Un "black hole" a la Francaise?

I was a little disturbed to read today about the CERN project in France that has something to do with colliding particles and powerful magnets. Some are fearing that this could make a black hole that would swallow earth. As a scientist, I know too many stories of people worried irrationally about impossible consequences from things, often spurred by a lack of education on the subject. In this sense, I will admit that I am ignorant on the subject of physics (never took it though my dad taught it long ago! Maybe I absorbed some around the house when I was little).

I know nothing of the physics of this issue, and feel a little silly being concerned about it. However, one thing does bother me. If we are looking for hypothetical molecules, and dimensions that have been calculated in mathematical rather than physical reality, then there is a large unknown here. As in many things, it seems that the more we learn, the more we see how little we know! In any case, the fact that the "destruction of the planet" was named in a lawsuit aimed at stopping the project should raise more eyebrows, although I will concede that in this case, we could similarly argue that monkeys will fly out of the sun if we turn on this machine, as we think they may inhabit the 6th dimension.

Lastly, how exactly can we produce a safety report judging the risk of something so unknown? Am I wrong and there is more known? So perhaps my problem is not with the project itself, but our claim that we can even calculate the risk in this case. (I will also concede here that I am fully out-degreed by the risk assessment panel including a Nobel laureate.)

I just feel that as a citizen of the earth, perhaps more people should have a say in this. We are no longer countries with small populations of farmers and traders. We are large countries that have built things far more powerful than we are. Incredible, but also disconcerting. We are un seul peuple; hard to say if the larger masses of us are qualified to make a judgement in this case, but should we be more careful about the decisions the few make for la foule?

If you would like to see some physicists argue about this stuff, and a moderately technical explanation of the possibility of a mini-black hole actually forming, see this post.

Done, passed, and on to research!

And to try to get a plant named after me...

Outside magazine reporter - "I noticed there is a Central American ant, Pheidole harrisonfordi, named after you. How did you swing that?"

Harrison Ford - "You buy drinks for Edward O. Wilson, the world's leading expert on ants."

Passed!

Passed my written exams. Funny- one question was basically asking for the same explanation of the processes involved in the "iconic megaflora" entry. Blogging comes in handy sometimes! It helped me practice for that question!

I just hope my passing oral exams won't be such a stochastic process. Advice was to "have fun with it." We'll see if I can do that!

Almost Exam Time!

Well, Botany retreat done and over with! Teaching responsibilities almost done! And now it's time for my exams on Thursday. I have found that it is true that one cannot study for more than 2 months. I have reached a psychological overload with just a few days left!

I have been reading and reading and became exhausted just before it's time to cram knowledge into my head. I'm not sure if I'm actually tired because I know I've done enough I should or if it's psychological. I just can't find the motivation to study any more!

Oh well. I'll do my best! Thanks, dad for the poem (that I revised slightly):

Oh I'm just a little Main-ah,
With a bandaid on my knee,
And I'm stressed by 6 professors
Who I hope will be kind to me!

So U-Cally, oh it's too soon,
Don't now cry for me,
'Cuz I'm smarter than they all know,
And I know my Bo-Ta-Ny!

Woes of the Iconic Megaflora

A new report out from (*gasp*) the White House (well, their climate change science program) details possible effects of climate change- on agriculture, and biodiversity. From a ScienceNow Daily news article (Climate Change is Bad News for U.S. Agriculture):
"'We risk losing iconic charismatic megaflora such as saguaro cactus and joshua trees,' co-author Steven Archer of the University of Arizona, Tucson, said at a press conference."

I do appreciate the upgrade of cacti to the ranks of such cliche charasmatic fuzzy icons as polar bears. (I wouldn't suggest hugging a cacti though, or a polar bear, for that matter). But such a "doomsday" lead is common in the media reporting of climate change, but the media could do better to explain these effects to the public, albeit about a psychologically taxing subject. I think I know why they predict the decline of desert species, but to the untrained reader, you'd think, well, why would desert species decline if it's going to get hotter? Why does that mean drier necessarily? In fact, these factors are important, but it may be the (unmentioned) carbon dioxide increase that actually matters most here.

This article is apropos today for me, since today is dedicated to studying up on arid-land-adapted grasses. These species have a special photosynthetic mechanism (the C4 photosynthesis pathway) that gives them a competitive advantage in drier areas (they can use water more efficiently than "normal" C3 species). Will this be the rise of C4 plants? I'm sure there are plenty of articles about this out there. Mean temperature during the growing season is highly correlated with their growth, and a higher summer temp should give these an advantage, as long as there is still summer rain to be had (otherwise, the summer rain growing season will be nill and the growing season will be in the winter, when other species have an edge).

However, cacti, like the saguaro also have a special photosynthetic mechanisms, Crassulacean Acid Metabolism, or CAM. Like C4 plants, they are able to save water by using a different pathway. Cacti open their stomata (pores) at night, taking up CO2 when it's cool, and closing them during the day to prevent water loss. The advantage for both of these species is that they are more effective in the uptake of C02 at higher temperatures.

We all know that climate change will have global effects, but it is important to remember that these effects are not linear increases and decreases in rainfall and temperature. Ecosystem feedbacks may cause differential regional effects. For these plants, if they become dominant, evapotranspiration will be less over large areas (they don't lose as much water to the air as others). Therefore, increasing temperature, which may shift the distribution and local floras, may feedback (or forward?) and cause a simultaneous decrease in rainfall due to less moisture coming up and out of the plants.

HOWEVER, the decline of saguaro cacti might actually happen do to a loss of its competitive -C02-capture -advantage. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations actually will favor the "normal" plants over these plants. I won't go into the details... (even I recognize there is a limit to the utility of a full explanation)

Not exactly first page material. But I am glad to have a new buzzword... iconic megaflora!

Mountain fans!

We should all be so fascinated by Nature!
I thought this was a fabulous shot. Sometimes seeing things
in a different way is so enlightening!

Photo by Jim Hayes, posted with permission.
www.jimhayes.com/photo/Photo/Photos.html

Eat ice cream with no guilt?

The new Haagen Dazs commercial at least gives some attention to the issue of the decline of honeybees. I think they are making a new flavor (honey I think?) that will fund research to help research the problem.

The commercial is really cute though but I wish it had more information! How do we save the bees? Stop the mysterious wind that is ripping them from the flowers while the two sing to one another? No web address at the end or specific product? Well that's the result of working with the consumer attention span.

While I don't know enough about the issue, it seems sort of an odd mouthpiece for the issue. I guess someone had to do it.