The 25 seed varieties I planted about a month ago are ready to move from the comfort of the homemade greenhouse into the outside. Most of the seeds are from Kentucky from my husband’s brother and his wife and daughter. One seed pack is called the Santa Claus Melon and is from California. California produce is world class and we have the Bay Delta and Central California waterways to thank. Looking forward to Spring and Summer and growing some California produce of our own!
Yesterday I stumbled upon a website advocating for open and free access to the regulations that govern the society you live in. Predominantly posted on their home page was a 20 minute video explaining what they do. The film makers asked a variety of people, from Tim O’ Reily (O’ Reiley Media) to the fire captain of Sonoma County. The video also showed people from an organization called Free the Code liking the government regulations to source code. Free the Code works to provide access to code that you currently have to pay a lot of money for. The website seeks to provide all of the government’s laws and regulations online for free. The website can be found here: https://law.resource.org/
It got me thinking, open source programming code has allowed so many people to access the internet and to make hardware work in more interesting and innovative manners. Could opening up the structure of democracy (the health and safety rules and regulations) spread democracy faster and more humane than war?
Today the Supreme court was hearing arguments in at least two major facets of American life: marriage and pharmaceuticals. The marriage case looked at the constitutionality of gay marriage in a state’s rights manner & in the form of a legal definition. The pharmaceutical case pitted the pharmaceutical industry (name brand and generics companies) against the consumer (doctors and patients).
The law intrigues me in the ability to construct the narrative of society and apply a method to analyze the validity of each viewpoint of the narrative.
I will be watching how the above referenced cases will turn out but I will be more interested when water law slides into the court next.
My husband and I did a quick getaway to the Oceano Dunes Revreational Area just South of Pismo Beach. While gearing up with supplies at the local Vons I asked my husband “where are the bags?”. Thr kind attendant said they were part of San Louis Opisbo (SLO) and that plastic bags where banned. We could purchase a paper bag for 10 cents. I dont know why I was so thrown off by it but the void of plastic bags was weird because I have so accustomed to seeing them but super nice they were gone.
I remember when the ban of plastic bags made state wide headlines. How dare the government ban such a useful tool for society the pro-business people claimed. They also claimed that tourism would be hurt.
Well after seeing the National Estuarine Habitat that sustains a vast amount of wild life and being a tourist myself, I am glad there is a ban. There is clear science that plastic bags kill animals after those animals (like sea turtles) mistake the plastic bag for a meal. One of the most distinct features about the Central Coast is the myriad of creatures and the shear rustic beauty.
The ban had no impact on me and has a positive effect of sustaining and enhancing the environment. The kind attendant also helped us purchase a paper bag so we had no problem with our items. We will know next time to bring our reusable bags in SLO and the rest of the places we get our necessities.
Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of World Water Day. With more than 780 million people without access to clean drinking water, new filter technology like perferene could provide the mechanism for access to those in need.
It is interesting that the drinking water fountain pictured above (taken in Santa Barbara) most people would not use, but millions of others in the world aren’t as fortunate to make that choice. You just may think twice about drinking water from a public drinking water fountain again.
With an overall grade D in public water system infrastructure, one has to wonder if the dna technology developments in the first world should be applied to current microbiology methodology to assess drinking water contamination. Also, are our public monies better spent on evaluating the link between persistent organic chemicals and cancers.
This week I spoke with a water quality microbiologist who sent me a couple of studies related to the use of qPCR methods to detect bacteria such as Escherichia Coli, Enterococcus, & Bacteriodes in 2 to 4 hours vs. up to 72 hours now. I also spoke with an environmental regulator who related a study his lab performed to expedite the analysis of enterococcus in recreational waters.
The one positive note both persons shared was that the cost of the technology to analyze dna is much cheaper. But with issues regarding viability and methods that provide good notification thus far, what is the justification?
A composite sample is a sample that includes a discrete series of samples based on a temporal or rate based frequency. The composite sample could be a minimum number of samples over a time that water is flowing or over a specific period of time (e.g. 24 hours). Composite samples give a better picture of what is happening for a larger body of water, stream, or even air. When environmental scientists take samples there is a lot of time and thought that goes into making sure that sample will accurately reflect the quality of water.
40 CFR Part 136 reviews the proper sampling techniques for a variety of environmental matrices: http://www.tn.gov/environment/fleming/docs/wwt_epamethod136.pdf
Eric Schadt, the director of the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and chief science officer at Pacific Biosciences (PACB), a DNA sequencing machine maker projects that dna technology will be used while you are going to the bathroom to assess your health profile. He believes that the use of dna analysis tools will also help us stop the spread of viruses and other environmental pathogens. He might not be that far at with reports from China that new grads are heading up biotechnology companies who will literally map anything for the right price.
Perforene is the trademarked name of a carbon based material that is projected to utilize a much smaller energy footprint to turn sea water to clean, potable water. Lockheed Martin announced today that the Perforene has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent & Teademark Office. The material is only one atom thick which has led some to question Lockhead’s ability to scale the product up for mass commercialization.
The technology is impressive though. Traditional desalination, or removal of salts from the sea, uses a process called reverse osmosis. Osmosis is a science term which means that a more concentrated solution will move into a less concentrated solution until equilibrium id achieved. Reverse osmosis works by forcing salts back through a filter at a high pressure. The high pressure needed to remove the salts requires a lot of energy which is why this technology is so expensive. When I learned about the new Perferene material, I could instantly see the benefits to thirsty Southern California.
As a resident of coastal California, I have always been a proponent of sea water desalination. One of major reasons is due to the cost of bringing water from such long distances is so expensive. In faxt it is so expensive that the cost of the whole endeavor is projected at ~19% of power costs for the entire state!! And the state of California is one of the biggest economies in the world! Think about how much money we would save by a low cost, local water supply solution.
But not only would this material help developed regions, it could also help to deliver clean water to the estimated 780 million who do not have access to clean water.
Whether Perferene is able to live up to all the claims, only time will tale. But I for one will be keeping an eye on the developments.
Last year there was an article circulating that said fluoride in water causes low IQ in children. When I did some research I found that the study was conducted in China where the fluoride levels are orders of magnitude greater than our water supply in Southern California. So I was super suprised when I saw the above article in my Parenting magazine about the very same thing I researched last year. I am glad Parenting magazine spent time to debunk the misinformation out there!
Amber M. Baylor 