Water for the thirsty: desalination and graphene

Lockheed Martin's Pefrorene graphene filter, Industry Tap

***

While we hear a lot of news about the long-standing drought in California and the subsequent water shortage, California is just one of many other places on Earth that must deal with a shortage of drinkable water.

Although passive systems, such as the Warka Tower, are intriguing, there is often some factor that limits application. In the case of the Warka Tower, if the relative humidity is low, there will be no water in the atmosphere to condense. Since the ocean offers a large supply, it looks like the most viable way to get drinkable water is desalination. Keep in mind that not all water needs to be drinkable--we use water for many tasks that don't require the purity of drinking water. For example, there's graywater. Here's How 10 Western Cities Are Dealing with Water Scarcity and Drought.

The International Desalination Association quotes the United Nations:

Of the world’s water, 97.5 percent is salt water from its oceans. Only 2.5 percent is fresh water. Of that 2.5 percent, approximately 69 percent is frozen in glaciers and ice caps, leaving less than 30 percent in fresh groundwater (swamps account for another 1 percent).

Humankind has been desalinating water for a long time; the American Chemical Society cites a paper published by Arab chemists in the eighth century. Until the 20th century distillation was the method used. Now the preferred method is reverse osmosis which, in the case of large-scale desalination, is expensive.

Many countries currently have desalination plants in operation; a good example is Israel's Sorek. But despite the engineering economies that the Sorek plant uses, the energy required to push the water through polymer membranes is still high. According to Industry Tap--

In 2011 the US national resources Council reported that the cost of traditional sources of water are from $.90 to $2.50 per 1000 gallons produced. The cost of desalination on the other hand ranges from $1.50 to $8.00 for the same amount of water. These costs prevent some utilities from implementing desalination on a large scale.

An energy-saving alternative to the polymer membranes currently being used for filtration are nanoporous graphene filters. ExtremeTech describes one of several methods for mass-producing graphene. Wikipedia's article on graphene describes many other methods. And ScienceDirect has some nice illustrations. The article from Industry Tap quoted above suggests that Lockheed Martin is marketing a graphene product called Pefrorene. In February Reuters reported that Lockheed is testing. Meanwhile, Lockheed suggests it's a done deal.

We wait.

-- Marge

Cartoons: the Confederate flag unravels

Our latest controversy being the Confederate flag, here are some thoughts on it.

The flag currently known as the Confederate flag (aka the rebel flag, Dixie flag, and Southern cross and often incorrectly referred to as the "Stars and Bars") was not the official flag of the Confederacy; it was the battle flag of General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.

Because the rebel flag "only came to be the flag most prominently associated with the Confederacy after the South lost the war (Daniel Costa-Roberts at PBS)", seems to me the rebel flag may stand for losing the war. Just sayin'.

Here's how 3 cartoonists weigh in on the topic.

***

Steve Sack, The Week

***

Nate Beeler, The Week

***

Chan Lowe, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: dandelion wine

Nancy Klehm, Mellow Yellow, Root Simple

***

Making wine is a good exercise in patience; fruit wines require 6 months to a year or more for aging and dandelion wine is considered a fruit wine, though it's made from the flowers. As for the taste, one writer calls it Mellow Yellow. About the benefits of dandelion wine, Nancy Klehm says:

As a beyond-perfect diuretic, dandelion has so much potassium that when you digest the plant, no matter how much fluid you lose, your body actually experiences a net gain of the nutrient. In other words, folks – dandelion wine is one alcohol that actually helps your liver and kidneys! Generous, sweet, overlooked dandelion…

There are many recipes online for the wine. Check out Mother Earth News, wikiHow, Epicurious, Allrecipes, and Crow River Winery, among others. The Epicurious recipe doesn't include yeast and calls for letting the prepared mixture to stand for two weeks, then filter and refrigerate, hence it's not really a wine. The voices that seem to me to have the most authority--Jack Keller, HomeBrewTalk, and Crow River Winery--advise letting the wine age for a minimum of 6 months.

Jack Keller gives a variety of recipes for dandelion wine (30!) and explains that

Dandelion wine is typically a light wine lacking body. Thus many recipes use raisins, sultanas or white grape juice (or concentrate) as body-builders, but you could use dates or figs or rhubarb instead. Whatever you use will affect the color, so white or golden raisins or sultanas, or golden figs, are usually used with dandelions (some of these are usually available in bulk at Sun Harvest, Giant Foods, or many other stores).

Many of these recipes call for 3 lbs granulated sugar per gallon of wine -- some even call for 4. Personally, this is too much for me. Whether this much sugar will produce a dry, semi-sweet or sweet wine will depend on whether you attempt to stabilize the wine and on the yeast you use, as those which are tolerant of higher concentrations of alcohol will still result in drier wine unless even more sugar is added. People should make what they like. If you like dry wine with a reasonable (12% alcohol level), use only enough sugar to achieve a starting specific gravity of 1.088. If you like sweet wine, many of the recipes below will produce it providing you don't use a high-alcohol tolerant yeast. Personally, I prefer my dandelion wines dry to semi-sec, with a finished specific gravity of 1.002 to 1.006.

If you omit the body-building ingredient, dandelion wine is light and invigorating and suited perfectly for tossed salad and baked fish (especially trout). If you ferment with a body-enhancer but shave the sugar, the wine will serve well with white-sauced pastas, heavier salads, fish, or fowl. Sweetened, it goes well before or after dinner.

For all recipes the basic ingredients are dandelion flowers, sugar, varying amounts of citrus, water, and yeast. Many of the instructions advise picking the flowers at mid-day, when they're fully open. (Have you ever noticed that dandelions don't open on cloudy days?) And many recipes advise omitting all of the dandelions' green matter; also to be careful not to include the citrus' porous white tissue (or pith).

***

John Wright's dandelion wine, theGuardian

***

Googling 'wine making supplies' will get you started on what kinds of equipment you need and where to buy. There are kits for making fruit wines. Also Jack Keller has an article on Getting Started with a list of necessary equipment and supplies.

Author Ray Bradbury in his book Dandelion Wine presented the wine as metaphor for summer.

-- Marge

Israel, the Palestinians, and the Gaza Strip

Monte Wolverton, Cagle Post

***

Israel's rationale for blockading the Palestinians in Gaza is its de facto rule by Hamas, a resistance organization designated as terrorist by a number of countries. But what of the Palestinian people?

A recent report by the U.N. that is called "the Schabas commission" by the Israelis has been covered by the New York Times. This quote comes from the Times article:

The commission said that “the scale of the devastation was unprecedented” in Gaza, where it counted 2,251 Palestinian deaths and 18,000 homes destroyed, and also cited “immense distress and disruption” to Israeli civilians, along with $25 million in civilian property damage.

Palestinian and Israeli children were “savagely affected by the events,” the report said in a distinct effort at evenhandedness, adding that children on both sides “suffered from bed-wetting, shaking at night, clinging to parents, nightmares and increased levels of aggressiveness.”

Writers of the report have attempted to be objective in their writing, however,

The Israeli government refused to cooperate with the inquiry, saying it was inherently biased.

Investigators were barred by Israel from entering Gaza.

The history of Israel is one of war and reclaiming a place in their perceived ancient homeland. The Gaza Strip has been "inhabited since at least the 15th century B.C.(CIA Library)." Seems to me that, since the Palestinians have been living there for centuries, it's as much theirs as the Israelis'.

Here's information on the difference between Israel's West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

For an idea of what life is like blockaded in a war zone that much of the world considers acceptable, take a look at BBC News' Life in the Gaza Strip. One Gaza teen, Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan), tweets news about her life there daily. There is an NGO--Palestinian Center for Human Rights--that documents and investigates human rights violations.

***

Farah Baker, Deutsche Welle

***

Why do we hear so little about the happenings in Gaza? Because pro-Israel interests are very strong in the U.S. Here is some information on the lobby's activities in this country. According to Open Secrets,

Few lobbies dedicated to international issues are so active and well-fincanced as the Israel lobby. The question of Israel's future has the right mix to attract monied interests -- it's a highly fractious issue with high stakes and it plays a big role in domestic politics.

A powerful pro-Israel force has carved out an influential place in American campaigns in the form of super PAC megadonor Sheldon Adelson. Adelson doled out a whopping $92.8 million to Republican super PACs in 2012, making him the single highest contributor to outside groups that year. [Read more Background]

-- Marge

Cartoons: I identify as...

Rachel Dolezal told Matt Lauer, "I identify as black." Her statement has struck a chord with at least two cartoonists.

***

David Horsey, The Week

***

Nate Beeler, The Week

***

Meanwhile, we been trumped. And Jebbed.

***

Chan Lowe, The Week

***

Gary Varvel, The Week

***

Does it really matter who's president anyway?

***

RJ Matson, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: to sell or not to sell (your artwork)

JennaMartin, Petapixel

***

At some point in your evolution as an artist, you reach a stage where it's time to decide whether to share your work with the world. Deciding whether to sell or not to sell can be a difficult decision. I know one fine artist who never made it past that one. Does it come from a fear of rejection, a fear of success, or loving your work so much you can't part with it? Here's an article from Art Business on how not to sell your art. Note that the site considers art a business.

If you decide to try selling, a host of other decisions crop up. Through a gallery? Online? For how much?

In my view galleries are a necessary evil for the professional artist. Unless you are very successful already, you become part of a stable of artists, so a sense of competition enters in. The gallery wants money to cover expenses, sometimes more than what it takes to cover expenses. But people often go to galleries with the express purpose of buying art. Here's a list from Art Bistro of articles about art gallery know-how (and alternate spaces for showing your work). Jenna Martin at Petapixels posted an informative article titled Selling Art in Galleries.

If you've decided to take you heart in your hands and offer work to a gallery, here are some pointers from About.com. If you decide to go the route of selling your work online, here's a list of ways to sell digitally.

So, you're standing in front of the gallery owner with a painting in your hand and s/he wants to know how much to charge. Here are two approaches to pricing your work: Maria Brophy and Amy Wilson at Art Bistro.

Juried competitions are a nice option. It may be a competition, but you end up with an idea of where you fit in the art spectrum. Of course, this depends on who's judging the show. There are a number of sites that offer information about upcoming competitions, such as Artshow, Café, and Artists' Register. Be sure to check with local artists for opportunities nearby as well.

If you decide to sign up for a distant competition, how to ship your artwork becomes something to solve. I'll be writing about this next time.

-- Marge

Psych: romance and choice

Breathless Books, Assent Publishing

***

It's likely you don't choose a romantic partner the same way you choose a car. True? Me, I go out into the world and whoever clicks, clicks. Most of the time I go home alone. Aaron Ben-Zeév, Ph.D., writing in Psychology Today says:

We have 3 common approaches, but 2 are fatally flawed.

His article also says:

One important aspect of choosing a romantic partner is the weight we give to bad (negative) and good (positive) qualities. Although we tend to focus more on the partner's bad qualities at the stage of choosing a partner, it seems that in the long run, positive qualities become more important and eventually outweigh the negatives.

Social psychology has an idea that relationships are based on rational choice and cost-benefit analyses. To quote Wikipedia:

If one partner's costs begin to outweigh his or her benefits, that person may leave the relationship, especially if there are good alternatives available.

For more on the Social Exchange Theory, take a look at these articles at Boundless and Psych-it.

This theory may be true near the end of the relationship, but (seems to me) at the beginning the choice is relatively irrational.  It happens that how and what we decide to buy has been the topic of intense study by those selling for some time now. Just google "Studying people’s buying habits." There's more about buying decisions at Buying decision process and Rational choice theory on Wikipedia. And, when we choose someone, aren't we really "buying" what they have to offer?

Again, I personally think romantic choices are irrational, because that's how I make them (then rue the day). There's an interesting article about irrational choices from Daniel McFadden's paper "The New Science of Pleasure," published by the Atlantic. In his paper he says:

...The popular psychological theory of "hyperbolic discounting" says people don't properly evaluate rewards over time. The theory seeks to explain why many groups -- nappers, procrastinators, Congress -- take rewards now and pain later, over and over again. But neurology suggests that it hardly makes sense to speak of "the brain," in the singular, because it's two very different parts of the brain that process choices for now and later. The choice to delay gratification is mostly processed in the frontal system. But studies show that the choice to do something immediately gratifying is processed in a different system, the limbic system, which is more viscerally connected to our behavior, our "reward pathways," and our feelings of pain and pleasure.

How do you choose?

-- Marge

Cartoons: cyber doomsday

If you're one of the estimated 14 million current or former civilian U.S. government employees, the hackers who recently broke into the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) now know all about you (and me). But don't feel alone--security firm Kaspersky Labs got hacked too.

And don't expect any of the security holes to be plugged soon, because Congress is at war on the issue of cyber security. Here's a blow-by-blow description of the most recent battle.

***

Nate Beeler, The Week

***

U.S. cyber security is handled by the Department of Homeland Security, the same agency that manages the TSA.

***

John Darkow, The Week

***

Drew Sheneman, The Week

***

All in all, the front has definitely changed.

***

Steve Breen, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: framing canvas panels

Canvas (and other) panels, Life of a Daily Painter

***

Usually I paint on canvas stretched over a wooden frame. But the materials can be expensive and the frames don't always come out true, that is square and flat (a good topic for another post by the way). Because I'm branching out into faux encaustic, recently I purchased several small 8 by 10 and 11 by 14 inch canvas panels for experimentation.

With artwork, even experiments can turn out good--and then you have to figure out how to present them. Present mostly means hanging the piece on a wall in a fairly attractive manner. Jon Peters talks about presentation in this video.

***

*** 

The problem with Jon Peters' method is that he uses power tools. My use of power tools includes a drill, a sander, and a small router. So if you want to make a frame and don't have circular saw or don't want to use one (I tend to be somewhat accident-prone, which could spell disaster); try using a hand miter box for the frame corners. Here's an article on how to properly use a miter hand saw.

My original idea for mounting the panel was to route a straight channel for the panel to fit in. Jon uses a routed rabbet in the demonstration above, another solution. Or, you could use a 1 by 1 furring strip glued inside the outer frame for the panel to rest on.

***

Router bit types and associated cuts, PMC

***

This floating panel idea by Jon Peters really appeals to me, although half-inch plywood seems a little thick. Note that you still have to make the frame with a ledge for the panel with backing to sit on. Also note how the inside of the frame is finished matte black.

***

***

Here's a step-by-step article on custom framing using no power tools by A Beautiful Mess. And here's another article about making float frames that shows different clamps used for artwork frames. The Grizzly clamp looks particularly useful.

-- Marge

Cities lost to the sea

Cities captured by the waves and drawn to a watery death captivate the imagination. Where once people bustled about their daily tasks, reclined at their leisure, and gathered to share the daily news, now fishes feed and sand sifts over their remains.

There are a number of cities that have been claimed by the sea; one is Heracleion, also known as Thonis, near what was once Alexandria.

***

Statue of a pharaoh (©Franck Goddio/Hilti Foundation, photo: Christoph Gerigk), Collective Evolution

***

Seventeenth-century Port Royal, a city of pirates, was known as the "wickedest city on earth." It was featured as a "location within Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean film series, though much of the location work for Port Royal was actually done on the island of Saint Vincent, not in Jamaica. (Wikipedia)"

***

Port Royal, Jamaica, Earth Porm

***

Four more cities are listed by Earth Porm: The Pyramids of Yonaguni-Jima, Japan; Dwarka, Gulf of Cambay, India; Lion City of Quiandao Lake, China; and Cleopatra’s Palace, Alexandria, Egypt.

Andrew Handley has an article about lesser known mysterious underwater cities. The image below shows pottery found at Mulifanua, a tiny village perched on the northernmost tip of Upolu in the Samoan archipelago. This pottery dates back to about 800 B.C.

***

Andrew Handley, Mulifanua Bay, Listverse

***

-- Marge

Cartoons: smoke and mirrors

Under the Patriot Act the NSA gathers too much data, much of it using phone company and social media records. This week Congress partially renewed the Patriot Act with passage of the Freedom Act. As a side note, China hacked the federal Office of Personnel Management. Looks to me like privacy is an illusion.

***

Drew Sheneman, The Week

***

Meanwhile, Edward Snowden spoke out in the Washington Post.

***

Pat Bagley, The Week

***

The TSA has been found to be 95% ineffective. According to the Washington Post,

This week, the acting head of the Transportation Security Administration got bounced from his job because in 95 percent of test cases, real guns or fake bombs made it past the TSA.

***

Steve Sack, The Week

***

Because of the extended drought in California, the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere is being brought online. Hopefully this cartoon will prove to be a false prediction.

***

Steve Breen, The Week

***

-- Marge

DIY: patterns and knots

10th Century dish, EastPersia (photo by Sailko), Wikipedia

***

This post started as a guide for drawing Celtic knots. It has expanded to knot designs and patterns in various cultures and some intriguing information about the use of needles by Neanderthals 50,000 to 100,000 years ago.

First, the Celtic knots. Some call it plaiting, a term usually applied to braiding hair. This little example is shown on the blog Celtic Sprite.

***

CelticKnotwork: TheUltimateTutorial, Branawen

***

There are many tutorials online for Celtic and other patterns, such as Making Celtic Knots (dots method); How to draw Celtic knots; and How to design Celtic Knot Patterns by Creative Doodling. For a general discussion of patterns in art, take a look at Quick Tips in Art & Design: Pattern.

Celtic knots are not just Celtic, many cultures use interlaced patterns in their artwork, especially the Islamic. And there is Chinese knotting, which can be duplicated in macramé. Here's a sample Islamic pattern.

***

Pattern in Islamic Art, Wade Photo Archive

***

Knowing that these repeat patterns cross cultures, I tried to find an article that discusses this.  Instead I found that man's use of needles goes back 100,000 years:

Archaeological studies indicate that the art of tying knots dates back to prehistoric times. Recent discoveries include 100,000-year old bone needles used for sewing and bodkins, which were used to untie knots. (Wikipedia)

Further, Neanderthals may have taught modern humans how to make needles:

Bone tools have been discovered in the context of Neanderthal groups as well as throughout the development of modern humans. Archaeologists have long believed that Neanderthals learned how to make bone tools from modern humans and by mimicking stone tools, viewing bone as simply another raw material. Modern humans, on the other hand, took advantage of the properties of bone and worked them into specific shapes and tools.

A recent discovery of specialized bone tools at two Neanderthal sites in southwestern France brings to light the idea that Neanderthals may have actually taught modern humans how to make specialized bone tools. The uncovering of lissoirs (“polishing stones”) at these sites is significant as they are about 51,000 years old, predating the known arrival of modern humans to Europe. (Wikipedia: Bone Tool)

In researching this topic I stumbled across World Myths in Legend & Art. Worth exploring.

-- Marge

Fabled Atlantis, lost continent

NASA, Bimini Island, Wikipedia

***

The lost continent of Atlantis has captured imaginations for centuries. What confuses the issue of whether it really exists and where are the known accounts of it. Plato, writing around 360 BC in Timaeus (dialogue), says

For it is related in our records how once upon a time your State stayed the course of a mighty host, which, starting from a distant point in the Atlantic ocean, was insolently advancing to attack the whole of Europe, and Asia to boot. For the ocean there was at that time navigable; for in front of the mouth which you Greeks call, as you say, 'the pillars of Heracles,' there lay an island which was larger than Libya and Asia together; and it was possible for the travelers of that time to cross from it to the other islands, and from the islands to the whole of the continent over against them which encompasses that veritable ocean. For all that we have here, lying within the mouth of which we speak, is evidently a haven having a narrow entrance; but that yonder is a real ocean, and the land surrounding it may most rightly be called, in the fullest and truest sense, a continent. Now in this island of Atlantis there existed a confederation of kings, of great and marvelous power, which held sway over all the island, and over many other islands also and parts of the continent. (Wikipedia)

Pillars of Hercules is the ancient name for the Straits of Gibralter.

Among the several problems with researching Atlantis are the varying interpretations of its location and that its fabled powers are fare for conspiracy theories and metaphysics alike. Discovery of Atlantis theorizes that ancient Atlantis is located in the Mediterranean between the island of Cyprus and the eastern mainland. It was my readings on Edgar Cayce that introduced me to the mysteries of Atlantis and I must admit I'm partial to his information and interpretations.

About the only (possibly) solid evidence of an Atlantean civilization we have is Bimini Road, a series of rocks that appear to be dressed stone arranged like a road or wall. There is little agreement on whether the stones are worked or natural. And dating them has proved problematic.

Venturing off into the unprovable (at least, so far) here's a replay from the History Channel's speculative series "In Search of..." This episode is one of three about Atlantis near Bimini.

***

***

For a while it looked like evidence of Atlantis had been found on Google Earth. But new information from NOAA has erased it (it was due to an overlap of datasets anyway).

***

***

-- Marge