Samwise rides again

From Wikipedia …

In 1998, the archaeologist B.J. Coles identified as “Doggerland” the now-drowned habitable and huntable lands in the coastal plain that was formed in the North Sea when sea level dropped. Doggerland has not caught the popular imagination, but the terrain was available for settlement. Its gentle swells remain as the Dogger Banks. Paleolithic reindeer hunters roamed the land; some traces of their encampments have been identified, but the timing of the submergence has not been fixed. The region was watered by the glacial River Rhine, into which flowed the River Thames as a tributary; the combined river flowed into the North Sea, permitting access to Britain by large mammals and humans.

… and from the brilliant StrangeMaps …

“If the extensive schemes for the drainage of North Sea are carried out according to the plan illustrated above, which was conceived by a group of eminent English scientists, 100,000 square miles will be added to the overcrowded continents of Europe. The reclaimed land will be walled in with enormous dykes, similar to the Netherland dykes, to protect it from the sea, and the various rivers flowing into the North Sea will have their courses diverted to different outlets by means of canals.”

… and, there is even a map …

There are few things I enjoy more than returning back to Hilo after being away, even for a short time. It’s easy to lose ones appreciation of it, when it is all you see all the time.

The word on the streets is that O’Keefe and Sons Bakery is shutting up shop on Thursday, the cost of shipping flour from the mainland has become too expensive to make ends meet. I have no real sympathy for Jim O’Keefe, but the bakery is the one thing he seemed to have done right and it will be a real shame to see it go, however it does open up the market for some entrepreneur to overcome the logistical problems. The combined food and oil crises will hopefully provide plenty of motivation and opportunity.

Not sure what we are to do for bread now, make our own I guess.

While waiting for my room to be ready the other day I spotted an unusual article about a vegan body builder, so I thought I might share it in case anyone was interested as it is rather unusual.

http://www.veganbodybuilding.com/

http://www.veganbodybuilding.org/

And you wonder why Popeye eats spinach ?

Shlomo just hip’d me to Zero Waste Kaua’i, not really looked at it much yet, but I felt the little I have seen I should give them the plug anyway. Spending time in British Columbia recently has got me a bit pissed at the poor recycling facilities here in Hilo, and Hawai’i state, it’s not that we don’t have them or that people aren’t into recycling, but it isn’t made easy in such simple ways as separate recycling bins in public areas. Having said that, BC could do with some of the biodegradable stuff we have here like corn or potato starch forks, pots or trays. Maybe a little exchange of ideas is called for.

Exciting news from the Record …

Daniel Burd’s project won the top prize at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Ottawa. He came back with a long list of awards, including a $10,000 prize, a $20,000 scholarship, and recognition that he has found a practical way to help the environment.

He knew plastic does eventually degrade, and figured microorganisms must be behind it. His goal was to isolate the microorganisms that can break down plastic — not an easy task because they don’t exist in high numbers in nature.

First, he ground plastic bags into a powder. Next, he used ordinary household chemicals, yeast and tap water to create a solution that would encourage microbe growth. To that, he added the plastic powder and dirt. Then the solution sat in a shaker at 30 degrees.

After three months of upping the concentration of plastic-eating microbes, Burd filtered out the remaining plastic powder and put his bacterial culture into three flasks with strips of plastic cut from grocery bags. As a control, he also added plastic to flasks containing boiled and therefore dead bacterial culture.

Six weeks later, he weighed the strips of plastic. The control strips were the same. But the ones that had been in the live bacterial culture weighed an average of 17 per cent less.

That wasn’t good enough for Burd. To identify the bacteria in his culture, he let them grow on agar plates and found he had four types of microbes. He tested those on more plastic strips and found only the second was capable of significant plastic degradation.

Next, Burd tried mixing his most effective strain with the others. He found strains one and two together produced a 32 per cent weight loss in his plastic strips. His theory is strain one helps strain two reproduce.

Tests to identify the strains found strain two was Sphingomonas bacteria and the helper was Pseudomonas.

A researcher in Ireland has found Pseudomonas is capable of degrading polystyrene

Next, Burd tested his strains’ effectiveness at different temperatures, concentrations and with the addition of sodium acetate as a ready source of carbon to help bacteria grow.

At 37 degrees and optimal bacterial concentration, with a bit of sodium acetate thrown in, Burd achieved 43 per cent degradation within six weeks.

The plastic he fished out then was visibly clearer and more brittle, and Burd guesses after six more weeks, it would be gone. He hasn’t tried that yet.

To see if his process would work on a larger scale, he tried it with five or six whole bags in a bucket with the bacterial culture. That worked too.

Industrial application should be easy, said Burd. “All you need is a fermenter . . . your growth medium, your microbes and your plastic bags.”

The inputs are cheap, maintaining the required temperature takes little energy because microbes produce heat as they work, and the only outputs are water and tiny levels of carbon dioxide — each microbe produces only 0.01 per cent of its own infinitesimal weight in carbon dioxide

Ireland, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Melbourne, China, Israel, and several countries in Africa have all banned or severely taxed plastic bags in order to reduce their impact, and combined with decomposing the bags which are already out there this could be a big step in the right direction. My main concern is that if it becomes possible to decompose bags, bag production will increase.

One of the things I like about the decomposition technique is that it was initially done in the home, which is quite a low-tech solution, though I guess it counts as nanotech. Maybe in a couple of years it will be possible to go to the store and buy a little sachet of bacteria and do your decomposition at home.

My only other concern is what sort of effect breeding large number of plastic eating bacteria would have, as there would be larger amounts than would have occurred naturally, though my initial thought is that it is a lot less devastating than the plastic bag problem in the long term.

The binary ape has entered local politics *gasp*

I’m standing as a candidate in the May 2008 local authority elections, in the Manchester City Centre ward. I’m the Green Party candidate.

If you are registered to vote in the Manchester City Centre ward, I encourage you to go and vote for him, partly because I have found him to be a smart and reasonable man, partly because he’s the kind of upstanding citizen rarely found in politics, partly because you should be voting Green rather than any other colour and deep down you know it, and partly because there is photographic evidence that he once had hair which would make for a great political scandal, well it’s the best I can come up with and I have known him a while.

The Vog is currently pretty dense, Kīlauea apparently emits around two thousand tons of vog every year, but at the moment it is pumping out so much that they have had to close off access to one of the craters.

Vog is made up of huge amounts of Sulphur Dioxide and thus Sulphuric Acid and trace amounts of selenium, mercury, arsenic, and iridium amongst others, floating in the air for us to breathe.

It hasn’t rained here much recently either, which would flush it out of the air, and it is quite sunny which becomes quite blinding as the air in some places is almost white.

A couple of my computers are, at the moment, not making it to the firmware prompt, which is quite worrying. From experience I am fairly confident that they will begin to work again shortly as if nothing happened, I am wondering if the the failure to boot and the vog are not unconnected. In the case of my Mac, it fails to POST claiming not to find any good RAM banks after testing, however I have had problems before relating to the bus where by the machine was fine, except it could not see the hardisk or the super-drive.

I’ve also wondered if the vog does not increase the chances of whiskers growing, not knowing enough about whiskers and their effect I could not say for certain, NASA have a page describing them. Of course whiskers are not required for the sorts of problems I am currently seeing with my computers.

Health is definatly effected by the Vog, I have recently become aware that many recurring symptoms are actually more acute at the moment, and that these are all common when Vog is quite dense. This is slightly reassuring that I do not have hypochondria, but is not so reassuring when you realise just how dangerous the effects of Vog exposure are and permanent damage can result.

KonaWeb have a list of ten things you can do :

Ten things YOU can do to lessen adverse health effects of VOG
First, it is important to note that individuals may have a wide range of sensitivity to VOG.

1. Drink lots of fluids to loosen mucus and clear lungs. Hot tea may be especially good. (Caffeinated teas also contain theophyliine - a bronchial dilator, further, both of these materials also help the clearance of the lungs).

2. Don’t overexert yourself when VOG levels are high. Even better, take it easy.

3. If practical, avoid high VOG areas during times of thick VOG.

4. Avoid exposure to other air pollutants on the job and at home. Consult your doctor, or if possible, a toxicologist or an industrial hygienist.

5. Don’t smoke and avoid people smoking or burning trash, especially during VOG episodes.

6. When VOG is strong, avoid contact with colds, flu, molds, mildew, pollen, and dust. (Some of the lung clearance and immune functions could be compromised by high VOG.)

7. For very high VOG, stay indoors, close the windows, and run an air purifier or air conditioner. Indoor plants (especially spider plants) may help clean the air. You also can try hanging up sheets that have been soaked In a mixture of one teaspoon of baking soda to one liter of water (which can help trap acid aerosols and gases.)

8. Keep any respiratory and heart medications you use handy. Consult your doctor.

9. Respirators or wet handkerchiefs may help if VOG levels are very high, but may hurt individuals with pre-existing respiratory or heart ailments, due to increased breathing resistance and, therefore, increased stress. Consult your doctor about your state of health, and consult an industrial hygienist about respirators.

10. Get some baseline lung function tests (after breathing “clean” air one week or more), then get retested if/when breathing becomes more difficult during high VOG episodes. Have your doctor keep records of both your lung function and approximate VOG levels.

VOG “generally” worsens with altitude - sea level being better than higher altitudes - up to the 6000 ft. level. Above 6000 ft. VOG begins to diminish rapidly.

How to Estimate the Current Vog Levels

A simple way to judge the vog level is to look at the horizon where the ocean and sky are visable.

Vog Levels:

* Extreme: Very reduced visability, no visible horizon. Blue/grey tint to objects a mile or less in distance.

* Heavy: Reduced visability, horizon barely visible. Blue/grey tint to objects 3 miles away.

* Moderate: Horizon is blurry. Blue/grey tint to objects 5 miles away.

* Light Horizon is almost sharp. Blue/grey tint to objects 10 miles away.

* No Vog Sharp horizon and little haze to distant objects

Recognize that YOU are your own best VOG indicator. Pay attention to symptoms your body exhibits and take steps to minimize VOG if you are highly susceptable. VOG is monitored by the health department, and a RELATIVE VOG INDEX can be reached by dialing:
(808) 885-7143.

UPDATE : So it started raining this afternoon, only light rain, but rain all the same, and … my computer seems to be working again, could just be synchronicity, could be the first piece of evidence, who knows, but I can now update my iPod.

The Trib ran a story on the vog today, it included some of the advice printed above, some of my colleagues were mocking the advice on hot tea claiming it bad science. They could be right, but as not one of us is a medic, and we do not know where this advice originated, it could be anecdotal or it could be the-real-tabasco, we just don’t know ( though personally I drink hot tea all the time and still suffer, but maybe statistically I am less affected. )

My computer works, who cares.

UPDATE : Had I read my own post, and I did, I would have put in the last update that black tea contains theophyliine which is a bronchial dilator. This does not prove it’s effects against Vog exposure, but still a step toward real science. Apparently theophyliine can be effective in the treatment of chronic asthma in adults.

UPDATE : Well the rain did not last long, and within a few hours my computer died again, though shortly after it charged my iPod which is very interesting. It is sunny and Voggy again today.

UPDATE : So I hadn’t given this much thought in the last month or so, but recently the volcano has been putting out huge amounts of gas which translates to really bad vog, but it has been blowing over towards Kona and so it has been really clear here. Woke up this morning and the wind has obviously changed directions as there was the densest vog I have seen this far, in some parts on the way to work I could really smell it too, and guess what … ? … that’s right my computer refused to start, which is tantamount to proof, well, I mean, it isn’t, but it is a good way towards it, it would require a much better evidence of a causal link to disprove it at the moment.

http://chilepepperinstitute.org/

From Aunty …

The Dutch government is banning the sale of all magic mushrooms after a series of high-profile incidents involving tourists who had taken them.

Tourists, eh ?

Figures.

The Netherlands is famed for its liberal drugs policy, with marijuana openly sold in licensed cafes.

Magic mushrooms, more properly known as psilocybe, contain the psychedelic chemicals psilocybin and psilocin.

The psychedelic mushrooms found natively in the UK are known as Liberty Caps.

Currently in the Netherlands the sale of dried magic mushrooms - in which the psychoactive chemicals psilocybin and psilocin are stronger - is banned but fresh mushrooms are allowed.

This is because it is more difficult to ascertain how much of the chemicals fresh mushrooms contain.

Calls for a re-evaluation of the drug grew after a 17-year-old French girl jumped from a building after eating magic mushrooms during a school trip to Amsterdam in March.

Other incidents involving the drug have included an Icelandic tourist jumping from a balcony and breaking both legs and a Danish tourist driving his car wildly through a camping ground, narrowly missing sleeping campers.

“It’s a shame, the media really blew this up into a big issue,” said Chloe Collette, owner of the FullMoon shop, which sells magic mushrooms in Amsterdam.

She said all the incidents had involved magic mushrooms in conjunction with other drugs.

Mixing drugs generally skews the picture of the problem, for example many deaths attributed to MDMA are largely not caused by MDMA at all, but as a result of something else the user has taken. MDMA however makes a better headline.

Users of fresh mushrooms experience effects ranging from giggling fits and intensification of colours, lights and sounds to, more rarely, hallucinations. Negative effects can include vomiting, and anxiety.

As always, responsibility and maturity are the order of the day.

The earth is alive
You have been lucky, thus
Sleep with one eye open

As reported by Brad, we are all on high alert about the possible arrival of Hurricane Flossie, no relation to my cell-mate, who I don’t think finds the comparison funny regardless how many people point it out, and quite right too.

However last night while watching Doctor Who … ¡ ¡ E A R T H Q U A K E ! ! … stick the caps lock on, put in as many !’s as possible.

I am a very happy chappy, having missed the big one last year I have been waiting for another good one for a while, and it wasn’t too bad, few aftershocks, and it went on long enough that I started to become concerned, precariously balanced items fell, great stuff.

The last big earthquake to hit the Big Island caused a huge storm far more devastating than the earthquake itself, so I am curious wether or not a storm will be caused by this one and meet with the hurricane, kicking-it-up-a-notch. Sorry, apparently I got the expression “kick-it-up-a-notch” from the side of a pasta sauce jar.

Either way, it is considered serious enough that I am being sent home from work at 11:30, the office is expected to be open tomorrow unless we hear otherwise, though tomorrow may be worse. I am ill prepared for a severe hurricane. It’s funny actually, I tried to do some shopping after work yesterday and everywhere I went the queues were horrendous, didn’t occur to me at the time that people were stocking up. Of course, I say it’s funny, now.

I do however know that my neighbours have plenty of booze, but I ran out of tea last night, well I say I ran out, I have herbal teas left by many well wishers, so for all intents and purposes I have no tea, however I am well stocked up on Marmite and Vegemite.

More details to follow ….

UPDATE : I was looking at the satellite pictures and it looks as if Flossie will be closer to the islands tomorrow and Thursday than it will be today, it also is larger than the entire state of Hawai’i. Apparently it is a Force 4 hurricane according to the front page headlines of one of the local papers.

UPDATE : 1:48pm : “Still just a potato”

UPDATE : 2:57pm : 0.1 on the Horsemen-of-the-Apocalypse scale.

UPDATE : 4:55pm : what sort of rubbish is this ?

UPDATE : 9:43pm : so I’m going to leave this now unless something actually happens. Hurricane Flossie has been largely unimpressive so far, and I think it’s pretty much pau. I know the schools are closed tomorrow, and many people are off work. There is still the possibility that we will be off but I doubt that, still I think it may be a skeleton crew like today as those who live out of town will be disinclined to make the journey in. We shall see. Regardless, if memory serves both our telescopes are closed, though I have heard rumour some others are looking to open, not knowing much about such things all I can say is it’s probably just being optimistic as it’s generally quite crappy up there at the moment.

UPDATE : 10:04pm : Yeah, right at the end of the animation from UKIRT’s webcam I saw a car going up, didn’t look nice up there. Good luck to them.

UPDATE : 10:10pm : Haha ! there is seriously, like one frame in the middle of that animation that is blue sky, idillyc, where the wind blows out the clouds, every other frame is thick fog and rain. Oh dear.

UPDATE : Well that pretty much is it, incredibly disappointing after so much promise, one and a half inches of rain instead of five to ten, wind speeds of up to … *gasp* … 45 knots. However the hype has already meant that many businesses are closed, schools are closed, non-”operationally essential” state workers are off, which sort of means a lot of other places are closed also, Friday is a public holiday, everyone is stocked up on essentials, and probably plenty of non-essentials after panic buying. In retrospect it’s all seems a bit mad, however if a Hurricane like that had hit Hawai’i full-on, I get the feeling somewhere like Hilo would just be devastated. I wonder however if, and this is purely hypothetical, wild speculation, but I wonder if the earthquake from the other night may have caused enough change in the weather to dissipate the hurricane, possible but probably improbable. I have a book somewhere ….

UPDATE : It just keeps coming …

from NOAA …

A TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS ISSUED FOR THE STATE OF HAWAII EFFECTIVE AT 0220 PM HST.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 0141 PM HST 15 AUG 2007
COORDINATES - 13.5 SOUTH 76.7 WEST
LOCATION - NEAR COAST OF PERU
MAGNITUDE - 7.9 MOMENT

EVALUATION

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS ISSUED AN EXPANDING
REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH FOR PARTS OF THE PACIFIC
LOCATED CLOSER TO THE EARTHQUAKE. AN EVALUATION OF THE PACIFIC
WIDE TSUNAMI THREAT IS UNDERWAY AND THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT
HAWAII COULD BE ELEVATED TO A WATCH OR WARNING STATUS.

IF TSUNAMI WAVES IMPACT HAWAII THEIR ESTIMATED EARLIEST ARRIVAL TIME IS

0214 AM HST THU 16 AUG 2007

All caps, gotta love it.

UPDATE : More of the same …

THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER HAS CANCELLED THE REGIONAL TSUNAMI WARNING AND WATCH IT ISSUED FOR OTHER PARTS OF THE PACIFIC. BASED ON ALL AVAILABLE DATA THERE IS NO DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI THREAT TO HAWAII AND THE ADVISORY FOR HAWAII IS ALSO ENDED.
HOWEVER… SOME COASTAL AREAS IN HAWAII COULD EXPERIENCE SMALL NON-DESTRUCTIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND STRONG OR UNUSUAL CURRENTS LASTING UP TO SEVERAL HOURS. THE ESTIMATED TIME SUCH EFFECTS MIGHT BEGIN IS 0214 AM HST THU 16 AUG 2007 THIS WILL BE THE FINAL MESSAGE ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS ADDITIONAL DATA ARE RECEIVED.

UPDATE : Earthquake woke me up last night, only a 3.8 apparently, thought I’d dreamt it. There was one the night before too, measuring 4.4, but I must have slpet through that one, or it was really short.