Category: Science

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Brain-Computer Interface is Arriving

With every email or text message I type on the soft keyboard of my smart phone (which happens to be an iPhone), I desire more and more to have an interface that instantly transcribes my thoughts into the message that I want to send. Dictating the message to Siri is welcomed relief, but the myriad and random errors that this Apple speech-to-text algorithm makes only partially eliminate the need to correct bizarre typing errors.

Advances toward such a brain-computer-interface, or BCI, are not coming from the company touted by the pasty South African solar reflector, but from Synchron, an Australian company that reports remarkable success in enabling severely disabled subjects to perform basic tasks on a smartphone or tablet, two devices that will confer substantial ability and independence to people who can not move any limbs. The IEEE Fixing the Future podcast features an incisive and insightful interview with the founder of the company. This episode is a very worthwhile listen because of the clarity with which the problem and the neurological reasoning behind the solution are presented. These insights enable one to navigate the space and to separate the hype from real progress. Furthermore, there is a beautiful delineation of the ethical ways in which one must approach an admirable and inspiring path that is loaded with innumerable ethical and moral landmines. These are the subtleties that are assuredly omitted by the hype machine.

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The Proper Context for Oppenheimer

If you plan to watch Oppenheimer, then be sure to watch this absolute gem of a documentary, which features many interviews with the Nobel Laureates who worked under Oppenheimer during The Manhattan Project, to have the proper context. For my money, there is nothing more valuable than the original source, even it is a bunch of really lovable old men.

Pay close attention to the fact that Leslie Groves ignored all the gossip around Oppenheimer and fought to assign him as the leader of the project. This critical decision by a legendary general and even more legendary manager is a beacon for our time: the character and capabilities of people are infinitely more important than their perceived politics. Groves was perhaps the greatest judge of character.

Peripherally, the documentarty revives the ultimate debate between which is harder, science or engineering. All the scientists interviewed in this film agree that the atomic bomb was conceptually simple, and its realization was a matter of mere engineering. Who wants to dive in?

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How Much Chemical Exposure Is Too Much?

The presence of PFOS, the so-called forever chemicals that find use in critical applications like nonstick cookware and fire fighting chemicals, are finally being noted as improved quantification methods become available. This study is perhaps the first of its kind quantifying both the presence the persistence of PFOS in the human body. This is no measure of the harm it may be causing to Australian firefighters, but it poses the giant question of whether firefighter pay sufficiently covers their service as guinea pigs in toxicology studies of new chemicals.

Elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and elevated detection frequency of chloro-substituted PFOS have been reported in Australian firefighters with historical exposure to aqueous-film forming foam (AFFF). The aim of this study is to estimate the apparent half-lives of Cl–PFOS and PFOS isomers in firefighters following the end of exposure to 3M-AFFF. Paired serum samples from 120 firefighters, collected approximately five years apart, were analyzed for 8-Cl–PFOS (8-chloroperfluoro-1-octanesulfonic acid) and PFOS isomers via targeted LC–MS/MS. Apparent half-life was estimated by assuming a first order-elimination model. Cl–PFOS was detected in 93% of all initial serum samples (<LOQ–1.09 ng/mL). The average half-life of Cl–PFOS among the firefighters was 5.0 years. Branched PFOS isomers made up 55% of the total isomer concentration at the initial sampling timepoint. Five years later, the proportion of branched PFOS isomers was greater (65%). The longest average half-life (11.5 years) was estimated for “1m-PFOS”. Other isomers had average half-lives ranging from 4.0 to 7.5 years. Marked differences in half-lives between PFOS isomers suggest that the elimination rate of “total PFOS” (sum of all PFOS isomers) is non-linear. This is the first study to report the serum concentrations and apparent half-life of Cl–PFOS in humans.

Source: Apparent Half-Lives of Chlorinated-Perfluorooctane Sulfonate and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate Isomers in Aviation Firefighters | Environmental Science & Technology

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Cherry Blossoms and Global Warming

It is astonishing that records of when cherry trees bloom in Japan goes as far back as the ninth century. It is more astonishing that they agree with every other measure of global warming, down to the onset about 200 years ago with the start of the industrial revolution. With this much confidence in the measurement, why is there so much hesitation to act?

Records of the peak of the Japanese cherry tree blooms data back 1200 years, surprisingly, and demonstrate yet again that plant has changed since the start of the industrial revolution.

The early peak is thought to be linked to climate change as spring temperatures rise.

Source: Japan’s cherry blossom ‘earliest peak since 812’

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Another Historical Survey of Earth’s Atmosphere Rings Alarm Bells

The total lack of attention and imagination with which climate “skeptics”–contrarians, in truth–greet monumental scientific studies that repeatedly demonstrate that grave danger lies ahead must be remedied. The AIP (American Institute of Physics) provides a fairly comprehensive historical review of the discovery of the greenhouse effect, linked in the sidebar to the right. The findings of over a century and a half of scientific research continue to be corroborated by new advanced methods and by re-evaluation of the fossil record, such as the one reported in the article linked below.

Once again, the historical record unambiguously points to a catastrophe on the horizon. In this instance, the reevaluation of the Smithsonian’s fossil record shows that we are hurtling toward another geologic period without polar ice caps. A true skeptic would advocate contingency planning for a catastrophe that has a high probability of occurring, regardless of cause. Unfortunately, our world is impeded by contrarians whose lack of scientific literacy is coupled not with goodwill toward mankind but with short term political ambition. This outcome runs contrary to the political exigency of making long-term solutions for evolving problems. Whether the private sector can sufficiently insure itself against the predictions of global warming is an open question.

Historically, the only reason government exists is that the private sector lacks the resources and the discipline to insure itself against such large-scale catastrophes. Do we want to risk our existence to test the hypothesis that government is no longer needed?

  • Survey of the Smithsonian’s fossil record sheds light on the earth’s temperature fluctuations as far back as 500 million years.

Smithsonian’s revamped fossil hall prompts a look into Earth’s hot past

Source: A 500-million-year survey of Earth’s climate reveals dire warning for humanity | Science | AAAS

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Scientists Calling Bullshit on Misleading Energy Stats

The author of this piece may have been well advised to refrain from making dubious claims in the magazine of the one of the most venerated engineering societies on the planet. Although Vaclav Smil’s bona fides in the area of energy are impressive, his publication of highly dubious statistics remain elusive. He is a researcher firmly entrenched in the petroleum industry. Consequently, he should not have been surprised that the brilliant members of the IEEE would call him out on his veiled and specious defense of the fossil fuel industry.

The best part of the story, however, is the simple fact that academic and professional societies remain great bastions of open and brutally honest discourse. Science and engineering are not for the faint of heart. If you can’t stand having your bullshit called out, then get out of the field. As professor emeritus, Smil may have elected an unceremonious exit. At least, that’s what he seems to indicate in his response to the long list of complaints about his post: out of 10s of comments that point out errors in his analysis, he acknowledges the only one that defends his dubious claims with a bogus link.

Source: Germany’s Energiewende, 20 Years Later – IEEE Spectrum

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CoViD-19 Recurrences Temper Hopes for Vaccine Efficacy

Reinfections give scientists clues about how long protection lasts—and how well vaccines might perform

It has been only one year since CoViD-19 was identified as a new, deadly disease. Despite the vast troves of information learned since, the landscape of molecular biology, epidemiology and especially physiology of this disease largely remains terra incognita: large, isolated areas of the landscape have been charted, and the research now focuses on elucidating how they articulate.

Recurrence of COVID-19 in the same patient is one such conundrum. It seems to be a case of incomplete or ephemeral immune response in some patients, and the obvious question arises as to whether immunization will provide a universally strong and persistent enough response to eradicate the disease. Irrational exuberance doesn’t permeate the stock market alone, but, alas, it does serve politicians well.

Source: More people are getting COVID-19 twice, suggesting immunity wanes quickly in some

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The Long Term Costs of CoViD-19 Keep Rising

At 8 months, we are still in the early stages of the pandemic. As such, the data are still equivocal. Nevertheless, the preponderance of evidence indicating a high incidence of persistent and debilitating symptoms for months after infection is growing. The effects on the heat and nervous system are particularly alarming.

This threat is casually growing like a hidden malignancy under the cover of the spreading pandemic itself. The responsibility for everyone to act to slow this pandemic has never been greater or graver.

— Read on www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/07/brain-fog-heart-damage-covid-19-s-lingering-problems-alarm-scientists

From ‘brain fog’ to heart damage, COVID-19’s lingering problems alarm scientists | Science | AAAS

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The End of Chemical Weapons

World is safer with Utah chemical stockpile gone, Army commander says | The Salt Lake Tribune

It’s hard to believe, but there is good news out there. At least, there was two months ago when I cam across this article. The efforts to eliminate chemical weapons according to the Chemical Weapons Convention treaty to which the United States became a signatory in 1997.

This particular facility in Utah is but one facility in which chemical weapon stockpiles were destroyed, and the numbers are quite staggering:

Since the Utah plant burned its first GB nerve agent-filled rocket on Aug. 22, 1996, it has destroyed more than 1.1 million munitions containing 13,617 tons of chemical agent, said Ted Ryba, the Army’s site project manager, who has worked at the depot throughout the incinerator’s life.

Wikipedia claims that as of July, 2010, approximately 60% of the known stockpiles had been destroyed. The above story is dated January of 2012. It will be interesting to know how much that percentage has increased.

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Being Green in Death

BBC News – New body ‘liquefaction’ unit unveiled in Florida funeral home

A Scottish company has refined–revived, if we want to be sarcastic–an old method for disposing of corpses: dissolving them in caustic solution. Why? They claim that this method of disposing of the deceased has a smaller carbon footprint than the infernal flames of cremation. It’s a claim that is hard to believe and even more difficult to digest or to undertake, as it were. 

Once the corpse has been liquified, what will they do with it? Flush it down the toilet? Feed it to plants? The former would be a desirable means for survivors who hate you to exact a form of revenge. The latter actually sounds like fun. I wouldn’t mind becoming fertilizer in death. It might be my only act of creating life.