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CRU Email Hack and "Climategate"

There has been a great deal of chatter in blogs on both politics and climate science regarding emails and scientific data stolen from a university computer serving the Climate Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia. The stolen material can be found in many places on the internet at this point, and relatively few scientists have managed to find time to read them or address the issues involved. The most balanced and thoughtful discussions can be found in the posts by Gavin Schmidt at Real Climate.

My only comment at this point is that all scientists need to be concerned about our privacy and confidentiality privileges both as citizens and professional researchers. It is particularly offensive to hear a sitting United States Senator promoting this sort of thievery and promising to hold a Senate hearing in which the stolen material will be aired and relied upon to trample upon the rights of university professors and government scientists here in the United States.

Earthquake on South Island, NZ

An earthquake occurred at 9:22 PM (9:22 AM GMT) on the evening of Wednesday, July 16th in the Fiordland region of southern New Zealand. At this writing , the earthquake's moment magnitude is reported as 7.6 by the USGS but as 7.8 by the New Zealand's Institute of Nuclear and Geological Sciences. Fiordland is near the southern tip of South Island, where the Australian Plate moves to the northeast at a rate of 35-45 mm/yr relative to the Pacific plate. The yellow area in the above "beach ball" pattern shows the predominantly eastward component of the current thrust within the northeastward plate movement.

The tremor lasted at least a minute and was felt as a rolling motion across New Zealand's South Island, according to the BBC. New Zealand issued a tsunami warning for a string of its coastal towns and cities, but later cancelled it. A tsunami was detected in the Tasman Sea, heading towards the southeast coast of Australia. About an hour after a tsunami warning was issued, Australian officials downgraded it to a "small boat alert" and there was little or no evidence for coastal flooding as a result of the quake.

Schistosome gene sequence decoded

Schistosomes are parasitic flatworms responsible for diseases variously referred to as schistosomiasis or bilharzia. These diseases occur throughout the tropics, particularly in areas adjacent to still or slow-moving water. The life cycle of the schistosome parasites includes a stint of residence inside a freshwater snail. The initial symptoms of schistosomiasis include fever, fatigue, rashes, and eye infections, but the disease can progress to cause internal bleeding, organ failure, and eventually death. I developed schistosomiasis myself as an eight year old boy, after my family returned to the United States from Nigeria.

Dr. Matt Berriman, of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is quoted by the BBC saying that gene sequencing "provides a foundation for understanding aspects of the parasite's complex biology as well as a vehicle to immediately identify new targets for drug treatment." According to fellow researcher Dr Najib El-Sayed, of the University of Maryland, "the genome sequence has given us, for the first time, a comprehensive view of the engines that drive the parasite, the strategies that allow it to survive in us, its human host.

I know that treatments for schistosomiasis had already progressed far beyond what I was subjected to as a child. It is exciting to hear of these new potential treatments, and the genetics of these organisms may also yield clues about how to manage tropical environments to more effectively control the parasite.

Geoscientists arrested in Brazil

Three graduate students from the United States were arrested while conducting fieldwork in the Pantanal region of western Brazil. Two Brazilian students were arrested at the same time, and the entire team had studied and trained at the University of Arizona under Andy Cohen. I am still reading up on this myself, but there is a petition up for us all to sign at the Arizona Geology blog. I came across the news originally in a post by Chuck at Lounge of the Lab Lemming, one of the ten (10) blogs which I just selected to award an "Excellent Blog" award to.

P.S. An earlier post on the Arizona Geology blog indicated that the students were released but are going to have to stand trial in Brazil. According to an article in USA Today authored by Andrea Stone, the students could be stuck in Brazil for months.

Apple's Newest Gadget - The Wheel!

COAL SLUDGE CONTAMINATION IN TENNESSEE

Appalachian State University environmental scientists report on their measurement of heavy metal concentrations in the vicinity of the Kingston Fossil Plant along the Emory River in Tennessee. Sludge ponds at the plant spilled into the river when a dam broke. Contaminants are now getting into the river water which is used as a drinking water source downstream. Natural springs and groundwater aquifers may also become contaminated.

Saxby smacks the camera

Senator Saxby Chambliss had something to do with that sugar storage silo that blew up in Savannah. I guess that he was keeping the federal inspectors away. At any rate, he clearly does not want attention paid to the lawsuits while he is in the final days of his reelection bid.

Biodiesel made locally

Local Atlanta entrepreneur and musician Rob del Bueno's company Refuel Biodiesel is featured in a CNN special report. A video in which Rob answers the question "What is biodiesel?" can be streamed online.

Double-dipping Educators

At my university and many others in Georgia, retired faculty are allowed to continue teaching and receive some salary after they begin taking their pensions. For many universities, this has been an excellent mechanism to maintain academic standards in spite of belt tightening by state government. Some abuses have occurred, however, and the policy has come under attack recently in both Florida and Massachusetts.

I fear that the cures being proposed for the abuses will be worse than the disease. On the other hand, I would like to see universities hiring young dynamic faculty rather than making do with dead wood who are trying to supplement their pensions. On balance, I believe that most educators are in this business to impart knowledge. The "double-dipping" that I know about provides senior faculty with a mere pittance of what they made as full-time tenured faculty. We are lucky to have most of them around. At Valdosta State University, in particular, they provide continuity and enhance the university's reputation for quality undergraduate teaching.

Generate Power from Natural Gas at Drill Sites!

The flaring of natural gas from oil drilling rigs in Nigeria has been criticized repeatedly on this blog as well as by Imnakoya, Solomonsydelle, Sara Mosher, Ed Kashi, and other bloggers. Now there is a possible solution, at least for the gas that is being flared from rigs operating onshore.

Natural gas rides on top of liquid petroleum in natural reservoirs and must be burned or "flared" in order for the petroleum to be extracted safely. According to Mr. Jeff Herbach, a San Francisco IT consultant, many drilling rigs actually do use natural gas ‘as-is’ to power small electric generators on site. The one pictured above is made by Capstone Turbines. Although the generators are specifically built for use on oil-drilling installations, there is no reason not to use them in Nigeria to generate electricity for the small local communities around the oil wells.

Mr. Herbach was prompted to write a note to author Ed Kashi after hearing a radio interview about his new book, The Curse of the Black Gold. I hope to find time to read this soon, but I will recommend it anyway to anyone reading this post.

Water from Air?

Israeli president Ehud Olmert is shown above with Michael Zwebner and other executives at Air-Water Corporation in Miami Beach. The big piece of equipment on the floor supposedly "makes" water from air by condensation. As the company website explains, water does condense from atmospheric water vapor naturally in the hydrologic cycle. However, I cannot imagine that these units can actually condense the volumes of water which are claimed.

There is a one patent posted which appears to describe the unit above -

A portable water purification and collection system includes a cabinet member having an interior chamber defined by a plurality of side walls, one of which has a vent thereon. Received within the interior chamber and adjacent the vent is a fan for inducing air flow from the atmosphere to the cabinet interior. Between the fan and the vent is an electrostatic air filter for removing particulates from the air as well as a condenser for producing condensate therefrom. The resulting condensate drips into a collection reservoir and then to an ultraviolet light unit that destroys microorganisms within the condensate. From the ultraviolet light unit, the condensate flows to a main reservoir from which it may be dispensed to an external container via a spigot mounted to a cabinet side wall.

Olmert has been involved in other shady business dealings in the United States, receiving substantial campaign contributions from indicted financier Morris Talansky. Muckraking and "indy" journalists are claiming that Air Water Corporation is simply a "penny stock" scheme in which there is really no marketable product and investors are being duped. Stories about the Air Water units have nonetheless been widely reported by Reuters, StreetInsider, SmallCapWatch, and other reputable sources of investment news. If this is a con, it is clearly a successful one. It remains to be seen whether Ehud Olmert is in on the con, is being duped, or is merely profiting off of an innovative solution to the global water crisis.

Phoenix studies soil on Mars

The unmanned Phoenix rover has generated results that convince even skeptics like myself that Mars does have soil. Mildly alkaline (pH range from 8-9) and containing both water vapor and carbon dioxide gas, the material shown on the scoop in the above photograph should certainly be "capable of supporting plants out of doors."

There is even a snazzy video to please the masses. Now all we need to find out is whether the soil has in fact supported plants, microbes, or other critters at some point in the past.

Let's Get Rough!

Optimized for harsh environments, the new RuffBook Tech is designed to work where conventional laptops have failed. It has a water resistant keyboard which can handle spilled liquids as well as solid material of the sort shown in the photograph above. The casing is made of a magnesium alloy which is 20 times harder than the plastics used for conventional laptops.

Under the hood there is an ultra low power consumption Intel Core Duo 1.73GHz processor, 512MB DDR RAM, 60GB Shock-mounted Hard Drive, and a CD-RW/DVD+RW (DVD Dual) Drive. The RuffBook Tech has state-of-the-art 14.1" non-glare TFT LCD screen and up to 224MB shared video memory that provides for vibrant images, both indoors and outdoors. Behind the display is the ultimate wireless technology (802.11 b/g) for true speed and wireless accessibility.

If you are a "thinking" blogger, then you might be able to win a new Ruffbook Tech in the Big Giveaway running through December 20th. All that you have to do is write about this computer in your blog. Hurry up, though. I got here ahead of you, and I do play rough!

Valdosta State University

I received word a little after noon today that I have a one-year temporary teaching position at Valdosta State University. Located on I-75 in Valdosta, a city of over 40,000 people, the university serves the southernmost parts of the state of Georgia. The university's profile in the Chronicle of Higher Education highlights its "168 acre campus serving an area stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Alabama state line, containing 31% of the land area of the state." Valdosta State is actually outgrowing its urban campus, with an enrollment of 10,888 in the fall of 2006, including 1399 graduate students. This represents a substantial increase from the enrollment of 9,300 reported in the Chronicle profile. Forty-eight states and 50 countries were represented in the student body, and small class sizes are mentioned as a priority.

Although I will be carrying a heavy teaching load at relatively low pay, the department has promised to open a tenure-track position for 2008-2009 and give my application priority as long as I manage to publish and obtain external funding. Those things are indeed happening for me, so look for some of that news here in coming weeks as well. I will have to move down to Valdosta from Athens between now and August 1st.

Closing of SREL?

On Tuesday, July 17th, new hearings were begun in congress about why the Department of Energy (DOE) has made a decision to withdraw funding for the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory (SREL). A previous blog entry here and an earlier entry on Reed Cartwright's blog, De Rerum Natura, explored the petty politics at DOE and the University of Georgia which are threatening this world-reknowned scientific laboratory.

Tuesday's hearing of the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee and the Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Technology were cut short because a key DOE official, Clay Sell, had a scheduling conflict. Two scientists, Ward Whicker of Colorado State University and Jerald Schnoor of the University of Iowa, testified to the research accomplished by SREL scientists working at the Savannah River Site. A passionate speech in support of SREL was also delivered by Congressman John Barrow (D-GA), who is not a member of this committee. Congressmen Brad Miller (D-NC) chaired the hearings and was particularly impressive for his handling of minority procedural objections by James Sensenbrenner (R - WI). Congressman Nick Lampson (D-TX) has also carried water on this issue and made pointed remarks about the obstruction of congressional inquiry by both DOE and Republican politicians. The entire hearing is being streamed as a video on the committee's webpage.

In addition to statements and questioning of DOE officials, the forthcoming hearing in August will feature the testimony of former SREL director Paul Bertsch. Dr. Bertsch resigned in June as director of SREL, and there are rumors that both the DOE and university president Michael Adams were behind his resignation. The laboratory remains open with reduced funding, committed to the completion of research by graduate students caught in the middle of degree programs.

R.I.P. Don Herbert ("Mr. Wizard")

Don Herbert ("Mr. Wizard") died on Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 89.

While convalescing at home in May with the multiple myeloma which killed him, Mr Wizard gave one final interview to Wired News. Here are some of my favorite parts of the interview:

WN: What was the highlight of your career?

Herbert: One of the many highlights was realizing the tremendous effect the Watch Mr. Wizard show had on the mass national audience. After all, we did not tape in front of an audience and the early years were live, kinescope, shows. We didn't get instant feedback.

WN: What advice would you give to the makers of science television programming?

Herbert: Science is about the real world around us and it's filled with fascinating wonders...

Wired News: What advice would you give to the next generation of science educators?

Herbert: To keep a hands-on approach to teaching science and always keep the student involved.

Speaking of science educators, the state of Georgia today announced an action plan to increase the numbers of both students pursuing an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and teachers prepared to teach courses in these fields in the public schools. In 2006, the 19 teacher-preparation institutions in the University System of Georgia (USG) produced a total of three high-school physics teachers. University System officials are not satisfied with this low number in view of the rapid economic development in the state and projected needs for scientists, engineers, and doctors.

Breathy Diagnosis - Researchers at ETH Zurich, Switzerland have devised a simple and rapid method for analysing both volatile and non-volatile compounds in breath as it is exhaled. Breath "fingerprints" were identified for a healthy male Asian subject before and after eating cheese. Using the same techniques, the researchers have also identified fingerprints for beer, tobacco, and garlic.

I really need to brush my teeth more often.