Comments on: Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/ Random samplings from a universe of ideas. Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:09:16 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Fresh Air From Gore - Asymptotia http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5316 Fresh Air From Gore - Asymptotia Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:32:42 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5316 [...] You know, the last few weeks (with, e.g., Bush sort of admitting in his state of the union address there may be a bit of a problem to address, the launch by GM of plans to develop the Volt electric car, the overall increased level of serious and informed environmental discussion in the media, and the recent strong announcement from the science community, etc) have made me a bit less discouraged about things in this area, I must say. Let’s hope this momentum is maintained and increased. [...] [...] You know, the last few weeks (with, e.g., Bush sort of admitting in his state of the union address there may be a bit of a problem to address, the launch by GM of plans to develop the Volt electric car, the overall increased level of serious and informed environmental discussion in the media, and the recent strong announcement from the science community, etc) have made me a bit less discouraged about things in this area, I must say. Let’s hope this momentum is maintained and increased. [...]

]]> By: It is Just Me, Or…? | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5313 It is Just Me, Or…? | Cosmic Variance Tue, 31 Jan 2006 01:31:19 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5313 [...] The reason this all makes me a bit sick to the stomach is that as a civilization, we are spending such a relatively tiny amount of money on research into alternative fuel sources to oil. We are knowingly essentially ignoring all of the things that informed commenters (see here) have told us to prepare for. How are we ever going to stop this craziness, this gluttony, and look to the future? Why are we not looking out for our children’s future, and the future of their children? It’s all so depressing. [...] [...] The reason this all makes me a bit sick to the stomach is that as a civilization, we are spending such a relatively tiny amount of money on research into alternative fuel sources to oil. We are knowingly essentially ignoring all of the things that informed commenters (see here) have told us to prepare for. How are we ever going to stop this craziness, this gluttony, and look to the future? Why are we not looking out for our children’s future, and the future of their children? It’s all so depressing. [...]

]]> By: Word crisis | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5315 Word crisis | Cosmic Variance Mon, 23 Jan 2006 16:59:59 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5315 [...] Forget about Peak Oil, here’s the real looming crisis: we’re running out of new words. Do you realize how hard it is, in our hyperactive age, to come up with a word that hasn’t already been invented for some purpose or another? Surely we’ve all had the experience of mistyping a word into Google and nevertheless hitting a handful of results. So as a little experiment, I made up some strings of letters that sounded like they could be words, checked in the dictionary that none of them actually exists as a conventional English word, and asked Google to go look for them. Here’s how many hits I got. [...] [...] Forget about Peak Oil, here’s the real looming crisis: we’re running out of new words. Do you realize how hard it is, in our hyperactive age, to come up with a word that hasn’t already been invented for some purpose or another? Surely we’ve all had the experience of mistyping a word into Google and nevertheless hitting a handful of results. So as a little experiment, I made up some strings of letters that sounded like they could be words, checked in the dictionary that none of them actually exists as a conventional English word, and asked Google to go look for them. Here’s how many hits I got. [...]

]]> By: Erich J. Knight http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5314 Erich J. Knight Tue, 10 Jan 2006 21:06:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5314 Dear Folks: I am glad to see the interest in Vincent Page's presentation in other forums, (Below Is an excerpt) He quotes costs and time to development as ten million, and years verses the many decades projected for ITER and other "Big" science efforts: "for larger plant sizes Time to small-scale Cost to achieve net if the small-scale Concept Description net energy production energy concept works: Koloc Spherical Plasma: 10 years(time frame), $25 million (cost), 80%(chance of success) Field Reversed Configuration: 8 years $75 million 60% Plasma Focus: 6 years $18 million 80% Desirable Fusion Reactor Qualities • Research & development is also needed in the area of computing power. • Many fusion researchers of necessity still use MHD theory to validate their designs. • MHD theory assumes perfect diamagnetism and perfect conductance. • These qualities may not always exist in the real world, particularly during continuous operation. • More computing power is needed to allow use of a more realistic validation theory such as the Vlasov equations. • ORNL is in the process of adding some impressive computing power. • Researchers now need to develop more realistic validation methods up to the limits of the available computing power. • Governments need to fund these efforts." I feel in light of the recent findings of neutrons, x-rays, and gamma rays in lightening, that these threads need to be brought together in an article. You may have seen my efforts with my "Manhattan Project" article, which got published on Sci-Scoop but rejected on Slashdot. (I've tried posting it on OSEN but for some reason I can't log in.) About a year ago, I came across EPS while researching nano-tech and efficient home design. I started a correspondence Clint Seward, Eric Learner, and Paul Kolac, sending them science news links which I felt were either supportive or contradictory to their work. I also asked them to critique each other's approaches. I have posted these emails to numerous physics and science forums. Discussion groups, science journalists, and other academics, trying to foster discussion, attention, and hopefully some concessus on the validity of these proposed technologies. My efforts have born some fruit. Clint and Joe Dwyer at FIT have been in consultation on Clint's current charge transport theory for cloud to ground lightening. I have had several replies from editors, producers, and journalists expressing interest. From organizations as varied as PBS, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, New Energy News, the Guardian (U.K), and the San Francisco Chronicle. However, none of this professional interest has resulted in a story yet. I have been responding to all of the articles that filter in via my Google alerts on "fusion power". The most recent was the "Happy News" article by Kris Metaverso. http://www.happynews.com/news/112220...ependently.htm This post is a plea to the science writers among you to craft a story covering aneutronic fusion, the P-B11 efforts, Eric's high temperatures and x-ray source project, Clint's lightening theories, and DOD review, and Paul's review by GE. The minimal cost and time frame for even the possibility of this leap forward seems criminal not to pursue. If you read my Manhattan article, you may have noticed that I am not a writer. I am a landscape designer and technology gadfly wondering why this technology has never been put in the public eye. My hope is that someone, more skilled, would step up to give a shout out about these technologies. Please contact me for copies of my correspondence with the principles, interesting replies and criticisms from physics discussion forums and academic physicists who have replied to my queries. Thanks for any help Dear Folks:

I am glad to see the interest in Vincent Page’s presentation in other forums, (Below Is an excerpt) He quotes costs and time to development as ten million, and years verses the many decades projected for ITER and other “Big” science efforts:

“for larger plant sizes
Time to small-scale Cost to achieve net if the small-scale
Concept Description net energy production energy concept works:
Koloc Spherical Plasma: 10 years(time frame), $25 million (cost), 80%(chance of success)
Field Reversed Configuration: 8 years $75 million 60%
Plasma Focus: 6 years $18 million 80%

Desirable Fusion Reactor Qualities
• Research & development is also needed in
the area of computing power.
• Many fusion researchers of necessity still
use MHD theory to validate their designs.
• MHD theory assumes perfect diamagnetism
and perfect conductance.
• These qualities may not always exist in the
real world, particularly during continuous operation.
• More computing power is needed to allow use of a more realistic validation theory
such as the Vlasov equations.
• ORNL is in the process of adding some impressive computing power.
• Researchers now need to develop more realistic validation methods up to the
limits of the available computing power.
• Governments need to fund these efforts.”

I feel in light of the recent findings of neutrons, x-rays, and gamma rays in lightening, that these threads need to be brought together in an article.

You may have seen my efforts with my “Manhattan Project” article, which got published on Sci-Scoop but rejected on Slashdot. (I’ve tried posting it on OSEN but for some reason I can’t log in.)

About a year ago, I came across EPS while researching nano-tech and efficient home design. I started a correspondence Clint Seward, Eric Learner, and Paul Kolac, sending them science news links which I felt were either supportive or contradictory to their work. I also asked them to critique each other’s approaches. I have posted these emails to numerous physics and science forums. Discussion groups, science journalists, and other academics, trying to foster discussion, attention, and hopefully some concessus on the validity of these proposed technologies.
My efforts have born some fruit. Clint and Joe Dwyer at FIT have been in consultation on Clint’s current charge transport theory for cloud to ground lightening.
I have had several replies from editors, producers, and journalists expressing interest. From organizations as varied as PBS, Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, New Energy News, the Guardian (U.K), and the San Francisco Chronicle. However, none of this professional interest has resulted in a story yet.

I have been responding to all of the articles that filter in via my Google alerts on “fusion power”. The most recent was the “Happy News” article by Kris Metaverso.
http://www.happynews.com/news/112220…ependently.htm

This post is a plea to the science writers among you to craft a story covering aneutronic fusion, the P-B11 efforts, Eric’s high temperatures and x-ray source project, Clint’s lightening theories, and DOD review, and Paul’s review by GE. The minimal cost and time frame for even the possibility of this leap forward seems criminal not to pursue. If you read my Manhattan article, you may have noticed that I am not a writer. I am a landscape designer and technology gadfly wondering why this technology has never been put in the public eye.
My hope is that someone, more skilled, would step up to give a shout out about these technologies. Please contact me for copies of my correspondence with the principles, interesting replies and criticisms from physics discussion forums and academic physicists who have replied to my queries.

Thanks for any help

]]> By: Understanding, Not Fear | Cosmic Variance http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5312 Understanding, Not Fear | Cosmic Variance Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:58:33 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5312 [...] This is the banner quote in the excellent article entitled “Green to the core? How I tried to stop worrying and love nuclear power”, by Judith Lewis in this week’s LA Weekly. In view of the issues I mentioned in my article about energy a while ago, this is very interesting reading, since it seems that there may be a huge reinvestment in nuclear energy in our near future. In case you don’t know (and most people don’t), here in the USA there is nuclear energy in our present in a big way. 20% of the electricity we use is generated in this manner. Pretty much all the stations generating this energy are rather old, and -with the growing realization (or at least suspicion)- that we cannot continue to distort the environment by burning fossil fuels (in fact, it looks like we must stop urgently), the political (and other) will is beginning to change, and since nobody really wants to try something truly radical (such as a massive investment in research into solar power, as Nathan Lewis argues - convincingly, in my opnion), the nuclear issue is on the table again. [...] [...] This is the banner quote in the excellent article entitled “Green to the core? How I tried to stop worrying and love nuclear power”, by Judith Lewis in this week’s LA Weekly. In view of the issues I mentioned in my article about energy a while ago, this is very interesting reading, since it seems that there may be a huge reinvestment in nuclear energy in our near future. In case you don’t know (and most people don’t), here in the USA there is nuclear energy in our present in a big way. 20% of the electricity we use is generated in this manner. Pretty much all the stations generating this energy are rather old, and -with the growing realization (or at least suspicion)- that we cannot continue to distort the environment by burning fossil fuels (in fact, it looks like we must stop urgently), the political (and other) will is beginning to change, and since nobody really wants to try something truly radical (such as a massive investment in research into solar power, as Nathan Lewis argues – convincingly, in my opnion), the nuclear issue is on the table again. [...]

]]> By: Erich J. Knight http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5311 Erich J. Knight Wed, 09 Nov 2005 04:29:18 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5311 You will see that my inquiries and correspondence with the principles involved have lead to collaborations, and hopefully will lead to more attention and funding to these efforts. Here's an updated version of my article. If you know any plasma or atmospheric physicist I would love to have their take on the fusion section. The new lightning research I feel is most supportive. Thanks for any help Science Forums - A New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy http://www.scienceforums.com/earth-science/3665-a-new-manhattan-project-clean-energy.html You will see that my inquiries and correspondence with the principles
involved have lead to collaborations, and hopefully will lead to more
attention and funding to these efforts.

Here’s an updated version of my article. If you know any plasma or
atmospheric physicist I would love to have their take on the fusion
section. The new lightning research I feel is most supportive. Thanks
for any help

Science Forums – A New Manhattan Project for Clean Energy

http://www.scienceforums.com/earth-science/3665-a-new-manhattan-project-clean-energy.html

]]> By: Quantum Mirror http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5310 Quantum Mirror Wed, 26 Oct 2005 17:19:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5310 A result of the recent melting of ice in the Arctic and global warming will result in a situation that is more dangerous than a planet killer meteor or comet. The destabilization of methane hydrates caused the Permian extinction and another at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), when methane burps caused rapid warming and massive die-offs, disrupting the climate for more than 100,000 years. This makes Biblical disasters look like a walk in the park and is three orders of magnitude more likely than a meteor strike. Has anyone considered particles of reflective material between here and the sun? I stumbled on this problem while studying the Permian extinction. This is not a scientific link but sums up the problem quite well. http://www.energybulletin.net/3647.html A result of the recent melting of ice in the Arctic and global warming will result in a situation that is more dangerous than a planet killer meteor or comet. The destabilization of methane hydrates caused the Permian extinction and another at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), when methane burps caused rapid warming and massive die-offs, disrupting the climate for more than 100,000 years. This makes Biblical disasters look like a walk in the park and is three orders of magnitude more likely than a meteor strike. Has anyone considered particles of reflective material between here and the sun? I stumbled on this problem while studying the Permian extinction. This is not a scientific link but sums up the problem quite well.

http://www.energybulletin.net/3647.html

]]> By: Cassandra http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5309 Cassandra Tue, 25 Oct 2005 17:37:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5309 While it's admirable to clean up the fisheries, to actually have a commercial harvest we'll still need to burn gas just to go out and catch the fish. I haven't seen a sail power fishing vessel turn profit since the 1950s. With the rather limited self life of fresh fish more pollution ensues to transport them to a buyer before they become putrid. While it’s admirable to clean up the fisheries, to actually have a commercial harvest we’ll still need to burn gas just to go out and catch the fish. I haven’t seen a sail power fishing vessel turn profit since the 1950s. With the rather limited self life of fresh fish more pollution ensues to transport them to a buyer before they become putrid.

]]> By: Robert D. Reed http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5308 Robert D. Reed Mon, 24 Oct 2005 22:33:42 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5308 "One thing that I didn't see mentioned much (and yes, I did look at the slides): energy efficiency. Improving energy efficiency may not be a long term solution to the problem, but I think there are a lot of easy gains there." You can say that again. I cut my personal home power consumption by about 40%, and I'm nowhere near going back to the 19th century. Not even breathing hard. What Bucky Fuller said about "ephemeralization" has really come true. On a wider scale- the world needs to begin restoring it's riverine, riparian, and ocean fisheries if we're ever going to lift the burden of petro-agriculture that is presently required for protein condensation. 57% of American corn is used as feed for livestock. And the corn crop is dependent on petrochemical fertilizers. Reference: http://thephillyoildrum.blogspot.com/2005/10/peak-corn-as-wal-mart-shifts-from.html Disgraceful. And then, the livestock pens foul the rivers...that depletes the anadramous fisheries resources, like the striped bass fisheries in the rivers of North Carolina and Virginia. Madness. Fisheries resources are like free food, compared to agriculture and factory livestock pens. Just maintain the river flows, keep the water clean and the spawning beds clear, and harvest. It's a turnkey operation. “One thing that I didn’t see mentioned much (and yes, I did look at the slides): energy efficiency. Improving energy efficiency may not be a long term solution to the problem, but I think there are a lot of easy gains there.”

You can say that again.

I cut my personal home power consumption by about 40%, and I’m nowhere near going back to the 19th century. Not even breathing hard.

What Bucky Fuller said about “ephemeralization” has really come true.

On a wider scale- the world needs to begin restoring it’s riverine, riparian, and ocean fisheries if we’re ever going to lift the burden of petro-agriculture that is presently required for protein condensation.

57% of American corn is used as feed for livestock. And the corn crop is dependent on petrochemical fertilizers. Reference: http://thephillyoildrum.blogspot.com/2005/10/peak-corn-as-wal-mart-shifts-from.html

Disgraceful.

And then, the livestock pens foul the rivers…that depletes the anadramous fisheries resources, like the striped bass fisheries in the rivers of North Carolina and Virginia.

Madness. Fisheries resources are like free food, compared to agriculture and factory livestock pens. Just maintain the river flows, keep the water clean and the spawning beds clear, and harvest. It’s a turnkey operation.

]]> By: Clifford http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/comment-page-1/#comment-5307 Clifford Wed, 19 Oct 2005 01:12:15 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/cosmicvariance/2005/10/14/be-afraid-be-very-afraid/#comment-5307 Right. Sorry if I misunderstood. Cheers, -cvj Right. Sorry if I misunderstood.

Cheers,

-cvj

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