Electric Cars

Estimates vary as to how much the Iraq war has costs the US, but in general 500 billion seems to be a conservative estimate.

Electric Cars:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_car)

AC induction motors are very efficient. Electromechanical transmission is what the big locomotives use to move mile long coal trains.

The Disabled:

People with disabilities who get around very efficiently and quietly using electric wheel chairs and the like really bother me. They are mocking the hydrocarbon economy and blood for oil politics. I think that if the consumer public isn’t allowed to have transportation that efficient, neither should the disabled. If electric motors aren’t good enough for cars, why are they good enough for locomotives and the disabled? I think they should all have their electric driven transports replaced with small, loud and polluting engines.

Electric Cars and Standard Oil:

If we look at the applications of electric motors for the very large and the very small we find they are suitable to both tasks. Electric motors are not only more efficient than ICE; they also have fewer moving parts resulting in more reliable service. Where efficiency AND reliability is necessary there you will find an electric motor.

Why then do we still use internal combustion engines to go to the store or the mall or to work or home?

Explanation (generic): The big oil companies know there is still a lot of oil in the ground. They make money by selling that oil, and they control our politics. Also, they control the automobile manufacturing companies. At the level of production they won’t allow alternatives because it’s bad for business. It goes without saying that they won’t allow the political order to countermand their striving for profit. The average consumer does not have the means to make a vehicle, so she has to purchase a means of transportation from what the market provides. Since the market only provides one type of transport medium (ICE), the consumer has to accept that.

THCA Synthase YEAST!!!

Finals are finally over!

The prohibition of alcohol is an impossible task because yeast catalyses the synthesis of alcohol. Basically anyone so motivated can, with a little knowledge, ferment their own beverages.

According to this article, http://www.nisr.or.jp/englishHP/report2004/NISR04taura.pdf:

Through simple genetic manipulation a Japanese scientist has coaxed tobacco plant and yeast cultures to express a “THCA synthase enzyme.” THCA, tetrahydrocannabinolic acid, is decarboxylated upon heating into the primary psychoactive molecule of cannabis, THC.

If such GM yeast cultures were robust enough and became available through the bio-tech industry to non-industry enthusiasts, it could in theory make the production of an illicit narcotic (THC) about as easy as making moonshine. (One other vital component is missing: a gene sequence for the synthesis of cannabigerolic acid.)

My question: what government agency should be appointed the task of overseeing GM organisms so things like this don’t become publicly accessible? Can the civilian authorities control GM yeast once the “genie is out of the bottle?” The patent itself explains in detail how the THCA synthase expression factor was spliced into a substrate organism, the mechanics of which are not beyond UCA biology dept.’s capabilities.

Currently it is possible to order GM organisms that express desired gene sequences over the internet. Although the criteria I have outlined for one such species is specific, and assuming some initial high cost, self-sustaining cultures could replicate at little or no cost indefinitely.


Directions:
Take 2 liters of water, boil and saturate with cane sugar until no more sugar dissolves. Place saturated sugar solution into 2 L clean plastic milk jugs or water jugs. Add THCA synthase expressing yeast. Be sure to allow for release of CO2. Wait one week. Add more sugar and yeast as needed.