Showing posts with label Research and Discovery. Show all posts

Monday, March 4, 2019

Have You Ever Heard A Song About Personalized Medicine? Here Is A Scientist Singing A Song.

Just coming off of the holidays over two months ago, the image above is still fresh in our minds. Of course, the next major holiday is probably not winter but sunshine -- Summer. The thoughts of beaches and sun blazing down on the water while surfing, swimming, or just straight chillin' on the beach. My point is that when I mention a scientist singing a song, the above picture is a common place to project that image. But what about in a rock band? Or a music band in general? Not common right? Wrong.

You would be surprised at the amount of scientists who also are associated with a musical instrument or an art project/hobby. Scientists are notorious for engaging in artistry of some sorts -- whether that be from playing in a band or painting a picture to designing the next generation of skin care make up. Art plays a prominent (although scientists may not like to admit this fact) role in science.

With all of this being said, the Director of the National Institutes of Health recently was interviewed in an article titled "For Scientists About to Rock (We Salute You)" to discuss his next love to science -- which is making music:

Science and music are closely connected. Says Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH): “Whether you’re working with another person or a whole team of people who have different skills, different dreams and different aspirations and you put them together, you create something magical. Science does that and so does music.”

Collins, a physician-geneticist, is noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes and his leadership of the international Human Genome Project, which culminated in April 2003 with the completion of a finished sequence of the human DNA instruction book. He served as director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the NIH from 1993 to 2008. He was appointed the 16th NIH director by President Barack Obama and was confirmed by the Senate in 2009.

When Collins came to the NIH, he was concerned that his passion for music would take a backseat to science. He soon learned about The Directors, a band consisting of former NIH senior staff. The name changed to the Affordable Rock ‘n’ Roll Act (ARRA) and everyone at the NIH is welcome to join.

The name’s not political. It stems from being affordable, “since we don’t get paid for performing,” Collins said.

To read the remainder of the article - click here. Dr. Francis Collins is a multifaceted kind of man. He is engaged in all sorts of activities ranging from playing in music bands to practicing christianity. Yes, Dr. Collins is a christian. This comes as a great surprise to most scientists who meet or interact with Dr. Collins. Typically, the thought is at odds with conventional science, but Dr. Collins states not so obvious.

The spectrum of scientists is wide and all encompassing. In fact, there are more religious people than the non-scientist might expect in science. Although, most do not speak out in favor of religion for fear of professional disqualification. Yes, that would be highly illegal, but the reality is that is the truth. Great scientists such as Dr. Collins manage to live in both realms without any difficulty or controversy. Anyone can view Dr. Collins 'CV' -- Curriculum Vitae here.

Back to his true passion of singing. Below is a song written by Dr. Francis Collins about 'Personalized Medicine':

For those who do not have the bandwidth to listen to the song, I show the transcript below for you to read:

00:05 I put these here just in case well Susan

00:13 can be blamed for this because she

00:17 suggested that you all were of the sort

00:19 that might actually adjust to a little

00:22 bit of foolish singing at the end and

00:24 that's the only kind of singing I do so

00:27 so uh this is a song about the future

00:31 personalized medicine remember I said

00:37 that thousand dollar genome is coming

00:39 pretty soon and that means each of you

00:42 each of you will have the chance maybe

00:44 in the next five or six years to have

00:46 your entire genome read out all six

00:49 billion of those letters of your DNA

00:51 code and then you'll have to figure out

00:54 what it means and that's a bit of a

00:57 challenge a few people have already gone

00:59 through this experience and they've been

01:01 a little flummoxed

01:02 trying to make sense of the data well we

01:05 will all be so this is a song that you

01:08 could imagine yourself having just

01:10 received your genome basically you're

01:14 sitting in front of your computer you're

01:16 sort of scrolling through the pages and

01:19 what do you see a lot of AC GMT in

01:23 various orders and trying to figure out

01:25 exactly what does this mean so this is

01:29 your song and I need a little help on

01:31 one part of this song because it goes up

01:35 to a high C sharp that's a little

01:38 outside my normal range you will you

01:41 will feel it coming and and you will

01:45 help me I sure hope anyway you'll know

01:48 what you have to do

01:50 so here's the song of looking at your

01:52 genome as I walk along the pages in all

02:00 six billion places upon my computer

02:05 screen am I built for strong endurance

02:13 or loss of life insurance am i a mere

02:19 machine

02:23 I'm a walking through the genes don't

02:27 know what all this means

02:30 again the meeting be behind that gmt and

02:36 i want to help me out

02:42 why why why why why you've got an a I've

02:48 got a see there what does that say

02:54 amazing DNA at EDD

03:11 so I'm glad to know I've got some of

03:15 what Crick and Watson found and brought

03:20 them say use your own imagination

03:28 despite variation we're really much the

03:33 same

03:34 I will walk in through the genes don't

03:40 know what all this means

03:42 Oh what can the meaning be behind that

03:47 G&T; I wonder why why why why why why

03:58 you've got a G I've got a see there what

04:03 does that say

04:06 amazing DNA a dee dee dee dee da dee dee

04:12 DNA a DDD DNA

04:37 you

Wow! As I just stated, the spectrum of scientists is wide and all encompassing. All types of people in life do science. In addition, all types of people make up scientists. If you take a look at Dr. Collins long and successful career, you will notice the extent (a large amount) he has pushed the edge of research. Currently, he is the director of the National Institutes of Health.

The song above is about a current enormous project called "All of Us" by the National Institutes of Health. A few months ago, I wrote a blog post about the unveiling of the enormous program which aims to push the medical field toward precision medicine. Precision medicine stands to hone in on individual treatments by teasing out individual differences in treatment/diagnosis, disease pathology. Why do people have different forms of cancer? What is attributed to these differences in medical diagnosis? What is the difference between two patients with a seemingly similar form of cancer? Is the cancer the same or different? How do the treatment of both patients differ?

Medicine is moving along a trajectory which is exciting and will reveal new medicine in the future. We need as many different types of people engaging in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields to help further science. On the patient side, the "All of Us" trial needs as many volunteers as possible to expand the diversity in disease treatment and diagnosis. This will require different people (ethnic, gender, cultural, etc.) participating as volunteers along with a highly diverse group of scientists processing the trial and gathering the data. This is a time of celebrating the differences among us, not just as scientists but as human beings.

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Thursday, February 28, 2019

Hurricane Maria Destroys Puerto Rico's Science Programs Then Presents Unusual Research Opportunities?

Source: Union of Concerned Scientists

The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria is still being revealed nearly a year and a half after the storm ripped through the island. Of course, anyone who has lived through a disaster like this will tell you that the island will probably never recover. Not to mention that the loss of life can never be replaced. With that being said, any community (or island) must find the courage to recover and re-establish life as it were if possible.

Under normal conditions, agencies such as FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) would provide sufficient funds to help the island start the journey toward recovery. Unfortunately, we do not live in normal conditions at the current moment under the current administration. Funding agencies are being stressed beyond reach for existing funds and when this occurs, areas like scientific research usually suffer the most.

How Did Maria Impact Science?

At the very least, the lightest impact (which actually may not be true due to PTSD), the lab members may undergo treatment to make sure that there are no residual medical issues after a storm has hit the island. Of course, if you have no laboratory staff: graduate students, undergraduate students, postdoc's, professional researchers -- then you have no lab. Meaning, all the best equipment can occupy the lab, but without scientists to run and monitor the instruments, then there is no lab.

The second critical component of any scientific laboratory are the scientific instruments and infrastructure in which these along with the supplies (beakers, tubing, cell cultures, glove boxes, etc.) needed to conduct good/sound science. This is sometimes the perceived most critical component of any scientific laboratory. Although, I would argue that the scientists which occupy any laboratory are the most critical components to any scientific instruments. I have yet to see any scientific instrument just start collecting data by itself without any scientist's intervention/initiation.

A recent article in 'The Scientist' titled "Science in Puerto Rico Still Recovering After Hurricane Maria" details some of the disastrous consequences to a scientific laboratory after a storm of a magnitude such as Hurricane Maria. The human damage alone can be irreplaceable not to mention the buildings and local municipal utility grid. And when the destruction to the infrastructure is considered, parameters such as mold and water damage can set a laboratory recovery back several months to years:

Giray’s lab is among 14 or so in the Julio Garcia Diaz biology building, which was among those severely damaged, particularly as it was already undergoing roof repairs when the storm hit. Water seeped in through the roof and windows, damaging costly research equipment, furniture, and lab materials. Toxic mold thrived in the moist, hot climate, creating hazardous conditions that made the building uninhabitable. Power outages cut off researchers’ freezers and fridges, destroying precious genetic and tissue samples for good. The damages are estimated to range from $250,000 up to $2.5 million dollars per lab in that building, says Giray, a behavioral biologist whose main focus is honeybees.

Even more important are samples which are collected outside of the laboratory or purchased for several thousand dollars which are sensitive to temperature/humidity/vibrational fluctuations:

Some of the casualties from the hurricane are less easy to restore: “Collections take much longer time and may never be replaced,” says Giray’s colleague Riccardo Papa, who lost almost all of his DNA samples documenting the diversity of butterflies across South America when his lab’s –80 °C freezer lost electricity. Papa, an evolutionary biologist, didn’t have a lab again until a week ago, and until recently has been meeting with his students and postdocs at coffee shops or places around campus to discuss research. He has been able to do some experiments and genetic analyses in another building. Repairs are still underway for the damaged insectary, in which his team raises butterflies.

Research must go on. With or without the infrastructure. Here in California, after the Northridge Earthquake in 1994, FEMA set up temporary 'mobile homes' to serve as both classrooms and temporary offices along with laboratories in certain circumstances. To hear that 'group meetings' were still being held at coffee shops is a testament to the pace of recovery. In a majority of cases after a disaster, classroom recovery comes first, then eventually research laboratories. Although, it is worth remembering that each research laboratory group is made up of students and research professors who take years (applying for individual grants/writing publications) to acquire the appropriate funding to purchase research scientific instrumentation. Therefore, to put a price on the total loss in the event of a disaster like Hurricane Maria proves extremely difficult.

The total cost to a researcher is really unknowable for years to come. Some researchers never recover and decide to shut down their laboratories after such a storm. Which leaves current graduate students without an end in sight to their degrees (M.A. and PhD). Additionally, staff (professional researchers) might quickly find themselves out of work and have to leave regions like Puerto Rico and find work elsewhere. Which means transplanting their families and children's education to a different geographical location. The cost can be severe not just to the researcher themselves.

More can be written in future articles on this theme of disasters and research laboratories. Either together or separately. The total cost to a geographical location from a disaster such as Hurricane Maria can only be estimated at the beginning (a very rough approximation). The price tag evolves over time with the disbursement of emergency funds by organizations such as FEMA along with other federal organizations or the Congress. The terrible destruction to a scientific institution is terrible to say the least. Restoring science should be a high priority among others on the island of Puerto Rico.

Richard Branson's Son Produces Short Films To Illustrate The Devastation By Hurricane Irma

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Puerto Rico Crops Devastated By Hurricane Maria

Sunday, February 24, 2019

Amazon Aims To Reach 50% Of All Shipments To Be Carbon Neutral By 2030. Really?

Source: Pick My Solar

There are two major avenues by which to promote large scale change in societies. The first is through government action. While the second is through private sector investment. At any given moment in time, advances in technology are driven by either one. One (i.e. government) will drive change followed by the private sector once the confidence in the market has been established. Or the private sector is driving change which then encourages the government to jump on board through establishing the same bar of confidence in the market. Does this work for the transition toward renewable energy? Yes.

In the present situation, the government (i.e. Trump Administration) is unwilling to promote renewable energy -- to deal with the growing concern about climate change. Therefore, the private sector is being charged through consumer demand to transition toward a renewable, more sustainable, society. This includes the manufacturing/supply chain too. Amazon announced recently that 50% of all shipments will be made by carbon neutral sources on its blog site:

Amazon has a history of commitment to sustainability, through innovative programs such as Frustration Free Packaging, Ship in Own Container, our network of solar and wind farms, solar on our fulfillment center rooftops, investments in the circular economy with the Closed Loop Fund, and numerous other initiatives happening every day by teams across Amazon. In operations alone, we have over 200 scientists, engineers, and product designers dedicated exclusively to inventing new ways to leverage our scale for the good of customers and the planet.

Amazon has a long-term goal to power our global infrastructure using 100% renewable energy, and we are making solid progress. With improvements in electric vehicles, aviation bio fuels, reusable packaging, and renewable energy, for the first time we can now see a path to net zero carbon delivery of shipments to customers, and we are setting an ambitious goal for ourselves to reach 50% of all Amazon shipments with net zero carbon by 2030. We are calling this project "Shipment Zero” – it won’t be easy to achieve this goal, but it’s worth being focused and stubborn on this vision and we’re committed to seeing it through.

Amazon is in a perfect position to implement this change. First, Jeff Bezos has built this company up to a fortune (now worth $255 billion). Second, he started the company out of his garage -- sending off packages in bulk (at the end of every day) to customers. He has been thinking about sustainability for quite a while. Also, the public is in a position to demand change on the part of corporations through purchasing power.

Currently, the transition toward renewable (sustainable, clean) energy is being driven by the private sector. Which is a result of consumer demand. Consumers are tired of corporations choosing cost-saving measures which potentially damage the environment while boosting their shareholders bottom line. The time has come where consumers have taken control through social media to demand more environmentally friendly (sustainable) products.

Here in America, we look toward our European consumers and notice that the same corporations are making changes for the European marketplace based on consumer demand. Why should we be using unsafe/unhealthy second rate products? When our European counterparts are forcing companies to make changes? This revelation is nothing new. Look at the ingredients which McDonald's uses overseas to replace unhealthy ingredients which are still infused in Americans meals. More will be written about this later.

The point is that the private sector has the unique opportunity to lead the transition toward a future where renewable energy plays a dominant role in our society (and world). Government is slowly catching on. With the recent 3 hearings in Congress over the last month with a bipartisan admission that climate change is not only real but caused by us (humans), the change is on the horizon. The private sector should be confident in trail-blazing the pathway forward. Trust me. Consumers will remember your lead. Keep up the great work private corporations in not only taking ownership for the pollution, but transitioning toward cleaner - renewable energy.

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Wednesday, February 20, 2019

What Is The Most Useful Characteristic Of A Tortoise?

Source: Pets 4 Homes

Anyone with Type 1 diabetes will tell you that delivering insulin via syringe gets old very quickly. Although, most patients get used to the process very quickly and as time passes do not even realize that the process might seem unusual throughout the day to a person who knows nothing about type 1 diabetes. New technologies of insulin delivery have been arriving in different forms such as inhalers, insulin pens, jet injectors, insulin pumps, etc. Each have their positive and negative aspects to the delivery of insulin.

Now, the next generation solution to delivering insulin via the oral pathway is being researched and reported in the "Director's Blog" on the National Institutes for Health website. The answer seems to be inspired by the tortoise. Yes, the tortoise shown in the picture above:

In a study published in the journal Science, a team, led by Robert Langer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and Giovanni Traverso, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, took a new approach to the problem by developing a tiny, ingestible injection system [1]. They call their pea-sized device SOMA, short for “self-orienting millimeter-scale applicator.”

In designing SOMA, the researchers knew they had to come up with a design that would orient the injection apparatus correctly. So they looked to the African leopard tortoise. They knew that, much like a child’s “weeble-wobble” toy, this tortoise can easily right its body if tipped over due to its low center of gravity and highly curved shell. With the shape of the tortoise shell as a starting point, the researchers used computer modeling to perfect their design. The final result features a partially hollowed-out, polymer-and-steel capsule that houses a tiny, spring-loaded needle tipped with compressed, freeze-dried insulin. There is also a dissolvable sugar disk to hold the needle in place until the time is right.

Here’s how it works: once a SOMA is swallowed and reaches the stomach, it quickly orients itself in a way that its needle-side rests against the stomach wall. After the protective sugar disk dissolves in stomach acid, the spring-loaded needle tipped with insulin is released, injecting its load of insulin into the stomach wall, from which it enters the bloodstream. Meanwhile, the spent SOMA device passes on through the digestive system.

The researchers were challenged to deliver a medication consistently to the side wall of the stomach. If this method is to be used in the future, then not only insulin should be able to be delivered via injection but also other biological therapeutics -- proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. Plus the challenge is to overcome the extremely acidic (low pH) environment along with digestive enzymes in the stomach wall through to the bloodstream - unaffected.

First though, the drug needs to be consistently delivered via injection into the stomach wall. How do you position a vial of medication inside the stomach to have the correct orientation such that the injection into the side wall of the stomach is easily accomplished? The answer lies in taking the unwavering ability of nature to have animals keep their orientation intact. By that I mean, the tortoise is able to reorient itself by turning itself over in a variety of situations. The solution is the 'self-orienting millimeter-scale applicator". A picture of the device is shown below:

Source: NIH Director's Blog

Last but not least, the researchers were able to show the ability to deliver a payload (a dose) which is equivalent to that of a normal dose currently. The dose was 3 milligrams which is equivalent to the current dose given through injection to a human. One of the many novel aspects of this design is that the delivery of medication without excess chemicals which serve little or no purpose. By this I mean that normally medication is composed of the active ingredient plus a 'matrix' of chemicals which assist in the delivery of that active ingredient into the blood stream. This includes through the acidic environment along with moving that medication past the digestive enzymes in the stomach wall. Additionally, the ability to reduce unwanted side effects due to the 'matrix' chemicals is greatly appreciated.

To gain more insight into the study, feel free to read the original research which was published in the Journal 'Science' titled "An ingestible self-orienting system for oral delivery of macromolecules." The research highlighted above represents exciting solutions which make our lives easier. Innovative designs and concepts will ultimately make life better in the future. Anytime there are additional (new) avenues by which to deliver drugs which are non-invasive and easy along with being effective represent true innovative steps in research and discovery.

The pathway toward realization hopefully will be mainstreamed to deliver an alternative solution to the existing solutions thus far. Moreover, the importance of this project is proven by the efficacy along with our ability to come up novel designs which overcome interesting challenges presented to us with the biological (human) system with which we work with.

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Tuesday, February 12, 2019

John Dingell: Longest Serving Senator, Environmentalist and Avid Climate Change Supporter Dies At 92

Source: KID 590 News Radio

Imagine that you just joined congress, the year is 1955. The nation just experienced a landmark court case 'Brown v. Board of Education' -- 'separate but equal'. Could you predict that over the next 59 years of your service on the nation's capital, you will experience the following events: the creation of the environmental movement, the civil rights movement, the very contested court case 'Roe v. Wade' (abortion rights), destruction of the Berlin Wall, the rise of digital technology, and finally, a bipartisan public acceptance that climate change is not just real but is man-made -- WOW.

Who is John Dingell -- Briefly?

Over the past few days, there have been historical accounts all over the internet describing Senator John Dingell. One article of interest with a brief but concise historical account of John Dingell recently appeared in 'Politico' titled "You’re Living in the America John Dingell Made" -- which accurately reflects the contributions made to the nation on behalf of the 'Junkyard Dog of Congress' ( a moniker attributed to him by the 'Detroit Free Press'). His love of the nation was unparalleled and reflective in his 59 years of service in congress. There are two paragraphs out of the article which is worth reading but highlight the enormity of his contributions to the nation:

Modern America is as much a creation of John Dingell’s life work as anyone’s. If you or a parent or grandparent have relied on Medicare or Medicaid; if you’ve seethed about the lack of gun control; if you’ve cheered that segregation of public places is illegal and employment discrimination is banned; if you’re thankful for the continued existence of the U.S. auto industry; if you’ve raged about gas-guzzling cars contributing to climate change; if your health insurance is purchased on the Obamacare exchanges; if you’ve swum in lakes or rivers or oceans free from toxic pollution; if you’ve drunk a glass of or bathed your children in tap water with confidence that it’s free from contamination; then John Dingell played a role in your life.

Then followed later in the article by the second shown below:

Among the legislation he authored or led the charge in passing: the Clean Water Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the Water Quality Act of 1965 and the Clean Air Act of 1990. He worked to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which resulted in a bruising primary fight and the burning of a cross on Dingell’s lawn for the second time in his life (his father had been an anti-Klan activist, and even as an old man, John Jr. remembered being 5 or 6 years old and looking out the front window of his family’s home to see a flaming cross). “Of all the bills I’ve played a part in helping pass into law,” he wrote in his 2018 memoir, The Dean, “that remains the one I’m most proud of.”

The reason why I chose the two paragraphs above were to show the inevitable touch of John Dingell in all of our lives (to some degree) along with his remarkable care for the environment. As stated, he authored or played a pivotal role in passing the following environmental acts: (1) Clean Water Act of 1972, (2) the Endangered Species Act of 1983, (3) the Water Quality Act of 1965, and the Clean Air Act of 1990.

I was struck to see the legislation (issues) for which he has been fighting for are still in contention to this day. Modest improvements have been made, but there has been a large struggle for change over the past few decades with regard to saving the environment and the planet for that matter. He has not always sided with environmentalists either. Although, in sum total, he has fought vigorously for the environment. Currently, we are at a cross section where change toward reducing our dependence on fossil fuels while increasing our usage of renewable energy sources is front and center stage.

Green New Deal?

Recently, a new resolution titled "Green New Deal" has been circulating in congress over the last week. First, the "Green New Deal" is arriving in congress at an unprecedented time in history. Although, the rise of environmental policy has been emerging over decades in congress with Senator John Dingell pushing forward the addition of new regulations to move the needle of progress a tiny bit further. Currently, we are living in an unprecedented time in history. I will come back to this fact shortly, but let's return to the initial reaction of the unveiling of the "Green New Deal."

So far -- Bipartisan (mostly Republican) comments on the "Green New Deal" would have the public think that the world is going to down hill toward destruction in a short amount of time due to the ambiguous wording in the resolution. Although, the authors Senator Alexamdria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey state that there is bipartisan support for such a deal -- large bipartisan support for a climate deal. Of course, President Trump is using the "Green New Deal" as a platform issue on which to scare people into thinking the following misconceptions:

"I really don't like their policy of taking away your car, of taking away your airplane rights, of 'let's hop a train to California,' of you're not allowed to own cows anymore!" Trump said at a large rally Monday night in El Paso, Texas.

"It would shut down American energy, which I don't think the people in Texas are going to be happy with," Trump said elsewhere in the speech, eliciting cheers from the audience of more than 5,000. "It would shut down a little thing called air travel. How do you take a train to Europe?"

Trump appears to have seized on a line from an informal page of FAQs about the Green New Deal, released last week by Ocasio-Cortez, one of the resolution's co-sponsors, which specifically referred to cows and airplanes.

The blowback and support for the 'Green New Deal' is reported by Politico Energy' as follows:

A GREEN NEW DAY: The Green New Deal resolution sets out aggressive goals to achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions in a decade, as well as a broad set of other transformative economic changes. Michael Grunwald makes the case that even though enacting would be impossible, the resolution still has two useful purposes for Democrats.

"It's primarily a political manifesto, a messaging device designed to commit the Democratic Party to treating the climate crisis like a real crisis, pressuring its presidential candidates to support radical transformation of the fossil-fueled economy," he writes. "At the same time, the Green New Deal is a policy proposal — or at least a sketch of one, a way to launch a substantive debate over how Democrats will attack the crisis if they do regain the White House." Read more.

THE NEXT STEPS are now in the hands of House Democrats, who only this week began to reckon with climate change at the committee level. Most House Democrats were quick to laud the goals of the resolution, but soon split on whether they'd formally back the measure, as Pro's Eric Wolff, Anthony Adragna and Zack Colman report.

Enter the select panel on climate change: Members of the new House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis say they're aiming to use the resolution as a template — even though the panel doesn't have the power to move legislation. Still, they plan to build public support for aggressive policies, as Anthony reports for Pros.

"What I hope this committee does is develop a very ambitious and very comprehensive road map to decarbonize our economy," said Rep. Jared Huffman, a panel member and Green New Deal co-sponsor.

I show the above excerpts not to lead the reader into a debate over the specific wording of the "Green New Deal" or the way out of 'climate crisis' over the next few decades. What I am here to show that the fact that there is a "Green New Deal" being discussed in congress at the moment is a testament toward the current status of the nation with regard to climate change. There is a bipartisan support -- finally -- for change toward a renewable future. Further, there are public statements emerging from Republicans about the need to move toward combating climate change (along with an admission that climate change is caused by man). WOW.

Last week, there were three different hearings in congress over the need to take action to combat climate change. This is unprecedented for both parties to admit publicly that climate change is man made and needs to be dealt with immediately. Of course, no one needs to show the obvious evidence on display around the world: increased frequency of storms, fires, population extinction, landmass destruction for agriculture, etc. -- to name a few.

The fact that there were three landmark hearings last week (and one this week), is a sign that many are stepping up and voicing their support toward a renewable (sustainable) energy future. The actual plan may change, but the direction toward a more sustainable future is inevitable and has gained a large amount of support across congress - which is greatly encouraging.

The first occurred on Tuesday morning in the House Committee on Energy and Commerce titled "TIME FOR ACTION: ADDRESSING THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE." For those interested in watching the 3 and a half hour hearing, the video is below:

If you do not listen to any appreciable length of the above testimony, be sure to listen to the opening statements from both democrats and republicans -- which are extremely encouraging. Climate change impacts everyone. The time has come to take action.

The second hearing was held by the Natural Resources Committee titled "Climate Change: Impacts and the Need to Act" is shown below:

Again, the opening statements were encouraging regarding the need to act immediately along with the bipartisan support.

The third hearing has been rescheduled for this week (Feb 13th). The House, Science, Space, and Technology Committee is holding a hearing titled "The State of Climate Science and Why it Matters." Bipartisan effort shows that finally action is being taken. Not only taken, but taken seriously and publicly announcing the need to take such action seriously -- which is a marked improvement over the last few decades.

Which brings us to the end and final note. Senator John Dingell lived until the ripe age of 92. As stated above, his life was full of great adventure and change. Congressional change which will has helped and will shape our society for decades to come. Environmentalists such as Senator Dingell have paved the way forward by laying the difficult initial ground. Just because there is opposition, the following shows that we (as in the U.S.) is late to the game and implementing action:

JOHN DINGELL DIES AT 92: Former Democratic Rep. John D. Dingell Jr., the longest-serving member of Congress whose tenure stretched from Dwight Eisenhower to Barack Obama, died on Thursday at 92. ME offers condolences to his family, and is reminded of the prescience of his take on how the fight over climate change would unfold.

He warned in 2008 that Congress needed to act on climate change because combating it under the Clean Air Act could be a "glorious mess." (Pros will recall ex-EPA chief Scott Pruitt frequently cited that phrase to help justify his deregulatory agenda.) "It seems to me to be insane that we would be talking about leaving this kind of judgment, which everybody tells us has to be addressed with great immediacy, to a long and complex process of regulatory action, litigation upon litigation, and a lack of any kind of speedy resolution to the concerns we have about the issue of global warming," he said at a hearing that year.

His prognostication proved correct. When cap-and-trade failed to pass Congress, the Obama administration turned to existing CAA authorities to target greenhouse gases. Now — 11 years after he said EPA would be "tarred and feathered" if it tried to tackle climate change on its own — Obama's landmark carbon rules for power plants and autos have been blocked in the courts and are being rolled back by the Trump administration. "Structuring a comprehensive climate change program is a responsibility for the Congress," Dingell said in 2008. He died just hours after congressional Democrats unveiled their Green New Deal.

As I have written before on these pages, change is inevitable considering the forward momentum of the international governments. The investment capital is present and growing to match the need. The workforce is present to match the need. Elevating skilled labor to match the renewable energy sector demand will enable previously back breaking jobs to be changed out with new jobs -- jobs which match the changing technology landscape of the future. As automation plays a greater role in our society, the skilled labor can continue to educate to do more complicated jobs. Jobs such as monitoring and troubleshooting robotic teams - as Amazon does currently.

Regardless, the need for new jobs is present and will be matched by the growing demand of the renewable energy sector. The total overhaul of infrasture in our nation (existing buildings, landscapes, etc.) will require large amounts of labor. Senator John Dingell has laid down to rest in peace. Ironically, he did so after learning that his job here on Earth had been accomplished with a bipartisan deal -- "Green New Deal" being unveiled. He will not be forgotten as his work will play a more vital role as the world moves toward a more sustainable and healthy environment for all humans to live. Thank you Senator John Dingell.

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Sunday, February 10, 2019

3 very interesting research projects for Fluid Dynamics Research

Source: Termoflow

Have you ever been on the road inside a small car only to be passed by a large semi-tracker truck? Further, as you are passed, the driver experiences a lateral (right or left) push from the trucks passing? This push is the wind flow which is being pushed to the side by the diesel truck's inefficient air flow. One major consequence of this inefficient air flow is the production of wind resistance (or a drag force) -- which drives down the miles per gallon (fuel efficiency) a given vehicle can get.

All vehicles suffer to some extent from the inefficient air flow surrounding a vehicle. Some more than others. Although, a large (and I mean large) amount of interest has been devoted in the form of research to minimize (and improve) air flow across a given object (to generalize it). For those who are unaware of the study of 'Fluid Dynamics', the following can serve as an introduction:

In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including aerodynamics (the study of air and other gases in motion) and hydrodynamics (the study of liquids in motion). Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including calculating forces and moments on aircraft, determining the mass flow rate of petroleum through pipelines, predicting weather patterns, understanding nebulae in interstellar space and modelling fission weapon detonation,

Fluid dynamics offers a systematic structure—which underlies these practical disciplines—that embraces empirical and semi-empirical laws derived from flow measurement and used to solve practical problems. The solution to a fluid dynamics problem typically involves the calculation of various properties of the fluid, such as flow velocity, pressure, density, and temperature, as functions of space and time.

Before the twentieth century, hydrodynamics was synonymous with fluid dynamics. This is still reflected in names of some fluid dynamics topics, like magnetohydrodynamics and hydrodynamic stability, both of which can also be applied to gases.[1]

With the working introduction given above, the study of 'fluid dynamics' is now more comprehensible. Still, the variety of projects which the study of fluid dynamics covers is incomprehensible. Nearly any given situation which involves moving parts different mediums can be understood and broken down into a research project categorized under fluid dynamics. Why? Chances are that there is a 'fluid' or lubricant involved in the workings.

Further, as highlighted below, most objects which move through the world can be understood at the level of a project under the category of fluid dynamics. The video below highlights 3 research projects that are share the field of fluid dynamics research:

Amazing to say the least. I love really interesting research project. Of course, I love to learn just about anything. The first project which is being tackled by Marguerite Matherne a graduate student studying in Dr. David Hu's lab at Georgia Tech. Her project involves looking deeper into the process of transporting pollen back to the beehive by bees. Pollen is composed of proteins which would not normally just adhere to one another. Therefore, the bee needs to suspend the pollen into nectar to form a suspension.

What properties of this suspension allow the bee to transport the 'maximum' amount of pollen back to the beehive? The viscosity of the suspension needs to be just right in order to complete the journey (and not fall apart). Although, the drag force of the shaped pollen cannot exceed the force exerted by the bee in flying back to the beehive. Otherwise the trip would be impossible. As shown in the video, the research covers these parameters along with others relevant to the process. Nevertheless, the project is unique and important to the survival of the bee population -- not to mention helping humans with fruit crops by spreading pollen among crops.

The second research project which was developed by and carried out by Dr. Giorgio-Serchi at the University of Edinburgh -- is devoted to understanding the forces (fluid dynamics) generated by sea creatures resulting in movement across a given area. How do the framework of the structure interact with the fluid to produce forward movement? If we could see at the molecular scale, the picture might be much greater in difficulty, therefore, making models (using computer simulations) is suitable for a research project at the moment.

Last but not least, researcher Daria Frank is working with Dr. Paul Linden at Cambridge University to better understand oil plumes. Specifically, as in the case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil spill, the oil disperses in a plume with an initial angular momentum (angular momentum due to the Earth's spinning around an axis). The project is to characterize the parameters of the rising oil plume and compare those parameters to a storm passing over the Earth's surface.

Comparing an oil spill -- a swirling plume (in the presence of water -- fluid) versus a storm -- a spinning top (fluid is air). What are the differences? What are the similarities? The information gathered will better place the oil/gas industry in a better position to combat challenges -- especially in the face of a disaster.

4 Accessible Examples

Shown below are 4 different examples of research projects which would be encompassed under the category of fluid dynamics research. The examples are very accessible to each of us, since each represent real life examples frequently encountered in society. As you progress through the examples, think of questions that you would ask regarding the dynamics surrounding the object's environment.

Example 1: Fluid flow around a race car:

Source: Rodrigonemmen

What are the most relevant methods for dealing with fluid dynamics surrounding the air flow of a car? How do magnetohydrodynamics figure into the solution? How do different materials play into the dynamics of air flow across a car? What about the development of heat spots across a vehicle? What type of instabilities contribute to turbulent air flow across a car? What type of equations are necessary to model the air flow? Partial differential equations? In order to understand the system better, the solutions involve introducing a method which is a combination of methods.

Example 2: Fluid flow through an human artery

Source: Di Cardilogy

How does the flow of blood through the vessels of arteries and blood vessels affect the dynamics inside of the heart during a cardiac cycle? How does the build up of plaque on the side of an artery wall contribute to turbulent flow within the artery? How does the plaque weaken the artery wall leading to atherosclerosis? What are the overall dynamics of the arterial system? How does one build up site of plaque contribute to overall flow within the entire system? These are a just a few of the questions being entertained by such researchers in the field of fluid dynamics in medicine/engineering.

Example 3: Fluid flow around a bicycle

Source: Insightreplay

What are relevant parameters for cyclists? Weight of the bicycle? Weight of the cyclist? If you shave your leg and arm hair, does that really cut time off of a ride? What about body shape? What about the shape of the frame? Is there an optimal shape of each component which will result in reducing air flow across the system? These are just a few questions that the cycling industry has had to deal with over the years. Fluid dynamics could certainly contribute to answering a few of them.

Example 4: Fluid flow around a golf ball

Source: Symscape

Most of us at one point or another have seen a game (or part of) of golf on the television or screen of a smart device. What are the relevant parameters which play greatly into reducing the turbulence of air build up behind the ball? In a previous blog post, I show how the 'dimples' on the surface of golf balls play a tremendous role in reducing the drag force on the golf ball. Golf ball companies are very interested in reducing drag force overall to any degree. Golfers dream of having complete flight stability during a game to better place their ball in a desired location.

Overall, these 4 examples serve us well in introducing the field of fluid dynamics. Now, as each of us carry on in our busy days, feel free to pause a moment and look around yourself at your environment. Find an example where the field of fluid dynamics could make a change -- a positive one. There are many examples, each of us must be willing to think critically about the underlying parameters which dictate the performance and/or operation of a given phenomena. Enjoy!

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Monday, January 14, 2019

Over 600 Environmental Groups write letter to Congress to phase out fossil fuels

Source: Green Party US

Last November, voters came to the polls in America and voted to change the House of Representatives from a republican majority to a democratic majority. Over the last two years, the erosion of the federal agencies oversight to enforce regulations to protect Americans from harm by corporate entities has ensued without major obstacles. Which is problematic for important issues such as climate change -- which spans over decades not just one election cycle. Although, action needs to be continuously optimized by encouraging our elected leaders in Congress to have our best interest in mind and keep steering toward sustainable goals which have a positive effect on our planet looking into the future.

One such plan that has emerged with the change of the majority on Capitol Hill is the Green New Deal. Over 600 environmental groups have written to express support for the Green New Deal and work toward finding solutions in general by forming committees along with passing legislation. Negotiations are starting to happen which is encouraging to say the least. Whenever I read about a large number of organizations sending letter to elected officials, I am alway curious about the content of such letters. What do elected officials receive in letters in the form of information/persuasion toward their argument? That is what this short blog post is about - persuasive content.

With that being said, the letter is shown below without the signatures:

January 10, 2019

Re: Legislation to Address the Urgent Threat of Climate Change

Dear Representative:

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, we are writing today to urge you to consider the following principles as the 116th Congress debates climate change legislation and momentum around the country builds for a Green New Deal. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently warned, if we are to keep global warming below 1.5°C, we must act aggressively and quickly. At a minimum, reaching that target requires visionary and affirmative legislative action in the following areas:

Halt all fossil fuel leasing, phase out all fossil fuel extraction, and end fossil fuel and other dirty energy subsidies.

The science is clear that fossil fuels must be kept in the ground. Pursuing new fossil fuel projects at this moment in history is folly. Most immediately, the federal government must stop selling off or leasing publicly owned lands, water, and mineral rights for development to fossil fuel producers. The government must also stop approving fossil fuel power plants and infrastructure projects. We must reverse recent legislation that ended the 40-year ban on the export of crude oil, end the export of all other fossil fuels, and overhaul relevant statutes that govern fossil fuel extraction in order to pursue a managed decline of fossil fuel production. Further, the federal government must immediately end the massive, irrational subsidies and other financial support that fossil fuel, and other dirty energy companies (such as nuclear, waste incineration and biomass energy) continue to receive both domestically and overseas.

Transition power generation to 100% renewable energy.

As the United States shifts away from fossil fuels, we must simultaneously ramp up energy efficiency and transition to clean, renewable energy to power the nation’s economy where, in addition to excluding fossil fuels, any definition of renewable energy must also exclude all combustion-based power generation, nuclear, biomass energy, large scale hydro and waste-to-energy technologies. To achieve this, the United States must shift to 100 percent renewable power generation by 2035 or earlier. This shift will necessitate upgrading our electricity grid to be smart, efficient, and decentralized, with the ability to incorporate battery storage and distributed energy systems that are democratically governed. In addition, Congress must bring the outdated regulation of electricity into the twenty-first century, encouraging public and community ownership over power infrastructure and electricity choice, as well as permitting distributed energy sources, including rooftop and community solar programs to supply the grid.

Expand public transportation and phase out fossil fuel vehicles.

As the transition away from fossil fuels occurs, our transportation system must also undergo 100 percent decarbonization. To accomplish a fossil-fuel-free reality, Congress must require and fund greater investment in renewable-energy-powered public transportation that serves the people who need it most. The United States must also phase out the sale of automobiles and trucks with internal fossil fuel combustion engines as quickly as possible and phase out all existing fossil fuel mobile sources by 2040 or earlier. Federal credits for electric vehicles must be expanded.

Harness the full power of the Clean Air Act.

The Clean Air Act provides powerful tools that have proven successful in protecting the air we breathe and reducing greenhouse pollution. It can also serve as an important backstop to ensure climate targets are met. Congress should harness the full power of the statute by setting strict deadlines and providing adequate funding for EPA to carry out all its duties under all applicable sections of the Act, including implementing greenhouse pollution reduction requirements for cars, trucks, aircraft, ships, smokestacks and other sources, as well as a science-based national pollution cap. The Act has successfully reduced many air pollutants and can do the same for greenhouse pollution.

Ensure a Just Transition led by impacted communities and workers.

In effectuating this energy transformation, it is critical to prioritize support for communities who have historically been harmed first and most by the dirty energy economy and workers in the energy sector and related industries. We support a comprehensive economic plan to drive job growth and invest in a new green economy that is designed, built and governed by communities and workers. Building new energy, waste, transportation and housing infrastructure, designed to serve climate resilience and human needs; retrofitting millions of buildings to conserve energy and other resources; and, actively restoring natural ecosystems to protect communities from climate change, are but a few ways to build a sustainable, low carbon economy where no one is left behind during this change.

Uphold Indigenous Rights

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) must be upheld and implemented, along with treaties, instruments and decisions of international law that recognize that Indigenous Peoples have the right to give or withhold “free, prior and informed consent” to legislation and development of their lands, territories and/or natural resources, cultural properties and heritage, and other interests, and to receive remedies of losses and damages of property taken without consent.

Further, we will vigorously oppose any legislation that: (1) rolls back existing environmental, health, and other protections, (2) protects fossil fuel and other dirty energy polluters from liability, or (3) promotes corporate schemes that place profits over community burdens and benefits, including market-based mechanisms and technology options such as carbon and emissions trading and offsets, carbon capture and storage, nuclear power, waste-to-energy and biomass energy. Fossil fuel companies should pay their fair share for damages caused by climate change, rather than shifting those costs to taxpayers.

We look forward to working with you to address the gravest environmental crisis humanity has ever faced, to protect all present and future generations around the world, while centering the rights of those communities and workers most impacted.

Sincerely,

The above letter was signed by over 600 environmental groups. The names of which can be found at the end of the letter hyperlinked -- here. There is no question that if various elected officials on both sides consider climate change to be a threat to our national security (to our planet on a much larger scale), then negotiation needs to start happening soon if change is going to follow in the future.

There are people who do not think that climate change is real or a major threat. As a scientist, I can just defer to a non-scientist's reasoning. Recently, I was listening to a podcast titled "Mike Drop" which was an interview between two former Navy Seals about all aspects of life. Mike Ritland interviews Andy Stumpf about all aspects of life spanning from gun control to climate change. When the topic of climate change came up, here is what was agreed upon (at 3:02:16 into podcast):

". . . I'm trying to close the loop on that yeah ... I mean I would say I'm probably similarly ignorant to it other than the fact that to me common sense would tell you you know basically what you said but then also just ... just take automobiles as an example is that you know if you can shut your garage door, turn your car on and be dead in a matter of minutes like chances are with (Andy Stumpf breaks in with "you know I think you need a hose for that too") ... but you know ... ya I got your fucking hose ... yeah you know chances are that having ... you know hundreds of millions of vehicles billions you know driving ... or if you know is probably not that great for us you know and that's one example"

That was a great example offered up from interviewer Mike Ritland. Common sense would tell you that if you can close the door of your garage with the car still running, eventually, the fumes will kill you. Therefore, having billions of tons of CO, CO2 spewing into your environment are probably not that good.

With that being said, the new change to the House of Representatives seems to be on the right track with the emerging Green New Deal in discussion. A discussion is where change starts to happen. And as has been highlighted in the last couple of years, changes are greatly needed in the direction toward sustainable energy while steering us clear of our dependence on fossil fuels. Keep asking your elected officials to consider clean energy along with the environment when a vote is under consideration on capitol hill.

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