DrDNA

Erythromycin is generally used to treat Strep Throat, Mastitis in dairy cattle and to kill blue-green algae (cyanobacteria) in aquariums. Eryrhomycin works by interfering with the 50S ribosome; which is specific to bacteria and cyanobacteria. Also, a major cause of fouling on boat hulls is a result of "seaweed" type algae, which should not be effected by Erythromycin. So, broad range toxic substances like copper and tin are usually in antifouling paints. Consequently, it seemed implausible to me at first and I even almost finished writing a quite lengthy response about the intimate details of why this would not work. Then to humor myself, I decided to do a quick search and low and behold, I saw this patent: United States Patent 5143545 >>>>>>> During a field study we found microorganisms attached to the hull of a Naval ship that produced an inordinate amount of a lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a slimy material. This slimy material is quite commonly produced by marine organisms classified as gram negative spirillum or bacteria. We isolated a representative culture of the microbial population and, based on morphology and biochemical characteristics, determined that these slime-producing microorganisms were of the genus Oceanospirillum, a genus which is indigenous to almost all the world's harbors and estuaries. Tests were made to determine the sensitivity of this Oceanospirillum species to various non-photolytic antibiotics having low solubility in water, using a sensitivity disc method similar to the Kirby-Bauer standardized single-disc method described in Bauer, Kirby, Sherris and Turck, Am. J. Clinical Pathology, 45: 493, 1966. Agar plates were prepared by pouring 10 ml of a known, commercially available, marine agar, Bacto Marine Agar 2216, onto each plate. After the plates solidified, 0.1 ml of a 24 hour culture of the slime-producing Oceanospirillum species was spread evenly over the surface of each plate, and allowed to dry. Small filter pads containing selected antibiotics were dropped on the surface of the agar of each plate, and the plates incubated for 24 hours at 20° C. The plates were then examined and zones of inhibition (an indicator of sensitivity to the antibiotic) were measured with a micrometer. The results of these tests are: ______________________________________ ANTIBIOTIC CONCENTRATION INHIBITION (mm.) ______________________________________ Erythromycin 15 micrograms 21.5 Chlortetracycline 30 micrograms 0 Neomycin 30 micrograms 11.5 Streptomycin 10 micrograms 14.5 Chloramphenicol 20 micrograms 18.9 Penicillin 10 units 0 ______________________________________ Chloramphenicol was selected, from among the tested antibiotics having an inhibitory effect on this Oceanospirillum species, for further testing as an additive to a copper-based antifouling marine paint. Chloramphenicol has a low solubility in water of 2.5 mg/ml, is non-photolytic, dissolves readily in the organic volatile substances in paint formulations, and is stable in solvents associated with paint manufacturing. >>>> So, It seems entirely plausible. You might try Chloramphenicol. According to the patent, it should work better and may be cheaper. Merged post follows: Consecutive posts mergedPS:; CharonY, epoxy-type resins are often used on boat hulls. Without the addition of antifouling agents (like tin or copper or other toxic agents), the hulls foul rather quickly and must be scrapped and repainted on a nore frequent basis.

There a lot easier ways to cop a buz.

Fantastic. Absolutely. Good idea. I'm all for it. YT2095 all the way.

Somehow, I don't think it would make much of a difference to a lot of the world's opinion of the US. Especially, since after saving the planet, anything that could be used to blow up an asteroid would easily be aimed down. That would be irony wouldn't it? Humanity's last chance of survival doomed because of saber rattling and nonproliferation agreements...........

This is the second time this week that I have answered this question . What is going on with Sterno that I don't know about? I don't think that you are going to get rich but here you go......... All you need is chalk, vinegar and alcohol. Or if you have already made your first fortune chicken farming, you might have enough egg shells lying around to use them instead of chalk. Make Your Own Gelled Alcohol Fuel - Canned Heat Extreme do it yourselfers can make their own gelled fuel at home with by mixing alcohol and calcium acetate (C4H6CaO4). The following instructions and measurements are from the Montville High School Science Departmental. 1. Add 25g of crushed chalk or egg shells (calcium carbonate-CaCO3) to 100ml of vinegar (water and acetic acid - CH3CO2H) and stir for about 5 minutes. This should produce carbon dioxide (CO2), calcium acetate (C4H6CaO4) and water (H2O) plus leave you with some left over chalk (CaCO3). If you are guessing on how much chalk to add, just make sure that there is a little extra after 5 minutes of stirring. 2. Remove the excess chalk by filtering your mix through some filter paper (coffee filter or napkin can be used). Set a funnel in a jar, place your filter in it and pour your suspension through it. 3. Mark the level of your solution in its container and allow your solution to evaporate off about half that volume to remove the excess water. Place your solution in an oven set on low heat or place it out in the sun to dry. If you went to far - just add the missing water. Note - if you like, you can dry out your solution completely and store the remaining dried calcium acetate for future use. 4. If your solution isn't already in the container you want your gel in, then pour it in there now. 5. Add 30ml of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, or isopropanol) to your solution and watch the gel form. Do not stir. 6. Once the reaction in complete, pour off any extra fuel. http://zenstoves.net/Sterno.htm PS: please note that methanol and isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol, IPA) are very toxic, but ethanol makes a fine martini....shaken, not stirred.

I don't know. But I think that it is viable. radar astronomy radar astronomy, application of radar to the determination of distances and planetary features within the solar system, such as rotation rates. A short burst of radio waves is transmitted in the direction of the object under study. The object reflects the radio waves back to earth, where they are detected by the same antenna that sent the signal. The time between sending the signal and receiving the “echo” can be precisely measured electronically. Since radio waves travel with the speed of light, the roundtrip distance from the earth to the object and back is then easily computed. This technique differs from radio astronomy in that the celestial object is here merely a passive reflector, rather than the actual source of the emission. The first yield of radar astronomy was a much improved value for the distance from the earth to the moon. Using more powerful transmitters, the distances to Venus and Mercury were also measured, as well as the planets' rotational periods and gross surface properties. ........ Radar observations are also useful for asteroids and comets whose orbits take them relatively near the earth. Much of the surface of Venus has been mapped by unmanned probes using radar altimeters to penetrate the cloud cover. http://www.answers.com/topic/radar-astronomy Now I think that it should work from ground stations.....making it MUCH cheaper. We could probably do the whole thing for less than half the cost of one Katrina-like event.

I know a couple of people that are members of Mensa and both of them are real morons This has led me to concluded that PERHAPS IQ and intelligence are not very closely correlated. But, it is just my own personal, opinionated and casual observation; nothing scientific- just 2 data points. Besides my conclusion being unscientific, it may also have more to do with people wanting to join and/or joining a particular clique than intelligence or IQ......

If some detection gizmo was so sophisticated that it imposed a web-like bubble of trip-wire lasers around the earth, millions of miles in diameter, calculating velocity and direction would be trivial in comparison. I think that the main problem here is the choice of lasers; which by nature do not encompass great volumes of space. What might be more viable than lasers would be a bunch of satellites in orbit, like GPS satellites, emitting radio waves or microwaves outward. GPS satellites: at least six satellites, orbiting at 22,000 km, are always within line of sight from almost everywhere on Earth's surface. In much the same manner that earth-bound location and speed can be accurately triangulated from any GPS receiver, the location and speed of any near earth objects should also be able to be determined a la radar: by bouncing the microwaves or radio signals off of any objects that come within range. Again, I am talking about projecting the radio waves or microwaves outward and not inward. Of course, if you wanted to focus detection inward, the satellites would need to be VERY FAR out into space to detect the anything in a reasonable time frame to be of value...probably too far to out to maintain a stable orbit around the earth..... And maybe a land based system would be cheaper and more powerful anyway....... On second thought, maybe lasers could work if they are able to raster scan (with mirrors?) volumes of space quickly enough. That I do not know. Gravity is abundant; they can't hear you scream in space.

http://ece.colorado.edu/~moddel/QEL/index.html http://www.ece.ncsu.edu/nano/ http://www.yinqe.yale.edu/ http://www.usc.edu/dept/engineering/eleceng/Adv_Network_Tech/Html/adaptive.html These should get you started.

Forget the tools. If the thing is water tight, and the door opens inwards, it should open soon enough without any assistance.

Last time I checked with my plumber he told me in no uncertain terms that water flows down hill. So, unless the underground tsunami shelter is a Navy surplus submarine and/or it has scuba gear inside, I'm headed in the opposite direction.

Just out of curiosity, can I ask why you are distilling sulfuric acid on your patio?

What you have described seems to be 'Sterno' Canned Heat (even generic brands are called Sterno). Sterno is made from ethanol, methanol, water and an oxide gelling agent Methanol is only added to make it too toxic to drink (denature). I found this about making your own.......... Make Your Own Gelled Alcohol Fuel - Canned Heat Extreme do it yourselfers can make their own gelled fuel at home with by mixing alcohol and calcium acetate (C4H6CaO4). The following instructions and measurements are from the Montville High School Science Departmental. 1. Add 25g of crushed chalk or egg shells (calcium carbonate-CaCO3) to 100ml of vinegar (water and acetic acid - CH3CO2H) and stir for about 5 minutes. This should produce carbon dioxide (CO2), calcium acetate (C4H6CaO4) and water (H2O) plus leave you with some left over chalk (CaCO3). If you are guessing on how much chalk to add, just make sure that there is a little extra after 5 minutes of stirring. 2. Remove the excess chalk by filtering your mix through some filter paper (coffee filter or napkin can be used). Set a funnel in a jar, place your filter in it and pour your suspension through it. 3. Mark the level of your solution in its container and allow your solution to evaporate off about half that volume to remove the excess water. Place your solution in an oven set on low heat or place it out in the sun to dry. If you went to far - just add the missing water. Note - if you like, you can dry out your solution completely and store the remaining dried calcium acetate for future use. 4. If your solution isn't already in the container you want your gel in, then pour it in there now. 5. Add 30ml of alcohol (ethanol, methanol, or isopropanol) to your solution and watch the gel form. Do not stir. 6. Once the reaction in complete, pour off any extra fuel. http://zenstoves.net/Sterno.htm

I see your point. Everyone has been doing it backwards for thousands of years. In a flood we should head for the lowest point possible.

Absolutely not. Even if you don't have your BS yet, you will only be approx 42 when you get your PhD. With life expectancies on the rise, you might have 30 or more good years in the career path of your dreams.

Good point. Along similar lines, I believe that the biggest problem by far is that we are entirely too reactive instead of being intelligently proactive. For example, some idiot tries to light his shoes on a transatlantic flight and now everyone has to take their shoes off. If someone hijacks a plane by stabbing pencils in people's necks, then pencils and pens will be banned from all flights. What they should do is be proactive and replace the flight attendants on each flight (who mostly only serve beverages now anyway) with a couple of former Navy Seals packing baseball bats and Glocks. I can pick up my juice or bottled water off of a counter when I board the plane. OK. Maybe first class can have a regular attendant. They paid extra for it. And international flights will still need attendants, because I need 5 or 6 little bottles of wine to go with my Benadryl so I can pass out until I arrive in Japan. Conversely, we screen a VERY tiny percentage of containers that come in to our ports from over seas. A hidden nuke, dirty bomb, bio-agent or something similarly devastating in a container is a HUGE threat, but since it hasn't happened yet, it is largely ignored.

Ever hear the story of the statistician that calculated that the average depth of the river was 3 ft, then drowned while trying to cross it? One impact could happen today and another one tomorrow and the average of many impacts over a great length of time might still be one every 500-1000 years. Of course, as you suggest, the numbers could be way off also. Maybe we have been plummeted by big rocks at much greater frequency. I believe that this scary scenario is entirely plausible if most of them blow up at elevation before impact.......leaving no large impact crater but devastating none the less.

jianggh86, What came first, the fish or the pond?

>>>On the other hand, girls with ADHD are more likely to just have attentional problems, which can lead to difficulty in school, but because they are not disrupting the rest of the class, it may take longer for them to get a diagnosis of ADHD and the help that they need. >>In the book, Understanding Girls With AD/HD, Kathleen G. Nadeau states that 'there are many girls left undiagnosed because their symptoms look different,' because 'girls are less rebellious, less defiant, generally less "difficult" than boys.' The book also explores the differences between boys and girls with ADHD and treatment approaches and is a good resource for parents of a girl with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/adhd/a/girls_adhd.htm

"2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia"

Yes. In other words, Plant Anarachy. More weeds than I want or will tolerate.

Are you proposing we need proof that a very simple and basic molecule composed of 2 Hs and 1 O (H-O-H) might have formed before complex organic molecules (composed of, for example, a vast number of arrangements of multiples of C, H, N, O, S, P) ?

Modern IQ ranges for various occupations http://www.iqcomparisonsite.com/Occupations.aspx There's your problem.

An asteroid of a similar size to a rock that exploded above Siberia in 1908 with the force of a thousand atomic bombs whizzed close past Earth on Monday, astronomers said on Tuesday. 2009 DD45, estimated to be between 21 and 47 meters (68 and 152 feet) across, raced by at 1344 GMT on Monday, the Planetary Society and astronomers' blogs reported. The gap was just 72,000 kilometers (44,750 miles), or a fifth of the distance between Earth and the Moon and only twice the height of satellites in geosynchronous orbit, the website space.com said. The estimated size is similar to that of an asteroid or comet that exploded above Tunguska, Siberia, on June 30 1908, flattening 80 million trees in a swathe of more than 2,000 square kilometres (800 square miles). 2009 DD45 was spotted last Saturday by astronomers at the Siding Spring Survey in Australia, and was verified by the International Astronomical Union's Minor Planet Centre (MPC), which catalogues Solar System rocks. The closest flyby listed by the MPC is 2004 FU162, a small asteroid about six metres (20 feet) across which came within about 6,500 kms (4,000 miles) of us in March 2004. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.783c3aae6eb418393fc6f8c443ef6765.2f1&show_article=1

If I stop applying resources to weed prevention in my yard, what do you predict will happen?