achieved to pre-empt the attack by expanding their product line into non-alcoholic beverages and transformed their holistic market message to ‘Drink Responsibly’. This has put industry into low-key.
Every possible way to improve end users’ healthy relationship with the product needs to be heeded. On some extreme cases, it may be unattainable. Then, companies should focus on health on their R&D purposes and align their product line accordingly, which can be named as pre-emption. Challis’s finding, in that respect, is given. Even though there is no sign of an imminent attack, it is the future where problems and past where answers lie. If mobile industry insists on not accepting it, customers will be there to hunt them down.
Traffic Zoology
There is a secret zoo that runs encaged along the roads.
They are liquid, semi-visible goliaths that rage through the streams and chunks of ordinary traffic, with the effervescent tendrils of mile-long tales whipping behind them like Chinese dragons. Though composed of hundreds of pounds of steel, glass and plastic, they are able to pass through solid objects. They are bound by the laws of the highway, but not by any conventional notion of time or space.
They are Aggregate Traffic Animals: a menagerie of emergent beasts drawn from the interacting behaviours of many individual human beings driving many individual cars with many individual goals, their collective activity giving rise to something with greater presence, power and purpose than the sum of its constituents. They take on a host of different forms, each to serve a different end.
They are real, and they drive among us.
Preamble
In his introduction to The Extended Phenotype (Oxford University Press, 1982) enthusiastic evolutionary biology cheerleader and Commodore-hacking pop-science guru Richard Dawkins invites us to consider the Necker Cube Illusion: a two-dimensional image representing two interlocked three-dimensional blocks in which the foreground and background can seem to flip back and forth as the brain fruitlessly seeks the "true" interpretation of the depicted space. This is Dawkins' starting point for a thought experiment in which he blurs the lines between species, their genes and the environment, calling into question the traditional boundaries drawn through biological systems to identify the relevant level of study. To wit, to wank:
We look at life and begin by seeing a collection of interacting individual organisms. We know that they contain smaller units, and we know that they are, in turn, parts of larger composite units, but we fix our gaze on the whole organisms. Then suddenly the image flips. The individual bodies are still there; they have not moved, but they seem to have gone transparent...
In other words, if you are able to de-emphasise the organism itself you are free to appreciate the idea of beaver ponds as artificial lakes generated by beaver genes, or to see a spider's web as an arrangement of silk drawn by DNA. By extending the lines with which we bound the traditional phenotype, we define new organisms, merging technology and individuals into communities the same way that ancient micro-organisms interacting inside bilipid membranes fell into symbiotic lockstep dances to found the first stable cells.
Organelles, cells, bodies, herds: at which level we discern the animal is purely a matter of focus.
This idea of the emergent animal or "super-organism" is hardly particular to Dawkins: William Morton Wheeler remarked on the idea in his 1911 paper "The Ant Colony as an Organism" in a treatment that is every bit as cogent but with considerably less otaku chic than Kevin Kelly's printed-soundbyte manifesto on hive complexity, Out of Control (Perseus Books, 1994). In the words of Kelly:
There is nothing to be found in a beehive that is not submerged in a bee. And yet you can search a bee forever with cyclotron and fluoroscope, and you will never find a hive.
So too can you examine a driver in a car and know nothing about the greater animal in which they both participate when the circumstances are right. Some of the applicable forces can be seen most clearly in the rarified environment of the professional race course, as explored by David Ronfeldt, a senior social scientist at RAND, in his 2002 paper Social Science at 190 MPH on NASCAR's Biggest Superspeedways, where fleeting moments of co-operation between rivals are necessary in order to win. Ronfeldt focuses in particular on the phenomenon of draft line formation, which is similar to the way flocking birds can share aerodynamic advantage. Like iron filings in a magnetic field, the large-scale distribution of opportunistically partnering cars are drawn into predictable macro-scale patterns across the speedway:
Once the racers sort themselves out - after ten to twenty laps - it is common to see a single draft line of four to seven cars running in front, pursued a hundred or so yards back by a second line of cars, all another hundred or so yards ahead of a large pack of cars that may still be running in parallel lines but are doing more dicing than drafting...Cars that run alone, often stuck dangerously between two draft lines, will appear to drift irrevocably backward.
Freed of the bonds of racing's formalism, the Aggregate Traffic Animals are born, rooted in transient symbioses between individual patches of drivers that will crystalise into the organs of the beast. But the circumstances have to be just right for one to emerge. The unholy Hieronymus Bosch-style concert of homicidal applied-shadenfreude that may characterise your urban, intra-urban or sub-urban driving experience is not ripe ground for ATA growth: too frothy.
The sociological and scatological dances of the megalopolis rushhour, too, are beyond the scope of this article, and are at any rate most likely best explored with deep computer simulations using high-tech cellular automata tools with average driver profiles linked to real-world statistics of roadway usage coupled with an army of ten thousand angry ax-wielding orcs battling an equal number of obedient clonetroopers.
Rather, this field is perfect fodder for the amateur ethologist, observing phenomena with a keen eye, an open mind and a sharp pencil. And while much has been written about manipulating traffic waves, the dynamics of traffic jams and phase-transitions in traffic density, very little time has been devoted to the observation and cataloguing of persistent multi-car zoomorphia.
Early Observations
The author first became aware of the existence of ATAs while making his way through the hinterland of Canada on a long, mid-winter solo drive in a decrepit Dodge Charger with no functioning radio. Due to his dangerous penchant for immersive daydreaming in the absence of external stimuli, he began to parasite his driving decisions by locking in behind another car with comparable speed ambitions. By reserving a sliver of awareness for tracking the red brake lights of the "lead" car for changes in speed or direction, the author was able to comfortably enjoy his trance while a hefty burden of road awareness was outsourced to the other driver, causing the front car to function as a sort of early warning mechanism for changing conditions (including the Mounties' speed-traps).
The notion resurfaced while the author was wrestling a dented Volkswagen Rabbit rental down a twisting, pot-holed two-lane jungle highway through the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. As the journey began he found himself hedged inside a short parade of other tourists, all driving their rental cars out of the airport at around the same time at a hesitant pace, breaking frequently to process the unfamiliar leafy darkness ahead. Fearing injury, the author laterally-leapfrogged the indecisive parade and drove on into the murk alone. Remembering his success in the far north, he latched onto the back of a local vehicle (a home-modded convertible Beetle carrying ten people, standing room only), using its varying speed as an indicator of road conditions. Unexpectedly, this move was noticed by several of the other tourists, who began to fight to separate themselves from the melee and join the newer, more surefooted pack that was rapidly pulling ahead...
By the time the author had reached his exit the impromptu fleet of vehicles had become a persistent, homeostatic phenomenon. The fleet had quickly learned to manipulate the spacing between its components in order to remain permeable to faster moving local traffic while defending its integrity against more disruptive external vehicles. Pulses of communication signifying when the passing lane was clear rippled down the chain through a conscientious leaning into the gravel shoulder, assisting in the process of expectorating invaders. Several of the original tourist vehicles ended up being swapped out for other vehicles without rocking the boat. Later on, even the leader was swapped out for another experienced local car.
It was a fetching game, contributing to the welfare of all of its players in an interesting way, but it was not a true ATA. It was too conscious a contrivance to be anything more than a delightful spontaneous social event.
You see, a distributed animal with human components can be very sensitive to perturbations from within. It is only when the conflicting threads of goals, reasoning and competition between individual human minds are quietened into the background noise that the soil can truly be ripe to raise a complex beast. When drivers can fall into a semi-hypnotic state and their herd instincts take over, the seeds are laid for something greater.
Habitat
While there are thousands of traffic animal breeding grounds along the paved networks of the world, only one driving region has been extensively explored at this time, largely due to budgetary considerations.
The TransCanada Highway is a nearly ideal environment for the production of large-scale ATA phenomena, due in great part to the simplicity of its shape: all cars are moving either westbound or eastbound, streamlining the goals of the drivers in much the same way as the shape of the Daytona superspeedway encourages drafting partnerships (see above). Also, because there are long stretches through lonely wilderness and semi-tundra, nascent traffic animals have a long period in which to mature before coming against obstacles like influxes of new cars or navigating around towns; and because the highway wends its way directly through most of Canada's major cities, it provides a handy litmus test for the homeostatic integrity of a given specimen simply by observing whether or not it makes it through to the other side of the urban area intact.
While daytime ATA formation is not rare, it is under the cover of darkness that development can proceed in a comparatively unfettered fashion. This is due in large part to the more abstract, disconnected experience of interacting with other vehicles merely as points of coloured light. Familiar prejudices and stereotypes -- potential sources of destructive competition -- are smoothed out by the shadows. At least on the basis of visual impressions, a Volvo and a Camaro can enter a system as peers.
Diminished visibility resulting from mild to moderate weather conditions can have a similar equalising effect, but when conditions become too severe drivers tend to clump into packs for safety, leading to pseudo-ATA fleets that are all too conscious social events (as in the Quintana Roo experience).
Show me an autumn stretch of prairie transcontinental highway at twilight, and I will show you the secret zoo of the road.
Typical Morphologies
The most basic form of multi-car life is the Asipetal Caterpillar, also known as a worm. Worms begin when a stable solo vehicle spawns a linear, single-lane chain of vehicles composed of loose monomers joining at the rear (a closely related, but dysfunctional, construct known as an Acropetal Caterpillar grows by adding vehicles to the front of the chain, generally leading to destructive diffusion or autolysis). Short, lithe worms are the fundamental building blocks of healthy ATA tissue. Perverse, long-form worms are the seeds of congestion and death.
The second atomic element of ATA tissue stands in stark contrast to the worm, for it is a fleeting thing, and when it takes concrete form at all it is often manifested as a single car. The Apparent Coxswain is a vehicle that appears, to the conscious or semi-conscious mind of one or more drivers, to be a leader of the worm. When the Apparent Coxswain changes lanes, there is a higher probability that a majority of the worm will follow suit than if the change were initiated by a less trusted vehicle. In many cases each car in a worm perceives the car immediately ahead of it to be the Apparent Coxswain, leading to domino-effect lane-transitions; such formations have high homeostatic integrity because of the worm's ability to "find a new head" should one Apparent Coxswain be lost to the currents. (Please note: the Apparent Coxswain should not be confused with the Virtual Coxswain or the Napoleonic Coxswain, discussed below.)
Formations that achieve such integration become Cholingers: Asipetal Caterpillars with tightly-integrated internal feedback systems of Apparent Coxswains, capable of transmitting information from tip to tail with high fidelity. Cholingers can slither to avoid torn tyres on the road, twitch around slow-moving vehicles, and even slip through packs of alien worms, wild axenes and other traffic froth to arrive on the other side intact.
Of course, not all Cholingers slip through the strangers: sometimes they interact.
Every Cholinger is either benthic or pelagic. Benthic Cholingers travel at a similar rate to the currents of the road, while Pelagic Cholingers travel at a dissimilar rate when compared to other traffic (typically a faster rate). It is possible, however, for a benthic line to be picked up and carried along by a pelagic cousin, leading to a coupled form. This is the first real Aggregate Traffic Animal we will meet tonight: a bilaterally asymmetrical diageotrope known as the Epiphysian Cyclosalp.
Within the body of the Cyclosalp the individual Cholingers are transmuted into a pair of Librigenates -- stretchy, free-flowing tissue that is bounded in space by the relationship with its partner, the accelerating pelagic lobe sliding forward and the steady benthic lobe catching up in a slow-motion slingshot, compressing and expanding between the loose, senseless clumps of other cars. This accordion-like effect might initially seem to be a force tearing the animal apart, rending pelagic from benthic -- and this is indeed what might happen in too rarified an atmosphere -- but when presented with obstacles of any kind, the Librigenates that comprise the Cyclosalp fall back on their Cholinger heritage of local integrity, crystallising en masse to navigate the hazard.
Unfettered, the Epiphysian Cyclosalp is like half a butterfly, its riparian body gilded by a slowly flapping wing of accelerating, gliding Librigenates ebbing and flowing in a stately round. Its insides whorl as partners switch places, benthic turning briefly pelagic, pacer cars joining a rippling pulse of local inertia forward, headlights cross-sweeping.
It is beyond the scope of this article to detail the myriad circumstances that provide seed for the profitable entanglement of multiple Cyclosalpic streams. So diverse are the possibilities that we could fill a Biblical tome without scratching the surface, without revealing the common thread of simplicity upon which the complexity hinges. Suffice to say the larger clade includes such varied forms as the whiplashing Epinastic Tricyclosalp, the many-fingered Dicyclosalp Fimbriatum, and the diaphanous, fleeting wonder of the mile-long Merosporangic Super-Cyclosalp...
Of course, not all Asipetal Caterpillars grow up to become stately Cholingers; instead, they lock into Lego-like bricks of uniform properties called Pycnoblastoids. While short-lived Apiculate Pycnoblastoids (in which the Apparent Coxswain is always the most forward car) are more common, it is the more flexible Laxiflorous Pycnoblastoid (in which the Apparent Coxswain is any car except that most forward) that lives a more fruitful life.
For instance, consider the case of a typical composite entity like a Tripycnoblastic Oomycotum, in which independent pycnoblasts jockey for position internally directly or by proxy through one or more Napoleonic Coxswains (that is, drivers who suffer from the delusion that they are single-handedly responsible for steering/leading their local sub-structure). The domino-line behaviour of an Apiculate Pycnoblastoid makes it too brittle to survive the stresses of being permeated by a competing pycnoblast, whereas the comparatively elastic structure of the Laxifloroid -- imparted due to the inherent time delay involved in co-ordinating with a mid-fleet Apparent Coxswain -- retains a perfect balance of rigidity and looseness, riding a line between orchestration and dissolution that makes composite forms like Oomycota possible.
Pycnoblastic tissue is unusual in that it makes use of some level of awareness on the part of the driver that they are participating in a formation (though drivers are only likely to be aware of the local level of structure). When this awareness reaches a certain level the composite entity is usually destroyed by internal stresses, but occasionally a dissolving multi-pycnoblast will emit a stream of highly energised vehicles -- the Apheresoid Lirellate, a concentrated apiculatoid pycnoblast flung free from the miasma of death to rocket away, using for a coxswain the abandoned carcass itself.
...These are but the fringes of the zoo, the tip of the iceberg.
We have not even touched on the sensitive antennae of the Stipitate Phototaxites fringed with Virtual Coxswains, pseudo-lead cars ready to be sacrificed to trip any trap, the chaotic wrath of the Biflagellate Ableptic Figmo and the fate of the cystidial flotsam locked within them; the weird rhythms of the Cacospysic Super-Barbicanoids and their elaborate dance of shifting coxswains, the majesty of the motorcycle-based Raging Fallaxoid; the menagerie of endless cancers that can grow from unexpectorated papillic granulomae, from cataracts of geriatric nektons, or from service-stations with badly planned driveways.
Further Study
The study of a new order of life is not without its risks, both professional (in terms of reputation) and practical (in terms of being maimed by mis-navigated vehicles). The amateur automotive ethologist must not only have keen skills of observation, but also the fortitude to persevere despite the slings and arrows of dubious dissenters. Like Leeuwenhoek's controversial animalcules and Pasteur's superstition-defying microbes, there will always exist a certain testudinal resistance to new ideas among older quarters. There will be those who doubt the very existence of aggregate vehicular life, or who insist that the zoo of the road dwells in metaphor alone.
The opinions of such sceptics could be changed by a single night spent on a grassy hill overlooking a well-travelled country highway, watching the streams of red and silver lights merge and split, compress and attenuate, roil and interact, fatten and reproduce...
Watch the roads, and see the zoo for yourself. There is no denying its patterns of insectile purpose, its myriad variations in anatomy and configuration, or the orchestrated madness of the low-cost petroleum feeding frenzy. Your own mind, honed by thousands of generations of natural selection to recognise life from non-life, will tell you it is true; the disciplines of careful observation and meticulous classification will tell you how, and why.
Open your eyes, and witness an untapped world.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Glyco Nutrients and Stem Cell Production
During the speach, Dr. Reg McDaniel talked about first seeing new stem cells in the peripheral blood of clients using glyconutrients many years ago and not recognizing these cells as stem cells. They were 10 times the size of white blood cells and they were given the name "Gee" cells for some time as that's what Dr. Reg said when he observed these new cells that no one could identify! Now we have the tools to identify these cells appropriately as stem cells which can be used as "master keys" to move to places in the body as the body calls for. About a year ago there was an article in JAMA regarding the stem cells implants of male cells into female bodies of women with leukemia who had received a stem cell transplant. When these women died, male marked cells were found as neurons in the brain.
Dr. Reg realized that this might offer an explanation in the many children with fetal alcohol syndrome that were doing so well with the glyconutrients and others who had advanced so far beyond their perceived genetic limitations. He told the story of several adopted aboriginal children in Canada who had fetal alcohol syndrome who have done remarkably well, improving from IQ's estimated to be around 50 to levels around 100. One girl who had difficulties with reading and numbers and was in remedial classes after 3 years with glyconutrients was able to read a Harry Potter book in a week and discuss what she had read.
When they measure the before and after stem cell counts in the blood, virtually none are detectable prior to glyconutrieints. Within a week of giving glyconutrients, there are 200-400 stem cells seen in a microliter of blood with about 5-10 thousand white blood cells. If one extrapolates to the whole body, it is possible that there are 1.7-3 trillion new stem cells throughout our body as we add in glyconutrients. We're at the beginning of understanding all of what is possible with stem cells. There is an article in the June Scientific American if you want to read more about stem cells.
A New STEM CELL SURVEY CD for the Health Care Professional will be available next week that contains evidence that glyconutrients increase Stem Cell activity in the human body (This is a presentation CD not an audio CD). This NEW Stem Cell CD by H. Reg McDaniel, M.D. documents how glyconutrients integrated into traditional therapy may benefit every disease that Stem Cells benefit and THAT IS EVERY DISEASE.
You may request the CD online at http://www.results4kids.org for a $50 donation. Proceeds are split 50/50 with Fisher Institute for Medical Research and the Results Endowment for Medical and Educational Research. These organizations are seeking major funding for Stem Cell Research using glyconutrients. The syllabus on stem cell information related to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome can be found at Fisher Institute's website.
Note: Glyconutrients are not intended to heal, treat, or cure any disease
A Wake Up Call To The Scientific Community
Nature has millions of intervowen interrelationships among the numerous flora and fauna. Such relationships are the basis for the food webs and food pyramids. These food webs and pyramids can give us a broad idea that organisms interact with each other for their food, shelter and mating. Each specific interrelationship if studied in depth can be very interesting and brings to light significant facts of our sorroundings and the importance of each and every living being on this earth and its function in sustaining the ecological processes. In fact if the entire nature is considered one machine, each and every living being has its own role in smooth running of this machine. But knowingly and unknowingly, we have not taken care or forced to destroy such interrelationships in the path of ‘development’.
While we talk of big things like “Global warming,” “Green House Gases” and such other impending disasters, we are doing little precious either in understanding these interrelationships or our scientific community has not been able to keep pace with the enormity and complexity of ecological relationships.
Even if the world is protected from global warming, can the man and his domesticated crops and animals survive with out the aid of other living beings on this earth? Can the nature sustain such loss of vast number of living beings and even then sustain human living on this earth? Of course not! This is known to every one…everyone in the sense the ecologists and environmentalists on board of scientific institutions and administration and the thinktank behind governments. We cannot expect the politicians to understand such complex science, and neither do they have time to spare an ear. Therefore it is the responsibility of the scientific community to take up such issues and suggest possible remedial actions and incessantly pursue for implementation. They are also duty bound to prevent vested interests who try to hijack the issue for their own selfish ends or satisfy their proffessional egos.
Just as politicians, a lay man (representing the vast majority of the general public) is not expected to know, appreciate or support such causes. Hence once again its is the duty of scientific community, to mobilise public opinion and break all the barriers in implementing conservation measures in every part of the world both in micro and macro scales. Conservation has to be localised instead of conserving things of one continent in the other continent or one country’s in the other.
The awareness levels about ecology or nature conservation are at a such a dangerous low, that many people term even zoological parks as as conservation centers! And we know how these parks are maintained in many developing and poor countries!
Lastly conservation programmes should not be seen as programs of wasteful expenditure, but should be seen as a life insurance premium for our own survival!
Ravikumar Uppaluri hails from Kaikalur, Krishna District of Andhra Pradesh State in India. The famous Kolleru bird sancturay, a fresh water lake that attracts birds from as far as Siberia, is located near Kaikalur. Kolleru lake once vast, beautiful and sheltering scores of birds and other animals is on the verge of extinction.
Alchemy: Turning Rocks to Gold Since the Middle Ages
Alchemy. Such a misunderstood science. I hope this article can help set things straight for whomever reads it.
Alchemy is an ancient art, first practiced in the Middle Ages. It was devoted to finding a substance that would transmute, (or turn) common metals in to gold, silver or other precious metals, and also to cause immortality in humans. Alchemy was most likely the first time people dipped their toes into chemistry.
Alchemy began in Ancient Egypt, and was especially prevalent in Alexandria in the Hellenistic period. At the same time, China had been tinkering with the ideas as well. Early writings about alchemy by greek philosiphers are sometimes thought of as the first chemical theories. Empedocles (im-ped-oh-klees) formed the all too famous theory that all things in existence were made of air, fire, earth and water. Later, the emperor Diocletian (die-oh-klee-shun) ordered all of the Egyptian texts on the chemistry of gold and silver to be burned and for all expirements to stop.
Zosimus the Theban disvovered that sulfuric acid is a solvent of metals, and, using this, he removed oxygen from the red oxide of mercury, turning the oxidized mercury pure again, much like if you took rust off a nail, it would be a normal nail again. Alchemy's fundemental concept came from an Aristotelian doctrine saying that all things tend to reach perfection at some point. Since other common metals were "less perfect" than gold and other precious metals, it made sense to these researchers that these metals would eventually turn to gold. Also it was thought that nature must make gold out of common metals deep within the earth, so with any luck, this process could be done in the lab with good result.
Eventually Alchemy reached Arabia, where the first book on Chemistry was written. From there it travelled through Spain, into Europe. Roger Bacon, and Albertus Magnus both believed that transmutation to gold was possible. Most people, including these two famous Alchemists, believed that gold was the perfect metal, and that if the philosipher's stone was created, it would be a substance so much more perfect than gold, that it would make the less perfect metals transmute.
Roger Bacon believed that gold dissolved in Aqua Regia* was the elixer of life. The Italian Scholastic philosopher St. Thomas Aquinas, the Catalan churchman Raymond Lully, and the Benedictine monk Basil Valentine also did much to further the progress of chemistry and alchemy, in discovering the uses of antimony, the making of amalgams, and the isolation of spirits of wine, or ethyl alcohol.
Perhaps the most famous Alchemist was the Swiss Philippus Paracelsus. He believed that the elements of compound bodies were salt, sulfur and mercury, representing earth, air and water. Fire however was imponderable to him. He believed also, that there was one more element, the source of the four ancients. This one element that created everything was called Alkahest, and he stated that if it were found, it would prove to be the universal medicine, an irrisistable solvent, and the philosipher's stone. In other words, it was the ultimate form of perfection.
After this, the alchemists of Europe split into two main groups. Those based on facts and hard research, and those who dabbled in the metaphysical, these entangled alchemy in fraud, necromancy, and imposture. This gives alchemy the current mysterious status.
Perhaps the most fun part of Alchemy is the coded engravings that were made during the time. Many of them are still around, and almost impossible to decifer without an explaination. Using obscure characters including the planets themselves as symbols for who-knows-what. Kings, queens, crows, multi-blossom flowers, and green lions abound
How Satellite TV Systems Originated
What we know as satellite tv actually had its origins in the space race which began with the launching of the satellite Sputnik by the Russians in 1957. The first communication satellite was developed and launched by a consortium of business and government entities in 1963. It was known as Syncom II and achieved an orbit at 22,300 miles over the Atlantic. The first satellite communication was between a U.S. Navy ship in the harbor of Lagos, Nigeria and the U.S. Army located at the naval station at Lakehurst, New Jersey on July 26, 1963.
Telephone companies began using satellite communication for communicating as land based distribution methods became overloaded. Television began using satellites on March 1, 1978 when the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) introduced Public Television Satellite Service. Broadcast networks adopted satellite communication as a distribution method from 1978 through 1984. As the use of satellites for communication and broadcast purposes increased, it became evident that everyone had the potential to receive satellite signals for free.
Direct to Home (DTH) satellite receivers were developed in the early 1980's. Rural areas thus gained the capacity to receive television programming that was not capable of being received by standard methods. With the development of television receive only (TVRO), broadcasters began to complain that reception of their signals were being either received illegally or pirated. The position of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was governed by its "open skies' policy. It was the FCC's position that users had as much right to receive satellite signals as broadcasters had the right to transmit them.
The broadcasters, in response to this government policy, began to use developed technologies which allowed them to scramble the signals they were broadcasting. Users, in turn, had to buy a decoder from a satellite program provider that packaged programs similar to the packages provided by cable systems. Ideas began to abound about the potential market for satellite television. The FCC, following the World Administrative Radio Conference of 1979, in 1980 established the plans and policy for a new service, direct broadcast satellite or DBS. This new service was to consist of a broadcast satellite in geostationary orbit, facilities for transmitting signals to the satellite and equipment needed by individuals to access the signals.
Early successful attempts to launch satellites for the mass consumer market were led by Japan and Hong Kong in 1986 and 1990, respectively. The first successful attempt by the United States was made by a group of major cable companies and was named Primestar. Next came Direct TV. Echostar Dish Network entered the market in the Spring of 1996 offering cheaper prices and forcing all of its competitors to do likewise.
Tsunami Defined
Tsunami is a Japanese term that describes a large seismically generated sea wave which is capable of considerable destruction in certain coastal areas, especially where underwater earthquakes occur.
In Japanese, “Tsunami” means “Harbor Wave” or “Wave In The Harbor” It is now internationally accepted as the term that defines a “Seismic Seawave.”
In South America, the term "Maremoto" is frequently used to describe a Tsunami.
Tsunami is pronounced: (sue-NAM-ee)
Tsunami’s have been incorrectly referred to as “tidal waves.” A tidal wave is a non-technical term for a shallow water wave caused by the gravitational interactions between the Sun, Moon, and Earth (high water is the crest of a tidal wave and low water is the trough).
Tsunami’s are formed by a displacement of water. This can come from the slippage of the boundaries between two tectonic plates, volcanic eruption, under-water earthquake, or even landslides.
Out in the open ocean, Tsunami’s might only be 1 meter in height, but as it reaches the shore in shallow water, it can rise to heights of 15-30 meters or more. Think about how a normal wave comes into a shore: the water moves away from the shore and then comes crashing back. This movement “heightens” the destruction power of a Tsunami.
Tsunami’s can also reach speeds ranging from 400 to 500+ miles per hour… about the same speed as a jet airliner.
The enormous energy that a Tsunami can possess allows it to travel across entire oceans. They often proceed as an ordinary gravity wave… having a 15 to 60 minute intervals.
From a destruction perspective, Tsunami’s have cost not hundreds of thousands, but millions of human lives over the recorded history of Earth.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
How Body Piercing Works - The Ins and Outs of this Cutting Edge Process
Body piercing (defined as any piercing beyond the standard earlobe piercing) has become such a popular form of body modification that between five and ten percent of the population of the United States has indulged in at least one form of it at some time in their lives. In most cases, once a person gets a body piercing, they follow the first one with more. There are lots of considerations; however, for making sure that your body piercing is done safely so that you don’t end up with either an infection or a poorly done piercing that could leave an unsightly scar.
It ain’t ear piercing, honey…
The procedure for a good body piercing isn’t the same is for getting your earlobes pierced. Most earlobe piercings that you see done in a mall or jewelry store involve using a piercing gun that quickly shoots the actual earring post through the earlobe. This may be fine for an area of the body that has soft tissue and is easily pierced, but it isn’t a good idea for other parts of the body for a few reasons.
First, it isn’t as accurate as a needle, so lining it up won’t always work. Just as with any gun, there is a recoil that will make the aim inaccurate. Second, the force of the gun will cause bruising and damage to the skin that isn’t necessary and will slow the healing process. Third, a piercing gun can’t be sterilized completely, so there is a higher risk of infection. The message is clear –- never get a body piercing done with a piercing gun. Always go to a professional who follows procedures approved by the Association of Professional Piercers (APP).
Once you get to the piercing parlor, there are several steps to the body piercing process that will take place to ensure both the success of the piercing and your health and safety. Each of these steps should be followed and nothing skipped.
Getting the preliminaries out of the way
You must be comfortable in the environment and comfortable with your piercer before moving ahead with anything. If he or she attempts to rush you through the procedure without answering your questions or putting you at ease, do not continue. This is a long-term commitment you are making, so it’s up to you if you want to go through with it.
There is paperwork to be filled out, and don’t let a piercing parlor tell you otherwise. A good piercing studio always keeps accurate records to ensure the health and safety of their clients. If there would ever be a question of contamination or some other health hazard, they must be able to contact you. If you are a minor, they must have the signature of your parent or guardian, who must be present at the time of the piercing.
Sterilization –- the only route to safe body piercing
Sterilization is all-important in body piercing –- the piercing area must be sterile, the piercer’s hands must be sterile, the tools used must be sterile, and the piercing needle must be sterile.
A separate area for sterilization should be available in the piercing parlor where a steam heat autoclave is operational. The autoclave is the only approved sterilization device that can sufficiently heat tools such as forceps to a high enough temperature to kill all bacteria. Before beginning any piercing, all tools will be sterilized in an autoclave and laid out carefully on a clean tray. After this, they will not be touched until your piercing begins, and then only by your piercer when he has safely cleaned and gloved his hands, just as a surgeon would.
You can’t be too clean
The piercing chair or table will also be cleaned, usually by being wiped down thoroughly with an antibacterial spray and disposable cloths or paper towels to prevent recontamination. You will not be allowed to enter and prepare for your piercing until the area has been prepped and sterilized.
The needles used for body piercing are sterile and individually packaged, and no reputable piercer will ever use a needle that has already been used once. When you are pierced, the sterile needle’s package should be opened in your presence just before your piercing. The same is true of your starter jewelry -– it should be sealed in sterile packaging and only opened in your presence.
The piercer will wash his hands and wrists with an antibacterial liquid soap and dry them before donning disposable gloves. At this point, he will be ready to begin your piercing.
Prep work means straight piercings and fewer complications
With properly gloved hands, your piercer will first check the area you want pierced to determine if you are really a candidate for the type of body piercing you’re seeking. In some cases, he may tell you that the conditions aren’t appropriate.
For instance, if there is damage to the cartilage or heavy scarring in the area you want pierced. He will also tell you if you have a current cut or skin condition that means you should postpone piercing. If this is the case, in order to protect your health and prevent possible problems down the line, he will not go any farther with the procedure. If everything looks fine, he’ll tell you so and you’ll move on to the next step.
* He’ll change to a fresh pair of gloves after having handled your skin to examine the area.
* He will clean the area to be pierced with an antibacterial solution.
* He will mark the area to be pierced with a sterile, disposable marker.
* You’ll have the opportunity to check the marking (in a mirror if necessary) before he proceeds to the piercing stage.
* He will ask you if you are ready for the piercing procedure and allow you a moment to get comfortable.
* He will arrange his tools at hand and open the sterile package with the piercing needle.
And now, you’re ready for the real deal –- the piercing itself!
But first, a word about those piercing needles...
Piercing needles are not your average sewing needle or push-pin. Piercing needles are highly specialized and were designed specifically to pierce the flesh while causing the least amount of pain possible. They also help encourage faster and cleaner healing than a regular needle.
These needles also come in a variety of gauges suited for specific types of piercings. For instance, if you are getting a nipple pierced, the piercer will probably not want to use anything smaller than a 12 gauge (the smaller the gauge, the larger the needle), while a lip or nostril could be pierced with a 14 or 16 gauge. Thicker gauges prevent migration in areas prone to this movement of the jewelry, and prevent tear-out of piercings in more delicate flesh.
Piercing needles are made from surgical steel –- the same material that hospital scalpels and lancets are made from. This ensures that they are biocompatible with all skin types and won’t cause an allergic reaction. They are also extremely sharp because they are laser cut with precision edges so that they slice cleanly through the skin without tearing or pulling. The piercing needles are hollow rather than solid so that they actually cut a tiny hole through the skin being pierced rather than punching through the skin.
These hollow needles leave a clean-edged, precise hole in the flesh that will heal relatively quickly, while a regular needle (which is much duller by comparison) actually pushes its way through the skin, tearing and bruising the skin along the way.
This is why a professional piercing needle provides a much less painful piercing with minimal bruising, and is much safer and easier for your body.
The main event –- the body piercing
The basic procedure is the same for most piercings, but all piercers have their own way of handling the process. Some piercers will clamp the area with forceps to stabilize the area before putting the needle through, while others prefer to use a steady hand and their own eyes to guide the needle. If the person being pierced seems like they may flinch, it is more likely the forceps or surgical pliers of some type will be used to steady the area and hold the skin in place. This doesn’t hurt, and is simply to make sure you don’t get a crooked placement.
When the needle is lined up with the marking, the piercer will ask one last time if you are ready, and then quickly push the needle through. Some piercers use a cork as a backing, others don’t. This usually only takes a moment and feels like someone is pinching the skin hard. In most cases, the build-up to the moment is far worse than the actual piercing. Areas that are more sensitive include the genital area and the bridge of the nose.
Starter jewelry needs to be high quality
After the needle is removed, the starter jewelry is immediately put into place. One of the most important things to know about starter jewelry is that it is being put into an open wound, which is what a fresh piercing really is. Obviously, you don’t want your starter jewelry to be something that can cause an allergic reaction or infection.
There are three materials recognized by professional piercers as acceptable for starter jewelry for their high quality, purity and their low incidence of allergic reactions:
* Surgical Steel
* Titanium
* 14K or 18K gold
Other materials are more likely to cause either an allergic reaction, rejection of the piercing by your body, or migration of the piercing.
Starter jewelry is generally a captive bead ring or barbell. The piercer will choose an appropriate size for the area that is slightly larger than what you would normally wear to allow for some swelling, which is normal for the first several days after a new piercing. He will screw the ends onto the new jewelry and make sure it is securely in place.
At this point, the piercer will remove this set of gloves and put on another fresh set, clean the area around the new piercing and examine it one last time. He will let you take a look at your new body jewelry while he explains the aftercare and any potential problems you should watch for. He will also give you a sheet of detailed aftercare instructions to take home with you.
Before you leave, take a few moments to relax either in the piercing room or the waiting room, as sometimes the adrenalin rush and its aftermath can leave you feeling a bit light-headed. Once you feel steady and sure of yourself, it is a good idea to get something like fruit juice to drink or a light snack. Your piercing is done!
What if I want to try body piercing myself?
If you love body modification, you may be considering piercing yourself. It’s really not a good idea for a number of reasons. If you want to try piercing, do it the right way -- become a fully trained, licensed professional. Without the proper training and an understanding of proper sterilization techniques you risk scarring, infection, and permanent damage to the area.
Using makeshift piercing tools like sewing needles is also a great risk because they simply cannot be sterilized properly. Even heating over an open flame (such as a lighter) will not kill all bacteria. The only guaranteed way to kill all germs is with an autoclave or by using packaged, sterile surgical needles. Even then, the entire area and all tools must be sterilized properly.
If you are truly interested in piercing, consider it not as a hobby or a momentary activity but as a career. Becoming an apprentice at a piercing parlor means learning proper technique and learning a trade at the same time, combining your interests with a way to make a living
It ain’t ear piercing, honey…
The procedure for a good body piercing isn’t the same is for getting your earlobes pierced. Most earlobe piercings that you see done in a mall or jewelry store involve using a piercing gun that quickly shoots the actual earring post through the earlobe. This may be fine for an area of the body that has soft tissue and is easily pierced, but it isn’t a good idea for other parts of the body for a few reasons.
First, it isn’t as accurate as a needle, so lining it up won’t always work. Just as with any gun, there is a recoil that will make the aim inaccurate. Second, the force of the gun will cause bruising and damage to the skin that isn’t necessary and will slow the healing process. Third, a piercing gun can’t be sterilized completely, so there is a higher risk of infection. The message is clear –- never get a body piercing done with a piercing gun. Always go to a professional who follows procedures approved by the Association of Professional Piercers (APP).
Once you get to the piercing parlor, there are several steps to the body piercing process that will take place to ensure both the success of the piercing and your health and safety. Each of these steps should be followed and nothing skipped.
Getting the preliminaries out of the way
You must be comfortable in the environment and comfortable with your piercer before moving ahead with anything. If he or she attempts to rush you through the procedure without answering your questions or putting you at ease, do not continue. This is a long-term commitment you are making, so it’s up to you if you want to go through with it.
There is paperwork to be filled out, and don’t let a piercing parlor tell you otherwise. A good piercing studio always keeps accurate records to ensure the health and safety of their clients. If there would ever be a question of contamination or some other health hazard, they must be able to contact you. If you are a minor, they must have the signature of your parent or guardian, who must be present at the time of the piercing.
Sterilization –- the only route to safe body piercing
Sterilization is all-important in body piercing –- the piercing area must be sterile, the piercer’s hands must be sterile, the tools used must be sterile, and the piercing needle must be sterile.
A separate area for sterilization should be available in the piercing parlor where a steam heat autoclave is operational. The autoclave is the only approved sterilization device that can sufficiently heat tools such as forceps to a high enough temperature to kill all bacteria. Before beginning any piercing, all tools will be sterilized in an autoclave and laid out carefully on a clean tray. After this, they will not be touched until your piercing begins, and then only by your piercer when he has safely cleaned and gloved his hands, just as a surgeon would.
You can’t be too clean
The piercing chair or table will also be cleaned, usually by being wiped down thoroughly with an antibacterial spray and disposable cloths or paper towels to prevent recontamination. You will not be allowed to enter and prepare for your piercing until the area has been prepped and sterilized.
The needles used for body piercing are sterile and individually packaged, and no reputable piercer will ever use a needle that has already been used once. When you are pierced, the sterile needle’s package should be opened in your presence just before your piercing. The same is true of your starter jewelry -– it should be sealed in sterile packaging and only opened in your presence.
The piercer will wash his hands and wrists with an antibacterial liquid soap and dry them before donning disposable gloves. At this point, he will be ready to begin your piercing.
Prep work means straight piercings and fewer complications
With properly gloved hands, your piercer will first check the area you want pierced to determine if you are really a candidate for the type of body piercing you’re seeking. In some cases, he may tell you that the conditions aren’t appropriate.
For instance, if there is damage to the cartilage or heavy scarring in the area you want pierced. He will also tell you if you have a current cut or skin condition that means you should postpone piercing. If this is the case, in order to protect your health and prevent possible problems down the line, he will not go any farther with the procedure. If everything looks fine, he’ll tell you so and you’ll move on to the next step.
* He’ll change to a fresh pair of gloves after having handled your skin to examine the area.
* He will clean the area to be pierced with an antibacterial solution.
* He will mark the area to be pierced with a sterile, disposable marker.
* You’ll have the opportunity to check the marking (in a mirror if necessary) before he proceeds to the piercing stage.
* He will ask you if you are ready for the piercing procedure and allow you a moment to get comfortable.
* He will arrange his tools at hand and open the sterile package with the piercing needle.
And now, you’re ready for the real deal –- the piercing itself!
But first, a word about those piercing needles...
Piercing needles are not your average sewing needle or push-pin. Piercing needles are highly specialized and were designed specifically to pierce the flesh while causing the least amount of pain possible. They also help encourage faster and cleaner healing than a regular needle.
These needles also come in a variety of gauges suited for specific types of piercings. For instance, if you are getting a nipple pierced, the piercer will probably not want to use anything smaller than a 12 gauge (the smaller the gauge, the larger the needle), while a lip or nostril could be pierced with a 14 or 16 gauge. Thicker gauges prevent migration in areas prone to this movement of the jewelry, and prevent tear-out of piercings in more delicate flesh.
Piercing needles are made from surgical steel –- the same material that hospital scalpels and lancets are made from. This ensures that they are biocompatible with all skin types and won’t cause an allergic reaction. They are also extremely sharp because they are laser cut with precision edges so that they slice cleanly through the skin without tearing or pulling. The piercing needles are hollow rather than solid so that they actually cut a tiny hole through the skin being pierced rather than punching through the skin.
These hollow needles leave a clean-edged, precise hole in the flesh that will heal relatively quickly, while a regular needle (which is much duller by comparison) actually pushes its way through the skin, tearing and bruising the skin along the way.
This is why a professional piercing needle provides a much less painful piercing with minimal bruising, and is much safer and easier for your body.
The main event –- the body piercing
The basic procedure is the same for most piercings, but all piercers have their own way of handling the process. Some piercers will clamp the area with forceps to stabilize the area before putting the needle through, while others prefer to use a steady hand and their own eyes to guide the needle. If the person being pierced seems like they may flinch, it is more likely the forceps or surgical pliers of some type will be used to steady the area and hold the skin in place. This doesn’t hurt, and is simply to make sure you don’t get a crooked placement.
When the needle is lined up with the marking, the piercer will ask one last time if you are ready, and then quickly push the needle through. Some piercers use a cork as a backing, others don’t. This usually only takes a moment and feels like someone is pinching the skin hard. In most cases, the build-up to the moment is far worse than the actual piercing. Areas that are more sensitive include the genital area and the bridge of the nose.
Starter jewelry needs to be high quality
After the needle is removed, the starter jewelry is immediately put into place. One of the most important things to know about starter jewelry is that it is being put into an open wound, which is what a fresh piercing really is. Obviously, you don’t want your starter jewelry to be something that can cause an allergic reaction or infection.
There are three materials recognized by professional piercers as acceptable for starter jewelry for their high quality, purity and their low incidence of allergic reactions:
* Surgical Steel
* Titanium
* 14K or 18K gold
Other materials are more likely to cause either an allergic reaction, rejection of the piercing by your body, or migration of the piercing.
Starter jewelry is generally a captive bead ring or barbell. The piercer will choose an appropriate size for the area that is slightly larger than what you would normally wear to allow for some swelling, which is normal for the first several days after a new piercing. He will screw the ends onto the new jewelry and make sure it is securely in place.
At this point, the piercer will remove this set of gloves and put on another fresh set, clean the area around the new piercing and examine it one last time. He will let you take a look at your new body jewelry while he explains the aftercare and any potential problems you should watch for. He will also give you a sheet of detailed aftercare instructions to take home with you.
Before you leave, take a few moments to relax either in the piercing room or the waiting room, as sometimes the adrenalin rush and its aftermath can leave you feeling a bit light-headed. Once you feel steady and sure of yourself, it is a good idea to get something like fruit juice to drink or a light snack. Your piercing is done!
What if I want to try body piercing myself?
If you love body modification, you may be considering piercing yourself. It’s really not a good idea for a number of reasons. If you want to try piercing, do it the right way -- become a fully trained, licensed professional. Without the proper training and an understanding of proper sterilization techniques you risk scarring, infection, and permanent damage to the area.
Using makeshift piercing tools like sewing needles is also a great risk because they simply cannot be sterilized properly. Even heating over an open flame (such as a lighter) will not kill all bacteria. The only guaranteed way to kill all germs is with an autoclave or by using packaged, sterile surgical needles. Even then, the entire area and all tools must be sterilized properly.
If you are truly interested in piercing, consider it not as a hobby or a momentary activity but as a career. Becoming an apprentice at a piercing parlor means learning proper technique and learning a trade at the same time, combining your interests with a way to make a living
Why Condition Your Boiler Water
A boiler is used for generating steam. It does this by heating water to its boiling point, after which steam will evaporate from it.
When you boil a kettle of water, you will shut off the fire or electric power when the water comes to a boil.
No so with a steam boiler. Generation of steam is a continuous process. Once a boiler is generating steam, it may take quite a long while before it is stopped. When steam is evaporated from the water, new water has to be added in to replace the water given out.
As more and more steam is evaporated, the water becomes more and more concentrated with salts and other impurities. If you use your kettle for a long while, you will see some chalky deposits inside it.
The fresh water supplied to replenish those lost through evaporation cannot be pure and free from salts. Even minute quantities of salt in the water will eventually become so concentrated as to form scales or deposits. The deposits are usually calcium or magnesium salts.
These scales are very damaging to the boiler because they interfere with the heat transfer and can lead to overheating and eventually, boiler rupture.
Soft water is water that contains very little calcium or magnesium salts. They are used to feed the boilers. However, they tend to be acidic in nature.
Acidic water tends to corrode. This is not good for the boiler. Corrosion can weaken the boiler.
By treating the boiler water with chemicals, we can control the acidity of the water as well as the softness of the water. This will solve the problem with scales and corrosion, but it is not the ultimate cure-all.
The boiler water will continue to become more and more concentrated as the steam evaporates. The next step to take is to remove the concentrated water and replenish it with fresh, soft water.
The process of removing the concentrated water is called blow-down.
Folks, close your ears!
Until next time…
Get Hot on Combustion
Energy in the form of heat is obtained when fuel is burnt in air. The release of this heat energy can be slow or can be very rapid.
When fuel oil is sprayed as a fine mist in the boiler burners, it is able to burn at a relatively slow rate. When fuel is sprayed into the cylinders of diesel engines, the fuel burns in such a rapid rate that explosions occur. Fortunately, these explosions are protected from persons as these engines are called internal combustion engines.
Whatever type of combustion, it is a chemical reaction between carbon, hydrogen, sulphur and oxygen.
C + O2 = CO2
2CO + O2 = 2CO
2H2 + O2 = 2H2O
S + O2 = SO2
2S + 3O2 = 2SO3
Air consists of 77% Nitrogen and 23% Oxygen by mass. For a particular design of combustion air, the theoritical oxygen multiplied by 100/23 will give the theoritical air required.
How do you measure a good combustion. The percentage of Oxygen or Carbon Dioxide will tell us whether the combustion is good or not good.
The lower the Oxygen content in the exhaust gas, the better the combustion. It means that the Oxygen has been fully utilized for burning. It also means that the fuel air ratio is set properly. Too much excess air is no good because the heat generated will be lost through the exhaust trunking.
Boilers are able to achieve a good combustion. Oxygen content percentage of up to 5% or lower can be achieved.
Internal combustion engines have a lot of excess air because mixing of the combustible mixture is a challenge for them. Furthermore, the combustion is meant to provide the power to drive the pistons.
The burning of sulphur in the fuel is a problem for combustion equipment. This is because the byproducts of combustion will create sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide. These will react with the water, also a byproduct of combustion of Hydrogen to form sulphuric acid and sulphurous acid.
SO3 + H2O = H2SO4
SO2 + H2O = H2SO3
2H2SO3 + O2 = H2SO4
However, the effects of corrosion, called low temperature corrosion can be avoided by keeping the temperature above the dewpoint. That means to keep the exhaust temperature high so that water droplets will not form on the exhaust ducts.
Folks, get hot!
Until next time…
"Attract CUSTOMERS With Smells!"
The Valuable Individual
How can we, as individuals, participate in waste management? Because some of us are so overwhelmed with Earth’s problems, we feel that our contributions have no real consequence in the end. For others, social barriers can be an issue. A lady we once knew confessed that she did not want to be seen buying used items or being concerned with power use. She was worried people would see her as cheap – a scrooge – when the family was so affluent. Yet, she was very careful to be seen with recycling bins out on the curb on pick-up day, because that was thought to be the thing to do socially. Now is a good time to put an end to these negative thoughts and feelings of false pride. Waste reduction is not about ego - it is about the health of the planet and of our nation.
Communities would be wise to look at Nova Scotia’s waste reduction success and try to emulate it in their area. With the highest waste reduction rates in Canada, Nova Scotia has reduced landfill contributions by 46% - saving about $31 million per year - simply by making the most of the organic and recyclable materials. Curbside recycling service (Blue Box) is available to 99% of its residents and 76% now enjoy curbside organic service (a.k.a. Green Box).
With better management of organic and recyclable waste, we will find we do not have to put the trash out as often because the odors and volume are greatly decreased. As a fiscal incentive, many garbage collection companies offer discounts to homes with reduced waste.
We can also help the waste management industry run more efficiently. For instance, when only full garbage bags and Blue or Green boxes are put out on the curb, the garbage truck does not have to stop as often and burn fossil fuels inefficiently while idling. (Incidentally, vehicle idling is responsible for 3% of the air pollution problem.) Similarly, by collapsing boxes before recycling we are ensuring that space is used more efficiently, thereby reducing the number of bins needed for transporting materials.
Recycling, alone, has a huge impact on the environment. A study of a 100-unit apartment building practicing maximum recycling found it would save 21.93 thirty-foot trees, 26.86 cubic yards of landfill space, 8,389 kilowatts of electricity, and 77.4 pounds of air pollution in just one year! So you see, these seemingly small choices and efforts towards waste management really do make a difference
Communities would be wise to look at Nova Scotia’s waste reduction success and try to emulate it in their area. With the highest waste reduction rates in Canada, Nova Scotia has reduced landfill contributions by 46% - saving about $31 million per year - simply by making the most of the organic and recyclable materials. Curbside recycling service (Blue Box) is available to 99% of its residents and 76% now enjoy curbside organic service (a.k.a. Green Box).
With better management of organic and recyclable waste, we will find we do not have to put the trash out as often because the odors and volume are greatly decreased. As a fiscal incentive, many garbage collection companies offer discounts to homes with reduced waste.
We can also help the waste management industry run more efficiently. For instance, when only full garbage bags and Blue or Green boxes are put out on the curb, the garbage truck does not have to stop as often and burn fossil fuels inefficiently while idling. (Incidentally, vehicle idling is responsible for 3% of the air pollution problem.) Similarly, by collapsing boxes before recycling we are ensuring that space is used more efficiently, thereby reducing the number of bins needed for transporting materials.
Recycling, alone, has a huge impact on the environment. A study of a 100-unit apartment building practicing maximum recycling found it would save 21.93 thirty-foot trees, 26.86 cubic yards of landfill space, 8,389 kilowatts of electricity, and 77.4 pounds of air pollution in just one year! So you see, these seemingly small choices and efforts towards waste management really do make a difference
Diamond Flashes
Beyond magnificence and splendor, the world of diamonds evolves on stirred grounds. When the stake is so important, interests collide. But technology develops following its onward course. Here are some interesting off-stage events in the diamond industry and innovations in technology.
De Beers sued by head of the Diamond Bourse
Derek Parsons, the president of the Diamond Bourse of the Southeast United States has filed a lawsuit against De Beers, on the charge of the company's disregard of American competition law. Their Supplier of Choice policy puts the American dealers at a disadvantage. The suit was not launched on behalf of the Miami bourse but on behalf of diamond dealers in America, condemning the criteria on which De Beers makes the sales – they would sell only to their sightholders, discouraging the non-sightholders and keeping prices artificially high at a non-competitive level.
Diamond mining expands
De Beers holds control of only 50% of the roughs market
Diamond rising prices have stimulated the exploration and mining in more countries such as Canada, Russia, Angola, India, Brazil. Nevertheless, about 40% of diamonds still come from Botswana and South Africa. De Beers' control on the rough diamond market was declared to have decreased from 70% to about 50%.
Canada, Russia and West and Central Africa are considered by specialists an important potential diamond source. India and Brazil are prospected by geologists also due to the fact that they are known to have been a diamond source in the past.
The largest diamond reserve of Africa lives in extreme poverty
Although the fourth largest producer in the world by value and the holder of the largest diamond reserves in Africa. Angola's per capita gross national income GNI is estimated at $650 per annum. People' s main means of subsistence is agriculture.
The diamond sector has been seriously affected by the long war and by gem smuggling. Yet it still represents a very important potential driver of economic development. Since 2002, when the conflict between the government and the UNITA rebel movement ended, developing the sector has become a national priority and the government has already made changes to the diamond sector regulations. Serious redevelopment and investment is needed in this area. At present, artisanal mining operates in Angola and it brings very little economic benefit to local communities.
Increasing conflict in Russia between diamond cutters and miners
The Russian company Alrosa is the largest diamond miner in the world outside De Beers. Diamond cutters accuse Alrosa of favoring exports and providing larger stones for the foreign market and offering only small-sized diamonds to the internal market. On the other hand, Alrosa says that cutters cannot be allowed to pick the assortment of size they want. The result is that Russian cutters are buying million dollars in rough stones from South Africa each month. Russian manufacturers had a production of $1.1 billion in 2003, and Alrosa is estimated to produce around $2 billion worth rough diamonds this year.
Find-diamonds computer program
Partition Enterprises has been working together with the De Beers company and the University of Queensland to develop a program that calibrates the density separator x-ray sorting machines more accurately, thus maximize the diamond yield. Partition will showcase their products at the Electra Mining 2004 Exhibition in Johannesburg.
De Beers sightholders
Sightholder firms have to satisfy various criteria such as a high degree of expertise in valuing rough diamonds, high experience in cutting and polishing. De Beers has 125 sightholders to whom they assure a monthly direct supply of rough diamonds and from whom they collect around $ 600 million. The privilege of being a sightholder company is carefully preserved, as being a sightholder means being „on the cards”, otherwise the supply of diamonds may become dangerously scarce for that company. That is why the offered diamonds will be eventually purchased regardless of their quality – the pack diamonds can be argued on but they are very rarely rejected, as the sightholder cannot afford to lose its status and break the relationship with De Beers Diamond Trading Company, relation that is essential for business.
In Japan, the only company appointed as sightholder is Tasaki.
Innovative complementary grading tool
A new feature will be added in grading reports: the light performance. Although the concept of measuring the light performance of diamonds has been introduced six years ago, this standard of diamond evaluation was never introduced into the grading reports of diamond grading laboratories. GemEx Systems, Inc. of Wisconsin and EGL USA of New York will provide a combined diamond grading report to diamond customers – besides the certification of the 4Cs, its light performance will be measured. The specific section in the report will contain the results of diamond analysis under six different lighting angles.
The GemEx Light Performance Report makes the difference between diamonds with similar 4C characteristics that can differ in brilliance, fire and sparkle. The analysis is the result of a patented spectrophotometer technology based on the computerized BrillianceScope that measures diamonds’ brilliance, fire and sparkle, providing a powerful tool for the cutting, sales, buying and marketing of fine diamonds
The Joy of Recycling
I have always been an advocate of recycling. Even though I am not always convinced of its financial viability, I am thoroughly convinced of its value as a means of increasing public awareness of the cost of our consumerism. In the 20+ years I have been in the organizing profession, I have never heard anyone complain that their problem in getting organized was that they didn’t have enough “stuff.”
It doesn’t seem like getting rid of things should be such difficult issue, but in my own experience and in the lives of clients, it often is. I have spent countless hours listening to clients justify why they need to keep clothes they haven’t worn in ten years, utensils they aren’t sure how to use, appliances that need repair, artwork they don’t even like -- and, of course, old magazines they’re sure to read some day!
If you have enough room and if you’re willing to pay the price in space and energy, it is possible to keep everything. But if you can’t find what you need today because you’re tripping over what you might need tomorrow, the price may be more than you should be willing to pay. Recycling is often a great solution.
It’s amazing how many ways you can find to recycle the things you aren’t using. Towels and bedding are desperately needed by homeless shelters. Pre-school programs can use calendars with pretty pictures. Local schools are often delighted to have used computer equipment. The Lions Club collects eyeglasses for people who cannot afford to purchase them. (How many pairs do you have in your dresser drawer?)
My mother had an enormous pile of overalls which my father no longer used, but she didn’t know anyone who needed them. She just couldn’t bring herself to toss them, so she put them in a box in the attic. One day she heard a woman on the radio say that she wanted to buy overalls because she used the bib tops to make jumpers which she sold to raise money for her favorite charity. She didn’t even care if the overalls had holes in them, because she covered them up with decorations and trim. My mother was elated to find a home for the overalls -- and get a check for $10 besides! (One note of caution: Don’t fall in a trap of looking for the perfect recipient -- organizations such as Goodwill Industries can use almost anything, and will give you a receipt for a tax deduction!)
Marine News Summer 2004 Our Ocean Environment
Our oceans are home to many marine mammals, fish, turtles, corals and others. The delicate balance between man and the ocean is constantly being challenged by the demands of our society. Most of our planet is covered by water, a necessary ingredient of human life. The state of our oceans should be uppermost in our minds in order for quality of life for all species to remain as it is.
Manatees - an endangered species The common name for Florida's gentle giants is the West Indian manatee. They are found throughout rivers, springs and shallow coastal waters of Florida and adjacent states. Weighing up to 3500 pounds and having a bulbous face and rotund shape, scientists believe they are the 'mermaids' identified by sailors in historical lore. Manatees consume 5-10 percent of their body weight daily and spend 6-8 hours a day feeding. They are plant-eaters and are commonly found grazing along the same areas as recreational boaters. This fact accounts for numerous killings and maiming of manatees in Florida each year. Propeller scars are so common on manatees that there is a computerized catalog of photographs to enable identification of individuals by their scars.
According to the February 2004 count of manatees in Florida by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission there are only 2568 remaining in Florida. Even with this low number, there are efforts by some to remove manatees from the endangered species list.
Dolphins - our favorite ocean mammal Humans love dolphins because of their smiling face. Dolphins aren't really smiling, this is just the shape of their mouths. Dolphins are mammals. They have hair, breathe air and give birth to live young. The hair is visible at birth, a few whiskers here and there. Dolphins can weigh up to 800 pounds and have lived up to 50 years--the period we have been tracking them. Dolphins eat fish and swallow them whole. Dolphins give birth to one baby at a time and the baby usually stays with the mother the first three years, growing rapidly on mother's milk. Dolphins are not endangered at this time, but the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 requires us to steer clear of them. So enjoy them from afar!Sea Turtles-Florida's efforts for recovery All species of sea turtles are endangered or threatened and many of them lay their eggs along the coast of South Florida. Loggerheads, Leatherbacks, Green sea turtles have all been nesting here. South Florida is also one of the nation's best tourist destinations. The beaches are populated with high rise condominiums and hotels. Some cities have passed 'no lights' laws to help these hatchlings find their way to the ocean instead of the highways to be killed as the babies follow the brightest light. Turning the lights down or off late at night helps protect these babies. The rare Kemp's Ridley has also been spotted in Florida. Many of our local nature centers lead guided tours to watch the huge turtles come to shore every year or so to lay their eggs. Each turtle might lay up to 100 eggs. Within 43-75 days the hatchlings are ready to find the ocean, and fight for survival. They will return to the same beaches 25 or more years later to lay their eggs. Stay tuned for the news of this years' counts of nests in South Florida.
WHAT IS THE LEADING CAUSE OF WATER POLLUTION?
Most pollution comes from general locations of pollution discharge rather than one specific location. Florida's pollution is stormwater runoff. This is rainwater flowing off the land's surface which carries litter, oil and chemicals into the closest waterway either directly or through storm drains.
A pamphlet made through the Youth Environmental Programs, Inc states: "Water pollution prevention does not begin when you are in or near the water. It is a practice which needs to be implemented in all areas of your life."
1. Use a canvas bag for shopping instead of paper or plastic and reusable plates and cups instead of disposable ones.
2. Support recycling efforts in your community.
3. Clean with non-toxic products such as lemons, vinegar and baking soda instead of harmful cleaning solutions.
4. Save water by turning off the shower when soaping up and the faucet when brushing your teeth
Positive Effects of Carbon Dioxide for Plant Growth
Many articles have been written about the negative effects of carbon dioxide. Sick Building Syndrome, loss of concentration due to high levels of carbon dioxide, asphyxiation in breweries or wine cellars, all these things spring to mind when we hear the magic phrase carbon dioxide. Yet, perhaps today when Venus passes across the face of the Sun, we should remember that our original atmosphere consisted of nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Free oxygen is something that is not really chemically possible. Yet we have it as a result of plant life busily photosynthesising and converting carbon dioxide into oxygen during daylight hours. This is the original use of solar energy!
Plants require carbon dioxide to grow and why not help them by increasing the level of carbon dioxide? Normally, this is something that is undesirable, since carbon dioxide is the original greenhouse gas, as our neighbouring planet Venus can testify. But in a controlled, genuine greenhouse environment, there is no real reason why the level of carbon dioxide should not be enhanced in some way.
Indeed, tests have shown that increasing the level of carbon dioxide in a greenhouse to 550 ppm will accelerate plant growth by 30 - 40 %. The natural level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is around 450 ppm, having increased from about 250 ppm in the last ice-age, so this slight increase may not appear significant at first sight. The point of the matter is that the level of carbon dioxide in the average greenhouse with the ventilation system closed will drop sharply due to uptake by the plants and will lie around 150 - 200 ppm if nothing is done about it. In summer the ventilation system will be open and the fresh air circulation will augment the level to a useful degree. But what about those long, cold, dark northern winters? Most commercial greenhouses will have lighting and heating systems to encourage plant growth, but you still cannot open the ventilation and allow the cold outside air into your heated greenhouse without losing all the early crops. The only real solution is to augment the natural level of carbon dioxide in some way. Where it is used, the general rule of thumb is to augment by about 1000 ppm when the sun is shining (or all the lights are on!) and keep the level around 400 ppm during times of darkness. This will require monitoring, since there are so many variable factors involved and a simple control unit using an infrared sensor will be able to keep the concentration of gas constant at all times.
Rate of consumption varies with crop, light intensity, temperature, stage of crop development and nutrient level. An average consumption level is estimated to be between 0.12 - 0.24 kg/hr/100 m2 of greenhouse floor area. The higher rate reflects the typical usage for sunny days and a fully-grown crop. This equates to roughly 150 litres of carbon dioxide per hour.
There are many processes that naturally and unavoidably produce carbon dioxide: Fermentation and combustion are two classic examples. In temperate zones it is necessary to heat a greenhouse (glasshouse is just another word for the same thing), and this heating will almost always involve the burning of fossil fuels, producing carbon dioxide. This leads to the natural urge to re-circulate the exhaust gas from the heating system into the greenhouse and so achieve a double advantage for the plants. This will require careful monitoring of the flue gas to ensure that there are at the most only traces of carbon monoxide being passed into the greenhouse. This is not only bad for the plants but also potentially lethal to the people working there! Such technology is available with gas monitors that will measure the carbon monoxide concentration continuously and have analogue outputs that can be used to regulate the burners or operate a trip to switch the unit off should problems occur. The combination of breweries with greenhouse systems is also serious business in some areas. Generally, these methods are to be approved and should really be worthy of government support. Not only are they producing crops, they are removing a pollutant that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere.
Monitoring of the added carbon dioxide is essential, however, since high concnetrations of carbon dioxide can lead to dizziness or even unconciousness of the personnel. Some plants will require higher levels of nutrients to compensate for some of the changes that occur. Particularly tomatoes and violets are sensitive to increased levels of carbon dioxide, hence the need for constant monitoring of the ambient concentration
New Energy Bill Reducing Our Dependence on Foreign Oil
The U. S. economy is feeling the brunt of skyrocketing oil prices as the nation’s dependence on foreign oil continues to grow. We need a responsible energy plan to reduce our reliance on foreign oil. President Bush and Senator Kerry appear to be skirting the real issues involved.
Growing transportation requirements combined with declining domestic oil production have led to burgeoning oil imports. Rising oil prices are having an adverse impact on the U.S. economy as evident from recent economic data and stock market performance. We need a responsible energy plan which will balance our transportation requirements with the necessity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Rising Oil Prices.
Oil prices have been on a roll this year. As of August 10, crude oil prices have climbed over 45% since the start of 2004. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate recently recorded its all time high of $45.04 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. And this has happened despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increasing its oil output.
Earlier in the year, the run up in oil prices was attributed to surging demand for petroleum products due to a strong global economy. Then it was the unrest in Venezuela and Nigeria.
Concerns on security of oil supplies have heightened more recently. Added to the pipeline disruptions in Iraq are kidnappings of foreign workers in the Middle East.
Yukos, the Russian oil company’s tax evasion dispute has taken center stage currently. With a production rate of 1.7 million barrels a day (mmbd), Yukos is Russia’s largest oil producer.
While the underlying factors behind the dramatic increase in the price of oil this year are a combination of all the above, the impact is hardly comforting.
Weakening Economy.
Higher oil prices that work like an added tax have the effect of holding down hiring, consumer spending, and corporate profits.
The July jobs report that was released by the Labor Department on August 6 was a disappointment. The U.S. economy added a mere 32,000 to the non-farm payrolls, the lowest monthly addition this year. The rate of employment growth is slowing as business confidence appears to be undermined by rising oil prices. High oil prices are also taking the bite out of consumer spending.
By some economists’ estimates, every $10 rise in the price of oil knocks 0.5% off of GDP growth and adds about the same amount to inflation. The equity markets have been fixated with the trend in oil prices and have relentlessly spiraled lower since late June. On August 6, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9,815.33, its lowest level since Nov. 28 after losing more than 300 points over the last two sessions. The technology heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is down over 11% since the start of the year.
The Root Cause: Transportation Relies on Foreign Oil.
A combination of declining domestic oil production and increasing oil consumption has left the U.S. increasingly dependent on foreign oil.
The U. S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration states that domestic oil production in 2002 was 5.8 mmbd, about 36% lower than the 9.0 mmbd produced in 1985. The total use of petroleum products on the other hand has grown from 15.2 mmbd in 1985 to 19.3 mmbd in 2002.
The lion’s share of oil consumption stems from transportation needs. In 2002, the transportation sector accounted for about 68% of total petroleum use with gasoline accounting for two-thirds of the petroleum consumed in the transportation sector.
U.S. net oil imports have grown from 4.3 mmbd in 1985 to 10.4 mmbd in 2002. Net oil imports as a percent of U. S. petroleum product use has risen from 28% in 1985 to 54% in 2002.
Based on Sandia National Laboratories and U. S. DOE/EIA forecast, an additional 7.5 mmbd of oil and petroleum products will have to be imported by 2020 to bridge the gap between growing consumption and falling domestic oil production. In 2020, U.S. oil production will supply less than 30% of U.S. oil needs.
The Energy Bill: Long-Term Plan for Energy Security.
The picture the current events paint as a preview of the future is cause for concern.
On August 6, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry outlined a $30-billion, 10-year plan to veer the U. S. towards energy independence. The plan includes tax breaks and incentives for carmakers and buyers, coal producers and alternative fuels research. President Bush responded saying Kerry's proposals mimic much of what Bush had already proposed but is stalled in Congress.
It will not be adequate if President Bush and Senator Kerry just reignite the energy debate. To bring clarity to energy security, we need a comprehensive long-term national energy plan that will reduce our reliance on foreign oil while meeting the nation’s growing transportation needs.
Both supply and demand sides of the transportation issue will have to be addressed to make a meaningful impact in reducing the dependence on foreign oil. Steps to increase the supply of domestic transportation fuels including alternatives to oil will likely be required. So too will efforts to reduce per capita transportation fuel consumption.
Based on what has been outlined to date, neither the Bush proposal nor the Kerry plan appears to fully address the critical transportation issue. The House-Senate conferees have an opportunity to deliver a responsible energy bill to the President's desk for his signature. If the dependence on foreign oil is not reduced, the course of the U. S. economy and the stock market may well be shaped more by decisions made in Moscow, Riyadh, and Vienna rather than being determined by the decisions made at home.
Growing transportation requirements combined with declining domestic oil production have led to burgeoning oil imports. Rising oil prices are having an adverse impact on the U.S. economy as evident from recent economic data and stock market performance. We need a responsible energy plan which will balance our transportation requirements with the necessity to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
Rising Oil Prices.
Oil prices have been on a roll this year. As of August 10, crude oil prices have climbed over 45% since the start of 2004. A barrel of West Texas Intermediate recently recorded its all time high of $45.04 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. And this has happened despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increasing its oil output.
Earlier in the year, the run up in oil prices was attributed to surging demand for petroleum products due to a strong global economy. Then it was the unrest in Venezuela and Nigeria.
Concerns on security of oil supplies have heightened more recently. Added to the pipeline disruptions in Iraq are kidnappings of foreign workers in the Middle East.
Yukos, the Russian oil company’s tax evasion dispute has taken center stage currently. With a production rate of 1.7 million barrels a day (mmbd), Yukos is Russia’s largest oil producer.
While the underlying factors behind the dramatic increase in the price of oil this year are a combination of all the above, the impact is hardly comforting.
Weakening Economy.
Higher oil prices that work like an added tax have the effect of holding down hiring, consumer spending, and corporate profits.
The July jobs report that was released by the Labor Department on August 6 was a disappointment. The U.S. economy added a mere 32,000 to the non-farm payrolls, the lowest monthly addition this year. The rate of employment growth is slowing as business confidence appears to be undermined by rising oil prices. High oil prices are also taking the bite out of consumer spending.
By some economists’ estimates, every $10 rise in the price of oil knocks 0.5% off of GDP growth and adds about the same amount to inflation. The equity markets have been fixated with the trend in oil prices and have relentlessly spiraled lower since late June. On August 6, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 9,815.33, its lowest level since Nov. 28 after losing more than 300 points over the last two sessions. The technology heavy Nasdaq Composite Index is down over 11% since the start of the year.
The Root Cause: Transportation Relies on Foreign Oil.
A combination of declining domestic oil production and increasing oil consumption has left the U.S. increasingly dependent on foreign oil.
The U. S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration states that domestic oil production in 2002 was 5.8 mmbd, about 36% lower than the 9.0 mmbd produced in 1985. The total use of petroleum products on the other hand has grown from 15.2 mmbd in 1985 to 19.3 mmbd in 2002.
The lion’s share of oil consumption stems from transportation needs. In 2002, the transportation sector accounted for about 68% of total petroleum use with gasoline accounting for two-thirds of the petroleum consumed in the transportation sector.
U.S. net oil imports have grown from 4.3 mmbd in 1985 to 10.4 mmbd in 2002. Net oil imports as a percent of U. S. petroleum product use has risen from 28% in 1985 to 54% in 2002.
Based on Sandia National Laboratories and U. S. DOE/EIA forecast, an additional 7.5 mmbd of oil and petroleum products will have to be imported by 2020 to bridge the gap between growing consumption and falling domestic oil production. In 2020, U.S. oil production will supply less than 30% of U.S. oil needs.
The Energy Bill: Long-Term Plan for Energy Security.
The picture the current events paint as a preview of the future is cause for concern.
On August 6, Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry outlined a $30-billion, 10-year plan to veer the U. S. towards energy independence. The plan includes tax breaks and incentives for carmakers and buyers, coal producers and alternative fuels research. President Bush responded saying Kerry's proposals mimic much of what Bush had already proposed but is stalled in Congress.
It will not be adequate if President Bush and Senator Kerry just reignite the energy debate. To bring clarity to energy security, we need a comprehensive long-term national energy plan that will reduce our reliance on foreign oil while meeting the nation’s growing transportation needs.
Both supply and demand sides of the transportation issue will have to be addressed to make a meaningful impact in reducing the dependence on foreign oil. Steps to increase the supply of domestic transportation fuels including alternatives to oil will likely be required. So too will efforts to reduce per capita transportation fuel consumption.
Based on what has been outlined to date, neither the Bush proposal nor the Kerry plan appears to fully address the critical transportation issue. The House-Senate conferees have an opportunity to deliver a responsible energy bill to the President's desk for his signature. If the dependence on foreign oil is not reduced, the course of the U. S. economy and the stock market may well be shaped more by decisions made in Moscow, Riyadh, and Vienna rather than being determined by the decisions made at home.
If You Could Clone
Having tied at 101 -- with so many others -- in the Sun’s recent “Charlotte County’s Hundred Most Powerful,” I invite those who didn’t make the cut to join in a more sophisticated game of “If You Could Clone.”
This new game is doubly significant because of the current hullabaloo over human cloning.
Sufficient here is the supposition that a single, biological cell – living or preserved -- contains all the genetic DNA necessary to create a replica of the person from whom the DNA came. Dolly, the sheep, came close enough for government work.
Already, folks are working up a lather over who, if anybody, should have the power to “play God.” Before invoking the Great Architect of the Universe, let us wander a bit down the road of Make Believe.
Imagine that a cloning process for humans has been perfected. The debate begins over what person should be manufactured first. Of course, the United Nations – representing all mankind – will appropriate the privilege of selecting the model.
A special session of the General Assembly is called. Because of your great wisdom, you have been selected to fill the United States seat. Whom will you vote for in the history-making event – the greatest honor since the Garden of Eden?
Names of a number of living, admirable Americans leap to mind: George W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham, Rosa Parks. However, these have not yet been time tested.
Remember, also eligible are persons who have died and some part of their bodies exist from which a DNA sample can be extracted. There are hundreds of past Americans with skills and characters worth emulating.
Bones of George Washington and all the other Founding Fathers are easily accessible. Then there is Jonas Salk, Charles Lindbergh, Will Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Susan B. Anthony, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Albert Einstein’s brain floats in a jar of formaldehyde at Princeton University waiting to be resurrected.
Right away, the United Nations’ built-in handicap becomes apparent. Russia would nominate Karl Marx, Czar Nicholas, or Leo Tolstoy. Britain would lobby for William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill or a score of kings buried under the floor of Westminster Abby. France would want Napoleon Bonaparte, Joan of Arc, or Charles DeGaul.
Religious leaders would raise blood-pressures of everyone. The Shroud of Turin would be clipped to re-create Jesus Christ. A hair of Muhammad’s beard, preserved at Turkey’s Topkai Museum, would be donated at the insistence of Middle East delegates. Asians would violate the grave of Buddha to bring him back to life.
Clearly the United Nations would deadlock. Scientists, politicians and clerics will debate the issue to death.
Hart’s 100
For today’s exercise, ponder what pattern would you use if the decision was assigned solely to you.
Perhaps you would consult an interesting 1978 book titled “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.” Michael R. Hart, the author, created a firestorm with his selections. Acolytes of number 101 were, and remain, outraged.
The first dozen on Hart’s list are Muhammad, Isaac Newton, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius, Saint Paul, Ts’ai Lun the inventor of paper, Johann Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur and Galileo Galilei. Only women mentioned are Queen Isabella I (65) and Queen Elizabeth I (94).
Hart said his choice of Muhammad surprised many readers, but he explains: “He was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.
“Of humble origins, Muhammad was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca far from the centers of trade, art, science and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings. Tradition tells us that he was illiterate.
“Most Arabs at the time were pagans, but in Mecca there was a small number of Jews and Christians. It was from them no doubt that Muhammad learned of a single, omnipotent God who ruled the entire universe.
“When Muhammad was 40 years old, he became convinced that this one true God –Allah – had chosen him to spread the true faith of Islam. He gained converts steadily. By 622, Meccan authorities came to consider a dangerous nuisance. He fled (hegira) to Medina where he engaged in a series of conflicts with Mecca. By 630 he returned triumphantly to Mecca where until his death two years later he consolidated all southern Arabia under his new religion.
“In the next hundred years, Arab armies conquered the Persian empire, north Africa, Spain and southern France. This remarkable spread of Islam finally was halted by the Franks at the battle of Tours in 1732.”
Though political control by Arabs has shrunk to the Middle East, 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide constitute the fastest growing religion of the world. This compares to 2 billion Christians declining about 2 percent annually because of a low birthrate. It is estimated there are 5 million Muslims in the United States – about half of these faithful attenders.
Interesting choices 24 years ago by Hart were Joseph Stalin (66), Enrico Fermi (76), John F. Kennedy (81), Mao Zedong (89), and Mikhail Gorbachev (95). Would Hart still rank them in the top 100 today?
My Top Choice
As a scientist playing God, you may have something other than “influence” to guide your decision of whom to resurrect.
My criteria is whether I would want the person I created to live in my guest room. On this basis, I find it difficult to choose from the giants of scientific thought.
Nonetheless, my candidates in alphabetic order are: Aristotle, Copernicus, Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Planck.
In my opinion, the pursuit of basic knowledge – explanation of nature’s mysteries – is the greatest achievement of mankind. Each of my candidates drew liberally upon the insight of his predecessors. Einstein – being the most recent on my list – therefore is the most notable.
My first choice, however, is Galileo Galilei whose middle finger from his right hand is preserved in a glass bubble at a Florence, Italy, museum. Could that be a subtle gesture aimed at his contemporary detractors?
Galileo demonstrated qualities of character and mental insight superior to all others – courage to pursue truth in the face of persecution.
He discovered, and comprehended, the basic theorems of physics. He proved what Aristotle and Copernicus had suspected – the Earth revolves around the Sun – and made it stick. It was a revolution in knowledge that overturned all previous beliefs regarding science and religion.
Galileo continued his controversial experiments even while under house arrest. When forced to publicly recant his proof under threat of death, he whispered as he turned from his judges, “The Earth still moves.”
This combination of knowledge, insight and courage is in short supply today. The ancient writers of the Old Testament foresaw the dangers of playing God, but also the duty of humans to forge ahead to wisdom.
Having tasted of the Tree of Knowledge in the center of the Garden of Eden, we are commanded to labor for more understanding until we “become as God.”
With God-like opportunity, which wise and useful life would you clone?
This new game is doubly significant because of the current hullabaloo over human cloning.
Sufficient here is the supposition that a single, biological cell – living or preserved -- contains all the genetic DNA necessary to create a replica of the person from whom the DNA came. Dolly, the sheep, came close enough for government work.
Already, folks are working up a lather over who, if anybody, should have the power to “play God.” Before invoking the Great Architect of the Universe, let us wander a bit down the road of Make Believe.
Imagine that a cloning process for humans has been perfected. The debate begins over what person should be manufactured first. Of course, the United Nations – representing all mankind – will appropriate the privilege of selecting the model.
A special session of the General Assembly is called. Because of your great wisdom, you have been selected to fill the United States seat. Whom will you vote for in the history-making event – the greatest honor since the Garden of Eden?
Names of a number of living, admirable Americans leap to mind: George W. Bush, Neil Armstrong, Colin Powell, Jimmy Carter, Billy Graham, Rosa Parks. However, these have not yet been time tested.
Remember, also eligible are persons who have died and some part of their bodies exist from which a DNA sample can be extracted. There are hundreds of past Americans with skills and characters worth emulating.
Bones of George Washington and all the other Founding Fathers are easily accessible. Then there is Jonas Salk, Charles Lindbergh, Will Rogers, Eleanor Roosevelt, George Washington Carver, Susan B. Anthony, and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Albert Einstein’s brain floats in a jar of formaldehyde at Princeton University waiting to be resurrected.
Right away, the United Nations’ built-in handicap becomes apparent. Russia would nominate Karl Marx, Czar Nicholas, or Leo Tolstoy. Britain would lobby for William Shakespeare, Winston Churchill or a score of kings buried under the floor of Westminster Abby. France would want Napoleon Bonaparte, Joan of Arc, or Charles DeGaul.
Religious leaders would raise blood-pressures of everyone. The Shroud of Turin would be clipped to re-create Jesus Christ. A hair of Muhammad’s beard, preserved at Turkey’s Topkai Museum, would be donated at the insistence of Middle East delegates. Asians would violate the grave of Buddha to bring him back to life.
Clearly the United Nations would deadlock. Scientists, politicians and clerics will debate the issue to death.
Hart’s 100
For today’s exercise, ponder what pattern would you use if the decision was assigned solely to you.
Perhaps you would consult an interesting 1978 book titled “The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History.” Michael R. Hart, the author, created a firestorm with his selections. Acolytes of number 101 were, and remain, outraged.
The first dozen on Hart’s list are Muhammad, Isaac Newton, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Confucius, Saint Paul, Ts’ai Lun the inventor of paper, Johann Gutenberg, Christopher Columbus, Albert Einstein, Louis Pasteur and Galileo Galilei. Only women mentioned are Queen Isabella I (65) and Queen Elizabeth I (94).
Hart said his choice of Muhammad surprised many readers, but he explains: “He was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels.
“Of humble origins, Muhammad was born in the year 570 in the city of Mecca far from the centers of trade, art, science and learning. Orphaned at age six, he was reared in modest surroundings. Tradition tells us that he was illiterate.
“Most Arabs at the time were pagans, but in Mecca there was a small number of Jews and Christians. It was from them no doubt that Muhammad learned of a single, omnipotent God who ruled the entire universe.
“When Muhammad was 40 years old, he became convinced that this one true God –Allah – had chosen him to spread the true faith of Islam. He gained converts steadily. By 622, Meccan authorities came to consider a dangerous nuisance. He fled (hegira) to Medina where he engaged in a series of conflicts with Mecca. By 630 he returned triumphantly to Mecca where until his death two years later he consolidated all southern Arabia under his new religion.
“In the next hundred years, Arab armies conquered the Persian empire, north Africa, Spain and southern France. This remarkable spread of Islam finally was halted by the Franks at the battle of Tours in 1732.”
Though political control by Arabs has shrunk to the Middle East, 1.2 billion Muslims worldwide constitute the fastest growing religion of the world. This compares to 2 billion Christians declining about 2 percent annually because of a low birthrate. It is estimated there are 5 million Muslims in the United States – about half of these faithful attenders.
Interesting choices 24 years ago by Hart were Joseph Stalin (66), Enrico Fermi (76), John F. Kennedy (81), Mao Zedong (89), and Mikhail Gorbachev (95). Would Hart still rank them in the top 100 today?
My Top Choice
As a scientist playing God, you may have something other than “influence” to guide your decision of whom to resurrect.
My criteria is whether I would want the person I created to live in my guest room. On this basis, I find it difficult to choose from the giants of scientific thought.
Nonetheless, my candidates in alphabetic order are: Aristotle, Copernicus, Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, Kepler, Newton and Planck.
In my opinion, the pursuit of basic knowledge – explanation of nature’s mysteries – is the greatest achievement of mankind. Each of my candidates drew liberally upon the insight of his predecessors. Einstein – being the most recent on my list – therefore is the most notable.
My first choice, however, is Galileo Galilei whose middle finger from his right hand is preserved in a glass bubble at a Florence, Italy, museum. Could that be a subtle gesture aimed at his contemporary detractors?
Galileo demonstrated qualities of character and mental insight superior to all others – courage to pursue truth in the face of persecution.
He discovered, and comprehended, the basic theorems of physics. He proved what Aristotle and Copernicus had suspected – the Earth revolves around the Sun – and made it stick. It was a revolution in knowledge that overturned all previous beliefs regarding science and religion.
Galileo continued his controversial experiments even while under house arrest. When forced to publicly recant his proof under threat of death, he whispered as he turned from his judges, “The Earth still moves.”
This combination of knowledge, insight and courage is in short supply today. The ancient writers of the Old Testament foresaw the dangers of playing God, but also the duty of humans to forge ahead to wisdom.
Having tasted of the Tree of Knowledge in the center of the Garden of Eden, we are commanded to labor for more understanding until we “become as God.”
With God-like opportunity, which wise and useful life would you clone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)