Zark's

Global Warming Threatens the Great Barrier Reef

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef in the world, stretching for over 1600 miles in the Coral Sea, off the northeastern coast of Australia.  You can Google Earth to the destination, 18° 17′ 10″ S, 147° 42′ 0″ E.  Much like the continent of Australia itself, the reef is alive with diversity, but also toxicity.  There are many creatures lurking underneath that can be described as poisonous such as the Nudibranch which has psychedelic skin colorings.  To see a Nudibranch, simply click to the National Geographic website.

Australia leading the world in ocean protection explains that since 2004 Australia has increased the area of no-fishing protection zones of the reef from 4% to 33%.  As a direct result, fish population of some species has increased by a multiple of 5.  the fishing ban works in two ways; a) obviously the fish population is restored, b) the increased fish population keeps the number of predatory starfish under control.

The country is considering other activities to save the reef from global warming as explained in PM in Cairns to look at coral bleaching.  The biology of the coral is a little complex - the coral are dependent upon a photosynthesizing algae known as zooxanthellae which also provide color to the coral.  When the coral is stressed by the environment such as elevated water temperatures, or increased water pH (ocean acidification), the algae is killed.  This results in the coral turning a bleach white.  Hence the name, coral bleaching. 

The Australians are further considering the serious reduction of CO2 which is has been resulting in the acidization of the ocean.  (See The Oceans Become Fizzy.)  This will result in up-front immediate costs to the citizens of Australia.  It means closing coal-powered plants and reduction of CO2-producing vehicles.  Coal is a major export for Australia, so for the country to have a positive impact, it needs to shrink that export.  That will be a tough sell.  (God loves the tobacco farmer, too!)  However, as described in Australia's harsh reality; adapt or perish, the country may not have much choice.

The Great Offshore Oil Debate

Offshore Oil: What's really out there looks at the fuzzy data we have on offshore American petroleum reserve.  Because it has been 26 years since new oil drilling has been permitted offshore the American coastlines, no one knows how much oil exists out there.  There have been only 350 wells drilled off the Pacific coast and around 50 on the Atlantic.  It is suspected that the coastline of California, not Florida, could have the largest petroleum and natural gas reserves. 

One argument against offshore drilling is that it would take 5 years and more likely 10 years to realize new production from the American coastline.  It only required the United States 10 years to completely invent space exploration and land American astronauts on the moon.  The Manhattan Project to develop the first atomic weapons was only five years long, so I don't accept the argument that offshore drilling cannot benefit the United States.

But it is a complex problem.  Just because we can, doesn't mean that we should.  I believe we need to shift our economy from petroleum-derived energy.  I agree with Boone Pickens that we cannot drill ourselves out of this energy dilemma.  Offshore drilling would be a distraction from conversion to alternative energy.  Yet when the nation is importing 70% of its petroleum, doesn't it make sense from a security perspective to have additional indigenous production?  Yes, I concede the Manhattan argument can be used concerning energy transformation.

It seems that there is more than one route to Miami from here.  Which is the best?

The Europeans Decide Animal Cloning is Not Dangerous

Europeans adopt final opinion on animal cloning tells that the European food safety organization has decided that while there are some issues about animal cloning, there are no safety issues.  The commission believes milk and meat from cloned animals is safe. I find this somewhat puzzling, because the European Union bans meat and dairy products from animals treated with the recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH). 

BGH is found naturally in the pituitary glands of cattle.  The synthetic version is known as rBGH.  Until 1994, the hormone was too expensive to produce.  Then Monsanto developed a genetically modified version of E. coli which made it economical to synthesize and sold it under the trade name Posilac.  The hormone can increase the milk output of a cow by up to a gallon a day. 

Dairy hormone debate shows no sign of cooling explains that Pennsylvania permits a label declaring milk from cows without the hormone enhancement.  Some claim that the hormone could be responsible for the earlier puberty of human females.  That probably is not true, since the bovine growth hormone is very different from the Human Growth Hormone (HGH).  Yet, we really do not know the affects upon humans. 

Recall there are differences between the clone's genetic reference and the clones themselves.  The mitochondria DNA (mtDNA)  is different because that is passed on separately by the mother and not in the nucleus DNA which is replaced in conventional cloning. We do not understand the interaction between mtDNA and nucleus DNA, but there are differences between the clone and the genetic reference.  (Parent does not sound like the correct word, so I use genetic reference.)  It might be unlikely that mtDNA could be responsible for adverse reactions from cloned animals, but I don't think it zero probablity. 

I'm also puzzled about the business case for animal cloning of livestock.  Cloning is complicated and expensive as described in EU chewing on meat from cloned animals.  Conventional breeding should be much more economical.  I think we need to be explained the benefits of cloned products before unnecessarily accepting risk.

Thirty Years of IVF

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the medically assisted reproduction technique of fertilizing the female's egg outside the human body.  Sometimes the literature refers to the offspring as test tube babies.  The 30th birthday of the first test tube baby, Louise Brown, was celebrated on July 25.  In vitro: 30 years of free-market baby making tells that the success statistics of many IVF clinics are deceiving.  The report says that many couples try two and three times, but end in failure.  Costs are about $8000 an attempt, and insurance rarely covers the procedure.

There is no pleasing some people, though.  Australian couple's lawsuit over IVF twins dismissed explains that when the IVF resulted in twins rather than a single fetus, the couple sued the doctor.  They wanted to obtain the future cost of raising the second child.  Because of the criticism, the couple said they were suing the doctor's conduct, not the children, whom they both love.

One single way to improve IVF treatment explains that in the UK, 1 out of 66 births is through IVF.  For natural birth, 1 out 80 results in twins.  For IVF, 1 out of 4 results in twins.  The reason is that 90% of IVF procedures implant two embryos in the womb to increase the probability of success.  The UK report urges the government to change procedures for only one embryo to reduce the problems associated with twin births.  The resistance is the increased cost for multiple procedures per couple.

Couple receive embryos frozen for more than 15 years explains that frozen embryos have been donated by one couple to another that has been unsuccessful in IVF.  These embryos date back to 1993.  The scientific director of the clinical centre said that the length of storage of the embryos would not affect the probability of IVF success. 

Mmm.  What do you think?

Believing in the Hydrogen Economy

"When the facts change, I change my mind - what do you do, sir?" is attributed to economist John Maynard Keynes.  Perhaps the facts have not changed, but my understanding has changed concerning the hydrogen economy.  It seems such a good idea that I don't understand why we have not converted earlier, other than we did not need to.  In my research, I discovered the Hydrogen Economy Fact Sheet, dating back to June 25, 2003, which describes a collaborative effort between the United States and the European Union for the development of the hydrogen economy.  What happened? - my guess is that we became too occupied with events overseas.

As the name implies, hydrogen is the convertible currency.  We do not actually consume it - we either chemically combine it with oxygen, producing energy and water, or we apply energy and separate water into the constituent components of hydrogen and oxygen again.  Sounds renewable doesn't it?

Hydrogen is the simplest of our elements, having atomic number 1, if you remember the periodic table of elements.  About 75% of the universe consists of hydrogen.  The subtlety though, is that hydrogen is so chemically reactive that it always combines with something else.  Obviously we know of water as a common hydrogen compound, but another is methane, where the hydrogen bonds with nitrogen.  There are some advocates of a methane economy.

Again, the concept is that we either combine hydrogen with oxygen releasing energy, or we apply energy to water, obtaining hydrogen again.  Commercially today most hydrogen is produced through steam reforming.  This is a process of reacting steam (water vapor) with methane, or natural gas.  It produces hydrogen, but also carbon monoxide.  This was practical when natural gas was inexpensive and when we did not worry about greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.  This process should be heavily discouraged.

The favored process of environmentalists for producing hydrogen is electrolysis.  In my June 27 posting, I described a simple home experiment for electrolysis which uses electric current flowing through water to produce hydrogen.  Production of hydrogen through electrolysis requires large amounts of electrical energy.  We can produce this through nuclear, solar, or wind-powered plants, preferably the latter since they are thermodynamically neutral.  With the latter, we are not creating any more heat than is already on the planet.  Nuclear is not that, we are converting matter into energy and may one day become concerned about thermodynamic equilibrium.

There are a couple of technologies for using hydrogen in transportation vehicles.  One is to power fuel cells.  The fuel cells produce water and electricity, powering electric motors for the vehicle's drive train.  Because fuel cells are more efficient than internal combustion engines, the more complex energy exchange from the hydrogen to the mechanical motion of the wheels ends up about the same. 

Another possiblity is to power an engine directly from the hydrogen as in the Mazda Premacy Hybrid.  Either way, the hydrogen combines with oxygen to produce water and energy, not CO2 as with petroleum-powered engines. 

Scientists do warn us that we need to keep this hydrogen genie tightly bottled.  It is not good for the hydrogen to escape into the atmosphere where it can combine with other elements such as nitrogen, forming methane, which is a more damaging greenhouse gas than CO2.

Drought in Australia - The Big Dry

The Murray-Darling Basin occupies 1/7 of the Australian continent and accounts for 40% of the country's agricultural product.  Roughly speaking, it occupies the southeast tip of Australia in a rectangle bounded by Brisbane and Adelade.  To place it in perspective, this area is twice the size of France.

South Australia drought worsens explains a new Australian government report.  Historically Australia has experienced a drought every 25 years.  The report warns to now expect it every two years.  Australia is also warning that because of global warming, the country will be suffering a tenfold increase in heat waves. 

Food crisis: Drought hurts vital Australian wheat explains that Australia is usually the 3rd or 4th largest exporter of wheat.  A ton of Australia wheat has climbed from $258 in 2007 to $367 currently.  It is estimated that the Australian drought has reduced worldwide wheat production by 4%.  In stories reminiscent of the American Dust Bowl, families are abandoning the farms cultivated by their families for generations and moving to coastal cities.

Speaking of the Bureau of Meteorology report, Tony Burk, the agriculture minister said, "Parts of these high-level projections read more like a disaster novel than a scientific report."  Since 2000, Australia has only barely received average rainfall twice.  Some golf clubs have closed half their courses, requiring members to double-trip 9-holes.  

Although foreigners have many different images of Australia, it has always possessed a fragile ecosystem, with much of the continent very arid or desert.  A small change in weather patterns could be expected to have a larger impact to this southern "bubble" ecology than  more robust ecosystems.  Africa too, is showing signs of ecological distress with the Sahara Desert moving southward 30 miles every year.  I am curious whether some ecosystems are becoming stronger due to the climate change.   Perhaps Siberia.

Lake Victoria is Drying Up

The time progression pictures of Lake Chad from 1973 to 2001 show a large African lake shrink down to less than 5% of its former size.  You can see what is left of the lake with Google Earth at coordinates 13°0′N 14°0′E.  Lake Chad is in almost the very center of Africa with Chad, Cameroon, Niger, and Nigeria surrounding it.  

A similar fate seems to be in the future of Lake Victoria which has the latitude of the sourthern tip of Somalia and about 600 miles inland.  It is the world's second-largest lake, and with coordinates of 1°0′S 33°0′E is about centered on the equator.  Historically, the English explorer and missionary David Livingstone originally set out to find Lake Victoria, but never found it.  

In 1954, the Nile perch was introduced into the lake as an idea of improving fishing.  Since that time it has dominated the lake's ecology and transformed it in many ways, causing the extinction of several species and combined with the importation of water hyacinths, has made things, well, a mess.  The shorelines are choked with algae and invasive vegetation.  Lake Victoria surprisingly is one of the two headwaters for the Egyptian Nile River.  The lake empties into the White Nile River.  Later downstream (which is actually north), it merges with the Blue Nile at Khartoum, Sudan and then flows northward through the Sahara desert until past the Egyptian pyramids and emptying into the Mediterranean Sea. 

Lake Victoria drying up, says UN report tells that the shoreline has retreated 100 meters since 2002.  It says that 75% of the Victoria's wetlands have been disturbed.  Lake Victoria beset by environmental problems explains the reasons are varied - warming temperatures, invasive species, hydroelectric dams, and a population of 30 million around the lake.  Some estimates are that over 50% of the water loss is due to the hydroelectric dams of Uganda.

We are experiencing the effects of overpopulation already in energy resources.  Water resources will be the next crisis.

The Finest Hour

Anyone watching more than two hours of a news channel in a day is probably on anti-depressants.  After all, we have a two-front war, we have inflation, a banking crisis, and runaway energy costs.  But you know what?  Shining through all of the dark clouds is American optimism.  For example, Google or Hakia on solar energy, or cancer therapy.  Really good things are happening and the future is going to be better. 

The novel Pollyanna written by Eleanor H. Porter has a protagonist that makes a game of finding something good about every situation.  There was also a Disney movie starring Hayley Mills about the character as well.  The idea is to infect other people with the game so that everyone is finding something good in everything.  I searched on optimism with hakia.com and discovered a picture of stones.  Paraphrased, the caption says that the stones can be either stumbling blocks or stepping stones.  It is how you use them.

Despite all the things in the world that are happening, I am encouraged.  In the movie Apollo 13, flight controller Gene Kranz rebukes a NASA administrator (I assume it it is Chris Kraft) and says, "... I believe this is going to be our finest hour."  With today's technology and knowledge, this can be exactly that. 

Besides, the first NFL pre-season game is Sunday, August 3, between the Colts and the Redskins. 

The Racer's Edge - Gene Doping

Before gasoline was $0.50 a gallon, there was an automotive product marketed with the slogan, "The Racer's Ege."  More senior readers will remember that product as STP. The latest news from China is not unexpected, but still surprising.  German doping experts stunned by revelations of gene doping possibilities in China tells that a clever reporter posed as a U.S. swimming coach attempting to obtain gene doping for an athlete found both a product and a provider.  The advertised benefit would be increased lung capacity.  The World Anti-Doping Agency says, "... is devoting significant resources and attention to ways that will enable us to detect gene doping."

In earlier blogs, I have discussed how many westerners will visit China for stem cell therapy.  Embryonic stem cells (you probably don't want to know where they came from) are infused into the patient for practically any disease.  Sometime it works where the patient would otherwise have had no hope at all.  At worst, the patient was lightened of $24,000 as the Canadian reporter was offered.  There are many more successes these days, and because of this, more athletes may be tempted. 

Finding the Golden genes explains the Tickle-Me Elmo for shady athletes is Repoxygen.  It is a synthetic virus designed to insert a therapeutic or (enhancing) gene into a person's DNA.  The virus can be tailored to only target, say the muscles, so it would require a muscle biopsy to even obtain a DNA sample that could identify gene doping.  The Wiki article names two people suspected of using Repoxygen. 

It is truly amazing what can be accomplished or genetically engineered today.  There is a good side, and of course, the other side of many developments.  Many, many, lives will be prolonged because of these developments.  It is also safe to predict abominations.  One thing for certain, the Jeannie is out of the bottle. 

Additional Links of Stem Cells with Cancer

Tykerb targets cancer stem cells tells that a drug named Tykerb is effective in killing cancer stem cells for women with breast cancer.  Doctor Jenny Chang says that less than 10% of all breast cancer cells have stem cell properties, but these are responsible for the spread of the disease. 

As a backgrounder, stem cells are distinguished by the ability to reproduce and program the offspring into different cells.  As the Wiki article explains, totipotent stem cells are embryionic cells that be programmed into any cell.  Multipotent stem cells can produce related cells and pluripotent cells can reprogram into different classes.  Often cancer stem cells are multipotent because they can transform tissue-types into connecting-type cells.

It seems like a digression, but Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient found in foods such as carrots and spinach.  As you probably remember, it is key to healthy vision and bones.  How vitamin A promotes cancer growth tells that when cancer stem cells absorb Vitamin A, they transform into endothelial cells, creating a blood vessel.  This explains the phenomenology of how tumors will grow blood vessels, necessary for the tumor to continue to grow.  

The findings are preliminary.  Vitamin A may be important in preventing tumors, but after development, may be contraindicated.  I am amazed at the progress of medicine.  It was not long ago that cancer stem cells were first discovered, and now researchers are using that knowledge to develop life-saving drugs and techniques.