In this Marinations program we interview Fran Quittel about how she and a group of people who found each other on the web used internet tools like Google Groups, Blogs, etc. combined with ; conventional organizing techniques to recover over $ 270 million for some 9500 depositors. Thanks to the Community Media Center of Marin and the volunteers who made this video program possible.
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Net Neutrality debates
A friend wrote that the struggle for "net neutrality" appears to be loosing in the U.S. as the FCC and the new Republican majority make noises about compromises that look a bit more like capitulation. The debate goes to the folks who intentionally confuse network traffic management with the place where open exchanges of free thought lifts our collective consciousness throughout the world. Since the growth of web traffic is still accelerating as video becomes the dominant packet on the internet, some allocations, some prioritization is needed and the question is can we preserve freedom of speech even as we manage the system.
A friend wrote that the struggle for "net neutrality" appears to be loosing in the U.S. as the FCC and the new Republican majority make noises about compromises that look a bit more like capitulation. The debate goes to the folks who intentionally confuse network traffic management with the place where open exchanges of free thought lifts our collective consciousness throughout the world. Since the growth of web traffic is still accelerating as video becomes the dominant packet on the internet, some allocations, some prioritization is needed and the question is can we preserve freedom of speech even as we manage the system.
Monday, November 29, 2010
This morning, our cat Carol hopped up onto the tile counter by the sink, purring and looking me in the eyes.
Clearly she formed an intent.
When she was sure that I was watching,
she proceeded to pantomime drinking water from the sink spout.
I turned on a tiny stream of cold water from the tap,
and she twisted her head to align her tongue with the stream and began lapping it up.
No words, yet effective communication.
Then I told her to get down and
wiped down the counter where she sat as she sought a drink of water.
Clearly she formed an intent.
When she was sure that I was watching,
she proceeded to pantomime drinking water from the sink spout.
I turned on a tiny stream of cold water from the tap,
and she twisted her head to align her tongue with the stream and began lapping it up.
No words, yet effective communication.
Then I told her to get down and
wiped down the counter where she sat as she sought a drink of water.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
The recent reports on the news about the Stuxnet computer virus that has Iran complaining is quite a technical masterpiece, and a far cry from the usual Trojans and botnet attacks that are the usual source of grief for us all. Indeed it seems that someone went to considerable effort to ensure that this virus didn't harm any ordinary industrial systems.
The virus has been discussed in this Ars Technica story: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/clues-suggest-stuxnet-virus-was-built-for-subtle-nuclear-sabotage.ars with new details provided that inform this cometary.
First, the virus checks to see if it is in a very specific context, and targets systems that may be supporting a very particular type of control system that would be regulated in the U.S. as non-exportable as it would be controlling more than 33 variable speed drives capable of high frequency motor control. It checks to see if there are Iranian modules on the system, or one other type of module that could be employed in isotope enrichment plants. If it doesn't find these specific conditions, the virus doesn't affect the system that it infects (though it may try to spread further in an effort to land in a system that meets it's targeting criteria).
Since Uranium enrichment with centrifuges typically uses cascades of thousands of units, each making incremental progress at separating the rare atoms that would be useful in a reactor or weapon from the vast bulk of the material that is essentially inert, messing with the process can contaminate the "pure" product and compromise the effectiveness of the cascade.
The virus is designed to be hard to detect, and it doesn't try to destroy equipment. Indeed for the imputed purpose of this virus, it is more important to delay the production of weapons grade material than to cause a splash in the press.
From the information provided, it appears that the virus effectively delayed to some degree the Iranian military in it's quest to build a weapon. For this I am grateful, and appreciate the amazing operation that managed to get this computer virus into the system. It took knowledge of how the enrichment process works, knowledge of how the Iranian system is built, as well as substantial knowledge and skill in constructing the code that could implement this tactical objective.
Now that the existence of the virus is known, the resultant publicity serves to educate the rest of the system players to the vulnerabilities that we may have in various parts of our infrastructure. I hope that this publicity will spur industrial controls engineers to take a new look at security in our existing systems and to build in more robust security features when new systems are designed. Ideas as to how this may be done are the subject of another article (in press).
Thanks to whoever thought up this important operation, it achieves what a conventional kinetic operation could not and makes a concrete contribution to counter proliferation in a world that is dangerous enough without Iranian nuclear weapons.
The virus has been discussed in this Ars Technica story: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/clues-suggest-stuxnet-virus-was-built-for-subtle-nuclear-sabotage.ars with new details provided that inform this cometary.
First, the virus checks to see if it is in a very specific context, and targets systems that may be supporting a very particular type of control system that would be regulated in the U.S. as non-exportable as it would be controlling more than 33 variable speed drives capable of high frequency motor control. It checks to see if there are Iranian modules on the system, or one other type of module that could be employed in isotope enrichment plants. If it doesn't find these specific conditions, the virus doesn't affect the system that it infects (though it may try to spread further in an effort to land in a system that meets it's targeting criteria).
Since Uranium enrichment with centrifuges typically uses cascades of thousands of units, each making incremental progress at separating the rare atoms that would be useful in a reactor or weapon from the vast bulk of the material that is essentially inert, messing with the process can contaminate the "pure" product and compromise the effectiveness of the cascade.
The virus is designed to be hard to detect, and it doesn't try to destroy equipment. Indeed for the imputed purpose of this virus, it is more important to delay the production of weapons grade material than to cause a splash in the press.
From the information provided, it appears that the virus effectively delayed to some degree the Iranian military in it's quest to build a weapon. For this I am grateful, and appreciate the amazing operation that managed to get this computer virus into the system. It took knowledge of how the enrichment process works, knowledge of how the Iranian system is built, as well as substantial knowledge and skill in constructing the code that could implement this tactical objective.
Now that the existence of the virus is known, the resultant publicity serves to educate the rest of the system players to the vulnerabilities that we may have in various parts of our infrastructure. I hope that this publicity will spur industrial controls engineers to take a new look at security in our existing systems and to build in more robust security features when new systems are designed. Ideas as to how this may be done are the subject of another article (in press).
Thanks to whoever thought up this important operation, it achieves what a conventional kinetic operation could not and makes a concrete contribution to counter proliferation in a world that is dangerous enough without Iranian nuclear weapons.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Writing in October 2010, it seems as if the California economy is poised for a dip toward a major depression. The state spending is way down, the federal stimulus was meager and over, the unemployment is running out for millions, and job creation is lagging way behind the need. The inventory of unsold homes is huge, the number of unsuspecting buyers shrinking.
As the opportunities shrink, the folks who came here to work are leaving, and with them, a demand for rentals that is shifting the real estate market into a new mode.
You see, it turns out that the folks who came here from Asia and Latin America, were paying sales tax, rent (covering property taxes), and even income tax! Indeed, their economic activity accounts for an important marginal increment in government income, and their productivity is an important margin on the producer side.
While I'm concerned about the social issues of crime and welfare, as I've learned more from my work as a foster parent about the real story behind the safety net, my perspective has shifted a bit, my understanding grows, my concerns have new focus.
I'm more concerned than ever about the threat that uncontrolled immigration poses to our nation, to our national security--but it doesn't follow that I support blind Arizona type laws that have locals enforcing immigration laws.
One of my concerns is that the growth in power of the narco cartels is a threat to our way of life, and the profound corruption that they bring may spread even deeper into the underground here in California. Indeed our drug war has ensured their profitability, and de-funding the cartels is one way to mitigate their power.
Gangs now control important aspects of the California prisons, now holding over 330000 people. If California could reduce the prison population by only 50,000 individuals, strengthen the parole supervision process, and rationalize the enforcement of our drug laws, we could save enough to improve law enforcement against the gangs, improve the safety net for families, and strengthen our society.
The politicians who stir up popular anger against the weak turn the society from compassion to competition, from our values of equality and protection of rights, to mistaken worship of authority.
So we need to look around at the people in our community, and address the needs as we find them. That means we must provide food and shelter and basic medical care to the folks in our communities, strengthen education and our community cohesiveness.
If gangs are to become less important, then the Police must be responsible for protection of locals and even illegals should be treated with respect. When illegals have no access to protection from the police, they will often, of necessity, turn to groups within their community who can resolve grievances or provide protection and this may be a gang, often a branch of one of the two large organizations that have infiltrated our land.
We need to address climate change, as the world won't wait for the long promised but unlikely return of lower unemployment rates, or other Republican magic. Indeed the climate change will destroy our economy as it now operates, and we need to be about the construction of the next economy asap. Alternate energy sources are growing in California, reducing our need for fossil fuels and reducing our vulnerability to supply disruption by foreign governments or events. As California improves our sustainability, we become stronger and ready for the new environment.
We need to replant our forests, as climate change will reallocate climate zones faster than our ecosystems can adapt. The long view is that life will persist, it is only the impact on our society that I'm worried about, and the permanent loss of so many species of animals, plants and microorganisms that will make the world of our grandchildren so much poorer. We can often save a species by helping to preserve ecosystem niches, but we'll also have to assist in moving ecosystem niche communities to a new location where they can thrive in the new climate context that is comming as we sail past the tipping points and our climate moves into uncharted territory.
The changes to our economy are brutal, and we only have enough capital to do this adaption once, if we are fortunate and smart. To delay too long is to accept the loss of our watershed snowpack storage, to accept the rise of sea level and the loss of our ecosystem services and resources. Are we going to be smart enough to envision a sustainable society and to make it across the chasm to that place or are we going to squander our capital and human resources until profound poverty limits us to a new mode of civilization where we find ourselves unable to thrive, in desperate straights, with no way to do more than slide even further down, with massive poverty and a destroyed government just when we need our government to be functional?
Without a population that is educated in basic civics, basic communications skills and with math and science, history and art, sports and sustainability, natural systems knowledge and respect for each other, we can expect authoritarian rule, massive suffering, and a vulnerability to natural disasters and epidemics that can only increase the level of suffering beyond imagination. We can do better, and it is possible to envision a society in 2050 where the climate is shifting but we are adapting, where our economy is much more self sustainable, where our food supply is secure, and where our grandchildren are raising the next generation with hope instead of dispair.
Here's to hope, here's to a world where we respect our fellow beings, where we treasure the organisms that share our ecosystem, and to a society where we value our heritage, respect our community and each other, and where we have learned to operate our society at a more intelligent level. Here's to a society where science informs our behavior, where spiritual values are respected, where we question established doctrine, where understanding and compassion have as much force as authority.
The emergence of collective thought as the internet ties us together could be a force that moves us in that direction if we can keep it open enough that our collective intelligence is activated. Recent experience with manipulation of social systems by forces seeking to control the society so that exploitation can accelerate shows that this won't be an easy contest. Indeed the internet can be a force for control that has unprecedented reach, or it can be a tool to access collective resources that could enable us to adapt to the climate change in time.
As the Chinese proverb says "May you live in interesting times!"
As the opportunities shrink, the folks who came here to work are leaving, and with them, a demand for rentals that is shifting the real estate market into a new mode.
You see, it turns out that the folks who came here from Asia and Latin America, were paying sales tax, rent (covering property taxes), and even income tax! Indeed, their economic activity accounts for an important marginal increment in government income, and their productivity is an important margin on the producer side.
While I'm concerned about the social issues of crime and welfare, as I've learned more from my work as a foster parent about the real story behind the safety net, my perspective has shifted a bit, my understanding grows, my concerns have new focus.
I'm more concerned than ever about the threat that uncontrolled immigration poses to our nation, to our national security--but it doesn't follow that I support blind Arizona type laws that have locals enforcing immigration laws.
One of my concerns is that the growth in power of the narco cartels is a threat to our way of life, and the profound corruption that they bring may spread even deeper into the underground here in California. Indeed our drug war has ensured their profitability, and de-funding the cartels is one way to mitigate their power.
Gangs now control important aspects of the California prisons, now holding over 330000 people. If California could reduce the prison population by only 50,000 individuals, strengthen the parole supervision process, and rationalize the enforcement of our drug laws, we could save enough to improve law enforcement against the gangs, improve the safety net for families, and strengthen our society.
The politicians who stir up popular anger against the weak turn the society from compassion to competition, from our values of equality and protection of rights, to mistaken worship of authority.
So we need to look around at the people in our community, and address the needs as we find them. That means we must provide food and shelter and basic medical care to the folks in our communities, strengthen education and our community cohesiveness.
If gangs are to become less important, then the Police must be responsible for protection of locals and even illegals should be treated with respect. When illegals have no access to protection from the police, they will often, of necessity, turn to groups within their community who can resolve grievances or provide protection and this may be a gang, often a branch of one of the two large organizations that have infiltrated our land.
We need to address climate change, as the world won't wait for the long promised but unlikely return of lower unemployment rates, or other Republican magic. Indeed the climate change will destroy our economy as it now operates, and we need to be about the construction of the next economy asap. Alternate energy sources are growing in California, reducing our need for fossil fuels and reducing our vulnerability to supply disruption by foreign governments or events. As California improves our sustainability, we become stronger and ready for the new environment.
We need to replant our forests, as climate change will reallocate climate zones faster than our ecosystems can adapt. The long view is that life will persist, it is only the impact on our society that I'm worried about, and the permanent loss of so many species of animals, plants and microorganisms that will make the world of our grandchildren so much poorer. We can often save a species by helping to preserve ecosystem niches, but we'll also have to assist in moving ecosystem niche communities to a new location where they can thrive in the new climate context that is comming as we sail past the tipping points and our climate moves into uncharted territory.
The changes to our economy are brutal, and we only have enough capital to do this adaption once, if we are fortunate and smart. To delay too long is to accept the loss of our watershed snowpack storage, to accept the rise of sea level and the loss of our ecosystem services and resources. Are we going to be smart enough to envision a sustainable society and to make it across the chasm to that place or are we going to squander our capital and human resources until profound poverty limits us to a new mode of civilization where we find ourselves unable to thrive, in desperate straights, with no way to do more than slide even further down, with massive poverty and a destroyed government just when we need our government to be functional?
Without a population that is educated in basic civics, basic communications skills and with math and science, history and art, sports and sustainability, natural systems knowledge and respect for each other, we can expect authoritarian rule, massive suffering, and a vulnerability to natural disasters and epidemics that can only increase the level of suffering beyond imagination. We can do better, and it is possible to envision a society in 2050 where the climate is shifting but we are adapting, where our economy is much more self sustainable, where our food supply is secure, and where our grandchildren are raising the next generation with hope instead of dispair.
Here's to hope, here's to a world where we respect our fellow beings, where we treasure the organisms that share our ecosystem, and to a society where we value our heritage, respect our community and each other, and where we have learned to operate our society at a more intelligent level. Here's to a society where science informs our behavior, where spiritual values are respected, where we question established doctrine, where understanding and compassion have as much force as authority.
The emergence of collective thought as the internet ties us together could be a force that moves us in that direction if we can keep it open enough that our collective intelligence is activated. Recent experience with manipulation of social systems by forces seeking to control the society so that exploitation can accelerate shows that this won't be an easy contest. Indeed the internet can be a force for control that has unprecedented reach, or it can be a tool to access collective resources that could enable us to adapt to the climate change in time.
As the Chinese proverb says "May you live in interesting times!"
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Emerging consensus on Climate
Publication of "The World's lungs: Forests, and how to save them" in the September 25, 2010 of The Economist (www.economist.com)provides a clear and realistic look at the endangered status of our forest ecosystems at this critical point in climate change.
As Vacliv Smil said ( from Bill Gates notes page http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Learning/article.aspx?ID=25), the choices that we make over the next few years will make a great deal of difference in how climate change goes.
It's encouraging to me to see a respected and influential news magazine focusing on our responses to climate change, without wasting space on the folks who would distract and deny the changes now clearly underway.
"Seeing the wood" uses solid facts, astute observations of the interactions between politics, policy and corporate behavior to inform, educate and motivate effective actions that can improve our relationship with nature.
While it is a great report, it doesn't really convey the urgency, nor explain how the tipping points that we are approaching are really gateways to another world.
They hint of it when mentioning the role that the Amazon rainforest helps provide the moisture to the temperate zones of both South and North America as the trade winds blow against the Andies. If the forest doesn't perform it's hydrological function, there could be a major desertification of what are now prime agricultural regions. Passing the tipping point into desertification would bring famines. This might be only one of the most immediate effects. As recovery can take geological time. Look at the African Sahara, it's not turning back into a tropical paradise any time soon. Look at Abu Dhabi, where without desalinated water there would be almost no greenery, no trees ( didn't see any forests...).
Publication of this report here, in this form, is encouraging. We need to be focused on understanding as best we can, the dynamics of the change that human society has set in motion, and to the degree possible, make intelligent choices so that we mitigate the impending tsunami of changes that the coming heat wave will bring.
Bruce Bagnoli
Presenting
Publication of "The World's lungs: Forests, and how to save them" in the September 25, 2010 of The Economist (www.economist.com)provides a clear and realistic look at the endangered status of our forest ecosystems at this critical point in climate change.
As Vacliv Smil said ( from Bill Gates notes page http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Learning/article.aspx?ID=25), the choices that we make over the next few years will make a great deal of difference in how climate change goes.
It's encouraging to me to see a respected and influential news magazine focusing on our responses to climate change, without wasting space on the folks who would distract and deny the changes now clearly underway.
"Seeing the wood" uses solid facts, astute observations of the interactions between politics, policy and corporate behavior to inform, educate and motivate effective actions that can improve our relationship with nature.
While it is a great report, it doesn't really convey the urgency, nor explain how the tipping points that we are approaching are really gateways to another world.
They hint of it when mentioning the role that the Amazon rainforest helps provide the moisture to the temperate zones of both South and North America as the trade winds blow against the Andies. If the forest doesn't perform it's hydrological function, there could be a major desertification of what are now prime agricultural regions. Passing the tipping point into desertification would bring famines. This might be only one of the most immediate effects. As recovery can take geological time. Look at the African Sahara, it's not turning back into a tropical paradise any time soon. Look at Abu Dhabi, where without desalinated water there would be almost no greenery, no trees ( didn't see any forests...).
Publication of this report here, in this form, is encouraging. We need to be focused on understanding as best we can, the dynamics of the change that human society has set in motion, and to the degree possible, make intelligent choices so that we mitigate the impending tsunami of changes that the coming heat wave will bring.
Bruce Bagnoli
Presenting
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Awake, thankful for the new day, it's dark yet.
A drink of water, then to the kitchen with our cat Snowy.
Along the way, Carol hops down from the bed she's been sleeping on and gos ahead of me.
First the light on the stove hood, then the light over the sink.
A paper towel for Carol on the counter, a drip of water for her to drink from.
Stove on, check the water.
Throw out the old used coffee filter and replace it with a fresh one.
Turn on the gas, lighting the stove with a puff to assist the electric starter.
Pet carol, rub her chin.
Now some coffee from the freezer, 4 heaping table spoons.
Now joined by Willow, I pick him up while meowing for a snuggle.
After a moment he gets squirmy, I set him down on the rug in front of the refrigerator on his rug.
Now boiling, I pour the water through the Peet's Sumatra coffee grounds. The rich brown tones, swirling bubbles and wafting aroma promise a joy to come.
Stirring the brew, watching the evolution of my first cup.
Give Snowy some fresh water, more thanksgiving for this day.
Switch the coffee filter from one cup to the other using the table spoon to catch the drips while in transit.
More water from the tea kettle,
turn off the stove.
Now some milk from the refrigerator.
This stimulates Carol who reaches out her paw in a gentle reminder that
the CAT wants her milk.
I fill her orange bottle cap with milk, and place it on the edge of the sink.
She purrrs and begins lapping it up as I
put a table spoon of milk in Willow's tiny ceramic bowel and place it on the floor for him to enjoy.
Then milk in my cup,
putting the milk container carefully into the refrigerator so as to not disturb Willow's enjoyment of his milk.
Then it's time for my reward, the first sip of my morning coffee.
Yum, thanks for the morning, thanks for this simple pleasure.
Then I pick up Willow's little dish ( maybe 6cm in diameter) and rinse it,
rinse carol's orange bottle cap after tilting it so that she can get the last milk.
I pick up my coffee cup and lead the cats back to my element where I finally turn on the light next to the computer.
First checking internet, sometimes email, sometimes the news, rotating through the various core sites: gmail, yahoo mail, SFGate, NYTimes, MarinIJ, Arxiv.org, Facebook, Quakes, and the rest.
Check work email.
Write in my journal, respond to electronic communications.
The coffee gone, the day started.
The cats are back in their little sleeping places.
It's still dark,
but I'm behind schedule already.....
Thanks.
A drink of water, then to the kitchen with our cat Snowy.
Along the way, Carol hops down from the bed she's been sleeping on and gos ahead of me.
First the light on the stove hood, then the light over the sink.
A paper towel for Carol on the counter, a drip of water for her to drink from.
Stove on, check the water.
Throw out the old used coffee filter and replace it with a fresh one.
Turn on the gas, lighting the stove with a puff to assist the electric starter.
Pet carol, rub her chin.
Now some coffee from the freezer, 4 heaping table spoons.
Now joined by Willow, I pick him up while meowing for a snuggle.
After a moment he gets squirmy, I set him down on the rug in front of the refrigerator on his rug.
Now boiling, I pour the water through the Peet's Sumatra coffee grounds. The rich brown tones, swirling bubbles and wafting aroma promise a joy to come.
Stirring the brew, watching the evolution of my first cup.
Give Snowy some fresh water, more thanksgiving for this day.
Switch the coffee filter from one cup to the other using the table spoon to catch the drips while in transit.
More water from the tea kettle,
turn off the stove.
Now some milk from the refrigerator.
This stimulates Carol who reaches out her paw in a gentle reminder that
the CAT wants her milk.
I fill her orange bottle cap with milk, and place it on the edge of the sink.
She purrrs and begins lapping it up as I
put a table spoon of milk in Willow's tiny ceramic bowel and place it on the floor for him to enjoy.
Then milk in my cup,
putting the milk container carefully into the refrigerator so as to not disturb Willow's enjoyment of his milk.
Then it's time for my reward, the first sip of my morning coffee.
Yum, thanks for the morning, thanks for this simple pleasure.
Then I pick up Willow's little dish ( maybe 6cm in diameter) and rinse it,
rinse carol's orange bottle cap after tilting it so that she can get the last milk.
I pick up my coffee cup and lead the cats back to my element where I finally turn on the light next to the computer.
First checking internet, sometimes email, sometimes the news, rotating through the various core sites: gmail, yahoo mail, SFGate, NYTimes, MarinIJ, Arxiv.org, Facebook, Quakes, and the rest.
Check work email.
Write in my journal, respond to electronic communications.
The coffee gone, the day started.
The cats are back in their little sleeping places.
It's still dark,
but I'm behind schedule already.....
Thanks.
Monday, September 06, 2010
Reconsidering Solar PV for my house.
As solar PV systems become more common, the prices are falling.
Incentives are policy based, and have limited availability at this time. With the installation of a "smart meter" we expect rates to jump up. Marin has the local sustainable power agency, with net metering available. This is a good option worth considering.
Recently, I calculated that the payback for a small residential system is about 7 years. There are also favorable effects on after-tax income. Unfortunately, my home has shade much of the time from our canopy of trees and bamboos.
During the summer, The green canopy makes a huge difference in the temprature of the house, saving us from air conditioning load. So we have a green roof, for real.
I'm planning to record the actual solar isolation where we currently have our solar thermal panels. This data may indicate that we could add four or five Solar PV panels, I'll have to compare a simulation of the value once I have the base data.
I also want to circulate water through the solar panels, and record data on a typical sunny day, so that I can figure the thermal performance before spending much money to recommission the system. Now that we can easily incorporate some data about weather, solar isolation, and have a model of system performance, we can only run the system when the gain will be worth it. The initial expense is zero for panels and mounting, it's just a question if the pumps, etc. are working.
As solar PV systems become more common, the prices are falling.
Incentives are policy based, and have limited availability at this time. With the installation of a "smart meter" we expect rates to jump up. Marin has the local sustainable power agency, with net metering available. This is a good option worth considering.
Recently, I calculated that the payback for a small residential system is about 7 years. There are also favorable effects on after-tax income. Unfortunately, my home has shade much of the time from our canopy of trees and bamboos.
During the summer, The green canopy makes a huge difference in the temprature of the house, saving us from air conditioning load. So we have a green roof, for real.
I'm planning to record the actual solar isolation where we currently have our solar thermal panels. This data may indicate that we could add four or five Solar PV panels, I'll have to compare a simulation of the value once I have the base data.
I also want to circulate water through the solar panels, and record data on a typical sunny day, so that I can figure the thermal performance before spending much money to recommission the system. Now that we can easily incorporate some data about weather, solar isolation, and have a model of system performance, we can only run the system when the gain will be worth it. The initial expense is zero for panels and mounting, it's just a question if the pumps, etc. are working.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
This Pakistani flooding disaster, really a catastrophe, has been on the front page in the Middle East though it is receiving much less exposure here at home. Recently I was in Abu Dhabi, and had a view of TV news from my hotel that contrasts with what I see here in the S.F. Bay area on the news, and on our local internet.
Al Jazeera (Doha, English) has been on it from the beginning, and suggested that this is an expected part of global heating. They showed how the heated portion of Russia drew the monsoon to the north and shifted the rain pattern in Pakistan and parts of India to the north. Of course, you can't extrapolate from one weather event to climate, but statistically the influence of climate on weather is going to become increasingly visible.
Unfortunately, once society grasps the severity of the challenge, we may be past one or more of the climate tipping points and without the resources to effectively respond, having squandered the resources on stupid consumption.
I gave money to a charity that feeds people in disaster zones, and to Medicins Sans Frontieres, and only wish that I had more to give.
At the beginning of the flooding, extremist groups were trying to exploit the government's inability to effectively help the millions of people who are homeless, lost crops, lost livestock, lost family members, and who are without any food or source of income. This political exploitation of any shock is fairly routine in the west, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that a news organization would suggest that it's occurring here as well. In fact the Pakistani government also uses this argument to ask for money. The magnitude of the crises should be enough to galvanize folks to aid fellow humans- forget inept government, forget inept extremist groups who can't affect the rain, there are millions of folks without and many will perish.
No doubt this is just a wake up call, it may be expected that deserts will become voracious and extend to areas that are now the breadbasket of the world, and that extreme precipitation events will become more numerous. The consequences of such events will become even more serious as the ice mass in the mountains reduces, releasing the flow to the rivers in a sharper peak.
Naturally we can expect huge flows of humanity leaving one disaster for greener pastures, driven by hunger or water (too much or too little) as well.
This event is a wake up call, may we hear and understand, then act with compassion to mitigate the climate heating, to bring relief for fellow beings.
As the proverb goes "we live in interesting times"
Quite scary.
Bruce
Al Jazeera (Doha, English) has been on it from the beginning, and suggested that this is an expected part of global heating. They showed how the heated portion of Russia drew the monsoon to the north and shifted the rain pattern in Pakistan and parts of India to the north. Of course, you can't extrapolate from one weather event to climate, but statistically the influence of climate on weather is going to become increasingly visible.
Unfortunately, once society grasps the severity of the challenge, we may be past one or more of the climate tipping points and without the resources to effectively respond, having squandered the resources on stupid consumption.
I gave money to a charity that feeds people in disaster zones, and to Medicins Sans Frontieres, and only wish that I had more to give.
At the beginning of the flooding, extremist groups were trying to exploit the government's inability to effectively help the millions of people who are homeless, lost crops, lost livestock, lost family members, and who are without any food or source of income. This political exploitation of any shock is fairly routine in the west, so I guess it shouldn't be surprising that a news organization would suggest that it's occurring here as well. In fact the Pakistani government also uses this argument to ask for money. The magnitude of the crises should be enough to galvanize folks to aid fellow humans- forget inept government, forget inept extremist groups who can't affect the rain, there are millions of folks without and many will perish.
No doubt this is just a wake up call, it may be expected that deserts will become voracious and extend to areas that are now the breadbasket of the world, and that extreme precipitation events will become more numerous. The consequences of such events will become even more serious as the ice mass in the mountains reduces, releasing the flow to the rivers in a sharper peak.
Naturally we can expect huge flows of humanity leaving one disaster for greener pastures, driven by hunger or water (too much or too little) as well.
This event is a wake up call, may we hear and understand, then act with compassion to mitigate the climate heating, to bring relief for fellow beings.
As the proverb goes "we live in interesting times"
Quite scary.
Bruce
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tragedy of the Commons and the British Petroleum Deepwater Horizon disaster
by Bruce Bagnoli
The surviving crew member's account May 16,2010 on CBS 60 minutes of the pre-accident problems with the blowout preventer that failed when the Deepwater Horizon sank had chilling familiarity. [ see the report here: Michael Williams tells his story of survival to Scott Pelley. ]
It reminded me of the Nasa Challenger Disaster in 1986 when managers overrode the safety concerns of some engineers, discounted the risks, and said "go for it!" just before the whole thing blew up.
According to the Deepwater Horizon crew member, the blowout preventer's rubber seals were damaged during a test prior to the blowout, and pieces of the seal were seen in the drilling mud. Instead of stopping, they continued working.
Later, when there was a choice of methods of stemming the well, British Petroleum managers pushed for the expedient but more risky method. The Blowout Preventer's electronic systems were not fully functional, yet the drilling continued. Indeed it may not have been any one decision, rather the sum of a number of things that added up to the worst environmental disaster in decades.
In common with the NASA Challenger Disaster, the BP Oil Blowout may have lessons about conduct of high consequence operations, lessons about stewardship of safety systems, hubris, and a tendency to discount real risks in a push for some "important goal".
The Department of Energy, and the military understand "conduct of operations", and it may take a smart, strong government to enforce and make effective the safety rules, the environmental protections that must be respected. When the government doesn't have people who are technically qualified and with the authority to enforce environmental regulations such as having effective blowout protection at all times, these sorts of disasters can be expected.
Indeed the nuclear industry has had similar problems, most notably at Three Mile Island. The Nuclear power industry had to learn how to safely conduct high consequence operations and learned the real cost of putting short term profit over safety and environmental protection. Indeed, despite plenty of screw-ups, the nuclear power systems have been remarkably safe since Three Mile Island, since the industry and government took steps to ensure that our operators are trained, qualified, and regulated.
The process of learning to operate safely and effectively in high consequence situations is described in a Department of Energy order 5480 and the process of teaching the formal methods that work is described in this example: Conduct of Operations Mentoring Strategy....
It's not rocket science, but the basic concepts apply here as well and whatever you think about drilling, we need to be serious about conducting high consequence operations safely where ever these operations occur. In a similar manner, the chemical industry world wide re-examined their operations after Bopal.
The fact that there are so many examples isn't comforting, but it does provide guidance when designing systems that must mitigate serious risks, both on the human side, and on the hardware side. One of the key lessons, is that managers who are unable to grasp the value of public confidence can wreck a companies value with one bad decision!
I wonder if it is the same sort of intellectual bubble cycle that has been discussed with respect to financial cycles, where the new crew think that they are "smarter" than the folks who did it "the old way", whose (short term) financial results are so much better than the more conservative folks who move just a bit slower.
It's more than just the push for short term profit, it's also the human hubris, the ego, the view that the planet's resources belong to the extraction industry.
My view is that the environment is the most important Commons, and the tragedy of the commons is the key lesson that our civilization must understand if we are to be viable.
See also:
by Bruce Bagnoli
The surviving crew member's account May 16,2010 on CBS 60 minutes of the pre-accident problems with the blowout preventer that failed when the Deepwater Horizon sank had chilling familiarity. [ see the report here: Michael Williams tells his story of survival to Scott Pelley. ]
It reminded me of the Nasa Challenger Disaster in 1986 when managers overrode the safety concerns of some engineers, discounted the risks, and said "go for it!" just before the whole thing blew up.
According to the Deepwater Horizon crew member, the blowout preventer's rubber seals were damaged during a test prior to the blowout, and pieces of the seal were seen in the drilling mud. Instead of stopping, they continued working.
Later, when there was a choice of methods of stemming the well, British Petroleum managers pushed for the expedient but more risky method. The Blowout Preventer's electronic systems were not fully functional, yet the drilling continued. Indeed it may not have been any one decision, rather the sum of a number of things that added up to the worst environmental disaster in decades.
In common with the NASA Challenger Disaster, the BP Oil Blowout may have lessons about conduct of high consequence operations, lessons about stewardship of safety systems, hubris, and a tendency to discount real risks in a push for some "important goal".
The Department of Energy, and the military understand "conduct of operations", and it may take a smart, strong government to enforce and make effective the safety rules, the environmental protections that must be respected. When the government doesn't have people who are technically qualified and with the authority to enforce environmental regulations such as having effective blowout protection at all times, these sorts of disasters can be expected.
Indeed the nuclear industry has had similar problems, most notably at Three Mile Island. The Nuclear power industry had to learn how to safely conduct high consequence operations and learned the real cost of putting short term profit over safety and environmental protection. Indeed, despite plenty of screw-ups, the nuclear power systems have been remarkably safe since Three Mile Island, since the industry and government took steps to ensure that our operators are trained, qualified, and regulated.
The process of learning to operate safely and effectively in high consequence situations is described in a Department of Energy order 5480 and the process of teaching the formal methods that work is described in this example: Conduct of Operations Mentoring Strategy....
It's not rocket science, but the basic concepts apply here as well and whatever you think about drilling, we need to be serious about conducting high consequence operations safely where ever these operations occur. In a similar manner, the chemical industry world wide re-examined their operations after Bopal.
The fact that there are so many examples isn't comforting, but it does provide guidance when designing systems that must mitigate serious risks, both on the human side, and on the hardware side. One of the key lessons, is that managers who are unable to grasp the value of public confidence can wreck a companies value with one bad decision!
I wonder if it is the same sort of intellectual bubble cycle that has been discussed with respect to financial cycles, where the new crew think that they are "smarter" than the folks who did it "the old way", whose (short term) financial results are so much better than the more conservative folks who move just a bit slower.
It's more than just the push for short term profit, it's also the human hubris, the ego, the view that the planet's resources belong to the extraction industry.
My view is that the environment is the most important Commons, and the tragedy of the commons is the key lesson that our civilization must understand if we are to be viable.
See also:
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Mitigating global atmospheric CO2 increase requires that use of coal must be reduced. Current economic forecasts point to a major increase in coal burning as China and India grow their economies. According to stories in the Financial Times"Sparks fly as China's hunger for coal grows," China now uses about 3.3 billion tons of Coal every year, and this is expected to rise by a billion tons a year by 2030, with much of the increase purchased offshore.
Just to get an idea of the scale of the problem, to avoid the increase of a billion tons per year in imported coal to China would require replacing the coal power with 135 Gigawatt power facilities. It boils down to building 7 big power stations a year just to stay even, say 14 per year to make a dent.
If we build nuclear stations, the cost might be 10B each, so this could be a problem costing around 1.35 trillion. Big but not beyond consideration when you factor in the cost of continuing on the current path.
The rate of environmentally sustainable power generation construction is no where near making a dent in the growth of coal unless there is a major boost to this mode of power generation supported by flows of capital on the order of that now going to Coal.
The capital markets see the construction of facilities that can process hundreds of millions of tons of coal a year and major capital committed to distribution system improvements.
If climate change is to be mitigated by reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, time is short, and the capital that is now going into creating a coal flow from the ground into the atmosphere must be redirected to creating the new energy infrastructure.
Some incremental progress is being made with the development of wind power, but this has not been part of an integrated transmission/system operation/investment/WindGeneration program. Creation of a large scale program that would include the above along with research and an educational outreach program is an opportunity for government to help us work in a common, effective manner to implement prudent measures that would bring our economy into balance with the environment, and reduce dramatically our reliance on foreign oil and coal supplies.
The process of creating a new viable energy supply source capable of running a country sustainably has a time scale of decades which is unfortunately the same time scale for us to control CO2 emissions if we are to mitigate the heating now underway to a level below that which produces catastrophic consequences to our civilization.
Just to get an idea of the scale of the problem, to avoid the increase of a billion tons per year in imported coal to China would require replacing the coal power with 135 Gigawatt power facilities. It boils down to building 7 big power stations a year just to stay even, say 14 per year to make a dent.
If we build nuclear stations, the cost might be 10B each, so this could be a problem costing around 1.35 trillion. Big but not beyond consideration when you factor in the cost of continuing on the current path.
The rate of environmentally sustainable power generation construction is no where near making a dent in the growth of coal unless there is a major boost to this mode of power generation supported by flows of capital on the order of that now going to Coal.
The capital markets see the construction of facilities that can process hundreds of millions of tons of coal a year and major capital committed to distribution system improvements.
If climate change is to be mitigated by reducing CO2 in the atmosphere, time is short, and the capital that is now going into creating a coal flow from the ground into the atmosphere must be redirected to creating the new energy infrastructure.
Some incremental progress is being made with the development of wind power, but this has not been part of an integrated transmission/system operation/investment/WindGeneration program. Creation of a large scale program that would include the above along with research and an educational outreach program is an opportunity for government to help us work in a common, effective manner to implement prudent measures that would bring our economy into balance with the environment, and reduce dramatically our reliance on foreign oil and coal supplies.
The process of creating a new viable energy supply source capable of running a country sustainably has a time scale of decades which is unfortunately the same time scale for us to control CO2 emissions if we are to mitigate the heating now underway to a level below that which produces catastrophic consequences to our civilization.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Wide Area Wind Power Systems
One of the issues that concerns energy planners who are considering renewable energy system investments in wind power is that wind is notoriously variable and energy investors want base load systems that reliably produce predictable amounts of power. So wind systems in the past have relied upon supplemental power generation systems, most commonly coal fired systems. The need for the supplemental systems to even out the wind power during times when the wind dies adds significant cost to wind systems and reduces the sustainable benefits.
Recently published research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online by Willett Kempton, et. al, addressed this problem in a simple, clever way. The scientists consider systems that are very large and connected by smart transmission systems, systems larger than a typical weather system.
The researchers consider an example system that would produce tens of Gigawatts of power using off shore platform mounted wind systems conneted by a transmission system extending from Florida to Main. A review of meteorological data over a 5 year period shows that a synoptic system can have reliable base load characteristics with only a slowly varying capacity factor, mimizing the need for supplimentary base load generation capacity. The offshore wind power system spanning the entire Eastern seaboard could be a federal project and feasible from a political point of view since it would be out of the range of state regulators.
A key component is a 2500 mile power transmission system coonnecting a string of huge wind generation platforms. Such a system could replace a significant fraction of the coal plants now powering the cities along the Eastern margin of the country providing economical power and producing no new CO2. Of course building such a system would likely require a lot of fossil fuels and release a lot of CO2 before one watt of "sustainable power" could be produced.
Here is the paper that appeared at http://www.pnas.org/:
Electric power from offshore wind via synoptic-scale interconnection By Willett Kempton, Felipe M. Pimenta, Dana E. Veron, Brian A. Colle April 5, 2010 Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences
They propose the creation of a new Independent System Operator for a network of power stations located off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. spanning the distance from Florida to Maine and connected by a transmission cable system capable of moving power long distances, connected to the shore at several strategic locations. Such a system could serve population centers that now rely mainly on coal fired generation capacity, helping to counter global warming.
While the technical and financial challenges would be enormous, their imagination and creative thinking are just what is needed to bring our country into the new age, to keep our economy humming, and to create jobs. Many of the basic challenges have been addressed elsewhere, such as the Dutch use of offshore platforms for wind generation, or the use of long underwater power transmission systems.
Since the system would be offshore, individual states wouldn’t have jurisdiction and the federal government could create the new ISO and sponsor such a project. It would take a massive investment of capital, likely a combination of private and public capital, but such a project is exactly the sort of massive undertaking that only the government can undertake, and that could make a real difference in our lives for generations.
There is still much research that would need to be done to address the myrid of technical, project management and policy questions.
For example:
Large scale wind energy farms can affect weather. Authors assert but do not support the assertion that the effects from a synoptic wind power system would be more manageable and less severe than the global warming that would occur in the alternate “do nothing” case.
Other impacts such as affects on pelagic bird populations may be significant. Research needs to be done to devise ways to minimize bird kill. We must find active ways to warn or protect birds..
The ability of enormous wind generators on offshore platforms to withstand the forces generated as large hurricanes march up the chain of wind generation stations is an engineering accomplishment as yet undemonstrated. European systems point the way, and oil platform technology would certainly work.
The scale of the project would be enormous, the benefits on the same scale, and lasting for many generations. The cost would be enormous, on the order of a hundred twenty billion dollars. By harnessing the wind off shore, our dependence on oil would decrease although our need for a Navy would increase.
The synoptic wind system idea may find application in other parts of the world. This research took advantage of the data bouy system operated by NOAA which has a long term database of meterological data for offshore wind. Without such a compehensive database, it may be hard to do the modeling that would justify such a project, although once the concept is validated, its application elsewhere would be able to utilize other data such as satellite data, etc.
It takes a long time to realize such an idea, so the sooner we start, the sooner we can build our own energy independence.
Bruce Bagnoli
April 12, 2010
Additional open issues:
One of the issues that concerns energy planners who are considering renewable energy system investments in wind power is that wind is notoriously variable and energy investors want base load systems that reliably produce predictable amounts of power. So wind systems in the past have relied upon supplemental power generation systems, most commonly coal fired systems. The need for the supplemental systems to even out the wind power during times when the wind dies adds significant cost to wind systems and reduces the sustainable benefits.
Recently published research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online by Willett Kempton, et. al, addressed this problem in a simple, clever way. The scientists consider systems that are very large and connected by smart transmission systems, systems larger than a typical weather system.
The researchers consider an example system that would produce tens of Gigawatts of power using off shore platform mounted wind systems conneted by a transmission system extending from Florida to Main. A review of meteorological data over a 5 year period shows that a synoptic system can have reliable base load characteristics with only a slowly varying capacity factor, mimizing the need for supplimentary base load generation capacity. The offshore wind power system spanning the entire Eastern seaboard could be a federal project and feasible from a political point of view since it would be out of the range of state regulators.
A key component is a 2500 mile power transmission system coonnecting a string of huge wind generation platforms. Such a system could replace a significant fraction of the coal plants now powering the cities along the Eastern margin of the country providing economical power and producing no new CO2. Of course building such a system would likely require a lot of fossil fuels and release a lot of CO2 before one watt of "sustainable power" could be produced.
Here is the paper that appeared at http://www.pnas.org/:
Electric power from offshore wind via synoptic-scale interconnection By Willett Kempton, Felipe M. Pimenta, Dana E. Veron, Brian A. Colle April 5, 2010 Proceedings of the National Acadamy of Sciences
They propose the creation of a new Independent System Operator for a network of power stations located off the Atlantic coast of the U.S. spanning the distance from Florida to Maine and connected by a transmission cable system capable of moving power long distances, connected to the shore at several strategic locations. Such a system could serve population centers that now rely mainly on coal fired generation capacity, helping to counter global warming.
While the technical and financial challenges would be enormous, their imagination and creative thinking are just what is needed to bring our country into the new age, to keep our economy humming, and to create jobs. Many of the basic challenges have been addressed elsewhere, such as the Dutch use of offshore platforms for wind generation, or the use of long underwater power transmission systems.
Since the system would be offshore, individual states wouldn’t have jurisdiction and the federal government could create the new ISO and sponsor such a project. It would take a massive investment of capital, likely a combination of private and public capital, but such a project is exactly the sort of massive undertaking that only the government can undertake, and that could make a real difference in our lives for generations.
There is still much research that would need to be done to address the myrid of technical, project management and policy questions.
For example:
Large scale wind energy farms can affect weather. Authors assert but do not support the assertion that the effects from a synoptic wind power system would be more manageable and less severe than the global warming that would occur in the alternate “do nothing” case.
Other impacts such as affects on pelagic bird populations may be significant. Research needs to be done to devise ways to minimize bird kill. We must find active ways to warn or protect birds..
The ability of enormous wind generators on offshore platforms to withstand the forces generated as large hurricanes march up the chain of wind generation stations is an engineering accomplishment as yet undemonstrated. European systems point the way, and oil platform technology would certainly work.
The scale of the project would be enormous, the benefits on the same scale, and lasting for many generations. The cost would be enormous, on the order of a hundred twenty billion dollars. By harnessing the wind off shore, our dependence on oil would decrease although our need for a Navy would increase.
The synoptic wind system idea may find application in other parts of the world. This research took advantage of the data bouy system operated by NOAA which has a long term database of meterological data for offshore wind. Without such a compehensive database, it may be hard to do the modeling that would justify such a project, although once the concept is validated, its application elsewhere would be able to utilize other data such as satellite data, etc.
It takes a long time to realize such an idea, so the sooner we start, the sooner we can build our own energy independence.
Bruce Bagnoli
April 12, 2010
Additional open issues:
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Inertia, distraction, and those factors that slow us down. One for me is the anxiety that can come on like a thunderstorm when I'm in contact with the chaos that we live amidst all the time. Most of the time, the "reality" that I'm living with is the mundane, the reassuring routine that cracks open sometimes to expose the terrifying forces swirling around us.
Recently when the Chile earthquake happened, my brother in law phoned to warn us that there was a Tsunami warning for our region. He was a few time zones earlier, thought we might not be awake to find out. Very considerate. We phoned friends who were a few time zones further on.
The folks that we warned called later to thank us for the consideration, and that brought the news that a couple of 40 years together were separated by the wife's death and the memorial was the next day. Sad news, but the consideration broke through the isolation and brought some love when most needed to the survivor. One of the others who connected with us shared that they were selling the house and moving back to the West Coast, giving up their dream of living right on the coast of Hawaii.....I mean these folks live 10' above the ocean near Hilo, right at the edge of the lava---great view but not the place to be if there had been a Tsunami as was experienced along the Chilean shores...We are thankful for the warninig, even if the Tsunami was small in Hilo---
So the consideration and love for friends is what patched up the rip in the "normal", it's what makes it worthwhile to go through this. When we remember just how precious our time together is, maybe it helps to moderate the little angers, the little dissapointments, and the big fears that lie just beyond.
Recently when the Chile earthquake happened, my brother in law phoned to warn us that there was a Tsunami warning for our region. He was a few time zones earlier, thought we might not be awake to find out. Very considerate. We phoned friends who were a few time zones further on.
The folks that we warned called later to thank us for the consideration, and that brought the news that a couple of 40 years together were separated by the wife's death and the memorial was the next day. Sad news, but the consideration broke through the isolation and brought some love when most needed to the survivor. One of the others who connected with us shared that they were selling the house and moving back to the West Coast, giving up their dream of living right on the coast of Hawaii.....I mean these folks live 10' above the ocean near Hilo, right at the edge of the lava---great view but not the place to be if there had been a Tsunami as was experienced along the Chilean shores...We are thankful for the warninig, even if the Tsunami was small in Hilo---
So the consideration and love for friends is what patched up the rip in the "normal", it's what makes it worthwhile to go through this. When we remember just how precious our time together is, maybe it helps to moderate the little angers, the little dissapointments, and the big fears that lie just beyond.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Molecular Farming
is all about producing specific molecules from plants, using genetic modification techniques. It's about directed evolution, using a plant to express a gene that may come from another organism. It's a new term to me, though I've been interested in the field for decades.
The idea of expressing genes that may have come from other organisms in plants is not new, but the capacity to overcome some of the "natural" barriers to such a move are recent discoveries.
I'm enjoying reading "Plastid production of protein antibiotics against pneumonia via a new strategy for high-level expression of antimicrobial proteins: . Since I'm not a molecular biologist, it takes me a while to understand this paper, lots of looking up unfamiliar techniques and terms. Fun to learn, as I do know a fair amount about some of the science underlying this work.
Here is the reference to the paper, it is available for free.
PNAS vol. 106 No. 16 6579-6584 by Ralph Bock, et al
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/03/27/0813146106.full.pdf
Researchers in Germany took a few genes from a phage that infects the bacteria causing bacterial Pneumonia, put them into e.coli for amplification, then using a toxin shuttle, they blasted them into chloroplasts and then reproduced the plants. In short, they have a new route to produce antibiotics.
The novel idea was to make the injected genes in such a way that the e.coli didn't completely express the genes. Without this "stop" in the gene replication, the phage gene that produces the chemical that kills the pneumonia will also kill the e.coli....but with the modification, the e.coli bacteria produces many clones of the gene that can then be passed on to the plant.
Injecting the amplified genetic material into plant plastids put them into a different environment and they then express the gene. This strategy takes advantage of the differences between bacteria and higher plants.
At the same time, before it becomes medicine, there is a lot of work to do. The understanding of how to take this path and the skills to carry out each step technically require the highest level of understanding and scientific laboratory support. Nevertheless, once the tough work is done in the lab, it is likely that the farm could produce tons of product. Continued agricultural practice is not without special technical issues such as how long a pure "high-expression" plant could last outside the lab. It is possible that this could completely change the economics of certain pharmaceutical substances.
While there is no way to know if this line of work is going to result in a medically useful product, it would be smart to invest in the basic scientific research that underlies these processes, and to develop the technology to extend the capability.
Awesome research, such a privilege to be alive and to encounter such work!
is all about producing specific molecules from plants, using genetic modification techniques. It's about directed evolution, using a plant to express a gene that may come from another organism. It's a new term to me, though I've been interested in the field for decades.
The idea of expressing genes that may have come from other organisms in plants is not new, but the capacity to overcome some of the "natural" barriers to such a move are recent discoveries.
I'm enjoying reading "Plastid production of protein antibiotics against pneumonia via a new strategy for high-level expression of antimicrobial proteins: . Since I'm not a molecular biologist, it takes me a while to understand this paper, lots of looking up unfamiliar techniques and terms. Fun to learn, as I do know a fair amount about some of the science underlying this work.
Here is the reference to the paper, it is available for free.
PNAS vol. 106 No. 16 6579-6584 by Ralph Bock, et al
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/03/27/0813146106.full.pdf
Researchers in Germany took a few genes from a phage that infects the bacteria causing bacterial Pneumonia, put them into e.coli for amplification, then using a toxin shuttle, they blasted them into chloroplasts and then reproduced the plants. In short, they have a new route to produce antibiotics.
The novel idea was to make the injected genes in such a way that the e.coli didn't completely express the genes. Without this "stop" in the gene replication, the phage gene that produces the chemical that kills the pneumonia will also kill the e.coli....but with the modification, the e.coli bacteria produces many clones of the gene that can then be passed on to the plant.
Injecting the amplified genetic material into plant plastids put them into a different environment and they then express the gene. This strategy takes advantage of the differences between bacteria and higher plants.
At the same time, before it becomes medicine, there is a lot of work to do. The understanding of how to take this path and the skills to carry out each step technically require the highest level of understanding and scientific laboratory support. Nevertheless, once the tough work is done in the lab, it is likely that the farm could produce tons of product. Continued agricultural practice is not without special technical issues such as how long a pure "high-expression" plant could last outside the lab. It is possible that this could completely change the economics of certain pharmaceutical substances.
While there is no way to know if this line of work is going to result in a medically useful product, it would be smart to invest in the basic scientific research that underlies these processes, and to develop the technology to extend the capability.
Awesome research, such a privilege to be alive and to encounter such work!
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