Perspectives on Sustainable Technology

PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY

PERSPECTIVES ON SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGY

M. RAFIQUL ISLAM EDITOR

Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York

Copyright © 2008 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic, tape, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the Publisher. For permission to use material from this book please contact us: Telephone 631-231-7269; Fax 631-231-8175 Web Site: http://www.novapublishers.com NOTICE TO THE READER The Publisher has taken reasonable care in the preparation of this book, but makes no expressed or implied warranty of any kind and assumes no responsibility for any errors or omissions. No liability is assumed for incidental or consequential damages in connection with or arising out of information contained in this book. The Publisher shall not be liable for any special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting, in whole or in part, from the readers’ use of, or reliance upon, this material. Independent verification should be sought for any data, advice or recommendations contained in this book. In addition, no responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from any methods, products, instructions, ideas or otherwise contained in this publication. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered herein. It is sold with the clear understanding that the Publisher is not engaged in rendering legal or any other professional services. If legal or any other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent person should be sought. FROM A DECLARATION OF PARTICIPANTS JOINTLY ADOPTED BY A COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION AND A COMMITTEE OF PUBLISHERS. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Islam, M. Rafiqul. Perspectives on sustainable technology / M. Rafiqul Islam. p. cm. ISBN 978-1-60692-451-8 1. Environmental engineering. b2. Sustainable development. I. Title. TA170.I74 2008 628--dc22 2007039926

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

New York

CONTENTS Preface

vii

Introduction

If Nature Is Perfect, What Is ‘Denaturing’? M. R. Islam

Chapter 1

Truth, Consequences and Intentions: Engineering Researchers Investigate Natural and Anti-Natural Starting Points and Their Implications G. M. Zatzman and M. R. Islam

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

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A Numerical Solution of Reaction-Diffusion Brusselator System by A.D.M. J. Biazar and Z. Ayati

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Zero-Waste Living with Inherently Sustainable Technologies M. M. Khan, D. Prior and M. R. Islam

Chapter 5

Tea-Wastes as Adsorbents for the Removal of Lead from Industrial Waste Water M. Y. Mehedi and H. Mann

Index

9

A Comparative Pathway Analysis of a Sustainable and an Unsustainable Product M. I. Khan, A. B. Chettri and S. Y. Lakhal

Chapter 4

Chapter 6

1

Multiple Solutions in Natural Phenomena S. H. Mousavizadegan, S. Mustafiz and M. R. Islam

105

131 157 177

PREFACE Nature thrives on diversity and flexibility, gaining strength from heterogeneity, whereas the quest for homogeneity seems to motivate much of modern engineering. Nature is nonlinear and inherently promotes multiplicity of solutions. This new and important book presents recent research on true sustainability and technology development from around the globe.

In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 1-7

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

INTRODUCTION IF NATURE IS PERFECT, WHAT IS ‘DENATURING’? M. R. Islam Civil and Resource Engineering Dept., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

“There's two possible outcomes: if the result confirms the hypothesis, then you've made a measurement. If the result is contrary to the hypothesis, then you've made a discovery.” – Enrico Fermi

How well do we know nature? In the words of Aristotle (384-322 BC): “The chief forms of beauty are orderly arrangement (taxis), proportion (symmetria), and definiteness (horismenon)”. Yet, scientifically, there is no such thing as ‘orderly’, ‘symmetrical’, or ‘definite’ in nature. If Aristotle is right along with all who say “God created us in His image”, we must have an ugly God. Nearly a millennium ago, long before renaissance hit Europe, Averröes (known as Ibn Rushid outside of the Eurocentric world) pointed out, that Aristotelian logic of ‘either with us or against us’ cannot lead to increasing knowledge unless the first premise is true. The difficulty, all the way to the present modern age, has been our inability to identify the first premise. For Averröes, the first premise was the existence of the (only) creator. It was not a theological sermon, it wasn’t even a philosophical discourse, it was purely scientific. Inspired by the Qu’ran that cites the root word ilm (science) second most frequently (only second to the word, Allah), he considered the Qu’ran as the only available, untainted communication with the creator and linked the first premise to the existence of such a communication. Thomas Aquinas took the logic of Averröes and introduced it to Europe with a simple yet fatal modification: he would color the (only) creator as God and define the collection of Catholic church documentation on what took place in the neighborhood of Jerusalem some millennium ago as the only communication of God to mankind (hence the title, bible – the (only) Book).

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It is unfortunate because the new doctrine introduced by Thomas Aquinas was diametrically opposite to the science introduced by Averröes. The intrinsic features of both God and bible were equally dissimilar to the (only) creator and Qu’ran, respectively (Armstrong, 2002). Unfortunately for Europe and the rest of the world that Europe would eventually dominate, this act of Thomas Aquinas indeed became the bifurcation point between two pathways, with origin, consequent logic, and the end being starkly opposite. With Aristotle’s logic, something either is or is not: if one is ‘true’, the other must be false. Because, Averröes’ ‘the creator’ and Thomas Aquinas’s ‘God’ both are used to denominate monotheist faith, the concept of science and religion became a matter of conflicting paradox (Pickover, 2004). As long as no one dares ask: "What relevance does something that eventuated centuries ago in Palestine have for the religion that was re-invented during the late Middle Ages to suit the circumstances of European descendants of tribes from the Caucusus?”, the confusion between religion, ethnicity, and science continues. Averröes called the (only) creator as ‘The Truth’ (In Qu’ranic Arabic, the word ‘the Truth’ and ‘the Creator’ refer to the same entity). His first premise pertained to the book (Qur’an) that said, “Verily unto Us is the first and the last (of everything)”. (89.13) Contrast this to a “modern” view of a creator. In Carl Sagan’s words (Hawkings, 1988), “This is also a book about God…or perhaps about the absence of God. The word God fills these pages. Hawking embarks on a quest to answer Einstein’s famous question about whether God had any choice in creating the universe. Hawking is attempting, as he explicitly states, to understand the mind of God. And this makes all the more unexpected the conclusion of the effort, at least so far: a universe with no edge in space, no beginning or end in time, and nothing for a Creator to do.” What a demented way to describe the creator and His job description! Why do we fail to see the divergence of these two pathways? Historically, challenging the first premise, where the divergence is set, has become such a taboo that there is no documented case of anyone challenging it and surviving the wrath of the Establishment (Church alone in the past, Church and Imperialism after the Renaissance). Even challenging some of the cursory premises has been hazardous, as demonstrated by Galileo. Today, we continue avoid challenging the first premise and even in the information age this it continues to be hazardous, if not fatal, to challenge the first premise or secondary premises. After the Renaissance, it was the Church and the Government to worry about, now keeping up with the culture of The Trinity, the Corporation has been added to this array of the most powerful gatekeepers of spurious assumptions. It has been possible to keep this modus operandi because new “laws” have been passed to protect ‘freedom of religion’ and, of late, ‘freedom of speech’. For special-interest groups, this opens a Pandora’s box for creating ‘us vs them’, ‘clash of civilizations’ and every aphenomenal model now in evidence (Zatzman and Islam, 2007). The first paper avoids the discussion of the theological nature but does manage to challenge the first premise. Rather than basing the first premise on the Truth à la Averröes, it talks about individual acts. Each action would have three components: 1) origin (intention); 2) pathway; 3) consequence (end). Averröes talked about origin being the truth; this paper talks about intention that is real. How can an intention be real or false? This paper talks at length about what is real and equates reality with natural. The paper outlines fundamental features of nature and shows there can be only two options: natural (true) or artificial (false). The paper shows Aristotle’s logic of anything being ‘either A or not-A’ is useful only to discern

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between true (real) and false (artificial). The paper shows the entire pathway has to be real: without that, the paper argues, the aphenomenon will set in and the research results will be harmful to the inventor as well as those who follow him/her (blindly or deliberately). In order to ensure the end being real, the paper introduces the recently developed criterion of Khan (2007) and Khan and Islam (2007). If something is convergent when time is extended to infinity, the end is assured to be real. In fact, if this criterion is used, one can be spared of questioning the ‘intention’ of an action. If any doubt, one should simply investigate where the activity will end up if time, t goes to infinity. During the review process of this paper, an MIT PhD (in Engineering) pointed out serveral verses of the Qu’ran. He quoted, “Are the who creates and the one who doesn’t the same?” (17.16). What is being said in the paper is not new. To the authors’ credit, they were not aware of these verses while writing the paper. It is possible Averröes knew about these verses in the context of origin, but Khan (2007), who introduced the criterion of time going to infinity (to determine the fate of a technology), did not, and thus couldn’t be inspired by them while developing this criterion. Averröes couldn’t have commented about this criterion nor did he report any link between the end criterion, the intention and technology development (Zatzman and Islam, 2007). The first paper continues the discussion of nature and what is natural and shows with a number of very recent examples how currently practiced research protocols violate fundamental traits of nature. The first premise of this paper is: Nature is perfect. In philosophy, this might well mean the creator is perfect, in theology, it might mean, “God is perfect”; for Averröes, it might mean ‘the Creator is the only creator and is the one who defines perfection’; but for this paper, this simply is a matter left to the reader. The most important conclusion of the paper is: if it is not real, it is not sustainable. There are no less than 20 million known chemicals. Most of them are natural. In the modern age, we have managed to create some 4000 of them, all artificially, both in process and ingredient. The fact that natural process has been violated, they become inherently toxic, meaning nature has to fight them throughout their pathways extending to an infinite time period. The fate of all these 4000 chemicals shows that we do not need to wait an infinite period to discover we had no business ‘creating’ them (Globe and Mail, 2006). The second paper uses a previously developed criterion and demonstrates that unless this criterion is fulfilled, what we claimed to have created will act exactly the opposite way as to what we claimed it would do. The paper shows with example that artificial products follow a very different (in fact: opposite) pathway as a function of time. Even with the same origin, the pathway would be different, and with different origins, the difference would be even more stark. If the claim of the first paper needed any physical evidence, the second paper by Khan et al. offers ample of that. This paper shows the reason behind the apparent success of artificial chemicals. Because the time criterion was not used, all chemicals were thought to be the same, based only on their compositions. With this mode, beeswax and paraffin wax, vitamin C from organic source and vitamin C artificial source, honey and saccharine, and virtually all 4,000 synthetic chemicals would appear to be the same as their natural counterpart. Only recently has it become clear that artificial products do the opposite of the natural ones. For instance, artificial vitamin C gives cancer, the natural one blocks it; natural chromium increases metabolic activities, artificial chromium decreases them; natural fertilizers increase food value, artificial fertilizers decrease it; and the list continues for all 4,000 artificial chemicals. This is not a matter of proof, it is a reality. The Nobel Prize may

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have been awarded to the inventor of DDT, but this did not detoxify its environmental impacts. Recently, the United Arab Emirates banned the use of plastic containers for serving hot beverages. Years of research finally discovered that plastic containers leach out toxic chemicals at hot temperatures. Of course, similarly, DDT was a ‘miracle powder’ for decades before it was banned. How can we predict behavior with foresight rather than hindsight? How long will it take to predict that if plastic containers are unacceptable for hot beverages, they are also not acceptable for cold ones? When will we be able to use the knowledge of Arrhenius’ equation, showing reaction rate as a continuous function of temperature? The first paper of this issue claims that the modern age has been hopeless in making use of the modern analytical mind. Practically all the theories and ‘laws’ are based on some spurious first premise that conflicts with natural traits. So, should we through away everything we learned in the past? Indeed, we can make use of the past experience if we focus on failures and investigate why things did not work rather than being obsessed with measuring success and pragmatic results. The non-linear character of any equation that attempts to describe any natural process has been a failure in ‘new science’. We can barely solve any meaningful non-linear problem without linearizing it first. Linearization changes the very nature of the problem and suits the problem to satisfy the solution. Conventional wisdom would consider this modus operandi preposterous, yet pragmatism in new science calls it ‘the modus operandi’. The third paper by Biazar and Hyati attempts to solve a highly non-linear problem without linearizing it first. The paper does not recover all the essential features of nature, such as multiple solutions, but it advances knowledge by producing one solution domain that was not known before. The ‘Pop Princess’, Tatiana, might have made a fortune, singing “Things happen because they should”, an engineering professor in Canada questioned the balanced nature of nature. He asked, “Nature isn’t really perfect, is it?” It would be considered blasphemy if it wasn’t for the fact that the professor is also an ordained minister of a church. In support of his argument, he cites the fact that there are deadly bacteria, poisonous hemlock, and the potent venom. What does this line of argument imply? If it is deadly to human beings, it is not perfect. If one takes this argument further, it really implies if something does not advance the short-term gains of someone and this someone is in a position of calling the shots, that ‘something’ is imperfect. One doesn’t need Aristotle to see where this argument is leading. Nature is perfect because, even as it accommodates changes evolved within it and even as it overcomes insults inflicted on the environment by ‘development’, it remains balanced. If nature wasn’t perfect, it would implode this very moment. Throughout human history, we have understood that nature is balanced. Even during the ‘new science’ era, we have accepted concepts, such as, mass balance and energy balance, with ease, albeit with a myopic vision. This concept comes from the first premise that matter (and, therefore, energy) cannot be created or destroyed. This also dictates that any natural (real) phenomenon be also 100% efficient. The new science that has claimed ‘nature can be improved (through engineering)’ has not disputed mass and energy balance but it has failed to see mass and energy balance also means nature is 100% efficient and 100% zero-waste. This failure to see the obvious outcome of the fundamental premise of nature needed slanting of zero-waste engineering as ‘blue sky’ research. The fourth paper by Khan et al. points out this absurdity of Eurocentric engineering and proposes a zero-waste process. This paper personifies the pro-nature technology that satisfies the three fundamental criteria, namely, real origin, real pathway, and

If Nature Is Perfect, What Is ‘Denaturing’?

5

real end. It defines waste (both in energy and mass) as something that is not ‘readily’ usable by nature. “Readily” here implies characteristic time frame of a process (Zatzman and Islam, 2007; also see Paper 1 of this issue). This definition is scientific, yet it has eluded even the most pro-environment enthusiasts. For instance, today no criterion exists that would call converting solar energy into electric energy a waste. Yet, electricity (AC or DC) does not exist in nature (no, lightning is neither ‘direct’ nor ‘alternating’, since it delivers current flow in discrete pulses). This paper also explains how a pro-nature process can be confused with an anti-nature one and vice versa, depending on perception. The paper refines previous work of Khan and Islam (2007) to show how ‘good’ (real) intention will be beneficial continuously and ‘ill’ (artificial) intention will do the opposite. If the direction is wrong, the whole concept of efficiency and speed is perverted. After all, how good speed of a movement is if the direction is wrong? Continuing with the zero waste theme, the fifth paper (by Mehedi et al.) shows how even organic waste (which is not really waste) can be rendered valuable. Using the example of Turkish tea (Turkey is one of the world’s biggest consumers and producers of a specific brand of black tea), the paper shows how tea waste can be used to first remove metallic containments from an aqueous stream, then to grow bacteria that would ferment the tea into organic fertilizers and valuable nutrients. While this technique cannot undo the damage chemical fertilizers or pesticides may have caused to the tea, it does propose a natural pathway that would leave our waste products in a state amenable to natural processing. To Albert Einstein, the leap from three dimensions to four dimensions was a matter of visualizing n dimensions with a value n=4 put in it. Paper 6 introduces the knowledge dimension and shows such dimension is not only possible, it is necessary. Our knowledge is conditioned not only by the quantity of information gathered in the process of conducting research, but also by the depth of that research, i.e., the intensity of our participation in finding things out. In and of themselves, the facts of nature’s existence and of our existence within it do neither guarantee nor demonstrate our consciousness of either, or the extent of that consciousness. Our perceptual apparatus enables us to record a large number of discrete items of data about the surrounding environment. Much of this information we organize naturally and indeed unconsciously. The rest we organize according to the level to which we have trained, and-or come to use, our own brains. Hence, neither can it be affirmed that we arrive at knowledge directly or merely through perception, nor can we affirm being in possession at any point in time of a reliable proof or guarantee that our knowledge of anything in nature is complete. We normally live and work, including conduct research, within these limitations without giving them much further thought. In this respect, how can we be said to differ significantly from the residents of Flatland (Abbott, 1884)? Their existence in two dimensions carried on perfectly comfortably and they developed their own rationalizations to account for phenomena intervening in their existence that arose from a third dimension of whose very existence they knew nothing. Einstein demonstrated that nature is four-dimensional, yet we carry on almost all scientific research and daily life according to an assumption that the world is three-dimensional and time is something that varies independently of anything taking place within those three dimensions. Implicit in this arrangement is the idea that, although spatial dimensions may vary in linear independence of, or in linear dependence upon, one another, time does not or shall not. To help demonstrate the consequences of this anomaly, consider the simple problem of determining either the maximum volume of perfect cube possible

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inside a sphere of a given radius r, or the maximum spherical volume possible inside a given cube of side-length l. For the most general case, requiring the fewest linearizing exogenous assumptions, we have to consider ∂x, ∂y, and ∂z, including all their possible first-degree combinations xyz, yxz and zxy. In other words: we have to accept the prospect that changes in any of the linear dimensions may not be independent of one another. If we are examining this as a transformation taking place over some period of time t, we would likely add consideration of a ∂/∂t operation on each of x, y and z. However, would we even think of examining xyzt, yxzt, zxyt and txyz? Why not? Perhaps, treating time as the independent variable is a rationalization akin to Flatlanders’ treatment of evidence of the third dimension in their two-dimensional universe. If this is the case, then what is the accomplishment of conscious knowledge, as distinct from mere recording and cataloguing of perceptions? This gap between conscious knowledge and catalogues of recorded perception seems very like that between time as an actual dimension and any of the spatial dimensions taken singly or in combination, or like that of two-dimensional Flatlanders’ experiencing of phenomena intervene from a third dimension outside their ‘natural’ experience. It feels like a dimensional gap: can we consider the knowledge domain as perhaps a fifth dimension? Its relationship to the other dimensions is not orthogonal like that of length, width or height to each other; neither is time’s relationship as a dimension relative to length, width or height. In fact, however, orthogonality is more of a convenient assumption for purposes of a certain kind of mathematical manipulation, than a proper description. In reality, every two-dimensional plane or surface is simply a collection of points, beyond those on a line, that may also enclose any other line of that plane or surface; every three-dimensional space is a collection of points on, as well as and in between, any and every plane or surface. All three of these dimensions are, literally, time-less. The temporal dimension incorporates points in the past and the future along with all points in the present. The awareness of these points-in-themselves and their interrelationship(s) forms the fifth dimension we call the “knowledge domain” (Zatzman and Islam, 2007). Finally, a book review is presented. The book provides one with a guideline for developing technologies that environmentally beneficial and socially responsible, the two most important features of nature. Among others, the book shows with concrete examples how pro-nature techniques are not only possible, but an absolute necessity for achieving and maintaining sustainability.

REFERENCES Abbott, Edwin. 1884. Flatland – A Romance in Many Dimensions London: Macmillan. Armstrong, K., 1994, A History of God, Ballantine Books, Random House, 496 pp. Globe and Mail, 2006, Toxic Shock, a series on synthetic chemicals. Hawking, S., 1988, A Brief History of Time, Bantam books, London, UK, 211 pp. Khan, M.I., 2007, J. Nature Science and Sustainable Technology, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 1-34. Khan, M.I. and M.R. Islam, 2007, True Sustainability in Technological Development and Natural Resource Management, Nova Science Publishers, NY, 381 pp. Pickover, C.A., 2004, The Paradox of God and the Science of Omniscience, Palgrave MacMillan, N.Y., 288 pp.

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Zatzman, G.M and Islam, M.R., 2007, Economics of Intangibles, Nova Science Publishers, New York, 400 pp.

In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 9-66

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 1

TRUTH, CONSEQUENCES AND INTENTIONS: ENGINEERING RESEARCHERS INVESTIGATE NATURAL AND ANTI-NATURAL STARTING POINTS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS G. M. Zatzmana and M. R. Islamb a

EEC Research Organisation-6373470 Canada Inc. Dep’t of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

b

ABSTRACT The contemporary scene is rife with the howling contradiction of an unprecedented number of scientific tools at Humanity’s disposal for sorting out a vast range of problems alongside a looming and growing “technological disaster” – a seemingly endless catalogue of system failures, from airplane crashes to oil-rig sinkings, arising most often either from some identifiable “human error” in deploying a key technology or from what are widely reported as “unintended consequences.” Especially in the civil courts of the United States, an entire multi-billion-dollar sub-industry has emerged in the field of what is known as “product liability” law to handle compensation claims by individuals for all manner of conditions, ranging from the contracting of malignant cancers (from exposures to everything from asbestos to cigarettes) to death or acute pain from faulty pacemakers and heart-valve replacements. The resultant widespread focus on critical-point failure has distracted attention away from addressing more fundamental questions about how the science that is supposed to underlie the technologies implicated in these disasters was conducted in the first place. This article refocuses on a number of the issues of how science is conducted in the Information Age, suggesting a way out of the present conundrum.

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. - Groucho Marx

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INTRODUCTION For some time, the effects of faked science have been increasingly apparent. As fraud is not a new story within the human condition, however, little headway has been made in specifying anything particularly significant about the rise of faked science, other than to remark that there is also a lot more science about, and therefore such an increase in fakery can be statistically anticipated. There has been a lot of discussion and analysis of the effects of technological failures stemming from science poorly-conceived or badly-done. Much of this discourse centres on a looming and growing sense of what Nobel Chemistry Laureate Robert F. Curl has called “our technological disaster” – a seemingly endless catalogue of system failures, from airplane crashes to oil-rig sinkings, arising most often either from some identifiable “human error” in deploying a key technology or from what are widely reported as “unintended consequences.”1 The resultant widespread focus on critical-point failure has distracted attention away from addressing more fundamental questions about how the science that is supposed to underlie the technologies implicated in these disasters was conducted in the first place. What had been less prominent until recently was much public expression of concern that anything be done about this problem. Unfortunately much of this concern has expressed itself in the form of campaigns against rising plagiarism in academia, and wringing of hands and crackdowns in security against the relatively easy and widespread practice of using the World Wide Web as a screen on which to misrepresent work results or effort to a potentially global audience. The starting-point of the present article is that the widespread focus on critical-point failure has distracted attention away from addressing more fundamental questions about how the science that is supposed to underlie the technologies implicated in these disasters was conducted in the first place. Disinformation has become the norm rather than the exception in all fields of scientific endeavour, as the very wide range of items included in the Appendix of this article illustrate. And underlying this development is a deeper systematic problem, possessing definite historical origins and direction, which threatens the present and future of the scientific research enterprise and needs urgently to be addressed.

HISTORICAL OVERVIEW: HOW THE QUESTION OF “INTENTION” POSED ITSELF DURING EARLY MODERN ERA PRE-WW1 The true wellsprings of modern science are to be found neither in the hushed hallways of Cal Tech or the Institute of Advanced Studies at Princeton, nor in the lushly-outfitted laboratories of star researchers at private-sector foundations or public-sector institutions. One of the most critical of critical points in the arc of the story-line of modern science’s development emerged about 350 years ago, in Renaissance Italy, at the University of Padua. Galileo Galilei demonstrated not only the evidence for his proposition that the Earth and other 1

Especially in the civil courts of the United States, an entire multi-billion-dollar sub-industry has emerged in the field of what is known as “product liability” law to handle compensation claims by individuals for all manner of conditions, ranging from the contracting of malignant cancers (from exposures to everything from asbestos to cigarettes) to death or acute pain from faulty pacemakers and heart-valve replacements. Dr Curl teaches a course on this theme at Rice University; see http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~univ113/contact.html.

Truth, Consequences and Intentions

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known planets must revolve around the Sun, but also why the authoritative doctrine approved for the previous 14 centuries or so and still defended at that time by the Roman Catholic Church throughout the Western Christian world – that the Sun revolves around the Earth – must be wrong. That was his great crime, for which the Inquisition was to punish him. Even as he submitted humiliatingly to the Church’s decision to ban his writings while permitting him to live but only in a state of virtual house arrest, he is reported (apocryphally) to have muttered under his breath: “E per si muove!” (“And yet it [i.e., the Earth] moves!”) Many other far more dramatic tales of great scientific accomplishment or failure never entered, or have long since lapsed from, public consciousness, yet this anecdote lives on hundreds of years since the events it describes. Indeed: the international mass media marked the moment at which Pope John Paul II in 1984 “rehabilitated” Galileo, effectively lifting the moral taint that still operated to enforce the Church’s ban on Catholics reading and disseminating Galileo’s work (Golden and Wynn, 1984). The underlying material reason why this particular historic moment cannot be eradicated from people’s consciousness lies in the event’s significance for all subsequent human development: knowledge could no longer be retained as the private property of a self-appointed priesthood. The importance for the development of science lay in Galileo’s approach. This established as general for all science a method already being used by others. The method was: to elucidate the facts and features of a phenomenon and draw warranted conclusions without reference to what any established or officially-approved authority might have to say for or against those conclusions. This clear-cut rejection of arbitrary authority was crucial for the further explosive development of science in European, and eventually also American and global, life and letters. People eventually developed a nose for sniffing out signs of the presence of such arbitrary authority lurking anywhere. During the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, especially in the scholarly literature of Westernised / Christianised societies, such lurkers frequently gave themselves away by introducing talk of “intentions” – meaning: the intentions of the Deity in human affairs – in opposition to scientific findings that offended or otherwise triggered them to react. Echoes of this openly anti-scientific manipulation of the notion of intentions continue in our own day in the discussions and battles over “intelligent design”, “Creationism” and other challenges to Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection as the mechanism of speciation in the animal kingdom.2 The economic system that grew and expanded on the basis of the scientific revolution launched by Galileo treated the factory labourer as the extension of the machinery to which his creative labouring power was harnessed. The line between the labourer’s humanity and the thing-ness of the raw materials and machinery became blurred as both were now in the factory-owner’s power. Increasingly they became merged as the scale of factory production and its associated systems of distribution and exchange expanded to include the commodification of many wants that had never before been packaged as “products” for sale in the market. None of these things, however, yet threatened or affected the scientific research undertaken to develop and prove the technologies applied in industry.

2

See infra Appendix C, Item 1.

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HISTORICAL OVERVIEW, CONT’D: SINCE WW1 – “THERE IS NO GOD BUT MONOPOLY…” By the time of the First World War, however, this expansion had already followed in the wake of the increasing concentration of the means of production on the largest possible scale as well as concentration of the ownership of such giant systems in fewer and fewer hands. Certain essential characteristic features of this transformed order of social production were unprecedented. The enterprises were monopolistic and manipulated market competition to destroy and absorb competitors. Their capital base was increasingly detached from any previous notions of the individual capitalist’s risk and repositioned as the investment decision of a collective. These ownership groups included one or more banks or financial institutions possessing detailed knowledge of existing competitors, competing markets and competing products as well as other sources of investment capital prepared to forego any say in management in exchange for a guaranteed rate of return. The old-style individual factory owner’s obsession with remaining in business riveted his attention on maintaining whatever was necessary for garnering the average rate of profit in his industry. The modern monopoly group’s obsession with guaranteeing a rate of return premised on continuing to grow riveted its attention on going for the maximum profit in every single undertaking. One of the most crucial weapons of competition at this level was the development and deployment of technologies not yet possessed or used by others, based on denying rivals’ access to comparable technological means for as long as possible. Into the development of the science underlying such technologies, these mandates inserted an intention that had not played a role before. On top of the well-known examples of the corrupting of science by deceptive advertising messages was added a far profounder corrupting of the mission and purpose of the research scientist-engineer, whose instinct to resist was challenged by the fact that all sources of his present or future employment and livelihood lay with these giant monopolies, and he must therefore submit to an imposed alien intention or not expect to eat. Eventually and inevitably, a great deal of the science itself increasingly incorporated and regurgitated as scientific these monopolising intentions, dressed up as modern scientific norms.3 The intentions underpinning monopoly dictation of scientific and technological development increasingly threaten Humanity’s future on this planet. Whereas the insistence upon authority over science by the Papal Index and Inquisition threatened individuals with torture and worse, the shahadah of modern monopoly – “there is no god but Monopoly and maximum is Its profit” 4 – threatens entire societies with destruction. And here is also the point at which an idea actually as old as the earliest emergence of the human species on the face of the earth, viz., the primacy of the natural environment over anything fabricated by any of its participants, has emerged in strikingly modern form as the pointer to real solutions: intervention (by humans or any other agency) that preserves the primacy of the surrounding environment vis-à-vis any of its constituent elements will follow the natural path and sustain 3

4

For example, “proving” the safety and reliability of a new drug by massive clinical trials (which only the wealthiest manufacturers can afford in the first place) and random sampling of the resulting datasets indicates nothing whatsoever about the safety or reliability of the underlying science. See infra Appendix D, Item 3. The shahadah, or profession of faith that is one of Islam's five pillars, states that “There is no God but God and Muhammad is his Prophet.” By contrast, the non-religious theory and practice of Monopoly seems to rest on just this one pillar alone.

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the environment for the long term, whereas intervening according to any other intention in the short-term will have deleterious anti-Nature, anti-environmental consequences.

INTERVENTION, APHENOMENALITY AND ANTI-NATURE OUTCOMES Intervention in anything – as a citizen or official in some social, economic or political situation, or as an engineer transforming a natural process and-or raw materials into some kind of finished product, whether for sale in the market or as the input to a further stage of processing – entails a process of formulating and taking decisions. The pathway on which such a decision is formulated and taken is crucial. Among other reasons for considering these pathways crucial is the fact that a struggle is waged inside these pathways between that which is natural and that which is anti-Nature. That which is anti-Nature takes the form of an unverified assumption, masked as a positive assertion, about what the investigator wishes existed. In fact, the phenomenon purportedly encapsulated in the (unverified) assumption or assertion does not exist – either fully or verifiably or even at all – and may more properly be described as aphenomenal.5 The extreme technological complexity of modern systems, coupled to the widespread and unquestioned acceptance of the fundamental pragmatic principle that “truth is whatever works”, has rendered Humanity highly vulnerable to aphenomenal modeling of solutions, long-term or short-term. If the logical or technological imperative is satisfied in the short term, no one questions its premises. When it fails disastrously, the last thing anyone dares hint at examining is the underlying assumption(s) that produced the unwanted result. As is well known, the larger the organisation, the more it may – indeed: must, as career futures could be at stake – resist modeling how something actually failed. Back in the 19th century, when the maximum exploitation of people’s labouring power was the main aim of the entire social and economic order, the expression was popularised that “idle hands are the Devil’s playground.” In the Information Age of our own time, the Unchecked Assumption has really taken over that role. Today, the very first check to be carried out when investigating failure besetting any complex system is the system’s underlying logic, which is where aphenomenality unleashes its greatest destruction. Any and every situation where the operational logic is one or another version of the following syllogism is certain to become beset by aphenomenality: • • •

All Americans speak French Jacques Chirac is an American Therefore, Jacques Chirac speaks French

The short-term pragmatic conclusion is true and appears logical, but the pillars of its logic are completely hollow, vulnerable and false. “Aphenomenality” is a term that has been coined to describe in general the non-existence of any purported phenomenon or of any collection of properties, characteristics or features 5

In this particular regard, “expected values” arising from a projection of the probability measure taken on some random variable and then accepted as outcomes on the authority of the mathematical theory without further verification, are a frequent culprit.

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ascribed to such a purported but otherwise unverified or unverifiable phenomenon. Research work undertaken by members of the EEC Research Group into a number of phenomena of natural science, social science and physical and social engineering has identified an “aphenomenal model”. This describes an approach to investigating phenomena, and-or applying the investigation’s result, according to criteria that assume or circumscribe conclusions in the assumptions and hypotheses that sparked the investigation. The process of aphenomenal decision-making is illustrated by the inverted triangle, proceeding from the top down (Figure 1). The inverted representation stresses the inherent instability of the model. The source data from which a decision eventually emerges already incorporates their own justifications, which are then massaged by layers of opacity and disinformation. The disinformation referred to here (Figure 1) is what results when information is presented or recapitulated in the service of unstated or unacknowledged ulterior intentions. The methods of this disinformation achieve their effect by presenting evidence or raw data selectively, without disclosing either the fact of such selection or the criteria guiding the selection. This process of selection obscures any distinctions between the data coming from nature or from any all-natural pathway, on the one hand, and data from unverified or untested observations on the other. Not surprisingly, therefore, the aphenomenal model of decision-making necessarily gives rise to an anti-Nature result. It has been a big advance to detect and make explicit the bifurcation between pro- and anti-Nature approaches. Of course, some will say: if what you are saying is true, and it is so simple, why has no one hit on it before? Essentially the answer must be that the truth is assailed by error and falsehood everywhere. At the same time, we do not advocate that one must acquire membership in any special priesthood in order to grasp the truth... so, what's the “secret”? There must be some practical way(s) to avoid an anti-Nature path in the first place, or to break with such a path when one detects that s/he has gone that way and find a proNature path instead.

Figure 1. Aphenomenal Model of Decision-Making.

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In addition to detecting and making explicit the bifurcation between pro- and anti-Nature approaches in various circumstances, what is most crucial is also to elaborate some of these practical ways of guarding against or countering an erroneous choice of pathway. In this regard, there are three (3) things to check if one is concerned not to be intervening on a path that is anti-Nature. First: there is intention. If one lacks a conscious intention, this itself should serve as a warning sign. It doesn’t matter is everything else seems “alright”: this lack is a decisive indicator. One of the hazards of the Information Age derives nevertheless from the sheer surfeit of “data” on any topic, compared to the number and depth of questioning needed in order to cull, group and analyse what these data mean. Intention means direction. Many confuse this notion with the notion of “bias”, but although data may be filtered for analysis in any number of acceptable ways, bias is not one of them. As various works published by members of the EEC Research Group have stressed, however, “understanding requires conscious participation of the individual in acts of finding out.”6 Data in and of themselves actually disclose nothing… until operated on by an investigator asking questions and then seeking answers in the data.7 The sequence of questions posed must serve to establish the direction of the inquiry. At the same time it should by no means be assumed that such sequencing is arbitrary. The line of questions an engineer asks about an electric circuit, for example, changes dramatically once the circuit’s state is altered from open to closed, or viceversa. Second: there is the matter of the character of the knowledge forming the basis of one's intervention. If the entire source and content of this knowledge base is perception alone, the character of this knowledge base will be faulty and deficient. The source and content of this knowledge base must be conscious observation – either by oneself directly, or collected from sources that are unbiased and otherwise reliable – and the warranted conclusions collected from, or on the basis of, such observations. At first glance, this seems like impossibly petty caviling: surely, “data are data”, regardless of its observer, recorder or investigator? Precisely what this approach overlooks is something that is not a petty matter at all, viz., the reliability of perception in and of itself, disconnected from any framework, or its source. Imagine an electric fan rotating clockwise – the clockwise rotation is actual: the truth, not a matter of perception or blind faith8 – and we are seeking a knowledge-based model of this phenomenon. Such a model will; necessarily also be dynamic, since knowledge is infinite (at what time can it ever be asserted that all current information is available and the description of a process is complete?). Every phenomenon, including this apparently trivially simple 6

7

8

This injunction was first stated this way 40 years ago in a powerful pamphlet by Hardial S. Bains entitled Necessity for Change (London, 1967). Within its own work , the EEC Research Group has taken this in a definite direction; see for example Islam (2003) and Zatzman and Islam (2006). The perpetration of the “Terrorism Information Awareness” (TIA) database project headed by Adm. Poindexter (an individual publicly discredited in the 1980s for abetting the illegal “Iran-Contra” arms deal) and intended to “detect patterns that predict potential future outbursts of Islamic extremism” from applications filed for U.S. visas or citizenship, logs of transoceanic cell-phone calls to or from U.S. locations and other “data sources”, was and is possible only because some people bought the argument that data would provide answers, without worrying either about nailing bias or even first making explicit the questions that are to be asked. For an insightful critique of TIA, see http://www.epic.org/privacy/profiling/tia/ Any model that predicts contrary to the truth is a model based on ignorance. Thus, for example, to predict something based on the earth being flat cannot pass. That would be an example of an aphenomenal model. A knowledge-based model, by contrast, should predict the truth. See Zatzman & Islam (ibid.)

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phenomenon of a clockwise-rotating fan, necessarily incorporates some room for further investigation. As long as the direction of the investigation is correct – something ascertainable from the intention of the investigator – further facts about the truth will continue to reveal themselves. Over time, such investigation takes on a different meaning as the observed phenomenon is constantly changing. The starting point was quite explicit: the fan rotates clockwise, so any model that would proclaim that the fan appears rotating counter-clockwise would do nothing for the truth. Despite the appearance, such a proclamation would in fact simply falsify perception. For instance, if observation with the naked eye is assumed to be complete, and no other information is necessary to describe the motion of the electric fan, an aphenomenal result would be validated. Using a strobe light, however, and depending on the applied frequency of the strobe, the motion of the electric fan can be shown to have reversed. If the information is omitted that the observation of the electric fan was carried out under a strobe light, then knowledge about the actual, true motion of the fan would be obscured (to say the least). Simply by changing the frequency, perception has been rendered the opposite of reality. Now, however, the problem compounds. How can it be ensured that any prediction of counter-clockwise fan rotation is discarded? If mention of the frequency of the light under which the observation was being made is included, it becomes obvious that the frequency of the strobe is responsible for perceiving the fan as rotating counter-clockwise. Even the frequency of the light would be insufficient to re-create the correct image, since only sunlight can guarantee an image closest to the truth. Any other light distorts what the human brain will process as the image. Frequency is the inverse of time, but as this example serves to make more than clear: time is the single most important parameter in revealing the truth. This is the case even for phenomenon that is deliberately human-engineered in every aspect – no part of this fan or its operation is reproduced anywhere in the natural environment. Two things were observed that directly conflicted: clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. However, by knowing the time-dependence (frequency), what was true could readily be differentiated from what was false. All steady-state models, models based on a central equilibrium, are aphenomenal. Their most important features are their tangibility and the confinement of their operating range to time t = ‘right now’. However, although steady-state models, and therefore also all tangible models, are inherently aphenomenal, intangible models are inherently knowledge-based. Intangible models are what can be found everywhere and anywhere in their normal habitat in the natural environment. Such models, by including the phenomenon in its natural state, necessarily also incorporate information and facts that no observer may yet have sorted out, yet which “come with the territory” – like the skin of a banana with its edible, i.e., tangible, insides which is what we are probably actually intending when we refer to “banana”. The key to sorting everything out is conscious observation of the phenomenon – engineered or natural – in its characteristic mode of operation. Third: the temporal element of the observations collected must be made conscious. The intervention must be arranged in the light of such consciousness is the result is to not to take people down an anti-Nature path, or otherwise serve an anti-Nature intention. Time is the fourth dimension in which everything in the social or natural environment is acted out. As the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus was probably the first European to point out, motion is

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the mode of existence of all matter.9 Such is the content of the temporal existence of matter in all its forms, whether observed (and measured) as energetic oscillation (i.e., frequency), or as duration (i.e., time, which is the reciprocal of frequency). Note that this generalisation applies to matter in sub-atomic forms. The sub-atomic arena is one in which Newton’s famous Laws of Motion, which contemplated matter in the form of object-masses, sometimes encountered serious contradictions. For example, Newton’s First Law of Motion speaks of “objects” remaining at rest unless acted on by an external force. The atoms of any object are at rest at no time. Therefore, since (as we now know) electrons and protons are not spherical “object-masses” whirring about inside a given object-mass, the locating of a source of alleged “external force” supposedly responsible for the undoubted and extensive motion of particulate matter at the sub-atomic level of any object-mass becomes seriously problematic. The notion that motion is the mode of existence of matter in all forms incorporates the temporal dimension – in this definition, time is truly “of the essence”. By contrast, in the Newtonian universe, time is an independent variable that can be disregarded when object-masses of interest are not in motion. In the Newtonian worldview, the steadystate is timeless. The physics of Heraclitus was rendered in modern European philosophy by G.W.F. Hegel (1821 [1952 Eng. tr.]) as well as in the religion and philosophy of nonBuddhist civilisations of ancient India. According to any of these, Newtonian science’s “steady state” is utterly aphenomenal because it eliminates any role for time, an act which in itself is anti-Nature. As Einstein demonstrated, once time is restored to its proper place as an entire fourth dimension of the material universe and ceases to be treated as a mere independent variable, the applicability of Newton’s Laws of Motion undergoes serious modification.10

FUNDAMENTAL MISCONCEPTIONS IN TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT Any meaningful discourse about what constitutes sustainable technology development, must first be informed by a tour d’horizon of the present state of what constitutes “knowledge”. The conventional thought process throughout all fields of engineering science is based on short-term vision that gives rise to numerous misconceptions. The elimination of misconceptions, which is a permanent standing aim of all scientific work, not only fortifies and clarifies what is true, but also promotes long-term thinking. It follows that, for those interested in retaining a healthy scientific discourse, long-term thinking should be promoted instead of short-term vision. Unfortunately, the short-term vision of the conventional thoughtprocess --- there is this immediate problem posing itself in finite time and space, for which the following solution is proposed --- retains a tenacious grip, and if the proposed solution “works”, then… that becomes the truth. Truth becomes… “whatever works”. The very success of such a pragmatic approach in the short term --- we now have something that “works”, who cares how or why? --- itself promotes a certain indifference about the urgency and necessity to eliminate misconceptions or isolate false perceptions. Misconceptions and 9

No complete original of his one known book, On Nature, survives. Plato and others cited the most famous phrase everywhere attributed to him: “All things are in flux.” See http://www2.forthnet.gr/presocratics/heracln.htm 10 These and many other aspects of time are discussed at greater length in Chapter 2, “A Delinearised History of Time”, in Zatzman & Islam (ibid.)

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falsified perception have always led to downplaying, ignoring or even eliminating altogether any long-term considerations such that --- depending on how much information has been hidden --- any scheme looks appealing. Sustainability, on the other hand, can only come through knowledge, and knowledge can only be clarified and fortified in the process of eliminating misconceptions and false perceptions from the very processes of thought. By tracking the first assumptions of all engineering and natural science ‘laws’, the following misconceptions are identified. a) Truth is whatever works: This pragmatic approach is the most important misconception that has prevailed over last 350 years. A fundamental requirement of any scientific definition of truth is that it be “phenomenal” throughout time and space yet independent and regardless of any particular time or space. Another way to state this is that the truth must exist in all four dimensions of nature – not just one dimension with time t as an independent variable or not at all, nor just two with time t as an independent variable or not at all, nor just three with time t as an independent variable or not at all, nor only in time without regard to space (i.e., it must exist respect to mass or energy or both). The necessity and significance of this prerequisite is obscured the moment a truth is accepted that was based on findings tied to some finite time period. The truths of naturescience, i.e., of science based on that which actually exists in nature, incorporate all three spatial dimensions and time, the fourth dimension. They are not constructed as superpositions of things that are true of some abstract construct such as a single linear-spatial dimension, or of two linear-spatial dimensions, or of three linear-spatial dimensions but with time appearing, if at all, only as an independent variable. Can anything be proven “true” in any absolute sense outside space and time? Imagine trying to prove 1+1=2: our recent work shows proving 1+1=2, an abstraction that does not exist, can only be done once it is given a tangible meaning (Islam and Zatzman, 2006b). Consider this statement: a linear structure exists, when length scale is zero. This statement that starts a circular logic and inherently falsifies the first assertion (that is, such structure exists). So, there can be numerous proofs of many corollaries and theories, as long as they are confined to aphenomenal meanings. The same applies to ‘verification’, which is nothing but ascertaining the truth. Consider verifying that someone’s name is “Sam Smith”. We can ask Sam Smith and he can testify that he is indeed Sam Smith. That does not verify that his name is Sam Smith, because we are depending on his testimony, so there is an underlying assumption that he is speaking the truth. The only way we can proceed to verify without any doubt is if we witnessed the naming ceremony and the statement was made at the time of the ceremony, not a second later. Because, even a second later, we are relying on people’s memory as the time has already lapsed. Every theory has a first assumption attached to it. Figure 2 shows how the difficulty of verifying the first assumption. b) Chemicals are chemicals. This misconception allowed Paul Hermann Müller, credited with inventing dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and awarded a Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology, to glamorize making of synthetic products. This very old misconception got a new life, inspired by the work of Linus Pauling (a two-time Nobel prize winner, in chemistry and peace). Pauling (1968) justified using artificial products no differently than natural products of the same chemical structure and functions, claiming any differences as to whether their operational setting, or characteristic environment, was in

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nature or a laboratory could be safely disregarded. This had the positive feature of challenging any latent notions that biological chemicals were mysterious or somehow other than chemical. But the conclusion that this apparent tangible identity made it safe to disregard differences in chemicals’ characteristic operating environments or how they were produced in the first place was unwarranted.

Figure 2. The impact of the first assumption increases as the degree of difficulty goes up in verifying the first assumption.

The issue of environment was finessed by asserting that since the individual chemicals could be found in the natural environment, and since the same chemicals synthesised in a lab or a factory were structurally and functionally one and the same as the version found in raw form in nature, then such synthesised chemicals could not pose any long term or fundamental threat to the natural environment. It was all the same as far as nature was concerned, ran the argument, since, no matter which individual chemical constituent or element form the Periodic Table you chose, it already existed somewhere in nature; how they were synthesised was glossed over. Furthermore, the fact that almost none of the synthetic combinations of these otherwise natural-occurring individual elements had ever existed in nature was ignored. Scientists with DuPont claimed dioxins (from PVC being the same as from nature) existed in nature, so therefore, synthetic PVC should not be harmful – even if the “naturally-occurring” version of the dioxin is utterly poisonous. The mere fact something exists in nature tells us nothing about the mode of its existence. This is quite crucial, when it is remembered that synthetic products are used up and dumped as waste in the environment without any consideration being given – at the time their introduction is being planned – to the consequences of their possible persistence or accumulation in the environment. All synthetic products “exist” (as long as the focus is on the most tangible aspect) in nature in a timeframe in which Δt=0. That is the mode of their existence and that is precisely where the problem lies. With this mode, one can justify the use

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of formaldehyde in beauty products, anti-oxidants in health products, dioxins in baby bottles, bleaches in toothpaste, all the way up to every pharmaceutical product promoted today. Of course, the same focus, based on the science of tangible, is applied to processes, as well as products. Accordingly, nuclear fission in an atomic weapon is the same as what is going on inside the sun (the common saying is that “there are trillions of nuclear bombs going off every second inside the sun”). In other words: ‘energy is energy’! This misconception can make nuclear energy appear clean and efficient in contrast to ‘dirty’, ‘toxic’, and even ‘expensive’ fossil fuel. Nuclear physicists seem generally to share this misconception, including Enrico Fermi, Ernest Rutherford who won Nobel prizes in physics. c) If you cannot see, it doesn’t exist. Even the most militant environmental activists will admit, the use of toxic chemicals is more hazardous if the concentration is high and the reaction rate is accelerated (through combustion, for example). The entire chemical industry became engaged in developing catalysts that are inherently toxic and anti-nature (through purposeful denaturing). The use of catalysts (always very toxic because they are truly denatured – i.e., concentrated) was justified by saying that catalysts by definition cannot do any harm because they only help the reaction but do not participate. The origin of this logic is that “catalyst” replaces “enzyme”. Enzymes allegedly also don’t participate in reaction. Consider in this regard the winners of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Three scientists were awarded the Nobel Prize for demonstrating a kind of naturebased catalysis that could presumably give rise to ‘green chemistry’. Yves Chauvin explained how metal compounds can act as catalysts in ‘organic synthesis’. Richard Schrock was the first to produce an efficient metal-compound catalyst and Robert Grubbs developed an ‘even better catalyst’ that is ‘stable’ in the atmosphere. To these breakthroughs is ascribed the possibility of creating processes and products that are ‘more efficient’, ‘simpler’ to use, ‘environmentally friendlier’, ‘smarter’, and less hazardous. Another example relates to PVC. The defenders of PVC often state, just because there is chlorine in PVC doesn’t mean PVC is bad. After all, they argue, chlorine is bad as an element, but PVC is not an element, it is a compound. Here two implicitly spurious assumptions are invoked: 1): chlorine can and does exist as an element; 2) the toxicity of chlorine arises from it being able to exist as an element. This misconception, combined with ‘chemicals are chemicals’, makes up an entire aphenomenal process of ‘purifying’ through concentration. This ‘purification’ scheme would be used from oil refining to uranium enrichment. The truth, however, is that if the natural state of some portion of matter, or the characteristic time of a process, is violated, the process becomes anti-nature. For instance, chemical fertilizer and synthetic pesticides can increase the yield of a crop, but that crop would not be the crop that would provide nutrition similar to the one produced through organic fertilizer and natural pesticides. H2S is essential for human brain activities, yet concentrated H2S can kill. Water is essential to life, yet ‘purified’ water can be very toxic and leach out minerals rather than nourishing living bodies. Many chemical reactions are valid or operative only in some particular range of temperature and pressure. Temperature and pressure are themselves neither matter nor energy, and are therefore not deemed to be participating in the reaction. Absent these “conditions of state” being present in definite thresholds, the reaction itself cannot even take place. Yet… because temperature and pressure are themselves neither matter nor energy undergoing a change they are deemed not to be part of the reaction. It is just as logical to separate the act of shooting someone from the intention of the individual who aimed the gun

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and pressed the trigger. Temperature and Pressure are but calibrated (i.e., tangible) measures of indirect/oblique, i.e., intangible, indicators of energy (heat, in the case of temperature) or mass (per unit area, in the case of pressure). Instead of acknowledging that, first of all, logically, these things are obviously involved in the reaction in some way that is different from the ways in which the tangible components of the reaction are involved, we simply exclude them on the grounds of this intangibility. It is the same story in mathematics. Data outputs from some process are mapped to some function-like curve that includes discontinuities where data could not be obtained. Calculus teaches that one cannot differentiate across the discontinuous bits because “the function doesn’t exist there”. Instead of figuring, for example, how to treat – as part of one and the same phenomenon – both the continuous areas and the discontinuities that have been detected, the derivative of the function obtained from actual observation according only to the intervals in which the function “exists” is treated as definitive. This is clearly a fundamentally dishonest procedure (Islam et al., 2006).

UNDERSTANDING NATURE AND SUSTAINABILITY In order to reverse Dr Curl’s aptly-labelled “technological disaster”, one must identify an alternate model to replace the currently-used implosive model. The only sustainable model is that of Nature. It is important to understand what nature is and how we can emulate nature. Even though many claims have been made about “emulating” nature, no modern technology truly emulates the science of nature. It has been quite the opposite: observations of nature have rarely been translated into pro-nature technology development. Today, some of the most important technological breakthroughs have been mere manifestations of the linearisation of nature science: nature linearised by focusing only on its external features (Islam, 2006). Today, computers process information exactly opposite to how the human brain does (Islam and Zatzman, ibid.). Turbines produce electrical energy while polluting the environment beyond repair even as electric eels produce much higher-intensity electricity while cleaning the environment. Batteries store very little electricity while producing very toxic spent materials. Synthetic plastic materials look like natural plastic, yet their syntheses follow an exactly opposite path. Furthermore, synthetic plastics do not have a single positive impact on the environment, whereas natural plastic materials do not have a single negative impact. In medical science, every promise made at the onset of commercialisation proven to be opposite what actually happened: witness Prozac®, Vioxx®, Viagra®, etc. Nature, on the other hand, did not allow a single product to impact the long-term negatively. Even the deadliest venom (e.g., cobra, poisoned-arrow tree frog) has numerous beneficial effects in the long-term. This catalogue carries on in all directions: microwave cooking, fluorescent lighting, nuclear energy, cellular phones, refrigeration cycles to combustion cycles. In essence, nature continues to improve matters in its quality, as modern technologies continue to degrade the same into baser qualities. Nature thrives on diversity and flexibility, gaining strength from heterogeneity, whereas the quest for homogeneity seems to motivate much of modern engineering. Nature is nonlinear and inherently promotes multiplicity of solutions. Modern applied science, however, continues to define problems as linearly as possible, promoting “single”-ness of solution,

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while particularly avoiding non-linear problems. Nature is inherently sustainable and promotes zero-waste, both in mass and energy. Engineering solutions today start with a “safety factor” while promoting an obsession with excess (hence, waste). Nature is truly transient, never showing any exact repeatability or steady state. Engineering today is obsessed with standards and replicability, always seeking “steady-state” solutions. Table 1 shows the major differences between features of natural products and those of artificial products. Note that the features of artificial products are only valid for a time, t = ‘right now’ (Δt = 0). This implies that they are only claims and are not true. For instance, artificial products are created on the basis that they are identical (this is the first premise of mass production and the economics of volume). No components can be identical, let alone products. Similarly, there is no such state as steady state. There is not a single object that is truly homogeneous, symmetrical, or isotropic. This applies to every claim of the right hand side of Table 1. It is only a matter of time that the claims are proven to be false. Figure 3 demonstrates this point. Note that the moment an artificial product comes into existence, it becomes part of Nature; therefore, it is subject to natural behavior. This is equivalent to saying, “You cannot create anything, already everything is created”. The case in point can be derived from any theories or ‘laws’ advanced by Newton, Kelvin, Planck, Lavoisier, Bernoulli, Gibbs, Helmholz, Dalton, Boyles, Charles, and a number of others who serve as the pioneers of modern science. Each of their theories and laws had the first assumption that would not exist in nature, either in content (tangible) or in process (intangible). This task of eliminating misconceptions and exposing falsified perceptions involves the examination of the first assumption of every ‘natural law’ that has been promoted in the energy sectors. The next step involves the substitution of these assumptions with assumptions that conform to nature. As an example, consider the ideal gas law. Its first assumption is its metaphor that represents all gas molecules as rigid spherical balls. Of course, it is only an analogy but already built into the analogy are assumptions that will produce conclusions that fit a mechanical system of rigid spherical balls but also violate or misrepresent the physical laws of operation governing, and other aspects of what is actually possible, with matter in gaseous phase. Similarly, all fundamental thermodynamic laws assume, first and foremost, a “steady state”. Because of the first assumptions that are fitted to an aphenomenal entity, linear models necessarily emerge emerged. Simply adding a non-linear term at a later stage does not make these models realistic. Indeed, even after a non-linear equation emerges, it is ultimately solved with a technique that can handle only linear equations (equally applicable to numerical solution techniques or statistical models). All this follows from the simple fact that merely negating an aphenomenal model is not in and of itself a sufficient condition for reproducing a realistic emulation of anything in nature. It is a necessary condition, but it is insufficient. Consider more closely the ideal gas law model for a moment – and what happened with various attempts to render nature more realistically without touching any of the underlying assumptions of this law. This model is based on a rigid spherical balls configuration of the molecules that are in steady state. The real gas law recognises that a so-called “ideal” gas does not and cannot exist. So, it adds a z-factor (gas compressibility factor) that makes the ideal gas law non-linear. However, z is still is a function only of pressure and temperature. The ideal gas law is negated, but… the “improved” version still fails to emulate what was most critical to capture. The sufficient conditions have not been met. Then there emerge Virial equations-of-state: these deny real gas laws, offering a series of coefficients to include / account for other factors, including intermolecular force, eccentricity, etc. (At times, it went

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up to 29 coefficients). Even with such a wide non-linearity, people always found a single solution to every problem – amazing! The solution that was preferred was the one nearest the experimental results – the only difference between this and a lottery being that the latter demands the exact number. This is equivalent to comparing the effects in order to say that the cause and the process have both been emulated. The most widely used equation in petroleum engineering, the Peng-Robinson equation of state, appears to overcome the excessive complexity of the Virial: has only two coefficients. This model is widely popular because it is simple (only two coefficients) and results are again closer than any other model. Once again, however, this non-linear equation gives unique solutions; occasionally, when two solutions arise, one is quickly discarded as “spurious”. This is accepted as science, but would anyone accept the validity of a lottery that draws two winners and then declares one of them a loser? The only way these efforts to emulate the behaviour of matter in gaseous phase can be made realistic is by removing the first assumption of spherical rigid balls that are at a steady state. This needs to be replaced with realistic dynamic entities that have all the characteristic features of natural objects (see left hand side of Table 1). Table 1. Typical features of natural processes as compared to the claims of artificial processes (modified from Khan and Islam, 2006) Nature (Δt Æ ∞) (Real) Complex Chaotic Unpredictable Unique (every component is different) Productive Non-symmetric Non-uniform Heterogeneous, diverse Internal Anisotropic Bottom-up Multifunctional Dynamic Irreversible Open system True Self healing Nonlinear Multi-dimensional Infinite degree of freedom Non-trainable Infinite Intangible Open Flexible

Artificial (Δt Æ 0) (Aphenomenal) Simple Steady, periodic, or quasi-periodic Predictable Non-unique, self similar Reproductive Symmetric Uniform Homogeneous External Isotropic Top-down Single-functional Static Reversible Closed system False Self destructive Linear Unidimensional Finite degree of freedom Trainable Finite Tangible Closed Inflexible/rigid

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Proceeding on this path should give rise to a number of fundamental governing equations that are inherently non-linear. These equations will be solved with non-linear solvers.11 Only with these solutions may one begin to emulate nature. Table 2 shows how natural processes are, and how they are opposite to aphenomenal processes. Current models essentially emulate the aphenomenal model, thereby removing any credibility of the outcome, even if every once in a while the results may agree with experimental observation. Table 2. True difference between sustainable and unsustainable processes Sustainable (Natural) Progressive/youth measured by the rate of change Unlimited adaptability and flexibility Increasingly self evident with time 100% efficient Can never be proven to be unsustainable

Unsustainable(Artificial) Non-progressive/resists change Zero-adaptability and inflexible Increasingly difficult to cover up aphenomenal source Efficiency approaches zero as processing is increased Unsustainability unravels itself with time

Figure 4 shows how this pragmatic approach has lead to the promotion of perception manipulation tactics.

Figure 3. It is only a matter of time that the product or process based on the anti-nature premise will be exposed as untrue and will collapse.

Sustainable development starts with the source, i.e., a natural intention. The intended objective is achievable only if the source itself is natural. One cannot achieve an objective 11

Some non-linear solvers have been developed recently by our research group. See Islam et al. (2007), Ketata et al. (2007) and Mousavizadegan et al. (2006).

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that is anti-nature. That is the translation of “You cannot fight Nature”. Here, it is important to be honest, even with oneself. Nature never lies. For sustainability, honesty is not the best policy, it is the only policy. Having the correct intention is a necessary condition, but it is not sufficient for achieving sustainability. The process has to be natural. It means the features of natural processes as outlined above (in Tables 1 and 2) are not violated. This is the only management style and technology development mode that can assure sustainability. It is important to screen current practices vis-à-vis natural processes and determine sustainability. It is equally important to check new technologies and ensure natural process is being followed. In predicting behavior and functionality of these techniques, one must be equipped with innovative tools and non-linear mathematical models. By using non-linear mathematics, even the most simplified prediction can be made closer to reality. By using innovative tools, the true picture of a physical system will emerge and the guesswork from engineering practices will be eliminated.

Figure 4. Greening of technological practices must go beyond painting green with toxic chemicals (photo: R. Islam, Ecuador, 2004).

In the past, a holistic approach to solving technical problems has been missing. The current model is based on conforming to regulations and reacting to events. It is reactionary because it is only reactive and not fundamentally pro-active. Conforming to regulations and rules that may themselves not be based on any sustainable foundation can only increase longterm instability. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously pointed out, “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was ‘legal’.” Environmental regulations and technology standards are such that fundamental misconceptions are embedded in them: they follow no natural laws. A regulation that violates natural law has no chance to establish sustainable environment. What was ‘good’ and ‘bad’ law for Martin Luther King, Jr., is actually true law and false law, respectively. With today’s regulations, crude oil is considered to be toxic and undesirable in a water stream whereas the most toxic additives are not. For instance, a popular slogan in the environmental industry has been, “Dilution is the solution to pollution”. This is based on all three misconceptions in the previous section, yet all environmental regulations are based on this principle. The tangible aspect, such as the concentration, is considered – but not the intangible aspect, such as the nature of the chemical, or its source. Hence, ‘safe’ practices initiated on this basis are bound to be quite unsafe in the long run. Environmental impacts are not a matter of minimizing waste or increasing remedial activities, but of humanising the environment. This requires the elimination of toxic waste altogether. Even non-toxic waste should be recycled 100%. This involves not adding any anti-

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nature chemical to begin with. Then making sure each produced material is recycled, often with value addition. A zero-waste process has 100% global efficiency attached to it. If a process emulates nature, such high efficiency is inevitable. This process is the true equivalent of the greening of petroleum technologies. With this mode, no one will attempt to clean water with toxic glycols, remove CO2 with toxic amides, or use toxic plastic paints to ‘green’. No one will inject synthetic and expensive chemicals to increase EOR production. Instead, one would settle for waste materials or naturally available materials that are abundantly available and pose no threat to the eco-system. As opposed to the “greenwashing” approach common throughout much of government and industry, which attempts to brainwash people either into opposing technically feasible alternatives as demonic or into assuming the greening promise of industry or government is equivalent to their actually going green (see Figure 3), these proposals are all technically feasible as well as an improvement on our human condition. In economic analysis, intangible costs and benefits must be included. Starting from understanding the true nature of energy pricing, the scheme that converts waste into valuable materials can turn the economic onus of the petroleum industry to economic boon. The current economic development models lack the integration of intangibles, such as environmental impact, the role of human factors, and long-term implications (Zatzman and Islam, 2006). These models are based on very old accounting principles that the Information Age has rendered obsolete. This points to the need for a thoroughgoing renovation of economic theory that takes into account the roles of intangible factors such as intention, the actual passage of historical time, information, etc. so that a new approach to energy pricing is provided with a basis more solid and lasting that of some short-term policy objective. This economic development model will make unsustainable practices exuberantly costly while making sustainable practices economically appealing.

SIMULATING VS EMULATING NATURE There are lots of simulators and simulations. They routinely disregard, or try to linearize/ smooth over, the non-linear changes-of-state. They are interested only in what they can take (away) from Nature. That is why they are useless for planning the long-term. Simulators and simulations start from some structure or function of interest, which they then abstract. These abstractions negate any consideration of the natural-whole in which the structure or function of interest resides/operates/thrives. Hence they must inevitably leave a mess behind. Emulations and emulators are a differernt story. They start with what is available in Nature, and how to sustain that, rather than what they would like to take from Nature regardless of the mess this may leave behind. Great confusion about this distinction is widespread. For example, people speak and write how the computer "emulates" the computational process of an educated human. This is an abstraction. The principles of the computer's design mimic an abstraction of the principles of how computation is supposed to work. But, first of all, from the computer side of this scenario, the physical real-world arrangements actually implementing this abstraction of principles operates in reality according to the carefully-engineered limitations of semiconducting materials selected and refined to meet certain output criteria of the power supply and gate logic on circuit boards inside the computer. Secondly from the computation side, the human brain as a biochemical

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complex incorporating matter-that-thinks does not actually compute according to the abstract principles of this process. It might most generously be called an abstraction being analogised to another abstraction, but it certainly cannot be properly described as emulation of any kind. Emulation requires establishing a 1:1 correspondence between operation Xc of the computer and operation Xb of the human brain. Yet obviously: there exists as yet no such correspondence. Brain research is quite far from being capable of establishing such a thing. We have already found many examples where the two processes are exactly the reverse of one another, from the chip overheating whereas the brain cools, to the division operator in the brain compared to the addition operator in the computer. As Table 3 suggests, this is repeated too generally not to be reflecting some deeper underlying principle: Table 3. Computer and Brain Compared Element Memory

Computer Doubling every 12-18 months [“Moore’s Law”] Continuously degrading

Size Thinking

Decision

Multitasks

The bigger the better Does not think; computations are 1:1 correspondence-based, between 0 and 1 (linearisation of every calculation) Based on some number (series); any requisite computation is hi-speed electronic, but many steps of the process are mechanical / deliberate No two tasks at the same time; rigidly serial processing of each task; quick decision

Computation/Math

Quantitative; non-linear problems are linearly simulated

Limit Energy Supply

Limited by programmer 110-volts converted to 3 volts; when worked long, it heats heavy metals non- degradable plastics, batteries, etc. Entirely a function of power supply whether it is on or off; otherwise, this category N/A (not applicable) Crashes, restarts take time, an insane computer is never found

Hardware Regeneration Time Functionality

Brain Continuously renewing; crystallised intelligence grows continuously; even fluid intelligence can grow with more research, i.e., observation of nature and thinking No correlation Fuzzy and Variable No 1:1 correspondence involved or required Result of the decision is conscious, but not (yet) the process / pathway that precipitates it; hence it seems “spontaneous” Decision is made after fuzzy logical interpretation of the big picture; underlying this is massive parallelism of neural circuitry Qualitative (intangible, ∆t =∞), nonlinearity is the norm (linearity would have to be non-linearly simulated) Unlimited µ-Volt, uses glucose (biochemical energy); brain cools as it works 100% bio-degradable Continuously regenerating according to overall state of the organism Never crashes, spontaneous, never stops. Insane humans are those who do not make use of it.

However, in contrast to simulation, emulation does not require selecting any particular function or set of functions and then abstracting them. It requires a very different reasoning process that may be defined as “abstracting absence”. This is a process that discovers, or uncovers, what would have to be present, available or engendered in order to regenerate the

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natural result. It is a method that relies on the principle of obliquity to reconstruct, proceeding step-wise by exhaustion, whatever would be necessary and sufficient. At the conclusion of the characteristic duration of any process, Nature is in a state of zero net-waste, tolerating neither surpluses nor shortages. Thus generating and incorporating these necessary and sufficient conditions should render faithfully at least all the relevant stage(s) of the natural pathway, if not precisely each and every one of its details. Indeed, it should not be expected that the details would be duplicated: this is not Nature, after all, but its emulation. Most important: nothing has been concocted or inserted that is not definitely known, nothing that is incompletely understood has been excluded just because detailed knowledge of its precise role(s) may still be incomplete, and nothing has been substituted simply because it creates the same “effect”. This merits attention because many simulations rely on feedback loops and threshold triggers that, while clever and fully exploiting the technology providing the vehicle for the simulation, may not be or have anything to do with whatever is taking place in nature. The philosophical outlook governing the modeling of phenomena by means of simulations is the theory of pragmatism – that the truth is “whatever works”. A simulation that produces the same effect at its output as the process being investigated is deemed to be “true” if it is capable of recapitulating the truth at the outcome. For anything entirely artificial and not given to us first in, by or through Nature, this can undoubtedly be accomplished. However, it is also trivial, because why not simply duplicate the artificial original? Consider, on the other hand, whether it is wise to sort out how executive decision-making works among a grouping of polar bears by dressing one of them in a suit. This provocative and absurd idea brings out the essence of the real problem: what is the pathway? One of the most advanced branches of the theory of simulations is the extensive work that has developed in modeling using what are known as “cellular automata”. These attempt to cure the serious deficiency of simulation theory with respect to establishing or taking into account necessary and sufficient conditions by starting from the simplest possible system, usually with only two or three elements, interacting according to “rules” that have been programmed for the given simulation.12 The premise common to all these modeling efforts assumes that what exists in simple countably finite terms at the microscopic level can be programmed to produce a credible pathway accounting for the infinite complexity observed at the macroscopic level. The fact is, however, that we are repeatedly discovering that the microscopic scale is just as infinitely complex as the macroscopic. The only difference is the technological means available to render it tangible, visible or measurable in some form. Simulations developed from the principles informing the modeling of cellular automata implicitly deny any possible dialectical relationships in which quantity is transformed into a new quality or vice-versa. In cellular automata or any other simulation, quantity can only grow into a greater quantity or decline to some lesser quantity. Closely related to this aspect of the theory of simulation is the notion of “functional groups”. One case in point is the discovery that so-called “junk DNA” is likely highly functional after all, for a wide range of purposes not previously thought about because… they 12

Among relatively accessible public sources, since the 1980s, a massive number of extremely curious features of such models have been documented regularly in the recreational-mathematics section of Scientific American magazine. As is also well known, Stephen Wolfram, creator of the popular Mathematica software package, is an especially dedicated and serious investigator of modeling phenomena using cellular automata. See Wolfram (2002) and Gardner (1983).

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were not detectable before the techniques for mapping complete genomes were perfected (Kettlewell, 2004; Bejerano et al., 2004).13 Another related problem with the entirely transparent yet entirely mechanical modeling generated by most simulations is built into the internal logic of the simulation’s programming. The Aristotelian law of the excluded middle is a fundamental feature of conventional mathematical logic: it is powerful for excluding a wide range of phenomena from consideration, by starting from the premise that everything at a certain stage must either be “A” or else it is “not-A”. The consequences for the credibility of a model, however, of excluding potentially valid assumptions is just as fatal as the consequences of including unwarranted ones: either can contribute to generating unwarranted conclusions. The fatal flaw inherent in the Aristotelian law of the excluded middle is that what something may become, or what it has been in some past state, is excluded from the definition of what “A” is “right now”. If what is sustainable is what is desired, the pathway must be allnatural. However, an all-natural pathway means that transitional states of energy or mass before or after time t = “right now” cannot be excluded or discarded: true emulation of nature must produce something that could only have been produced by a definite past evolution and that retains the same future potential. In conclusion: we may indeed proclaim that we emulate nature. It is frequently stated as a truism that engineering is based on natural science, and the invention of toxic chemicals and anti-nature processes are called chemical engineering. People seriously thought sugar is concentrated sweetness… just like honey, so the process must be the same: “we are emulating nature”! But then – because honey cannot be mass-produced (as sugar is) – we proceed to “improve” nature. This takes on a life of its own, one discussed elsewhere as the “Honey Æ Sugar Æ Saccharine® Æ Aspartame®” syndrome (Islam, 2003; Zatzman, 2006). The chemical and pharmaceutical industries engage in denaturing first, then reconstructing to maximise productivity and tangible features of the product, intensifying the process that converts real to artificial (Islam, 2006).

THE “EXTENSIONS OF MAN” According to the communications theorist H. Marshall McLuhan (1964), media in general – in which he includes all technologies – are “the extensions of Man”. From a certain distance and angle, the entrance to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland, as depicted in a world-famous iconic photograph, looks like… a railway station. In every case, the question is: what is going on inside? What is the pathway? Are all technologies truly “the 13

According to Chris Ponting, from the UK Medical Research Council's Functional Genetics Unit, “Amazingly, there were calls from some sections to only map the bits of genome that coded for protein - mapping the rest was thought to be a waste of time. It is very lucky that entire genomes were mapped, as [the discovery of identical lengthy DNA sequences, in areas dismissed as ‘junk’, across three distinct mammalian species] is showing.” According to researcher Gill Bejerano, “it is often observed that the presence of high proportions of truly nonfunctional ‘junk’ DNA would seem to defy evolutionary logic. Replication of such a large amount of useless information each time a cell divides would waste energy. Organisms with less nonfunctional DNA would thus enjoy a selective advantage, and over an evolutionary time scale, nonfunctional DNA would tend to be eliminated. If one assumes that most junk DNA is indeed nonfunctional, then there are several hypotheses for why it has not been eliminated by evolution, [but] these are all hypotheses for which the time

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extensions of Man”, or are numbers of them shackles forged on the basis of a serious and fundamental misapprehension of Nature, its role, and Humanity’s place? The data of Table 4 suggest some answers to this question. It examines what was promised and was accomplished by a number of technologies developed and promoted as helping nature, fixing nature or otherwise improving upon some existing process somewhere in nature. None of these technologies are truly “extensions of Man”: there is no content from the way people work or live expressed directly in the technology. Table 4. “Extensions of Man”? Product Microwave oven Fluorescent light (white light) Prozac (the wonder drug) Anti-oxidants Vioxx Coke Transfat Simulated wood, plastic gloss Cell phone Chemical hair colors Chemical fertilizer Chocolate and ‘refined’ sweets Pesticides, MTBE Desalination Wood paint/varnish Freon, aerosol, etc.

Promise Instant cooking (“bursting with nutrition”) Simulates the sunlight and can eliminate “cabin fever” 80% effective in reducing depression Reduces aging symptoms Best drug for arthritis pain, no side effect Refreshing, revitalizing Should replace saturated fats, incl. high-fiber diets Improve the appearance of wood Empowers, keep connected Keeps young, gives appeal Increases crop yield, makes soil fertile Increases human body volume, increasing appeal Improves performance Purifies water Improves durability Replaced ammonia, which was deemed “corrosive”

Truth 97% of the nutrients destroyed; produces dioxin from baby bottles Used for torturing people, causes severe depression Increases suicidal behavior Gives lung cancer Increases the chance of cancer Dehydrates; used as a pesticide in India Primary source of obesity and asthma Contains formaldehyde that causes Alzheimer Gives brain cancer, decreases sperm count among men. Gives skin cancer Harmful crop; soil damaged Increases obesity epidemic and related diseases Damages the ecosystem Necessary minerals removed Numerous toxic chemicals released Global harms immeasurable and should be discarded

Two examples of technology that did provide such an extension would be the leather saddle adapted from an Arab invention, and the stirrup which was copied from Christian Crusaders’ Arab enemies and brought back to Europe. The stirrup was essentially the conversion of the rider’s legs into a thoroughly effective transmission for increasing or cutting back the speed of the horse. Now let us gallop ahead: the horse was an essential feature of Arab life for millennia, enabling point-to-point communications for tribal Arabs and community-to-community

scales involved in evolution may make it difficult for humans to investigate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junk_DNA#_note-Bejerano, last accessed 17 December 2006).

rigorously.”

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contacts for settled groups in the Arab world. Raising and keeping horses was associated with a certain maintenance threshold, but meeting that threshold did not consume the remaining resources of these societies. The same principles applied to the camel, which was even more practicable in the desert regions of the Arab world. Not only are none of these features true for the automobile, but its claim on society’s resources continues to grow at a rate that outstrips almost all other technologies. The secret of why the horse or the camel were so well-adapted in Arab society was not a mark of backwardness. On the contrary, without the saddle or the stirrup, horse or camel travel could not have acquired society-wide use, and without these means of communication and transport, the socialization possible in these societies would have been far more limited. The stranglehold exercised by the demands of motorised transport, its maintenance and extension on energy production planning and other resource extraction activities throughout every allegedly modern, allegedly advanced Western society poses one of the most serious obstacles to instituting and spreading nature-based technologies. Does this technology represent one of the extensions of Man, or one of the extensions of a yoke that blocks Humanity from approaching its real potential? If a breakdown is made that catalogues each of the individually bad and anti-nature aspects and consequences of technical developments associated with the maintenance or extension of motorised transport, any hope for an alternative course seems impossible. On the other hand, if this problem is instead tackled from the most general level – what would be a pro-nature path on which to renovate social means of transport that are environmentally appealing as well as economically attractive? – then the possibilities become endless.

THE NEED FOR THE SCIENCE OF INTANGIBLES AS THE BASIS FOR ENGINEERING There are a number of obstacles inherent in the project to establish a science of intangibles based on Nature. Among these obstacles are those that entail our un-learning much of what we thought we knew before we can begin to learn and appreciate the forms and content of nature-science. Chief among this collection of problems is how we have already become trained by the society, culture and education system to conceive and accept the metaphors and correspondences of engineered space and time represented, essentially, in two dimensions (2-D). It is indeed a considerable accomplishment that, utilizing perspective and the projective plane implicit in its geometry, what is actually a third spatial dimension can be represented to us convincingly within a two-dimensional plane. However, the price at which this is achieved is something remarked far less: the fourth dimension, time itself, is made to disappear. In fact, whether the context is the fine arts or engineered space and time, we have learned a certain visual "grammar", so to speak, with all spatial visualization and representation. We know no other "language" but that in which either: (1) time is frozen - as in a snapshot – or (2) time is represented not as the fourth dimension but rather as something that varies independently of any phenomenon occurring within it.

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The modern history of communications media and information transfer really begins with those famous Canaletto landscapes, of 16th century Italy, incorporating perspective and immediately overthrowing in that same moment the centuries-long authority of the Holy Roman Catholic Church over the message we are to receive from works of art. With the emergence of the new approach in art of the Renaissance, the principles underlying representational art works of the early and high Middle Ages were reversed. Any previouslyauthorized message already vetted carefully as to the acceptability of its content and the morality of its purpose would hereafter become extraneous and secondary to the information gathered by the visual cortex of the individual observer. The new approach made the visual arts accessible at all levels of society for the first time. Perspective in Renaissance painting, and the findings of anatomy regarding the movement and distribution of weight in the human frame manifested in Renaissance sculpture, overthrew the centuries-long monopoly of Church authority with the bluntest directness. This was bracingly liberating and bound to provoke ever-deeper questioning of Church authority in other fields. By enabling Humanity to reclaim from Nature something that Authority had denied, these transformations within mass communications media (turning art into a mass medium was itself the key to the transformation) unleashed a social and intellectual revolution. However, even as the new "grammar" of perspective-based representation of three-dimensional space, a space that now appeared to be living rather than representing a purely imaginary phantasm or idea, overwhelmed the previously accepted canons of visual arts, and overthrew with it the long-asserted timelessness of the Church's approved truths, the new visual canon served up another illusion of reality: the timeless snapshot-like image. Over the next four centuries, expressed as a struggle to capture the moving image, and later the live image, further development of mass communications media and associated systems and technologies of information transfer wrestled with just about every imaginable and practical aspect of how to engineer the appropriate representation of time and space. Interwoven throughout this development are parts of the history of development of analog and then digital electronic media, of the individual or limited-edition static-image to the massmarketed photographic static image, and of the illusion of the moving picture - an illusion created by overwhelming the visual cortex with 24 still frames per second and then of this same moving picture with a superimposed sound track (the talking motion picture). Also interwoven are the stories of the unmodulated telegraphic signal whose information is contained in its sequencing to the modulated signal overlaid with an audio carrier (telephone and radio), the modulated signal overlaid with visual and audio carrier signals (television), the encoding of information in digitized sequences (computers), and the digital encoding of information on a transmitted carrier signal (cell phones, the Internet). All these technological aspects have been exhaustively discussed and examined by many people. Less cogently commented, but still mentioned, at least, are the political-economic transitions that also developed within this historical tapestry: from privately-conducted individual, or craftoriented, production prior to the Industrial Revolution intended for finite, relatively small markets of certain individuals here or there, to privately-owned but socially produced output for mass markets in the 19th and early 20th centuries, to the readily-socialized mass production of our own time conducted under increasingly narrowly monopolized ownership. Nevertheless, however, what still remains unmentioned and uncommented anywhere in these historical recapitulations is whatever happened to the tangible-intangible nexus involved at each stage of any of these developments. We cannot hope seriously to make headway

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towards, much less accomplish, serious nature-science of phenomena, an authentic science of the tangibles-intangibles nexus, without filling in that part of the tapestry as well. That which is natural can be neither defended nor sustained without first delimiting and then restricting the sphere of operation of everything that is anti-Nature. This absence of discussion of whatever happened to the tangible-intangible nexus involved at each stage of any of these developments is no merely accidental or random fact in the world. It flows directly from a Eurocentric bias that pervades, well beyond Europe and North America, the gathering and summation of scientific knowledge everywhere. Certainly, it is by no means a property inherent either in technology as such, or in the norms and demands of the scientific method per se, or even within historical development, that time is considered so intangible as to merit being either ignored as a fourth dimension, or conflated with tangible space as something varying independently of any process underway within any or all dimensions of three-dimensional space.

Figure 5. Logically, an phenomenal basis is required as the first condition to sustainable technology development. This foundation can be the Truth as the original of any inspiration or it can be ‘true intention’, which is the essence of intangibles.

Averröes worked with the logic of Aristotle. Averröes identified the flaw in Aristotle’s logic. In Economics of Intangibles (Zatzman and Islam, 2007), we identified this as had was identified by the argument of externality (aphenomenal concept) as well as lack of multiple solutions (contradicting natural traits). For instance, the same action can be phenomenal or aphenomenal depending on the intention of the individual (the case in point being suicide and self sacrifice or publishing charity to promote competition in good deed or to promote self interest). Averröes argued that critical thinking is essential for increasing knowledge. For this, there is no need for a mentor or intermediary and the only condition he put was that the first

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assumption (first premise) be phenomenal. If this is the case, one is assured of increasing knowledge with time. First premise for Averröes was the Quran. He argued all logic should begin with Qur’an. This will make sure, he argued, that one travels continuously the path of knowledge. This was an attractive model and Thomas Aquinas was so enamored with this model that he adopted the entire model, with only one revision: he replaced Qur’an with bible. This replacement was aphenomenal adjustment to Averröes model as knowledge of the time and knowledge of today indicate that literally all features of Qur’an is opposite to those of bible. The downward graph shows continuous overall downward trend of the Aquinas model. The emergence of New Science as well as the transition to modern age and eventually to the Information age all make part of this graph. The division into hard science, social science, philosophy, theology, etc. are all part of the HSSA syndrome (Zatzman, 2006) in knowledge sense. The occasional upward trends in this graph indicate natural intervention. In social science, for instance, Bolshevik revolution is a definite upward move. In socio-economical context, Marx’s recognition of intangibles is the same. In Science, Darwin’s theory of natural selection is the one that goes upward in the knowledge dimension. The discovery of time as the fourth dimension, time itself being subjective was a great scientific move toward knowledge (Einstein’s relativity theory). In modern Engineering, one is hard pressed to find a single example that can be characterized as pro-nature. The following discussion can explain why that is the case. (1) Mathematics is the driver of Engineering. Accounting, reformulated somewhat abstracty as the “rulews of arithmetic”, is the root of European mathematics. Accounting in Europe was introduced for collecting tax. In the Averröes model, accounting is also the root of mathematics. However, accounting was for disbursing zakat (often wrongly translated as ‘Islamic tax’. It literally means ‘purify’ (relating to long-term ‘increase’) and is given to poor and destitute, all exactly opposite traits of tax). (2) Science is the foundation of engineering. The original science was to increase knowledge, to be closer to nature and all natural traits. New Science is the opposite. (3) Medicine was to cure. New medicine is to delay the symptom. (4) Education was to increase knowledge. The same prophet Muhammad who said, “It is obligatory for every muslim male and female to increase their knowledge” also said, “Knowledge cannot be with full stomach”. New Education is a corporation that promises bloated stomach. It also restricts access to non-elites. (5) Engineering was to emulate nature. Modern engineering and technology is to simulate nature. Here, our bird, brain, etc. become important. The modern-day view holds that knowledge and solutions developed from and within nature might be either good, or neutral [zero net impact] in their effects, or bad – all depending on how developed and correct our initial information and assumptions are. The view of science in the period of Islam's rise was rather different. It was that, since nature is an integrated whole in which humanity also has its roles, any knowledge and solutions developed according to how nature actually works will be ipso facto positive for humanity. Nature possesses an inbuilt positive intention of which people have to become conscious in order to develop knowledge and solutions that enhance nature. On the other hand, any

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knowledge or solutions developed by taking away from nature or going away from nature would be unsustainable. This unsustainability would mark such knowledge and solutions as inherently anti-nature. People are interested in sustainability today as never before. Why is this the case? Because ignoring the original intention has got the world into a serious mess. We say: there is a path that can take us away from repeating and-or deepening this mess. To get there, however, requires first taking an inventory of our existing first assumptions and then "starting all over again" on the path of nature itself. Today we would, and could, do this with a great deal more data at our collective disposal, and -- especially -- more ways of collating everybody's data from all kinds of sources, than people had 1500 years ago. As we have glimpsed in the area of "ancient Indian mathematics". Much of this was preserved, but by methods that precluded or did not include general or widespread publication. Thus, there could well have been almost as much total reliable knowledge 1500 years ago as today, but creative people's access and availability to that mass of reliable knowledge would have been far narrower. Only recently we would discover Islamic scholars were doing mathematics some 1000 years ago of the same order that we think we discovered in the 1970s (Lu and Steinhardt, 2007) – with the difference being that our mathematics can only track symmetry, something that does not exist in nature. Recently, a three-dimensional PET-scan of a relic known as the ‘Antikythera Mechanism’ has demonstrated that it was actually a universal navigational computing device – with the difference being that our current-day versions rely on GPS, tracked and maintained by satellite (Freeth et al., 2006). We would also be shocked to find out what Ibn Sina (‘Avicenna’) said regarding nature being the source of all cure still holds true (Grugg and Newman, 2001) – with the proviso that not a single quality given by nature in the originating source material of, for example, some of the most advanced pharmaceuticals used to “treat” cancer remains intact after being subject to mass production and accordingly stripped of its powers actually to cure and not merely “treat”, i.e., delay, the onset or progress of symptoms. Consider the example of chess, which is frequently cited in lists of "the best 10 Muslim inventions". What is the thinking underlying creation of such a game? It is, and was, that the INNER LOGIC of a conflict, how it developed and was resolved can all be extracted and recaptured by reproducing the conflict NOT as a narrative of this or that victory, but rather as the outcome of two guiding intelligences pitting themselves against each other. Before Arab learning and culture reached Renaissance Europe, chess made no headway in Christian European civilisation. Why? Could it be because it provided no simple clearcut recipes: if your opponent does X, do Y? The Roman civilisation in which European Christianity emerged, very unlike Greek civilisation before or Arab-Muslim civilisation after, was notoriously incurious about humanthought and action in relation to nature. The modern version of this chess-like idea of gaming, as a form of simulation, is what is called "operations research" (OR). This was developed during WW2 using the first electronic computing devices. But how is a "best strategy" selected in a simulation that has been "gamed" by means of "OR"? This selection is based on solving massive systems of simultaneous equations in some huge number of variables. This is supposed to be an "aid" to the human planner-strategist. In practice it becomes a source of ex-post-facto justifications and excuses after some strategy has failed. Strategic calculation by a human leader-planner-strategist, freed of dependence on OR-type simulations, is far more likely to follow the pathways of a chess-game setting, in which many

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decisions are taken on the basis of incomplete knowledge of surrounding conditions. An ORtype simulation considers this condition to be one of "uncertainty", and various probabilistic algorithms are incorporated to take it into account. However, the human planner-strategist leading a real battle is acting not out of uncertainty, but rather out of a certainty that his knowledge is incomplete and can only be increased by taking action. The OR approach is premised on the notion that less complete knowledge with an uncertainty measure is the same as more complete knowledge garnered from new acts of further-finding-out. Does lesscomplete knowledge, however, actually become more complete when its uncertainty is measured and assigned a number? In what way is this any different than the false promises of numerology? The very idea is utterly aphenomenal. As we now know, the invasion and occupation of Iraq was carried out after U.S. forces had tested a number of OR-backed wargame scenarios. At least one of these demonstrated, repeatedly, that there was no way the invader could not lose... but the high-ups were informed there was no way the invader could lose. This pattern of disinformation only came to light after documents were ferreted out by a Freedom of Information request. These showed the actual result of that particular scenario, including a protest from one of the military officers involved when his side, playing the Iraqi resistance, was ordered to "lose" the next run of the simulation, after in fact it had "won"!

CONCLUSION14 The matter of the approach to science of any technology – is it pro-nature or anti-nature? – is decisive. It is also the indispensable part of the engineering development process that requires absolutely no engineering expertise whatsoever. What matters here are truth, consequences and intentions. Is the engineering researcher absolved of all responsibility for whatever choices are made simply because, “in the long run,” as Lord Keynes wrote, “we are all dead”? Accomplishing the best decision in the circumstances involves the greatest struggle of all for any human – between what one’s expertise and training, all focused on the short term, has taught and what one’s ongoing participation in the human family, not to mention the participation of one’s children and one’s children’s children, demands.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Funding for this study was possible through Emertec Research and Development Corporation and EEC Research Organization.

APPENDICES The following materials, reproduced with full credit below, provide factual examples and formal opinions that serve to illustrate themes elaborated in the preceding article. 14

A follow-up article will address the questions: what is the relationship between the pathway of a technical choice and a chosen technology? and: if all technologies can solve some problem(s) in the short term, is there any long-term solution that is ultimately technological?

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The first four Appendices deal with disinformation. A key point to keep in mind is that disinformation is rife not only in political discourse and media reportage, but in all fields of social and natural sciences as well. What is most dangerous is precisely the spread of disinformation within the sciences, where knowledge is supposed to be rigorously tested and, as much as possible of any detected falsehood(s) removed before it circulates as part of the general knowledge of Humanity. This is precisely what has rendered so crucial and urgent the conscious and deliberate step of delineating a pro-Nature pathway before intervening in anything. Any and every pathway that is not consciously so delineated will be anti-Nature in its effects. The fifth Appendix is a document from the Six Nations Confederacy (also known as the Haudenosaunee), one of the last surviving groups of indigenous people on the North American continent – what they call “Turtle Island” – with its original systems of law and thought-material about Humanity’s relations with Nature still intact. The Haudenosaunee incorporate the Iroquois, the Mohawk and four other tribes that cross the Canadian and U.S. borders. This is about what is “natural”, and what is not. In the context of the present article, its content is utterly riveting and it is therefore presented here “as is”, on its own terms – without comment or other elaboration.

A. ANTI-TERRORIST AND RELATED IDEOPOLITICAL DISINFORMATION Item 1 The following article discusses Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as someone who lived and then died as a major force in international terrorism circles. However, there is no mention that there is an extensive case documented from various sources challenging precisely the assertion that Zarqawi was even alive in the last couple of years, and establishing also that his roles and links among the other known terrorist circles were marginal. “False-flag” and “black” operations using compromised individuals have become de rigeur among the intelligence agencies of big powers, enabling them to intervene undetected in the affairs of smaller, weaker states. The purpose of such interventions is to destroy individuals or groups opposed to commercial or financial predations by these powers in those countries. Zarqawi fits that kind of profile far more credibly than the profile of terrorist kingpin. In Zarqawi’s case, the only issue seems to be exactly how many intelligence agencies had him on a payroll. There are in today’s world doubtless quite a few armed opponents of the interests of the United States. However, what the article refers to as the “global jihad”, as though it were a self-evident fact that there is an international conspiracy operating with this aim, is asserted here without foundation. Agencies more credible than The New York Times have also failed to establish this premise, including the American Enterprise – Brookings Institute. None of the sources cited in the article as corroboration are themselves independent of U.S. government influence or control. It is therefore entirely credible, and more than likely, that the tactic attributed to “jihadists” and allegedly “pioneered” by Zarqawi was in fact developed and has long been used by the intelligence services of the leading big powers for some time as an Information Age “mail-drop” for mobilising their agents without having to risk personal

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contact. Indeed, there seems to be little or nothing to distinguish such mail-drops, well documented in Cold War spy fictions by John Le Carré (among others), from the notions discussed in the article of posting things as briefly as possible on the Internet, just long enough for fellow followers around the world to download, and then removing the material and all its traces from the Web. This procedure echoes the opening of the 1960s television series Mission Impossible, in which the audience hears a taped a message left by “the Secretary” for Agent “Jim” warn that “this tape will self-destruct in five seconds.” (This spyas-American-hero epic was reprised as a series of movie vehicles beginning in 1996, and now up to Mission Impossible 3 in 2006, all starring Tom Cruise.) The aim of such a report is to place a large obstacle of totally paralysing doubt in the path of anyone seeking what the truth may actually be. Disguised as information, such a report is, functionally speaking, the purest disinformation. Its evident effect, consistent with its true aim, is to render rational articulation of a problem or its aspects impossible. In this case, the aim is to block people from getting to the bottom of modern-day terrorism by blurring any distinctions between state-organised terrorism and anti-imperialist political activities. Far from assisting people to sort out any aspect of the problem of modern-day terrorism, this “reporting” saddles them with an incoherence made even more burdensome by the impenetrability of the material and omission of any guideline for distinguishing what is or might be true from what is or might be false. Zarqawi Built Global Jihadist Network on Internet By SCOTT SHANE Published: Tuesday 9 June 2006 The New York Times WASHINGTON, Monday 8 June — Over the last two years, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi established the Web as a powerful tool of the global jihad, mobilizing computer-savvy allies who inspired extremists in Iraq and beyond with lurid video clips of the bombings and beheadings his group carried out. Mr. Zarqawi was killed in an air strike on an isolated house about 30 miles north of Baghdad. Iraqi officials announce the death the next morning, and Al Qaeda confirmed that he had died. On Thursday (4 June – Ed.) the electronic network that he helped to build was abuzz with commentary about his death, with supporters posting eulogies, praising what they called his martyrdom and vowing to continue his fight.

Item 2 Under the guise of providing a quantitative and therefore “scientific” approach to analyzing — and thus being in a position to combat — terrorism and its effects, the following article describes situations in which intentions of a perpetrator, which are obviously crucial to establishing whether a phenomenon is terroristic, are denied any consideration. Instead, allegedly “objective facts” of terrorist incidents are asserted, and underlying tendencies of the

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quantitative features of this dataset are plumbed for patterns and frequencies. Firstly, however, information about the frequency of a certain event is irrelevant if there is no way of establishing the size of the overall event-space. In this case, no total number, let alone any notion of such a total number, of the political and-or military actions in a given event-space is provided Secondly, the definition of what constitutes an event in this context is highly dependent on third-party reporting rather than the compiler’s first-hand observations. In this case, there is no objective or consistent definition of which actions are definably “terrorist”. The key notion discussed in this article is the recognition and isolation of so-called triggering events from other events. However, no objective foundation whatsoever is provided as to how such events can be distinguished. Hence, anyone reading or studying this material for possible insight is left with no guideline of the conditions in which one and the same event would indeed be a trigger or in fact not be a trigger. Far from being about science, this is about cooking up a justification for wholesale U.S. government interference with the fundraising and funds distribution activities of numerous Islamic and other charities whose money is going into countries of interest to U.S. intelligence. Quantitative Analysis Offers Tools to Predict Likely Terrorist Moves By Sharon Begley, Science Journal The Wall Street Journal February 17, 2006; Page B1 There are regular and even predictable sunspot cycles and lunar cycles and economic cycles, but terrorism cycles? Between 1968 and 2004 (the last year with complete data), the world’s news media reported 12,793 incidents of “transnational” terrorism, violence inspired by political, religious or social motives and involving targets or perpetrators from different countries. The attacks left a trail of horror and tragedy. But they also generated a wealth of quantitative data, putting the study of terrorism on a firm enough footing that researchers believe they can generate testable hypotheses -- the hallmark of science -- and predictions. Time was, analyzing terrorism meant focusing on its political roots and sociological or psychological motivations. But more and more scholars believe that quantitative analysis can add something crucial. “This kind of analysis has the potential to generate testable predictions, such as how terrorists will respond to countermeasures instituted after 9/11,” says Bruce Russett, professor of international relations at Yale University. One promising technique, called spectral analysis, is typically applied to cyclical events such as sunspots. A new application of it is now shedding light on terrorism, which, data show, waxes and wanes in regular, wavelike cycles.

Item 3 The hair-raising spectre opened up by this approach is that of, once again, externally manipulating an individual human’s sensorium. Humans’ sense-perception apparatus, like that of all other vertebrates, is intimately connected to the proper functioning of the particular

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individual’s brain. This is just as degenerate as the schemes involving experiments on human subjects with LSD and other psychoactive drugs conducted by medical institutes financed by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Until its exposure in a celebrated lawsuit brought successfully against the CIA by the experiments’ victims and their families, one such was run by Dr Ewen Cameron at McGill University Medical School in Montreal, Canada during the 1950s and 1960s. The justification for the CIA’s “brainwashing” experiments was the U.S. government’s Cold War mission of reversing the dangerous effects of “communist ideology”. The data gathered by the CIA’s experiments, meanwhile, has been used in dozens of countries around the world to refine techniques of torture applied to opponents of U.S.-friendly regimes, such that no physical scarring is left. The aim of this tongue research is allegedly to facilitate clearing of “terrorist” undersea mines by naval divers. However, this research is obviously just as useful – indeed probably more useful – for planting mines as it is for detecting them. Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue By MELISSA NELSON, The Associated Press Mon 24 Apr 2006 19:32 ET In their quest to create the super warrior of the future, some military researchers aren't focusing on organs like muscles or hearts. They're looking at tongues. By routing signals from helmet-mounted cameras, sonar and other equipment through the tongue to the brain, they hope to give elite soldiers superhuman senses similar to owls, snakes and fish. Researchers at the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition envision their work giving Army Rangers 360-degree unobstructed vision at night and allowing Navy SEALs to sense sonar in their heads while maintaining normal vision underwater - turning sci-fi into reality. The device, known as "Brain Port," was pioneered more than 30 years ago by Dr. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a University of Wisconsin neuroscientist. Bach-y-Rita began routing images from a camera through electrodes taped to people's backs and later discovered the tongue was a superior transmitter. A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bulky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processe the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist. In testing, blind people found doorways, noticed people walking in front of them and caught balls. A version of the device, expected to be commercially marketed soon, has restored balance to those whose vestibular systems in the inner ear were destroyed by antibiotics. Michael Zinszer, a veteran Navy diver and director of Florida State University's Underwater Crime Scene Investigation School, took part in testing using the tongue to transmit an electronic compass and an electronic depth sensor while in a swimming pool. He likened the feeling on his tongue to Pop Rocks candies. "You are feeling the outline of this image," he said. "I was in the pool, they were directing me to a very small object and I was able to locate everything very easily."

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Underwater crime scene investigators might use the device to identify search patterns, signal each other and "see through our tongues, as odd as that sounds," Zinszer said. Raj said the objective for the military is to keep Navy divers' hands and eyes free. "It will free up their eyes to do what those guys really want to, which is to look for those mines and see shapes that are coming out of the murk." Sonar is the next step. A lot depends on technological developments to make sonar smaller: hand-held sonar is now about the size of a lunch box. "If they could get it small enough, it could be mounted on a helmet, then they could pan around on their heads and they could feel the sonar on their tongues with good registration to what they are seeing visually," Raj said.

The research at the Florida institute, the first to research military uses of sensory augmentation, is funded by the Defense Department. The exact amount of the expenditure is unavailable. Raj and his research assistants spend hours at the University of West Florida's athletic complex testing the equipment at an indoor pool. Raj does the diving himself. They plan to officially demonstrate the system to Navy and Marine Corps divers in May. If the military screeners like what they see, it could be put on a "rapid response" to quickly get in the hands of military users within the next three to six months. Work on the infrared-tongue vision for Army Rangers isn't as far along. But Raj said the potential usefulness of the night vision technology is tremendous. It would allow soldiers to work in the dark without cumbersome night-vision goggles and to "see out the back of their heads," he said.

Item 4 The following extract brings to the surface the essential features of a standard line of argument which has created tremendous disinformation about the notion of “democracy” and the professed aims of the United States in what it considers “furthering” democracy. What the author calls “culture” is, in fact, racism. However, here there is no longer even a pretence of declaring certain peoples “unfitted for self-rule” (the British excuse for dominating Asia in the 19th century), or “racially inferior” (the Nazis’ excuse for putting Europe and the Soviet Union to the sword in the 20th). Instead, according to the norms of the new American imperium – sharply exposed by the satiric label “Pox Americana” coined by various writers – some cultures are receptive to “democracy” à la Washington and others are… well, just plain benighted. Democracy Isn’t ‘Western’ By AMARTYA SEN A piece under this title was published in the 24 March 2006 editions of The Wall Street Journal

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The determinism of culture is increasingly used in contemporary global discussions to generate pessimism about the feasibility of a democratic state, or of a flourishing economy, or of a tolerant society, wherever these conditions do not already obtain. Indeed, cultural stereotyping can have great effectiveness in fixing our way of thinking. When there is an accidental correlation between cultural prejudice and social observation (no matter how casual), a theory is born, and it may refuse to die even after the chance correlation has vanished without trace. For example, labored jokes against the Irish, which have had such currency in England, had the superficial appearance of fitting well with the depressing predicament of the Irish economy when it was doing quite badly. But when the Irish economy started growing astonishingly rapidly, for many years faster than any other European economy, the cultural stereotyping and its allegedly profound economic and social relevance were not junked as sheer rubbish. Many have observed that in the ‘60s South Korea and Ghana had similar income per head, whereas within 30 years the former grew to be 15 times richer than the latter. This comparative history is immensely important to study and causally analyze, but the temptation to put much of the blame on Ghanaian or African culture (as is done by as astute an observer as Samuel Huntington) calls for some resistance. The temptation of founding economic pessimism on cultural resistance is matched by the evident enchantment, even more common today, of basing political pessimism, particularly about democracy, on alleged cultural impossibilities. When it is asked whether Western countries can “impose” democracy on the nonWestern world, even the language reflects a confusion centering on the idea of “imposition,” since it implies a proprietary belief that democracy “belongs” to the West, taking it to be a quintessentially “Western” idea which has originated and flourished exclusively in the West. This is a thoroughly misleading way of understanding the history and the contemporary prospects of democracy. The belief in the allegedly “Western” nature of democracy is often linked to the early practice of voting and elections in Greece, especially in Athens. Democracy involves more than balloting, but even in the history of voting there would be a classificatory arbitrariness in defining civilizations in largely racial terms. In this way of looking at civilizational categories, no great difficulty is seen in considering the descendants of, say, Goths and Visigoths as proper inheritors of the Greek tradition (“they are all Europeans,” we are told). But there is reluctance in taking note of the Greek intellectual links with other civilizations to the east or south of Greece, despite the greater interest that the Greeks themselves showed in talking to Iranians, or Indians, or Egyptians (rather than in chatting up the Ostrogoths). Similarly, the history of Muslims includes a variety of traditions, not all of which are just religious or “Islamic” in any obvious sense. … When, at the turn of the 16th century, the heretic Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake in Campo dei Fiori in Rome, the Great Mughal emperor Akbar (who was born a Muslim and died a Muslim) had just finished, in Agra, his large project of legally codifying minority rights, including religious freedom for all, along with championing regular discussions between followers of Islam, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and other beliefs (including atheism).

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B. DISINFORMATION AND/OR INCOHERENCE ON KEY ECONOMIC QUESTIONS Item 1 This article illustrates how that part of the society’s economic surplus taking the form of interest-bearing capital is harnessed to the most absurd forms of disinformation in order to further encumber the populace in massive and growing consumer debt even as the economy sinks. The United States has an enormous sector of its economy involved in consumer finance – the financing of ongoing high levels of consumption, including consumer debt, regardless of the general conditions in which the surrounding economy is kept – and the single richest portion of that market is facing a crisis. There is a deepening slowdown in housing construction and sales throughout the country, and housing is the largest investment most Americans make in their lifetime. To keep the merry-go-round circling, new “financial products” are being floated such as the 40- and even 50-year mortgage. Does this mean getting people actually to buy a house to live in for the next 40 or 50 years? Is the Pope Jewish?!?! No, of course not. Since new housing isn’t on the way (at least: not in the quantities it formerly was), the idea is rather to stimulate the ever faster turnover of the existing housing stock. But to accomplish this requires redesigning the hypothecation of capital to be borrowed to put down on a property, such that the interest rate is locked in for as long as possible: “Mortgage experts caution that the 50-year mortgage is best-suited for those who plan to stay in their home for about five years, while the loan’s interest rate remains fixed. “‘If you’re going to be there more than five years, you’re gambling,’ says Marc Savitt of the consumer protection committee for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. ‘You don’t know what interest rates are going to be. I wouldn’t do it.’ ”

Need to keep house payments low? Try a 50-year mortgage By Noelle Knox and Mindy Fetterman, USA TODAY Wednesday 10 May, 0654 ET Those struggling to afford a home may be wondering how long their mortgage payments can be stretched out. A handful of lenders have begun offering 50-year adjustable-rate loans to buyers who need to keep payments low in the face of record home prices and rising rates. Most big banks already offer 40-year mortgages, which account for about 5% of all home loans, according to LoanPerformance, a real estate data firm. … Statewide, which introduced its 50-year loan in March, has received about 220 applications...

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For cash-squeezed buyers, the longer-term loans are another option. In California, only 14% of people could afford a median-priced home in December, when the median was $548,430, if they had to put down 20%. The 50-year mortgage also signals that the cooling real estate market is heating up competition among lenders. A borrower with a 50-year mortgage builds equity very slowly. And because rates on the loans are adjustable, borrower’s monthly payments could rise. Still, the 50-year isn’t considered as risky as an interest-only loan or a mortgage that lets borrowers pay even less than the interest. With those loans, a borrower might not build any equity and could end up owing more than a home is worth - called negative amortization. That’s why Anthony Sanchez applied for the 50-year loan to refinance his California home. “I looked at a lot of different options,” says Sanchez, 30. “I didn’t want to be tempted with negative amortization.” Mortgage experts caution that the 50-year mortgage is best-suited for those who plan to stay in their home for about five years, while the loan’s interest rate remains fixed. “If you’re going to be there more than five years, you’re gambling,” says Marc Savitt of the consumer protection committee for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. “You don’t know what interest rates are going to be. I wouldn’t do it.” (All emphases added – Ed.)

Item 2 The following report discloses how, when the people are a factor in the equation of social progress, possibilities present themselves that could not previously be imagined, or that were dismissed as unprofitable, when only the interests of big capital and the State were considered. A new coherence that was not previously possible now becomes possible. Above all, as this report brings out, everything depends on the determination of the alliance backing Hugo Chàvez in power not to permit oil to re-enslave them, and to make oil riches their servant and the struggle to tame these oil riches their basic social school. In Venezuela, Oil Sows Emancipation by Luciano Wexell Severo The data just released by the Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV) confirm that the Venezuelan economy grew at a cumulative 10.2 percent between the fourth quarter of 2004 and the fourth quarter of 2005. This is the ninth consecutive increase since the last quarter of 2003. Overall, in 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew at 9.3 percent.

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Just like in the previous eight quarters, the strong increase was fundamentally driven by activities not related to oil: civil construction (28.3 percent), domestic trade (19.9 percent), transportation (10.6 percent), and manufacturing (8.5 percent). The oil sector had an increase of only 2.7 percent. According to a report by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), the unemployment rate in December 2005 was 8.9 percent, two percentage points below the rate in the same period of 2004. In absolute terms, this means 266,000 additional jobs. Last year, the inflation rate reached 14.4 percent, but that was below the 19.2 percent rate in 2004. The nominal interest rate went down to 14.8 percent. These results bear out the expectations of the ministry of finance and belie the persistently pessimistic forecasts made by economic pundits of the opposition, who insist on the idea of a “statistical rebound.” The term was invented in June 2004 as an explanation for the growth in the economy: the increase in the GDP was supposed to be an arithmetic illusion due to the depth of the fall in the previous periods. But, by now, this would be a fantastic and unheard-of case of a ball dropping on the floor only to bounce back up and up, without signs of slowing down, in defiance of the law of gravity. In a commentary on the economic expansion, the minister of development and planning, Jorge Giordani, said ironically: “The productive rebound continues . . . social practice and some modest figures have falsified the ominous desires of the political opposition. Their political judgments, disguised as economic technicalities, have been exposed by the new reality.” It has been shown that one of the legacies of the neoliberal period is the disdain for history: a shortsighted strategy that goes only as far as the horizon of the financial system, virtual, outside of time, detached from reality, fictitious. That legacy could explain why the orthodox analysts view the Chávez government as responsible for the poor results in the economy between 1999 and 2003, a period they are trying to label as the “lost five years.” Contrary to their view, let us remember: to a large extent, Hugo Chávez won the presidential elections of December 1998 because Venezuela was facing its most catastrophic economic, political, social, institutional, and moral crisis, after 40 years of power sharing between the traditional parties Acción Democrática (the socialdemocrats) and COPEI (the Christian democrats). The country and the people agonized as a result of the rampant corruption, profligacy, and perversity of the Fourth Republic (1958-98). Venezuela, which hardly benefited from the oil shocks of 1973 and 1979, was sinking, at a faster speed since the early 1980s. According to Domingo Maza Zavala, currently a director of the BCV, between 1976 and 1995 alone, the country was awash with nearly 270 billion dollars in oil revenues, equivalent to twenty times the Marshall Plan. Yet, the national foreign debt owed by Venezuela doubled between 1978 and 1982. This illustrates well the dynamics of wastefulness and economic savagery of the so-called “Saudi Venezuela.” In the early 1990s, with the “Great Turn” and the “Oil Opening” inaugurated by Carlos Andrés Pérez -- continued by Rafael Caldera’s and Teodoro Petkoff’s “Agenda Venezuela” -the country was handed, tied and gagged, to the International Monetary Fund. That was the beginning of an accelerated process of national destruction: the role of the public sector in the economy was reduced in size, physical capital was divested, the economy was deindustrialized, strategic sectors were privatized, and historical labor conquests were taken away. Among others, the following companies were privatized and even de-nationalized: the Compañía Nacional de Teléfonos (Cantv), the Siderúrgica del Orinoco (Sidor), the Venezolana Internacional de Aviación S.A. (Viasa). They extended a long list of financial

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institutions, sugar mills, naval shipyards, and companies in the construction sector. In 1998, there were specific plans to submit PDVSA to the international cartels. Everything was done, supposedly, in the name of lowering the budget deficit, encouraging the inflow of foreign capital, modernizing the national industry, attaining greater efficiency, productivity, and competitiveness, reducing inflation, and lowering unemployment -- semantic trickery to sugarcoat the Washington Consensus and make it palatable. Less than ten years later, international entities like the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC), the World Bank, the IMF and even the Vatican recognized the spectacular failure of these policies. However, long before their belated conclusions were made public, the Venezuelan people had already raised up and pursued an alternative. Episodes of this uprising were the Caracazo in 1989 and the two civic-military rebellions in 1992 -- the first one led by the then unknown commander Chávez. These insurrections, unlike what happened in the other countries of our region, constrained to some extent the implementation of the neoliberal agenda.

Four Stages in the Economy during the Chávez Government Under the government of Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan economy has gone through four different and clearly defined stages. As the continuous analysis that we have been conducting in the last four years demonstrates, in each of these moments -- sometimes determined by the actions of the government itself, sometimes by the reactions of the opposition to the changes in progress -- the country has experienced sharp turns in the direction of its fiscal, monetary, and foreign-exchange policies. In 1999, Venezuela’s GDP fell 6 percent as a result of the extremely deteriorated condition of the economy and of the campaign of emotional blackmail against the recentlyelected president by the mass media which are historically connected to foreign interests. Let us remember that Maritza Izaguirre, minister of finance under Caldera, remained in office during the first nine months of the new government. The contraction of the economy was a natural reflection of this period of adaptation, combined with inertias that dated back to the third quarter of 1998, as well as the oil’s extremely low international price -- close to 9 dollars per barrel at the time. The recovery of the prices of the crude -- direct fruit of actions undertaken by the Chávez government -- and the expansive fiscal and monetary policies put in place marked the beginning of a new stage. During the years 2000 and 2001, the GDP increases of 3.7 and 3.4 percent, respectively. In these eight quarters, the non-oil GDP grew 4 percent on average, whereas the oil GDP only rose 1.2 percent. There were verifiable drops in unemployment, the consumer price index and the interest rate, which led to an increase in credit, consumption and GDP per capita. Between the inauguration of Hugo Chávez in February 1999 and by midyear in 2002, the oligarchy -- connected to foreign interests in the oil sector -- adopted a cautious stance. The outbreak of discontent occurred by the end of 2001, when the government submitted a legislative package seeking to induce deep structural changes in the main sectors of the economy: the state company Petróleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA); and laws encompassing liquid and gas hydrocarbons, land ownership, the financial system, income taxation, and the cooperatives.

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Then the third phase began: a battle that lasted a year and a half, approximately. Between the end of 2001 and February 2003, everything happened in Venezuela: the bosses’ lockout in December 2001; the coup d’etat promoted by the CIA in April 2002; conspiracies and the “oil sabotage” between the last quarter of 2002 and February 2003. The foreseeable result: the Venezuelan economy fell 8.9 percent and 7.7 percent in 2002 and 2003, respectively. This was a collapse akin to a war economy. The surprising result: Hugo Chávez emerged stronger from the crisis. After the coup d’etat failed, the coup participants in the armed forces were exposed and demoralized. The sadistic attack against PDVSA demonstrated the anti-national and desperate nature of the privileged class, threatened as it felt by the nationalist actions of the government. The conspiracy managed from Washington caused the collapse of oil production from 3 million barrels per day to 25,000, paralyzing production and triggering the bankruptcy of hundreds of companies. In the first and second quarters of 2003, the GDP fell 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Altogether, for seven consecutive quarters, the economy, the income per capita, and the international reserves fell -- all accompanied by a rise of the unemployment rate to 20.7 percent, of the annual inflation rate to 27.1 percent, and of the interest rate to 22 percent. But, the third quarter of 2003 ushered the beginning of the fourth and current phase of the Venezuelan economy in the administration of Hugo Chávez: the recovery. To understand the magnitude of this recovery, consider the size of the disasters in 2002 and 2003. Today, for example, the gross formation of fixed capital -- the additional accumulation of capital assets -reaches 24.2 percent of total GDP. In the middle of the 2003 conspiracies, it fell to 14.0 percent. Venezuela is just starting to walk again.

Why Is the Economy Growing? This reinvigoration of the Venezuelan economy is direct -- although nonexclusive -result of the increase in oil prices to an average of 57.4 dollars per barrel (Brent blend, December 2005). The hydrocarbons are -- and will continue to be for years to come -- a pillar of the economy. But, then, what else is news in Venezuela? The novel thing is that definitely the country is sowing or planting oil in the productive sectors of the economy, as required by Arturo Uslar Pietri seventy years ago. A portion of the oil revenues is used as a funding source to structure and strengthen the domestic market (“endogenous development”) and jumpstart a sovereign process of industrialization and definitive economic independence. The oil provides an instrument in overcoming the rentier, unproductive, and importing economy already established by the 1920s, when the operations of the “devil’s excrement” began in the Lake Maracaibo. In particular, the sowing of oil is being made possible through seven mechanisms: (1) the amendment to the hydrocarbons law and the increase in royalties received by the government from the transnational oil companies; (2) the adoption of controls over the exchange rate in early 2003, which doubled the international reserves (from 15 to 30 billion dollars) and made possible the implementation of further measures; (3) the new law governing the central bank and the creation of the Fondo de Desarrollo Nacional (FONDEN) with already a balance of almost 9 billion dollars; (4) the new approaches by the tax collection authority, the SENIAT, that increased tax revenues in 60 percent this year -- mostly from large domestic and transnational companies, historically the deadbeats and evaders; (5) a broad plan of public

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investments in a platform of basic industries, with their consequent multiplier and accelerator effects on private investment in industries that transform basic inputs into products of higher value added; (6) the contribution in 2005 of nearly 5 billion dollars to the Misiones Sociales, as an emergency mechanism to honor the immense accumulated social debt, lower unemployment, and fight inflation; (7) the work conducted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Land (MAT) to rescue and reactivate the production of a million and a half hectares of unproductive large estates, strengthening the 2006 Sowing Plan and incorporating thousands of farmers and workers into the productive process. These seven mechanisms account for the fact that, since 2004 and in spite of the strong growth in oil prices, the non-oil GDP grew significantly faster than the oil GDP, demonstrating the positive impact of oil exports on activities not directly related to crude extraction. While in the second quarter of 1999 the share of non-oil GDP was 70.5 percent of total GDP, today it stands at 76.0 percent. And, partly as a result, in this period, the share of the oil GDP in total GDP shrunk from 20.1 percent to 14.9 percent. Even more significant is the acceleration in the manufacturing industry between early 2003 and the present. Manufacturing was the sector that grew the fastest in the period, recently surpassing oil GDP -- for the first time since 1997, starting year of this statistical series at the BCV. This dynamism can be verified especially by the consistent increases in electricity consumption, automotive vehicle sales, cement, durable products for civil construction, iron, and aluminum. Within the manufacturing industry, the branches that grew fastest are: automotive vehicles, trailers, and semi-trailers (13.5 percent); food, drinks, and tobacco (10.6 percent), rubbers and plastic products (10.3 percent), and machinery and equipment (7.0 percent). The share of manufacturing in total GDP, which shrunk to 14.7 percent during the “oil sabotage,” is now reaching 16.7 percent with a momentum to grow briskly. These results will be improved upon when the full impact of the “Agreement/Framework for the Recovery of the Industry and Transformation of the Production Model” as well as the “Decree for the Provision of Inputs and Raw Materials to the National Manufacturing Sector” are felt. These policy instruments seek to limit the exports of raw materials and to guarantee basic inputs -- like aluminum, iron, steel, and wood -- to the Venezuelan producers. From early 2003, the share of final consumption goods in total imports has gone down from 37.6 percent to 24.2 percent, accompanied by an increase in the acquisition of goods devoted to gross capital formation from 12.3 percent to 25.7 percent of the total. That is to say, Venezuela has invested its foreign exchange in purchasing machinery, parts, and equipment that make it possible for the process of sovereign industrialization to proceed. The dollars at the FONDEN have been reserved to finance strategic development plans in such sectors as basic industries, oil, gas, physical infrastructure, transportation, and housing. Within these outlines, new companies are being created and new projects are unfolding like the new Venezuelan iron-and-steel plan for the production of special steels, a factory of “seamless” oil tubes, three new oil refineries, ten sawmills, plants to produce cement, plants to improve iron ore, factories to produce aluminum sheets, plants to produce pulp and paper, and many others. In addition to that, the Inter-American Development Bank recently approved a credit of 750 million dollars for the construction of the hydroelectric power plant at Tocoma. Altogether, just by itself, the national power system will receive investments that approach 3 billion dollars in 2006.

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All these plans have been directed by the Venezuelan government, which will control at least 51 percent of these initiatives, although many will involve strategic associations with other countries or private -- national or foreign -- investors. The goal is to strengthen international relations, especially with other nations in Latin America, with China, Spain, India, Iran, and Italy, in the spirit of building an Alternativa Bolivariana para la América (ALBA) and contributing to creating a multi-polar world. Instances of this are the recent initiative to build the oil refinery Abreu e Lima, in the Brazilian state of Pernambuco, agreed between PDVSA and Petrobrás; the agreements with Argentina to build oil tankers at the Santiago River shipyards; and the bi-national tractor factory Venirán Tractor, with the government of Iran, which has already turned out its first 400 units. The government initiatives to join forces with national entrepreneurs are many, looking to reactivate the industrial and agricultural apparatus. The goal is not solely the economic recovery, but the creation of bases to abandon the rentier model, sustained by raw oil wealth, and to establish a new productive, endogenous model, with internal dynamics and life, able to guarantee economic growth and national development. In March of 2005, the ministry of basic industries and mining (MIBAM) was created, commissioned to build the bases for a sovereign process of industrialization.

New Threats and Attempts at Destabilization A recent note published in the Venezuelan newspaper El Universal, under the headline “The Economic Recession Looms,” is quite enlightening. The note says: “the Venezuelan economy is showing the first signs of an imminent recession, due to the stagnation in the nonoil sector.” This is the exact opposite of what the statistics show -- as I have tried to explain. The anti-national sectors that brought us the bosses’ lockout, the coup d’etat, the oil sabotage, and the continuous conspiracies against the country are back at it. This is a reaction against the inroads made in the profound process of economic and social transformation the country is undergoing, the progress in income redistribution and social inclusion, which had very positive effects in the economic activities and the country’s political life during 2005. The initiatives of the government to extend a hand to the nationalist entrepreneurs show the will to seek unity in working to activate industry and agriculture, creating jobs and fostering the endogenous development. In addition to this, Venezuela is expanding its international relations with important countries and has made effective its membership to MERCOSUR. All the predictions are that, in 2006, the Venezuelan economy will grow at nearly 6 percent, with parallel advances in an array of economic and social indicators. This is the best moment the Chávez government has had since it was inaugurated and, with the president’s proposition to advance towards the “Socialism of the XXI Century,” the stage is set for a process of even more intense structural changes in the outlook. The next presidential elections will take place in December, this year, and the prospects of another victory for the Bolivarian forces has disturbed the White House and its domestic allies. It is possible that, in its increasing isolation, the Bush administration will again resort to violence to disrupt democratic and popular governments. On the other hand, as it has happened before, the actions orchestrated by the U.S. government will meet the resistance of the Venezuelan people, and each aggression will only increase their consciousness and reinforce their participative and protagonistic democracy.

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Luciano Wexell Severo is a Brazilian economist. This article was originally published in Spanish by Rebelión on 12 March 2006. The English translation was provided by Julio Huato.

C. DISINFORMATION ABOUT SCIENTIFIC METHOD AND PURPOSE Item 1 On no question is disinformation more flagrant than that of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin wrote about The Descent of Man (1870) and about The Origin of Species (1859) – but nowhere did he ever venture into the territory of speculating about the origins of Man as such. Nevertheless, as the following article illustrates, one can prove just about anything if one is sufficiently slippery and careless in deploying self-serving analogies between organic nature and man-made artifice to bolster asserted beliefs – either as scientific fact, or as an asserted refutation of falsehoods purportedly decked out as scientific truths. Under the guise of “opening their minds to new possibilities”, some people will scruple at nothing to dogmatise the thinking and creative abilities of a new generation of students by serving up a disinformed “straw-man” misrepresentation of Darwin’s theory. The very first example, in the paragraph immediately below, elides the necessary and sufficient conditions of a human-engineered mechanical design into something supposedly comparable to the “irreducible complexity” of a natural organism. The fact that NOTHING in the mousetrap evolved into existence, that no previous species of the device developed new characteristics that became the modern mousetrap, means that all its complexity is entirely knowable and determinable in the present. Its complexity lacks precisely the irreducibility that is to be compared with natural organisms. On the other hand, with organic life forms, sufficient evidence from the fossil record and the living record of plant and animal life on earth exists to buttress the assertion that many life-forms came into existence most likely following some species differentiation developed and evolving out of some earlier form. There is an aspect of the complexity that is truly irreducible – irreducible in the sense that we are unable to extract any further information pertaining to our own existence as a distinct species. All we know is that, at some definite point, the previous species is succeeded by another distinct species. The successor may share a huge SIMILARITY with the forbear, yet is sufficiently differentiated that successor and forbear are mutually unrecognisable to the other. The fact is, for example, that the DNA of the chimpanzee is more than 99 percent identical to that of the human genome. Yet, neither would ever mistake the other as a member of its species. Indeed, even as conscious as we humans are, our own forbears seem familiar and recognisable to us going back a few aeons, even as we adduce evidence of humanoids walking upright on the face of the earth more the 2.5 billion years ago. Hence the mousetrap illustration of “intelligent design” turns out to be a total non sequitur. After the evolutionary step is completed in a natural organism, it can then be said that this or that aspect of it now works differently than before. It is meaningless to speak of how it could not work if this or that piece were missing. If certain pieces were missing, it

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would be a different species, perhaps even a forbear if not a relative. It should not come as a shock, but it does, that the individual pulling this stunt is not the bait-and-switch artist in a Barnum and Bailey Circus sideshow, but an associate professor of molecular biology at Iowa State University. The methods of the particular brand of proponents of intelligent design described in this article merit some elaboration. Behind their apparent objections to Darwin’s interpretations and conclusions lurks a bedrock rejection of scientific method and its fundamental principle of remaining true to the fidelity of one’s own observations and of premising all real, grounded understanding of phenomena on one’s conscious participation in acts of finding out. The classic argument is that Darwin’s theory ascribes to chance the elaboration of higher order development and functioning in natural organisms and that such an accomplishment is too harmonious to have evolved by chance - hence the need to invoke “intelligent design” as the explanation. Darwin’s theory, meanwhile, says no such thing. Natural selection is above all natural: all the possible outcomes are already present in Nature. What conditions which pathway the organism eventually selects derives from the state of the surrounding environment at that particular time. This itself is also conditioned by previously existing factors, although these other factors may have nothing whatever to do with the organism in question. According to this article, many contemporary proponents of intelligent design render cosmetic obeisance to the undeniable facts of the geological record, but it is more a case of “reculer pour mieux sauter” than of submitting to the actual meaning and deeper implications of such facts: “Intelligent design does not demand a literal reading of the Bible. Unlike traditional creationists, most adherents agree with the prevailing scientific view that the earth is billions of years old. And they allow that the designer is not necessarily the Christian God.”

Meanwhile, however: “According to an informal survey by James Colbert, an associate professor who teaches introductory biology at Iowa State, one-third of [Iowa State University] freshmen planning to major in biology agree with the statement that ‘God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.’ Although it’s widely assumed that college-bound students learn about evolution in high school, Mr. Colbert says that isn’t always the case. “ ‘I’ve had frequent conversations with freshmen who told me that their high-school biology teachers skipped the evolution chapter,’ he says. ‘I would say that high-school teachers in many cases feel intimidated about teaching evolution. They’re concerned they’re going to be criticized by parents, students and school boards.’ ”

It may thus be inferred from these statements that: 1. by exploiting the ignorance of the student body about the age of the earth and the various species groups including humans, it becomes easy to plant and advance arguments that assume, falsely, that humans have only been around a relatively short time, that they did not evolve from the apes and that they underwent no significant evolution since their appearance; and

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All this would be hilarious were it no so tragic. It is clear that there are forces and individuals in the United States who are quite prepared to follow science and even consider themselves scientific-minded albeit on a 50-per cent discounted basis. They like the part of the Law of Conservation of Matter and Energy that points out how matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed. However, they object to evolution, i.e., they want to write off the other bit of this fundamental Law pointing out that matter and energy are converted continually one into the other. Doubtless many of these same individuals would be the first to insist that the truth must be 100% unalderatedly true. When it comes to outlook, however, they are prepared to admit utter nonsense on the same basis as the truth. Darwinian Struggle At Some Colleges, Classes Questioning Evolution Take Hold; ‘Intelligent Design’ Doctrine Leaves Room for Creator; In Iowa, Science on Defense A Professor Turns Heckler By DANIEL GOLDEN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL November 14, 2005; Page A1 AMES, Iowa -- With a magician’s flourish, Thomas Ingebritsen pulled six mousetraps from a shopping bag and handed them out to students in his “God and Science” seminar. At his instruction, they removed one component -- either the spring, hammer or holding bar -from each mousetrap. They then tested the traps, which all failed to snap. “Is the mousetrap irreducibly complex?” the Iowa State University molecular biologist asked the class. “Yes, definitely,” said Jason Mueller, a junior biochemistry major wearing a cross around his neck.

That’s the answer Mr. Ingebritsen was looking for. He was using the mousetrap to support the antievolution doctrine known as intelligent design. Like a mousetrap, the associate professor suggested, living cells are “irreducibly complex” -- they can’t fulfill their functions without all of their parts. Hence, they could not have evolved bit by bit through natural selection but must have been devised by a creator. Intelligent-design courses have cropped up at the state universities of Minnesota, Georgia and New Mexico, as well as Iowa State, and at private institutions such as Wake Forest and Carnegie Mellon. Intelligent design does not demand a literal reading of the Bible. Unlike traditional creationists, most adherents agree with the prevailing scientific view that the earth is billions of years old. And they allow that the designer is not necessarily the Christian God.

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Still, professors with evangelical beliefs, including some eminent scientists, have initiated most of the courses and lectures, often with start-up funding from the John Templeton Foundation. Established by famous stockpicker Sir John Templeton, the foundation promotes exploring the boundary of theology and science. It fostered the movement’s growth with grants of $10,000 and up for guest speakers, library materials, research and conferences. According to an informal survey by James Colbert, an associate professor who teaches introductory biology at Iowa State, one-third of ISU freshmen planning to major in biology agree with the statement that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years.” Although it’s widely assumed that college-bound students learn about evolution in high school, Mr. Colbert says that isn’t always the case. “I’ve had frequent conversations with freshmen who told me that their high-school biology teachers skipped the evolution chapter,” he says. “I would say that high-school teachers in many cases feel intimidated about teaching evolution. They’re concerned they’re going to be criticized by parents, students and school boards.”

Templeton-funded proponents of intelligent design include Christopher Macosko, a professor of chemical engineering at University of Minnesota. Mr. Macosko, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, became a born-again Christian as an assistant professor after a falling-out with a business partner. For eight years, he’s taught a freshman seminar: “Life: By Chance or By Design?” According to Mr. Macosko, “All the students who finish my course say, ‘Gee, I didn’t realize how shaky evolution is.’” Another recipient of Templeton funding, Harold Delaney, a professor of psychology at the University of New Mexico, taught an honors seminar in 2003 and 2004 on “Origins: Science, Faith and Philosophy.” Co-taught by Michael Kent, a scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, the course included readings on both sides as well as a guest lecture by David Keller, another intelligent-design advocate on the New Mexico faculty.

Item 2 These paradoxes about the constancy of physical constants are all removable once the timescale is appropriately adjusted. This hints at a very important byproduct of seeking the all-natural pathway, viz., one must also be prepared to adjust one’s temporal conceptions. The most interesting remarks in this report are those in the last five paragraphs, in which, when things don’t “add up”, the temptation re-emerges to add dimensions that are not physically accessible ikn order to account for natural transformations over vast period of time. These attempts suggest that the researchers themselves in this realm operate entirely unconscious of the implications of looking at time itself within nature as the fourth physically irreversible dimension rather that some independently-varying measure.

A Universal Constant on the Move Is the proton losing weight, or has the fabric of the Universe changed? By Mark Peplow Nature.com

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How heavy is a proton compared to an electron? The answer seems to have changed over the past 12 billion years. It seems that nothing stays the same: not even the ‘constants’ of physics. An experiment suggests that the mass ratio of two fundamental subatomic particles has decreased over the past 12 billion years, for no apparent reason. The startling finding comes from a team of scientists who have calculated exactly how much heavier a proton is than an electron. For most purposes, it is about 1,836 times heavier. But dig down a few decimal places and the team claims that this value has changed over time. The researchers admit that they are only about 99.7% sure of their result, which physicists reckon is a little better than ‘evidence for’ but not nearly an ‘observation of’ the effect. If confirmed, however, the discovery could rewrite our understanding of the forces that make our Universe tick.

Fickle Forces This is not the first time physicists have suspected physical constants of inconstancy. In 1937, the physicist Paul Dirac famously suggested that the strength of gravity could change over time. And arguments about the fine-structure constant, , have raged for years (see ‘The inconstant constant?’). The fine-structure constant measures the strength of the electromagnetic force that keeps electrons in place inside atoms and molecules. Some physicists have argued that the equations describing our Universe allow for variance in the relative masses of a proton and electron. In fact, they have said, this value could theoretically vary more than does, and so might be easier to pin down. Times they are a-changing To look for such variation, Wim Ubachs, a physicist from the Free University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and his colleagues studied how a cool gas of hydrogen molecules in their lab absorbed ultraviolet laser light. The exact frequencies of light that are absorbed by each hydrogen molecule (H2), which is made of two protons and two electrons, depend on the relative masses of these constituent particles. Then they compared this result with observations of two clouds of hydrogen molecules about 12 billion light years away, which are illuminated from behind by distant quasars. Although the light changes frequency on its long journey through space, researchers at the European Southern Observatory in Chile were able to unpick what the original frequencies absorbed by the hydrogen were. Ubachs’ comparison suggests that over this vast timescale, which is most of the lifetime of the Universe, the proton-to-electron mass ratio has decreased by 0.002%. The scientists report their research in Physical Review Letters [1]. Constant Craving Ubachs says that his team’s laser measurements are hundreds of times more accurate than previous laboratory data. This improves their detection of the mass ratio effect by a factor of two to three.

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“They’ve done the best job of anyone so far,” agrees John Webb, a physicist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, who has studied changes in both the proton-electron mass ratio and the fine-structure constant [2, 3]. So what could be causing the ratio to change? Both Ubachs and Webb say that it is unlikely that protons are losing weight. Instead, some theories suggest that extra dimensions occupied by the particle might be changing shape. Or perhaps it’s a consequence of the speed of light slowing down, or general relativity behaving in odd ways. “We just don’t know what the explanation is,” Webb admits.

Firm it up If Ubachs’ finding is confirmed, it would be an “experimental foundation stone” for physics, says Webb. Ubachs says that the observations could be improved or confirmed by looking at hydrogen clouds in the lab over a time period of, say, five years, but with a billion times greater precision. This would remove the difficulty of working out the precise wavelength of very dim light after it has passed through billions of light years of space. But it could also remove the effect altogether. “It may be that it was only in an early epoch of the Universe that the value changed,” suggests Ubachs.

REFERENCES [1] Reinhold E., et al. Phys. Rev. Lett., 96. 151101 (2006). [2] Tzanavaris P., Webb J. K., Murphy M. T., Flambaum V. V.and Curran S. J. Phys. Rev. Lett., 95. 041301 (2005). [3] Webb J. K., et al. Phys. Rev. Lett., 87. 091301 (2001).

D. BIOMEDICAL DISINFORMATION Item 1 Two obvious questions not asked in the following otherwise informative summary are: 1. what triggers the body to produce or stop producing its own vitamin supplies in the first place; and 2. why should we assume that the body will treat a synthesised substitute for whatever vitamin-complex the body is not producing itself the same as it would treat that same vitamin-complex produced by the body itself? The logic of “chemicals are chemicals” dismisses out of hand the very idea of considering such questions seriously. This remains the case, even though it is well understood, for example, that the only Vitamin D the human body can use efficiently is that which it can obtain from sunlight-triggered photosynthesis. Parodying a line made famous by the “winning-est” coach in U.S. professional football, when it comes to natural processes, pathway isn’t everything: it’s the only thing. The fact that no two things anywhere in nature are identical and that their pathway in nature is a critical primary component, not a minor secondary matter, are both very bad, unwanted news for

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proponents and exponents of the very business model into which ehemical engineering has been slotted, based on mass production and sale of a uniform and homogenised product. Prevention The Case Against Vitamins Recent studies show that many vitamins not only don’t help. They may actually cause harm. By TARA PARKER-POPE The Wall Street Journal, 20 March 2006, Page R1 Every day, millions of Americans gobble down fistfuls of vitamins in a bid to ward off ill health. They swallow megadoses of vitamin C in hopes of boosting their immune systems, B vitamins to protect their hearts, and vitamin E, beta carotene and other antioxidants to fight cancer. It’s estimated that 70% of American households buy vitamins. Annual spending on vitamins reached $7 billion last year, according to industry figures. But a troubling body of research is beginning to suggest that vitamin supplements may be doing more harm than good. Over the past several years, studies that were expected to prove dramatic benefits from vitamin use have instead shown the opposite. Beta carotene was seen as a cancer fighter, but it appeared to promote lung cancer in a study of former smokers. Too much vitamin A, sometimes taken to boost the immune system, can increase a woman’s risk for hip fracture. A study of whether vitamin E improved heart health showed higher rates of congestive heart failure among vitamin users. And there are growing concerns that antioxidants, long viewed as cancer fighters, may actually promote some cancer and interfere with treatments. Last summer, the prestigious Medical Letter, a nonprofit group that studies the evidence and develops consensus statements to advise doctors about important medical issues, issued a critical report on a number of different vitamins, stressing the apparent risks that have emerged from recent studies. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences -- the top U.S. authority for nutritional recommendations -- has concluded that taking antioxidant supplements serves no purpose. “People hear that if they take vitamins they’ll feel better,” says Edgar R. Miller, clinical investigator for the National Institute on Aging and author of an analysis that showed a higher risk of death among vitamin E users in several studies. “But when you put [vitamins] to the test in clinical trials, the results are hugely disappointing and in some cases show harm. People think they are going to live longer, but the evidence doesn’t support that. Sometimes it’s actually the opposite.”

Item 2 The following article, while highly informative about the true state of scientific understanding at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, persists nevertheless in spreading the disinformation that associates sunlight with ultraviolet light. The point about sunlight is that it includes UV as well as IR and all frequencies in between. The shortcoming of all

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artificial substitutes for sunlight is that they do not contain the entire visible spectrum. The damage that correlates with reported excessive exposure of humans to some forms of artificial light is probably not unconnected to the wide gaps in frequency spectrum of the artificial forms. Selling increased exposure and use of various sources of artificial light began with planting the story that excessive exposure to sunlight – as opposed to reasonable, interrupted and certainly not 16-hours-at-a-stretch exposure – “causes” cancers of the skin. Mushrooms Are Unlikely Source of Vitamin D By ANDREW BRIDGES, The Associated Press Tuesday 18 Apr 2006, 02:17 ET WASHINGTON - Mushrooms may soon emerge from the dark as an unlikely but significant source of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin that helps keep bones strong and fights disease. New research, while preliminary, suggests that brief exposure to ultraviolet light can zap even the blandest and whitest farmed mushrooms with a giant serving of the vitamin. The Food and Drug Administration proposed the study, which is being funded by industry. Exposing growing or just-picked mushrooms to UV light would be cheap and easy to do if it could mean turning the agricultural product into a unique plant source of vitamin D, scientists and growers said. That would be a boon especially for people who don’t eat fish or milk, which is today the major fortified source of the important vitamin. The ongoing work so far has found that a single serving of white button mushrooms — the most commonly sold mushroom — will contain 869 percent the daily value of vitamin D once exposed to just five minutes of UV light after being harvested. If confirmed, that would be more than what’s in two tablespoons of cod liver oil, one of the richest — and most detested — natural sources of the vitamin, according to the National Institutes of Health. Sunshine is a significant source of vitamin D, since natural UV rays trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin. Mushrooms also synthesize vitamin D, albeit in a different form, through UV exposure. Growers typically raise the mushrooms indoors in the dark, switching on fluorescent lights only at harvest time. That means they now contain negligible amounts of vitamin D. Research, including new findings also being presented at the conference, consistently has shown that many adult Americans do not spend enough time outside to receive enough UV exposure needed to produce ample vitamin D. The problem is especially acute in winter. That worries health officials and not only because of rickets, the soft-bone disease linked to vitamin D deficiency that was a scourge in decades past. Vitamin D is increasingly thought to play a role in reducing the risk of osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and tooth loss, as well as in reducing mortality associated with colon, breast, prostate and other cancers. Beelman said his research has shown that exposing growing mushrooms to three hours of artificial UV light increases their vitamin D content significantly. That could be easier than exposing fresh-picked mushrooms to light, Beelman said. The only drawback is that the white button mushrooms — like people — tend to darken with increased UV exposure, he added.

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Item 3 Aspirin was well-established as a pain reliever, as well as a substance that could help heart disease sufferers keep down ongoing risks from clogged arteries. Then along came the Cox-2 inhibitor class of painkillers – utterly unnecessary since aspirin was readily available and much cheaper. Once some of these drugs became implicated in heart attacks – heart attacks that were predicted in the clinical research, but never mentioned to the US Food and Drug Administration by the companies developing them – the bloom was off the rose for Cox-2-inhibiting painkillers. Furthermore, multi-billion-dollar class-action “product liability” lawsuits followed in the wake of some of the heart attack deaths, while an enormous investment in utterly unnecessary research and development remains to be recouped… What to do? Sure enough, as the following article points out, “over the past four years, medical publications have become full of talk about ‘aspirin resistance’ -- suggesting that millions who take an aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks are wasting their effort. If that is true, widespread testing might be needed to detect the condition and doctors might have to turn to aspirin substitutes costing $4 a day. “But reports and commentary on the subject often fail to point out that many of those raising alarms about aspirin resistance have financial ties with drug and test makers who stand to profit from the idea’s acceptance.”

On this score, one of the leading such “drugs” launched by Harvard University, Plavix, has become especially notorious. “Before Plavix we rarely heard a mention of aspirin resistance,” the director of cardiology training at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles – who doesn’t test patients for aspirin resistance and accepts no industry funding or consulting work – told The Wall Street Journal reporter compiling this story. “One has to wonder if the commercial implications of this phenomenon trump scientific reality,” he added. What we have here is biomedical research and development as a 100-per-cent, 22-carat, gold-plated defrauding of the public. Its operative disinformation goes something like this: “if you don’t get tested for ‘aspirin resistance’, it may turn out that your failure to eat or drink the poison we’re selling could be bad for you.”

Critical Dose Aspirin Dispute Is Fueled by Funds Of Industry Rivals A Cheap Remedy for Clotting Used by Millions of Patients Is Undermined by Research as Bayer's Friends Fight Back By DAVID ARMSTRONG The Wall Street Journal, 24 April 2006, Page A1 Over the past four years, medical publications have become full of talk about “aspirin resistance” -- suggesting that millions who take an aspirin a day to prevent heart attacks are

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wasting their effort. If that is true, widespread testing might be needed to detect the condition and doctors might have to turn to aspirin substitutes costing $4 a day. But reports and commentary on the subject often fail to point out that many of those raising alarms about aspirin resistance have financial ties with drug and test makers who stand to profit from the idea’s acceptance. Last July, Harvard Medical School associate professor Daniel Simon warned that aspirin resistance may afflict as many as 30% of the 25 million Americans taking aspirin for their hearts. He wrote in Physician’s Weekly, a trade publication, that these people are at higher risk for heart attacks and strokes and may need other anti-clotting drugs. The article didn’t mention that Dr. Simon receives research funding from Accumetrics Inc., a privately held San Diego company that makes a test to measure aspirin resistance, and from pharmaceuticals maker Schering-Plough Corp., which sells a drug being tested as a potential benefit for patients deemed aspirin-resistant. He is also a consultant and paid speaker for Schering-Plough. Physician’s Weekly Managing Editor Keith D’Oria says he knew of the ties, but didn’t disclose them. He said the publication never discloses possible conflicts and instead uses the information for other purposes, such as contacting drug companies listed by doctors to see if they might place an ad near the doctor’s commentary. The issue of aspirin resistance is a powerful example of how key academic researchers with a financial interest can influence the care Americans receive. Fears of aspirin resistance have boosted sales of the anticlotting pill Plavix, the world’s second best-selling drug after cholesterol fighter Lipitor. Even some doctors who are trying to debunk aspirin resistance have financial ties -- to aspirin maker Bayer AG. …

Item 4 In the context of biomedical science, the disinformation identified elsewhere in such notions as “chemicals are chemicals” takes the forms “biochemicals are biochemicals” and “neural pathways are neural pathways”. Such is the thinking underlying any and every attempt to replicate the sequencing of cognitive acts by remote control outside that of the host brain. Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue By MELISSA NELSON, The Associated Press Mon 24 Apr 2006 19:32 ET See full text at Item 3 of Section A above

E. THE NATURAL PATH AS THE BASIS OF THE LAW AND OUTLOOK OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE “Warriors – Why we stand up” Mohawk Nation News 5 November 2006.

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Introduction Sa-o-ie-ra; warriors in other Indigenous nations; why we went off the path; our effect on non-indigenous society; criticisms; who was Karonhiaktajeh; history of the warriors; the goal of peace; ganistensera; role of clans and women relatives. Tekarontakeh, an elder Renskarakete, outlined some of the historical background on how the “Warrior Society” was re-established. He said, “It was always here because the people were always here. For a time it just wasn’t visible”.

Sa-o-ie-ra “Sa-o-ie-ra” means it’s a natural instinct instilled in us by creation. Every creature on earth has this natural instinct to protect itself, its species, its territories and everything that sustains its life. We do what we must do to survive. A warrior doesn’t have to ponder whether he should protect himself, his people, his clan, his land, water and everything that helps to sustain his people. These are our sources of life. Our full understanding of the natural world is how we will survive. When we are attacked, our instincts tell us that we have to defend ourselves as fully and completely as possible. That’s how Creation made us. All Indigenous Nations Have Warriors The colonists are alarmed that our People are picking up this warrior image no matter what Indigenous nation we come from. Why? They thought they had destroyed us through colonization, genocide, fear and all the strategies that have been applied elsewhere in the world. Our will comes from nature. Even the non-natives depend on that too. To destroy us they destroy themselves. A lot of time and effort is spent trying to dissolve this positive image of the warrior. At Six Nations at the beginning of the reclamation of “Kanenhstaton”, in the confusion of people rising up to defend the land, efforts were made by a few to not fly the “warrior flag”. We argued that it signified that we want to fight for our survival as a people and to carry out our instructions. In the end, not only did one or two flags come out, but the whole community put the flag in front of their homes and on their cars. The colonists are trying to discourage our people from identifying with us. More and more are coming to understand our position. We have no choice but to live according to the men’s duties as outlined in our constitution, the Kaiannereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. What Took Us off the Path? It Was the Genocide We Went Through The colonists came here to conquer. They brought their strange religions and hierarchical institutions. These were contrary to how we see life. We saw these as “man-made beliefs”. Rather than relying on ourselves, they wanted to pacify us. They wanted our decisions to be made by someone somewhere up on the hierarchical ladder. They attacked our spirit in many ways so we lost confidence and could no longer defend ourselves or what was ours. They did not want us to defend our lives that creation had prescribed for us. Our knowledge is based on our observation of natural ways. This confusion destroyed many of us. These invaders immediately tried to take over Turtle Island . One of the first strategies was to use us for commerce and military allies. In the meantime they worked to kill us off. After a while they successfully killed off 99% of us throughout the Western Hemisphere . 115

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million of our people died off. We are the descendants of those few whose ancestors survived the biggest holocaust in all mankind. They had to make some crucial decisions for us to be here today.

Non-Indigenous Society Must Learn Too What brought us back? It was the minds of our ancestors who thought about how we were to survive in this news state of affairs. Our ancestors willed themselves so that we would be here today. We have to educate ourselves about this past history and how we got through it. It was the Kaianereh’ko:wa – which is modeled on the ways of the natural world. We just have to look at what it does, think about and discuss it. Then we will find our answers. The time has come for the non-Indigenous people to learn why we are standing up as we do. We can’t educate only ourselves. We must educate the settlers too. Many non-native people are interested in who are the real Onkwehonwe? It means “the real people forever” because nature is here forever. At one time these non-natives had ancestors who were indigenous somewhere else once too. They need to understand the world view we are coming from. Maybe they have an instinctual desire to find a home. Many of them are sensitive enough to understand that when you are in someone else’s land, you have to tread carefully. What happened to us is the guests came here and tried to kill of their hosts. This is bad manners and a violation of nature. A parasite will die if it kills what it is living off of. You could disrupt something and not even know you’re doing it. Criticisms of the Warriors We hear a lot of provocative statements about the warriors by those who don’t know very much about “Rotiskenrakete”, the carriers of the soil of Turtle Island . Colonial society translates this to mean “warrior”. They are not a legend. Warriors are real. Warriors are part of the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. There is not only a lack of understanding but a deliberate misrepresentation of the warriors. White society is designed to control its people. To do this they have to instill fear in everybody. The “warriors” have been stereotyped to evoke fear in the non-native people. Because of this lack of understanding, at the Six Nations reclamation of our land and other sites of resistance, our men have had to cover their faces. The warriors of old did not have to deal with media manipulations, high tech police surveillance techniques, files, wanted posters over police wires, or phony charges to criminalize them into submission to the colonial system. This is the price we have to pay for carrying out our duties to our people. The Rotisken’ra:kete did not fail in their duties. As a matter of fact, they have been phenomenally successful. Had they failed, we would not be here today. Currently the colonists are spending millions of dollars to discredit our Rotiskenrakete. But we are still here and our flag is still flying. If the Ongwehonwe are finally destroyed that is when the Rotisken’ra:kete are destroyed”. The warrior flag is flown in many part of the world by people who resist tyranny and totalitarianism. The designer of the flag, Karonhiaktajeh, originally called it a “unity flag”. It was the settlers who called it “a warrior flag”. On April 20th 2006 when the Ontario Provincial Police tried to invade Six Nations and beat up our women and children, they awoke the lions. Those flags went up right across Canada . Not one group, band council or anyone condemned it. They knew that what we did was right. The propaganda to destroy our spirit was lost. There have been continuous weak attempts here and there to defame us.

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Karonhiaktajeh Karonhiaktajeh was a mentor to the Rotisken’ra:kete. He was vilified during his lifetime. Now he is revered and has become a legend because he adhered to the philosophy of the Great Law. His book, “The Warrior’s Handbook”, has been read by many Rotisken’ra:kete everywhere. The warriors had become dormant for sometime. But they always existed underground. When the women resisted the imposition of the Indian Act in Kahnawake in 1889, the warriors were right there behind the women when they made objections to the government. They were always there supporting the people who stood up for the Great Law. It all started back in Kahnawake in the 1950’s with the formation of the Singing Society. We know that the place of the Rotisken’ra:kete is imbedded in the Great Law. In our past the Rotisken’ra:kete were always respected. The young Rotisken’ra:kete went to the traditional council in Kahnawake. We needed guidance from the older people. We found very few around to help us. Many had forgotten the traditional role of the men in Indigenous society. Many had put our history aside. Historically Historically warriors have been outstanding soldiers. This is only one aspect. There are examples like the battle of Chateauguay where 250 Mohawks stood against 7000 Americans and repelled them. There are many other instances such as when 80 stood against 2500 at Queenston Heights while the British ran away north to St. Catharines Ontario . At Michilimakinac only a few canoe loads of warriors fought against thousands. Many colonists did not want to fight the Rotisken’ra:kete. Some adversaries would just give up and leave. The only real adversaries were other Indigenous nations. Both nations respected the specific rules of war as outlined in the Kaianereh’ko:wa/Great Law of Peace. The Law states that the “war is not over until it is won”. Many make the mistake of saying, “We will fight until we die”. But it is really, “We will fight until we win”. Many of our tactics were imitated by the settler society. Guerilla warfare was adopted by the Europeans. For example, the elite covering themselves in black so as not be seen in the forest is one of our tactics. Peace is Warrior goal We always look towards peace throughout any of our battles. There is always a plan for peace. This does not mean making another nation subservient. It means that the nation we fight must understand that we will fight them until they agree to live peacefully with us under the Great Law. We never set out to destroy the other nation. They must agree to live in peace and equality. If not, then we absorb them and they are no more. No nation wanted that. If they agreed to the peace, they would retain their language, culture, government, land and ways. In our minds, we always wanted to make peace. If the adversary did not want to make peace with us, then the black wampum string would be dropped. This meant that we would then fight until we won. The war is not over until we win. In 1784 the United States sued the Confederacy for peace. This is because they had done so much harm to the Confederacy, so we continued to fight with the newly formed United States . Being a peaceful minded people

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we agreed to enter into a peaceful agreement with them which we have lived up to and they continue to violate. The Rensken’ra:kete is not a soldier for the king. He is a soldier of all the People. His name comes from okenra tsi rokete – the soil that he carries in his pouch to remind him of who he is – a son, a man, a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather. It reminds him what his duties are as a man. He must show utmost respect to the female. The two combined - the male and female - is the continuation of life. He carries the soil in his pouch which he hangs around his neck. When he is away he touches this to remind himself of the land and the people he comes from.

Ganistensera All the warrior’s power begins with his mother – ganistensera. He is connected to her through the onerista, the navel. This is how he is connected to all the women relatives on his mother’s side. The istenha is the one who carried him and gave him life. That is who his “creator” is. Importance of the Clans The clans oversee the development of all the children. They watch the children closely throughout their lives. Each one has brought some qualities and gifts with them to help the people. We don’t know what these are. So we must watch them and help them reveal their special gifts to us. We looked for qualities in each child. For example, Ayonwatha’s family is the record and wampum keeper. The young men learn all the rituals they need to have a strong memory. The Tekarihoken family are the Turtle. They are taught to be neutral and to look at all sides. The Wolf listens to both sides. The War Chief comes out of the Wolf family. Once he takes that position he must carry himself as though he has no clan because he is there for all the clans. He is given the title of Ayonwes who interacts with the outside nations. The clan mother of the Tekarihoken carries the title of the Tehatirihoken. They learn how to separate things and identify the elements for what they are. They examine everything totally. If a Royaner/chief should die, they can replace him immediately. The chiefs are trained and raised for certain titles. Every clan has particular attributes. It is everyone’s responsibility to develop them. Our Clan Mothers Te-ha-ti-ka-on-ion are the people who observe these young people and find the ones with special qualities. Both boys and girls are trained for basic responsibilities and for particular duties. They must all learn the basic aspects of Indigenous life. Some are found to be better than others in carrying out certain responsibilities. The women are especially adept at finding the required qualities in a young person to be trained for certain duties. Some might have knowledge but not the temperament. By observing them, their special qualities emerge and come to the surface. This becomes clear to the community as to what talents this young person brought with him or her to help their people. Our Women Relatives In their early years, the young males spend all their time with their women relatives. This enables them to know the duties and responsibilities of the women. They develop a profound

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respect for the women and all people. They also spend a lot of time with their grandparents, listening to them, looking for plants, animals and fruits. The whole process of developing their observation skills starts from birth.

REFERENCES Armstrong, David. 2006. “Critical Dose: Aspirin Dispute Is Fueled By Funds Of Industry Rivals, A Cheap Remedy For Clotting Used By Millions Of Patients Is Undermined By Research As Bayer's Friends Fight Back”, The Wall Street Journal (New York: Dow Jones - 24 Apr), Page A1. Bains, Hardial S. 1967. Necessity for Change (Toronto: National Publications Centre. 30th Anniversary Edition - 1997). Begley, Sharon. 2006. “SCIENCE JOURNAL: Quantitative Analysis Offers Tools To Predict Likely Terrorist Moves”, The Wall Street Journal (New York: Dow Jones – 17 Feb), Page B1. Bejerano, G. et al. 2004. “Ultraconserved Elements in the Human Genome”, Science 304 [May]:1321-1325. Bridges, Andrew. 2006. “Mushrooms Are Unlikely Source Of Vitamin D”, The Associated Press newswire (Tue 18 Apr 02:17 ET). Freeth, T. et al., 2006, “Decoding the ancient Greek astronomical calculator known as the Antikythera Mechanism”, Nature 444, (30 Nov) pp 587-591; and also John Noble Wilford, 2006, “An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists”, The New York Times [29 Nov]. Gibbs, W.W. 2003. “The unseen genome: gems among the junk”, Scientific American 289(5): 46-53. Gardner, M. 1983. “The Game of Life, Parts I-III”, Chh. 20-22 in Wheels, Life, and other Mathematical Amusements (New York: W. H. Freeman). Golden, Daniel. 2006. “Darwinian Struggle: At Some Colleges, Classes Questioning Evolution Take Hold; ‘Intelligent Design’ Doctrine Leaves Room For Creator; In Iowa, Science On Defense; A Professor Turns Heckler”, The Wall Street Journal (New York: Dow Jones – 14 Nov), Page A1. Golden, Frederic and Wynn, Wilton. 1984. “Rehabilitating Galileo's image: Pope John Paul moves to correct a 350-year-old wrong”, Time (New York: Time-Warner, 12 Mar International edition) p.72, last accessed 17 December 2006 at http://www.cas.muohio.edu/~marcumsd/p111/lectures/grehab.htm. Grugg, G.M. and Newman, D.J., 2001, “Medicinals for the Millenia: The Historic Record”, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, vol. 953, 3-25; Also, J. Steenhuysen, 2007, ‘Mother Nature Still a Rich Source of New Drugs’, Reuters [20 Mar]. Lu, P.J. and Steinhardt, P.J., 2007, “Decagonal and Quasicrystalline Tilings in Medieval Islamic Architecture,” Science 315 [27 Feb], p. 1106. Kettlewell, Julianna. 2004. “‘Junk’ throws up precious secret”, BBC News Online (London, 12 May), last accessed 17 December 2006 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature /3703935.stm

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Knox, Noelle and Fetterman, Mindy. 2006. “Need To Keep House Payments Low? Try A 50Year Mortgage”, USA Today (Washington DC: Gannett – 10 May 06:54 ET)Hegel, GWF. 1952 [1821]. Philosophy of Right (Oxford: Clarendon Press, trans. T. M. Knox). Islam, M.R. 2003. Revolution in Education (Halifax, Canada: EEC Research Group ISBN 09733656-1-7). --------------. 2006. “Computing for the Information Age”, Keynote speech, 36th International Conference on Computers and Industrial Engineering, Taiwan, June, 2006. --------------, Mousavizadegan, H., Mustafiz, S., and Belhaj, H. 2007. A Handbook of Knowledge-Based Reservoir Simulation, Gulf Publishing Co., Houston, TX, to be published in March, 2007. -------------- and Zatzman, G.M., 2006b, “Emulating Nature in the Information Age”, 57th Annual Session of Indian Chemical Engineering Congress [Chemcon-2006], Dec. 27-30, Ankelshwar, India. --------------, Shapiro, R., and Zatzman, G.M., 2006, “Energy Crunch: What more lies ahead?” The Dialogue: Global Dialogue on Natural Resources, Center for International and Strategic Studies, Washington DC, April 3-4, 2006. Ketata, C., Satish, M.G. and Islam, M.R., 2007, “Dynamic Numbers for Chaotic Nature”, ICCES 07, Miami, Florida, Jan. Khan, M.I. and Islam, M.R., 2007, A Handbook of Sustainable Petroleum Management and Operations, 550 pp. (approx.) (Houston TX: Gulf Publishing Co., in press). --------------, Zatzman, G. M., and Islam, M. R., 2005. “A Novel Sustainability Criterion as Applied in Developing Technologies and Management Tools”, in Second International Conference on Sustainable Planning and Development. Bologna, Italy. McLuhan, H. Marshall. 1964. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill). There is a 2004 edition from MIT Press in Cambridge MA, with a new introduction by Harper’s magazine editor Lewis Lapham. Mousavizadegan, H., Mustafiz, S., and Islam, M.R., “The Knowledge Dimension: Towards Understanding the Mathematics of Intangibles”, J. Nat. Sci. Sus. Tech., in press. Nelson, Melissa. 2006. “Scientists Probe The Use Of The Tongue”, The Associated Press newswire (Mon 24 Apr 19:32 ET). Parker-Pope, Tara. 2006. “Prevention: The Case Against Vitamins - Recent Studies Show That Many Vitamins Not Only Don’t Help. They May Actually Cause Harm”, The Wall Street Journal (New York: Dow Jones - 20 Mar), Page R1. Pauling, Linus. 1968. “Orthomolecular psychiatry: varying the concentrations of substances normally present in the human body may control mental disease”, pp. 265-271 and “Vitamin therapy: treatment for the mentally ill”, Science 160. Peplow, Mark. 2006. “A Universal Constant On The Move: Is The Proton Losing Weight, Or Has The Fabric Of The Universe Changed?”, Nature.com (20 Apr). Sen, Amartya. 2006. “Democracy Isn’t ‘Western’”, The Wall Street Journal (New York: Dow Jones – 24 Mar). Shane, Scott. 2006. “Zarqawi Built Global Jihadist Network On Internet”, The New York Times (9 Jun). “Warriors – Why We Stand Up”, Mohawk Nation News (5 November 2006). Website 1: http://www2.forthnet.gr/presocratics/heracln.htm Wexell Severo, Luciano. 2006. “In Venezuela, Oil Sows Emancipation”, Rebelión (Madrid – 12 Mar, tr. Julio Huato).

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Wolfram, S. A. 2002. New Kind of Science (Champaign, IL: Wolfram Media). Zatzman, G.M. and Islam, M.R. 2006. Economics of Intangibles (New York: Nova Science Publishers), 393 pp. Zatzman, G.M., 2006, “The Honey Æ Sugar Æ Saccharin® Æ Aspartame®, or HSS®A® Syndrome: A note”, J. Nature Science and Sustainable Technology, vol. 1, no. 3.

In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 67-96

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 2

A COMPARATIVE PATHWAY ANALYSIS OF A SUSTAINABLE AND AN UNSUSTAINABLE PRODUCT M. I. Khan* A. B. Chettri, and S. Y. Lakhal a Faculty of Engineering Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, B3J 2X4, Canada a Faculty of Business Administration University of Moncton, Moncton, NB, E1A 3E9, Canada

ABSTRACT Generally the idea of ‘sustainability’ implies a moral responsibility on the technological development to be accountable for effects relating to the natural environment and to future generations. However, most of the widely accepted technological developments are not sustainable. The main contentious issue is that most of them are misled as ‘sustainable’ due to improper sustainability assessment criteria. With a recently developed sustainability criterion, it can be demonstrated that most of the technologies that belong to the ‘chemical approach’ are not sustainable. In this paper, a detailed pathway study is performed including its origin, degradation, oxidation and decomposition in order to demonstrate how a natural product is sustainable and the synthetic product is unsustainable. In this research, two homologous products polyurethane fiber and wool fiber were selected for the sustainability assessment. They both appear to be the same and in terms of durability, however, one is of natural origin and the other is made of hydrocarbon products. The pathways of these products (chemical for polyurethane and biochemical for wool) used to make these products were studied and the results show how they diverge. The degradation behavior both oxidation and photo degradation were also studied. They suggested the sustainability of wool and nonsustainability of the other. Finally, a direct laboratory degradation experiment, application of microwave, on these products was also undertaken. This experimental result further confirmed the sustainability status of non-synthetic wool fiber and polyurethane.

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INTRODUCTION With a recently developed sustainability criterion by Khan et al. (2005), it can be demonstrated that most of the technologies belong to the ‘chemical approach’ are not sustainable. Khan (2006) developed a method to evaluate the sustainability considering its economic, environmental and social impacts. Natural fibers exhibit many advantageous properties having low density materials yielding light weight composites with high specific properties (O’Donnell, 2004). These natural fibers are cost effective, easy to process, and renewable resource which in turn reduce the dependency on foreign and domestic petroleum oil. Modern technological advancement brings many different products for the daily uses of human life. Most of them are not environmentally friendly and cause numerous problems. However, these products have been so widely accepted that no one asks the question weather it is sustainable or not. Now a day, most popular household items are plastics, which is completely unsustainable, environmentally unacceptable, and is incontrovertibly harmful to the ecosystem. In the last two decades especially after UN Conference of Economic Development sustainability and sustainable development has become a very commonly and loosely used term. However, it is hardly achieved in the present technological and other resource development (Khan, 2006). There are many guidelines or frameworks have been developed to achieve sustainability (GRI, 2002; UNCSD, 2001; IChemE, 2002), which are based on mainly socio-economic and narrowly environmental objectives. Khan (2006) proposed a new protocol for the technological as well as other developments. Table 1. Basic Difference between Polyurethane and Wool Fiber

Type Composition

Polyurethane

Wool

Artificial fiber; alien products to the nature. Urethane -monomer; it’s completely humongous compound and same pattern

Natural Fiber, which grows in most of the organism. Made of alpha-karyotin, which is most valuable protein. However, wool is heterogeneous compound vary from species to species even protein itself is different and complex in a single species. Highly diverse. Complex process of synthesis very little is known so far. It’s different segments like different monomers Multifunctional such as for the protection of organisms, supplies of nutrients, It can adapt with the changes in different conditions, such as temperature, humidity, light intensity. It protects itself and protects the organism where it grows. It is regressive and changes according to time for example it degrades by time

Diversity

There is no diversity. urethane

Functionality

Single-functional just as plastic It is non-adjustable and nonadoptable and can not change itself life the natural products do. Non-progressive. It does change with time

Adaptability

Time factor

A Comparative Pathway Analysis of a Sustainable and an Unsustainable Product Polyurethane Perfectness

It creates all kind of problem. From carcinogenic products to unknown product

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Wool It is perfect and does not create problem. Instead solve the problem.

In this research Khan (2006) protocol is applied in finding out which technology is sustainable and which one is unsustainable. Two products such as, polyurethane and wool fiber were taken to study in this research. They both appear to be the same and in terms of durability, they both are unbeatable. However, one is natural and other one synthetic. Further examination indicates that the similarity between wool and polyurethane fibers stops at t=’right now’. Table 1 shows detailed differences between these two seeming similar fibers.

METHODOLOGY A scientific analysis of wool and polyurethane fiber was carried out based on its structure, manufacturing and processing. Detailed analyses of their pathways were carried out along with their comparative characteristics. A laboratory analysis of microwave degradation was also investigated. The Samsung Mini-Chef MW101OC microwave was used for the microwave tests. The running frequency of this microwave generator is 60 Hz and the output power is 120V. SEM microphotography was also conducted to examine the structural differences between the two fibers. In addition to manufacturing of these products, the recycling and waste management of polyurethane also was examined. A recently proposed sustainability model (Khan, 2006) is applied for evaluating the sustainability of polyurethane and wool.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Chemical Composition of Polyurethane Fiber Polyurethanes fiber is a polymeric fiber. In a polyurethane molecule, urethane linkages are in the backbone. Figure 1 shows simple polyurethane chain. A more complex form will have any polymer containing the urethane linkage in its backbone chain. Crystal can form in any object in which the molecules are arranged in a regular order and pattern.

Figure 1. Polyurethane polymeric fiber.

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A polymeric fiber is a polymer whose chains are stretched out straight (or close to straight) and lined up next to each other, all along the same axis (Figure 1). A urethane linkage is chain that forms polyurethane is presented in Figure 2. Polymers arranged in fibers can be spun into threads and used as textiles (Figures 3 and 4). The clothes, carpet, and rope are made out of polymeric fibers. Some other plastic polymers, which can be drawn into fibers are polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, polyester, kevlar and nomex, and polyacrylonitrile. Figure 4 shows the scanning electron microscopic (SEM) microphotograph of polyurethane. Each fiber is linear and there is no scale or segment, which is different from natural fiber (Khan and Islam, 2005c).

Figure 2. Urethane linkage in polyurethane chain.

Figure 3. Polyethylene or nylon fiber.

Biochemical Composition of Wool Wool is an extremely complex, natural and biodegradable protein fiber which is both renewable and recyclable. It has an inbuilt environment advantage because it is a natural fiber grown without the use of any herbicides and fertilizers. Wool fibers grow in small bundles called ‘staples’ which contain thousands of fibers. Wool fiber is so resilient and elastic that it can be bent and twisted over 30,000 times without danger of breaking or being damaged (Canesis, 2005). Every wool fiber has a natural elasticity that allows it to be stretched by as much as one third and then to spring back into place. As a biological product, wool is mainly composed of 45.2 % carbon, 27.9% oxygen, 6.6% hydrogen, 15.1% nitrogen and 5.2a% sulphur. About 91 percent of the wool is made up

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of alpha keratins which are fibrous proteins. Amino acids are the building blocks of the alpha keratins. The keratin found in wool is called "hard" keratin. This type of keratin does not dissolve in water and is quite resilient. Keratin is an important, insoluble protein and it is made from eighteen amino acids. Amino Acids Present in wool are: cysteine, aspartic acid, serine, alanine, glutamic acid, praline, threonine, isoleucine, glycine, tyrosine, leucine, phenylalanine, valine, histidine, arginine and methionine. The most abundant of these amino acids is cystine which gives hair much of its strength.

Figure 4. SEM microphotograph of polyurethane fiber.

The amino acids are joined to each other by chemical bonds called peptide bonds or end bonds. The long chain of amino acids is called a polypeptide chain and is linked by peptide bonds (Figure 5). The polypeptide chains are intertwined around each other in a helix shape. The wool is made up of alpha keratins which are fibrous proteins consisting of parallel chain of peptides. The various amino acids in the keratin are bound to each other via special 'peptide' bonds to form a peptide chain. The linear sequence of these amino acids is called the primary structure. However, these bound amino acids also have a three-dimentional arrangement. The arrangement of neighboring amino acids is the secondary structure. The secondary structure of 'alpha' keratin is that of an Alpha Helix and is due to the amino acid composition in the primary structure. This is a twirled-like structure of the amino acid chain. This chain is depicted in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Structural bond for amino acid chain.

The molecular structure of wool fibers behaves like a helix that gives wool its flexibility and elasticity (Figure 6). The hydrogen bonds (dashed lines) that link adjacent coils of the helix provide a stiffening effect. Figure 7 indicates that the wool has several micro air pockets which retain air in it. Still air pockets have a excellent insulation qualities, making wool fibers ideal for thermal protection (Rahbur et al., 2005).

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Figure 6. Alpha helix wool structure (source Canesis, 2004).

Trapped air 'particles' Skin surface Figure 7. Insulating pockets of still air (source Canesis, 2004).

The alpha helix in wool is reinforced by weak hydrogen bonding between amino acids above and below other amino acids in the helix (Figure 8). In wool, three to seven of these alpha helices can be curled around each other to form three-strand or seven-strand ropes.

Figure 8. Chemical bond of alpha helix (source Kaiser, 2005).

Alpha keratin is one of the proteins in hair, wool, nails, hoofs and horns. It is also a member of a large family of intracellular keratins found in the cytoskeleton. In keratin fibers, long stretches of alpha helix are interspersed with globular regions. This pattern is what gives natural wool fibers their stretchiness. In the keratin represented here, the first 178 amino acids

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and the last 155 form globular domains on either end of a 310 amino acid fibrous domain. The fibrous region itself is composed of three helical regions separated by shorter linkers. In the fibrous domain, a repeating 7-unit sequence stabilizes the interaction between pairs of helices in two adjacent strands that wind around each other to form a duplex. In the formation of this coil, the more hydrophobic amino acids of the 7-unit sequence meet to form an insoluble core, while charged amino acids on opposing strands attract each other to stabilize the complex (Canesis, 2004). The magnified wool fiber is shown in Figure 9(a). Figure (b) and (c) are the staples from fine and course woolled sheep. The scanned electronic picture of wool is shown in Figure 10. It shows that natural fiber wool has many scales around (Figure 10).

Figure 9. a) Magnified wool fiber b) Staples from fine woolled sheep c) Staples from coarse woolled sheep (source: Canesis, 2004).

Pathways of Polyurethane Details pathways of polyurethane are presented in Figure 11. This product manufactured from hydrocarbon. The exploration of hydrocarbon is environmentally very expensive and causes many environmental problems (Khan and Islam, 2005a; 2005c and 2007; Khan et al., 2006b). Presently available hydrocarbon refinery process also uses toxic catalysts and heavy metals (Lakhal et al., 2005). Each steps of production especially, monomer to dimer, oligomers and finally polymers, which is used in polyurethane has many toxic catalysts and releases known and unknown toxic and carcinogenic compounds (Table 2 and Figures 11 and 13).

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Figure 10. SEM photomicrograph of wool fiber where it shows the presence of scales.

In the presence of a small molecule called diazobicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) diol and diisocyanyte make polymer. When two monomers are stirred with DABCO then the polymerization take place. Continuing the polymerization a brand new urethane dimmer is formed. Drilling mud, heavy metal

Toxic comp ounds

Hydrocarbon Exploration

Vegetable Protein Enzyme

Toxic catalysts

Toxic comp ounds

Refining

Digestion

Benefi cial comp ounds

Enzyme

Diisocyanate

Diol

Metabolism

ATP, NAD PH

Dabcoo

Primary Monomer

Amino Acids

Di ol

Urethane Diamer

Highly toxic + carcinogens

Poly-peptides

Oligomers

Highly toxic + carcinogens

Alpha-karyotin

Polyurethane

Highly toxic + carcinogens

Sheep’s wool

Figure 11. Pathways of unsustainable polyurethane and inherently sustainable product wool both of them have similar functions.

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This urethane dimer has an alcohol group on one end, and an isocyanate group on the other, so it can react with either a diol or a diisocyanate to form a trimer. Otherwise it can react with another dimer, or a trimer, or even higher oligomers. In this way, monomers and oligomers combine and combine until we get high molecular weight polyurethane (Figures 11 and 12). When polyurethane degrades then the most toxic form of PBDEs (penta-BDE) escapes into the environment. The PBDEs is traced higher amount in human breast milk. This compound is commonly found in every consumer products (Table 2). It is a highly toxic compound and exposure to it causes adverse health effects including thyroid hormone disruption, permanent learning and memory impairment, behavioral changes, hearing deficits, delayed puberty onset, decreased sperm count, fetal malformations and, possibly, cancer (Lunder. and Sharp, 2003). It is reported by Lunder and Sharp (2003) that exposure to PBDEs during infancy leads to more significant harm at a much lower level than exposure during adulthood. Recently, reported breast milk contamination of PBDEs might create a disaster in the near future.

Figure 12. Chemical reaction urethane production by using diisociyanate and diol in presence of DABCO.

Figure 13. Ethylene Glycol Oxidation Pathway in Alkaline Solution (After Matsuoka et al., 2005)

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Scrap of flexible polyurethane foams from slabstock manufacturing leads to a serious environmental threat (Molero et al., 2006). This study reported that glycolysis of flexible polyurethane foams is executed to chemically recycle the polyol, a constituent of the polyurethane manufacturing process. Among the various types, diethylene glycol was found most effective to obtain high purity polyol phase. The polyurethane foam is thus contaminated by glycol which during oxidation produces toxic carbon monoxide. Matsuoka et al (2005) reported a study on electro oxidation of methanol and glycol and found that Electrooxidation of ethylene glycol at 400mV gave glycolate, oxalate and formate, among which glycolate and formate produces toxic CO emission. Matsuoka et al (2005) reported a study on electro oxidation of methanol and glycol and found that electro-oxidation of ethylene glycol at 400mV forme glycolate, oxalate and formate (Figure 13). The glycolate was obtained by three-electron oxidation of ethylene glycol, and was an electrochemically active product even at 400mV, which led to the further oxidation of glycolate. Oxalate was found stable, no further oxidation was seen and was termed as non poisoning path. The other product of glycol oxidation is called formate which is termed as poisoning path or CO poisoning path. The glycolate formation decreased from 40-18 % and formate increased from 15-20% between 400 and 500mV. Thus, ethylene glycol oxidation produced CO instead of CO2 and follows the poisoning path over 500 mV. The glycol oxidation produces glycol aldehyde as intermediate products. Table 2. Mother’s breast milk contaminated poly brominated (PBDEs) fire retardants are found in everyday consumer products Materials used in Polyurethane Fibers

Polyurethane foam

Plastics

Types of PBDEs used

Examples of consumer products

Back coatings and impregnation of home and office furniture, industrial drapes, carpets, automotive seating, Deca, Penta aircraft and train seating, insulation in refrigerators, freezers, and building insulations. Home and office furniture (couches and chairs, carpet padding, mattresses and mattress pads) automobile, bus, Penta plane and train seating, sound insulation panels, imitation wood, packaging materials Computers, televisions, hair dryers, curling irons, copy machines, fax machines, printers, coffee makers, plastic automotive parts, lighting panels, PVC wire and cables, Deca, Octa, Penta electrical connectors, fuses, housings, boxes and switches, lamp sockets, waste-water pipes, underground junction boxes, circuit boards, smoke detectors

Source: WHO (1994); Lunder and Sharp (2003).

Various types of amines used in polyurethane manufacturing will have significant impact on the human health as well as in the environment. Samuel and Steinman (1995) investigated that laboratory report on animals showed that diethanolamine (DEA) is a carcinogen with major impact in kidney, liver and brain. Nitrosamine a byproduct of DEA is also considered a carcinogen.

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Monomers

Hydrocarbo n deposition

Dimers

Plant decomposit on

Polymers

In complete I cycle

Eur athane

Non degradable wastes

Figure 14. Incomplete of life cycle of polyurethane due to non-biodegradability.

Pathways of Wool Wool is natural product and it follows completely natural path which does not have any negative environmental impacts. Figure 11 shows the pathways of sheep wools. In the whole process, a sheep takes vegetable as food. Sheep digest the plant leaf/grass and make the grass simple nutrients that are body can absorb readily. This simple nutrient is converted into amino acid, poly-peptides and finally into alpha karyotin which is the composition of wool. The whole process takes place through biological activities. As a result, during the wool generation process there is no release of toxic elements, gases or products. Some biological products/byproducts are generated that are actually essential for the sheep. One such component is adenosine tri-phosphate (ATP). Therefore, the wool generation process is truly sustainable and it can run infinite time period without harming the environment.

Degradation of Polyurethane Polyurethane and other plastic products are widely accepted for its non-degradability. Incomplete lifecycle of polyurethane is shown in Figure 14. It creates irreversible environmentally problems. Generally, synthetic polymers are rarely biodegradable because of the fact that in a polymer chain, apart from carbon atoms there are frequently N and O atoms where oxidation and enzymatic degradation should take place. Synthetic polymers are only susceptible to microbial degradation if they have biodegradable constituents introduced into the technological process. Overall, the degradation rate of the polyurethane depends on the components of a polymer, their structure and the plasticizers added during the manufacturing. Polyurethanes containing polyethers are reported to be highly resistant to biodegradation (Szostak-Kotowa, 2004).

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Main uses of polyurethane fiber are for plastic carpets. Several recent studies have also linked to plastic carpets to higher occurrences of asthma (Islam, 2005c). It is due to the entrance of small particulates in human lung and enters in the human oxidation cycle, which consists of billions of cells of the body. When a plastic products including polyurethane is burnt it releases 400 toxic products. Similarly, due to low-temperature-oxidation (LTO) can release same amount of toxic products can be released in even home temperature. According to Islam (2005a), the point frequently overlooked here is that, in a manner likely analogous to LTO identified in petroleum combustion (Islam et al., 1991; Islam and Ali, 2001), oxidation products are released even when the oxidation takes place at the relatively low temperature of the human respiration process. To date, little has been reported about the LTO of polyurethane in the human health context. Only recently, an epidemiological study has linked polyurethane to asthma (Jaakkola et al., 2006).

Degradation of Wools Wool is a natural product and microorganisms can decompose it. It is a bio-based polymer which is synthesized by bacteria and is an integral part of ecosystem function. Biopolymers thus are capable of being utilized (biodegraded) by living matter and so can be disposed safely and ecologically sound ways through disposal processes (waste management) like composting, soil application, and biological wastewater treatment (Narayan, 2004). Biobased materials such as wool offer value in the sustainability/life-cycle equation as it becomes a part of the biological carbon cycle. Life Cycle Assessment (LCAs) of these biobased materials indicates reduced environmental impact and energy use when compared to petroleum based materials. Figure 15 shows the life cycle of wool. The complete cycle shows the natural regeneration of wool. The degradation of wool is caused by both bacteria and fungi. However, keratin is basically degraded by fungi especially by those belonging to the genera Microsporum, Trichophyton, Fusarium, Rhizopus, Chaetomium, Aspergillus and Penicillium. Further investigations of the biodegradation of wool by fungi indicate that keratinolysis proceeds by denaturation of the substrate by disulphide bridges, which are the source of the natural resistance of keratin by hydrolytic degradation of protein via extracellular proteinases. The rate of bacterial degradation depends on the chemical composition, molecular structure as well as the degree of substrate polymerization (Agarwal and Puvathingal, 1969). Besides these, keratinolytic bacteria species in the genera Bacillus (B. mesentericus, B. subtilis, B. cereus, and B. mycoides) and Pseudomonas, and some actinomycetes, e.g. Streptomyces fradiae (Agarwal and Puvathingal, 1969) have more influence in the degradation process. Microorganisms attach wool at various stages from acquisition to utilization. In general the fatty acid in wool has high resistance to microbial attack. However, as the raw material contains many impurities, which make the wool highly susceptible to microbial degradation. McCarthy and Greaves (1988) reported that bacteria simultaneously degrade and stain the impure wool. For example, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which under alkaline conditions causes green coloration of wool and in acid conditions red coloration.

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Protein Synthesis

Amino Ac id

Alpha keratins

Polypeptides

Sheep’s Wool

Food sources for sheep

Plant nutrients, nitrogen

Micr obial Decomposit ion Polypeptides

Figure 15. Complete lifecycle of wool where it shows natural regeneration process.

A laboratory study of degradation of wool was carried out (Khan and Islam, 2005c). The wool was heated in microwave oven and the degradation was compared with the original structure. Figure 16 A and B shows the before and after microwave degradation picture of the wool. Interestingly, a natural fiber wool does not changes structurally in compare to synthetic product polyurethane. Figure 17 A and B show the change of polyurethane fiber due to microwave. Both wool and polyurethane are treated in a microwave for similar condition parameters. Within the same time period the natural wool fiber did not change at all, but the polyurethane completely changed. It became completely liquid forms and then transfer to a solid ball by creating strong burning smell. This experimental result proves the natural wool resilience. This quality makes wool an ideal fiber and naturally safer. Polyurethane on the other hand is inherently harmful to the environment. Electronic microscopy (Figure 16 A and B) shows that the chemical composition and the presence of moisture enable the wool to resist burning. Instead of burning, wool chars when it gets flame. A comparative characteristic of wool and polyurethane fiber is shown in Table 3.

Figure 16. SEM photomicrograph of wool fiber before (A) and after (A) microwave oxidation.

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Figure 17. SEM photomicrograph of polyurethane before (A) and after microwave (B) treatment

RECYCLING OF POLYURETHANE WASTE Polyurethane has been used in massive scales during manufacturing of appliances, automobiles, beddings, carpet cushion and upholstered furniture. The industries are recovering and recycling polyurethane waste materials form discarded products as well as from manufacturing processes. The recycling of any plastic waste is being done generally in three ways: mechanical, chemical and thermal recycling. Mechanical recycling consists of melting, shredding, or granulation of waste plastic. Even though, plastic is sorted manually, sophisticated techniques, such as, X-ray fluorescence, infrared and near infrared spectroscopy, electrostatics and flotation have been introduced recently (Website 1). Sorted plastic material is melted down directly and moulded into a new shape, or melted down after being shredded into flakes to process into granules. Plastic wastes are highly toxic materials, further exposure to X-rays or infrared rays will make the products even more toxic. The chemical or thermal recycling process for converting certain plastics back to raw materials is called depolymerization. Chemical recycling process breaks down the polymer into their constituent monomers which are again reused in the refineries, petrochemicals and chemical processes. This process is highly energy and cost intensive and requires very large quantities of used plastic for reprocessing to be economically viable. Most of the plastic waste consist not only polyurethane but fiber reinforced materials which cannot be easily recycled simply with conventional processes. These reinforced plastics are thermoset and contain a significant fraction of glass or other fibre and heavy filler materials such as calcium carbonate. In chemical recycling, monomers are broken down into its base components. One such method is the DuPont-patented process called “ammonolysis”. This process depolymerizes plastic by ammonolysis process, where plastic is melt and pumped into a reactor and depolymerized at high temperatures and pressures using a catalysts and ammonia (NR Canada, 1998). In case of thermal depolymerization, the waste plastic is exposed to high pressure and temperature, usually more than 3500C. Under such conditions, the plastic waste is converted to distillate, coke and oil, which are in the form of raw materials to make the monomers and then to polymers. Figure 18 shows the overview of the plastic recycling process. Recycling of any plastic waste has several problems. The process produces solid carbon and toxic gases. Hydrolysis of pulverized polycarbonate in supercritical reactors produces

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Bisphenol A which is a very toxic compound. Coloring pigments used to color the finished products are highly toxic compounds. Dioxins are produced when plastics are incinerated. Phthalates are a group of chemicals which are hormone disrupters. Plastic toys made out of PVC are often softened with phthalates and their burning produces toxic fumes. Recycling plastic has only single reuse unlike paper or glass materials. Various hazardous additives are added to the polymer to achieve the desired material quality. These additives include colorants, stabilizers and plasticizers that include toxic components such as lead and cadmium. Studies indicate that plastics contribute 28 percent of all cadmium in municipal solid waste and about 2 percent of all lead (TSPE, 1997). Huge amount of natural gas and other fossil fuels are used for depolymerization ammonolysis as energy source. Natural Gas/Oil

Polymer Resins

Monomers

T hermal depolymerization to raw materials

Chemical Depolymerizati on to Monomers

Fabricator

Consumer products

Mechanical method (Pellet/Flake)

Collection/ Sorting

Figure 18. Schematic of plastic recycling process.

Table 3. Plastic oxidation experimental data Time in minutes

0

0.5

1.5

3.45

3.55

4.2

Temperature oC

25

102

183

122

89

30

Today’s industrial development has created such a crisis that life without platic is difficult to imagine. Approximately four million metric tons of plastics is produced from crude oil every day (Islam, 2005). Today, plastic production itself consumes 8% of the world’s total oil production, but Maske (2001) reported as 4% of total oil production (Website 2). Burning the plastics will produce more than 4000 toxic fumes, 80 of them are know carcinogens. Though, there are talks on recycling, only about 7% of the total plastic is recycled today and rest of the plastic are either disposed to the environment or succeptible to oxidation. Plastic products are difficult to degrade. Table 4 shows the decomposition rates for various plastics. Some plastic products such Styrofoam never degrades and emits lots of toxic compounds all the time. Some plastic such as glass bottles takes 500 years to completely decompose. An experiment was carried out to determine the oxidation rate by burning the plastic in normal conditions. It took 3 minutes and 45 seconds to oxidize 2gms of plastic. Table 3 is the summary of the lab data for plastic oxidation.

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200 180 160

temp in C

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 0

1

2

3

4

5

Time in minutes Figure 19. Plastic oxidation (Time in minute vs Temperature in Celsius).

UNSUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES At present, it is hard to find any technology, which brings benefits to human beings for the long-term. Plastic technology is one of the examples of an unsustainable technology. In this study, we are considering plastic as a case study. It is reported that daily, millions of tons plastic products are produced. About 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide every year (Source: Vincent Cobb, founder of reuseablebags.com.) The first plastic sandwich bags were introduced in 1957. Department stores started using plastic bags in the late 1970s and supermarket chains introduced the bags in the early 1980s. Natural plastics have been in use for thousands of years, dating back to the time of the Pharaohs and the old Chinese civilization. Natural resins, animal shells, horns and other products were more flexible than cotton and more rigid than stone and have been in use for household products, from toys and combs to plastic wraps and drum diaphragms. Until some 50 years ago, natural plastics were being used for making buttons, small cases, knobs, phonograph records, mirror frames, and many coating applications worldwide. There was no evidence that these materials posed any environmental threat. The only problem with natural plastics, it seemed, was they could not be mass-produced or at least mass production of these natural plastics was not known to humankind. In order to find more efficient ways to produce plastics and rubbers, scientists began trying to produce these materials in the laboratory. Ever since the accidental discovery of American inventor, Charles Goodyear that the property of natural rubber can be altered with the addition of inorganic additives in 1839, the culture of

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adding unnatural materials to manufacture plastic began. During this development, the focus was to make sure the final products had homogeneity, consistency, and durability in macroscopic features, without regard to the actual process of reaching this status. What has happened after this phase of mass production is what can be characterized as the plastic revolution. Table 4. Decomposition rate for Plastic

Paper Leaves Orange peels Milk cartoon Plastic bags Plastic container Aluminum can Tin can Plastic soda bottle Glass bottle Styrofoam

Plastic decomposition rates 2-4 weeks 1-3 months 6 months 5 years 10-20 years 50-80 years 80 years 100 years 450 years 500 years Never

Source: Penn State University (http://www.solcomhouse.com/recycling.html).

Table 5. Characteristics comparison of polyurethane and wool Polyurethane Artificial fiber Non-biological polymers composed of urethane monomer Simple (same segments and same monomers) Homogenous Photooxidation releases toxic compounds Non-biodegradable Non-adjustable and non-adoptable Incomplete lifecycle and not regenerate Creates environmental problem

Wool Natural Fiber Alph-protein based biological polymer Complex (different segments like different monomers in Heterogeneous Natural no toxic gases biodegradable Adjustable ( flexible by conditions ,it can change itself in different conditions ) Complete lifecycle in case of regeneration No environmental problem

Today, some 90 million barrels of crude oil is produced in order to sustain our lifestyle. Crude oil is nothing but plants and other living objects, processed over millions of years. The original ingredient of crude oil is not harmful to living objects and it is not likely that the older form of the same would be harmful, even if it contains trace elements that are individually toxic. It is true that crude oil is easily decomposed by common bacteria, at a rate comparable to the degradation of biological waste (Livingston and Islam, 1999). Even when some toxic chemicals are added to the fractionated crude oil, for instance, motor oil, the

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degradation rate is found to be rather high (Chaalal et al., 2005). As long as bacteria are present in abundance, it seems, any liquid will be degraded. The problem starts when the crude oil components are either turned into solid residues or burned to generate gaseous products. During this first phase of transformation, thermal cracking prevails, in which significant amounts of solid residue are produced. Much of this solid residue is used for producing tar and related products. Some of this residue is reinforced with metals to produce long-chain molecules in the name of soft plastic and hard plastic. This is the phase that becomes most harmful for the environment over the long term: suddenly, and easily, crude oil components are turned into materials that will last practically forever. The feature most responsible for plastics’ broad popularity and ubiquity is also responsible for the most damaging long-term implications. We currently produce more than four million metric tons of plastic every day from the 90 million barrels of crude oil produced. More than 30% of this plastic is used by the packaging industry (Market development Plan, 1996). In 2003, 57% of the beach waste was identified to be from plastic materials (Islam and Zatzman, 2005). It is reported that, only in United Kingdom alone, three million tons of plastic is disposed every year (Waste Online, 2005). Even though the talks for recycling is abound, only 7% of the plastics produced are recycled and the rest of the plastic materials are either disposed to the environment and are susceptible to oxidation (low-temperature oxidation, LTO, at the very least). Figure 19 shows used plastics in a collecting center, later which is will be processed for recycling. Figure 20 shows the same plastics are packed for deliver to recycling factory. Current daily production of plastics (from hydrocarbons) is greater than the consumption of carbohydrates by the entire human population (Islam, 2005a). Our lifestyle is awash in plastics. Households that boast ‘wall to wall carpets’ are in fact covered with plastic. The vast majority of shoe soles are plastic. Most clothing is plastic. Television sets, fridges, cars, paints, and computer chassis – practically everything that ‘modern’ civilization has to offer is plastic. The liner that cookware boasting a non-sticky liner is non-sticky because of the plastic coating. The coating on hardwood is plastic. The material that makes virgin wool manageable is plastic. The material of medicinal capsule coatings is plastic. The list goes on. Recently it was disclosed that food products are dipped in ‘edible’ plastic to give them the appearance of freshness and crispness. This modern age is synonymous with plastic in exactly the same way that it is synonymous with cancer, AIDS, and other modern diseases.

Toxic Compounds from Plastic Plastic products and its production processes release numerous type of toxic compounds (Islam, 2003). Table 2 shows the release of toxic compounds from plastics and their related effects. More than 70,000 synthetic chemicals and metals are currently in commercial use in the U.S. The toxicity of most of these is unknown or incompletely studied. In humans, exposure to some may cause mutation, cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, adverse neurological and immunological effects, or other injury. Reproductive and developmental effects are of concern because of important consequences for couples attempting to conceive and because exposure to certain substances during critical periods of fetal or infant development may have lifelong and even intergenerational effects. The industry

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responsible for creating raw plastic materials is by far the biggest user of listed chemicals, reportedly using nearly 270 million pounds in 1993 alone. Plastic materials and resins are the top industrial users of these chemicals.

Figure 20a. Waste plastic in a collecting center (Courtesy: Mann, 2005).

Figure 20b. Collected plastics are packed for recycling (Courtesy: Mann, 2005).

The biggest problem with plastics, like that of nuclear waste from atomic power plants, is the absence of any environmentally safe method of waste disposal. If disposed of out-ofdoors, the respiratory system in any ambient organic life form is threatened. If incinerated, toxic fumes almost as bad as cigarettes are released. Typically, plastic materials will produce some 400 toxic fumes, including 80 known carcinogens. Yet most plastics are flammable, accidental burning is always a possibility and most importantly are always emitting toxins due to low-temperature oxidations (Islam, 2005a and 2005b).

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Environmental Impacts Issues Today, these plastic products are manufactured entirely from petroleum products, which depend on the supply of a non-renewable resource. There are many different types of environmental impacts from the products. For example, plastics are generally produced from fossil fuels, which are gradually becoming depleted. The production process itself involves energy consumption and further resource depletion. During production, emissions may occur in water, air or soil. Emissions of concern include heavy metals, chlorofluorocarbons, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, sulfur oxides and dust. These emissions have effects, such as ozone depletion, carcinogenicity, smog, acid rain, etc. Thus the production of plastic materials can have adverse effects on ecosystems, human health and the physical environment. Overall, the U.S. plastics and related industries employed about 2.2 million U.S. workers and contributed nearly $400 million to the economy in 2002, according to The Society of the Plastics Industry (Lowy, 2004). The main issue of plastic products is the air emissions of monomer and volatile solvent. These products are released from industrial production process as well as during uses of the products. When a plastic is burnt it is oxidized, releasing many highly toxic compounds. Modern household uses of plastic continuously releases toxic compounds by a slower oxidation or photo-oxidation. Wastewater bearing solvent residues from separation processes, and from wet scrubbers enter in the food chain. The residual monomer in product and small molecules (plasticizers, stabilizers) slowly release into the environment, for example, by leaching slowly into water. Islam (2005a) reported potential impacts of plastic if they simply left inside the household. The conventional theory appears to suggest that nothing consequential happens because they are all so durable. In support of this conclusion, the absence of detection of anything leaching into the environment from these plastics on a daily basis is ritually cited. This unwarranted assumption that “if we cannot see (detect), it does not exist” in fact represents the starting-point of the real problem. In fact, some portion of the plastic is being released continuously into the atmosphere at a steady rate, be it the plastic on the household carpet, the computer chassis, or the pacifier that the baby is constantly sucking. The current unavailability of tools capable of detecting and-or analyzing emissions on this scale can hardly be asserted or assumed to prove the harmlessness of these emissions. Human beings in particular constantly renew their body materials, and plastic contains components in trace quantities small enough to “fool” the living organism in the process of replacing something essential. Each such defective replacement is likely to induce some long-term damage. For instance, hydrocarbon molecules can be treated as a replacement of carbohydrates (it is indeed fatal when it comes to lung diaphragms), lead can replace zinc, and so on. Recently it was noticed that plastic baby bottles release dioxins when exposed to microwave (Mittelstaedt, M., 2006b). From this, two essential points may be inferred: plastics always release some toxins, and microwave exposure enhances molecular breakdown. In other words: something clearly unsafe following microwave irradiation was in fact already unsafe, prior to radiation exposure. Several recent studies have also linked to plastic carpets to higher occurrences of asthma. It should hardly be surprising that the human oxidation cycle (through the lungs and billions of cells of the body) can oxidize the plastic molecules that indeed give

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rise to the 400 toxic products that are identified when plastic is burnt. The point frequently overlooked here is that, in a manner likely analogous to low-temperature-oxidation (LTO) identified in petroleum combustion (Islam et al., 1991; Islam and Farouq Ali, 2001), oxidation products are released even when the oxidation takes place at the relatively low temperature of the human respiration process. Little has been reported to date on the LTO of plastic materials in this human health context. Air emissions data for certain key criteria pollutants (ozone precursors) are available from the National Emission Trends (NET) database (1999), and hazardous air pollutant emissions data are available from the National Toxics Inventory (NTI) database (1996 is the most recent year for which final data are available). Major emissions from plastic sector are shown in Figure 21. The total emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) are 40187, 31017 and 19493 tons per year (Figure 21). The plastics sector contributes to greenhouse gas emissions from both fuel and non-fuel sources. Another document in this series, Greenhouse Gas Estimates for Selected Industry Sectors, provides estimates based on fuel consumption information from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the U. S. Department of Energy, and the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, issued by the EPA. (The EIA document is sectorspecific for energy intensive sectors, but does not provide emission data, while the EPA document provides emission data, but not explicitly on a sector-specific basis. See the estimates document for details of how the calculation was carried out).

Figure 21. Total amount of VOCs, NOx and HAPs released from plastic industry.

Based on those calculations, the plastics sector in 2000 was responsible for 68.1 teragrams (Tg) (million metric tons) of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions from fuel consumption, and 9.9 Tg CO2 equivalent emissions (as nitrous oxide) from non-fuel sources (mostly for the production of adipic acid, a constituent of some forms of nylon), for a total of

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78.0 Tg CO2 equivalent. In comparison, the chemical sector as a whole (including plastics) accounted for 531.1 Tg CO2 equivalent. Thus, plastics are a sizeable contributor, but not the dominant contributor, to greenhouse gas emissions compared with the entire chemical sector. However, if one considers that CO2 and other greenhouse gases released from plastics are fall under the category of ‘bad gases’ (high isotope number) and cannot be recycled by the ecosystem, the negative impact of plastics becomes very high. A special risk associated with products of the plastic sector is the leaching of plasticizers added to polymer formulations to improve material properties. An example is the concern over the leaching of the plasticizer DEHP from polyvinyl chloride used in medical devices. This was the subject of an FDA Safety Alert issued in 2002. Other phthalate plasticizers are found in a wide variety of consumer products, including children's toys and food wrap. Since phthalates are soluble in fat, PVC wrap used for meat and cheese is of particular concern. A number of common monomers are known or suspect reproductive toxins or carcinogens. Vinyl chloride is a confirmed carcinogen which is commonly used in PVC. Styrene is a possible carcinogen which is used in polystyrene. Toluene diisocyanate possible carcinogen, known acute toxicity which is commonly used in making polyurethane. A probable human carcinogen, acrylonitrile, used in acrylic resins and fibers. A possible reproductive toxin, methyl methacrylate, used in acrylic resins and fibers. Table 6. Known Adverse Health Effects of Commonly Used Plastics Plastic

Common Uses

Adverse Health Effects

Polyvinyl chloride

Food packaging, plastic wrap, containers for toiletries, cosmetics, crib bumpers, floor tiles, pacifiers, shower curtains, toys, water pipes, garden hoses, auto upholstery, inflatable swimming pools

Can cause cancer, birth defects, genetic changes, chronic bronchitis, ulcers, skin diseases, deafness, vision failure, indigestion, and liver dysfunction

Phthalates (DEHP, DINP, and others)

Softened vinyl products manufactured with phthalates include vinyl clothing, emulsion paint, footwear, printing inks, non-mouthing toys and children’s products, product packaging and food wrap, vinyl flooring, blood bags and tubing, IV containers and components, surgical gloves, breathing tubes, general purpose labware, inhalation masks, many other medical devices

Endocrine disruption, linked to asthma, developmental and reproductive effects. Medical waste with PVC and pthalates is regularly incinerated causing public health effects from the release of dioxins and mercury, including cancer, birth defects, hormonal changes, declining sperm counts, infertility, endometriosis, and immune system impairment.

Polystyrene

Many food containers for meats, fish, cheeses, yogurt, foam and clear clamshell containers, foam and rigid plates, clear bakery containers, packaging "peanuts", foam packaging, audio cassette housings, CD cases, disposable cutlery, building insulation, flotation devices, ice buckets, wall tile, paints, serving trays, throw-away hot drink cups, toys

Can irritate eyes, nose and throat and can cause dizziness and unconsciousness. Migrates into food and stores in body fat. Elevated rates of lymphatic and hematopoietic cancers for workers.

Polyethylene

Water and soda bottles, carpet fiber, chewing gum, coffee stirrers, drinking glasses, food containers and wrappers, heat-sealed plastic packaging, kitchenware, plastic bags, squeeze bottles, toys

Suspected human carcinogen

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Adverse Health Effects

Polyester

Bedding, clothing, disposable diapers, food packaging, tampons, upholstery

Can cause eye and respiratory-tract irritation and acute skin rashes

Urea-formaldehyde

Particle board, plywood, building insulation, fabric finishes

Formaldehyde is a suspected carcinogen and has been shown to cause birth defects and genetic changes. Inhaling formaldehyde can cause cough, swelling of the throat, watery eyes, breathing problems, headaches, rashes, tiredness

Polyurethane Foam

Cushions, mattresses, pillows

Bronchitis, coughing, skin and eye problems. Can release toluene diisocyanate which can produce severe lung problems

Acrylic

Clothing, blankets, carpets made from acrylic fibers, adhesives, contact lenses, dentures, floor waxes, food preparation equipment, disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, paints

Can cause breathing difficulties, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, weakness, headache and fatigue

Tetrafluoro-ethylene

Non-stick coating on cookware, clothes irons, ironing board covers, plumbing and tools

Can irritate eyes, nose and throat and can cause breathing difficulties

Sources: Plastic Task Force (1999).

How Much of it is Known? The science that has developed the technologies of plastic also makes it available the dangers of using them. Unfortunately, no research result is allowed to be published when it contradicts the expectation of the corporations that funded the research (Shapiro et al., 2006). Even the government funded research does not offer any hope because the topics are either screened by industry sponsors (the jointly funded projects) or the journals would find all the excuses not to publish the results in fear of repurcation. Not to mention the hawkish reviewers who have vested interest in maintaining status quo. Therefore, the discussion of how much is known seems to be futile. Even if these facts are known, who is going to fight the propaganda machine? The website run by the ecological center as well as many others have long listed the hazards of plastic. Even the government sites have listed some cautious scientific results, albeit without much elaboration or inference (CDC, 2001). Table 6 lists some of the findings that are readily available on the internet. Note that these results rely only on measurable amounts that migrate from the plastic to the products contained within. In all reported studies, the possibility of contamination due to sustained exposure and/or low temperature oxidation is not identified. Also, the focus in this study is short-term implications and safety issues. For each item, long-term implication is immeasurably devastating. Unsustainable plastic products have been promoted due to its non-degradability, light weight, flexibility and low cost (Table 7). However, it has health, and environmental costs. It consumes fossil fuel, a non-sustainable, heavily polluting and disappearing commodity. It produces pollution and utilizes high energy during manufacturing. It accumulates nonbiodegradable waste plastic in the environment, persisting on land indefinitely as litter and

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breaking up into pieces that choke and clog animal digestive systems. It releases dioxin continuously to the atmosphere. Plastic releases toxic polymers and other chemicals and contaminate our food that they contain (Table 6). The released chemicals threaten human health and reproductive systems. Considering all these, the plastic revolution epitomizes what modern technology development is all about. Every promise made to justify the making of plastic products has been a false one. As evidenced from practically daily repeating of the mishaps by the plastic products, ranging from non-stick cookware (Mittelstaedt, M., 2006b) to polyurethane tube for unborn, plastic products represent the mindset that allowed shortterm (as in ‘right now’) focus to obsessively dominate technology development. Table 7. Differences between natural and synthetic materials Natural Materials 1. Multiple/flexible (different segments, parts, different monomers in polymers; Non-symmetric, non-uniform) 2. Non linear 3. Heterogeneous 4. Has its own natural process 5. Recycles, life cycle 6. Infinite 7. Non symmetric 8. Productive design 9. Reversible 10. Knowledge 11. Phenomenal and sustainable 12. Dynamic/chaotic 13. No boundary 14. Enzyme 15. Self-similarity (fractal nature) is only a perception 16. Multifunctional 17. Reversible 18. Progressive (dynamic; youth marked by quicker change) 19. Unlimited adaptability (infinite adaptability; any condition)

Synthetic Materials 1. Exactness/simple (same monomers)

2. Linear 3. Homogenous/uniform 4. Breaks natural process 5. Disposable/one time use 6. Finite 7. Symmetric 8. Reproductive design 9. Irreversible 10. Ignorance or antiknowledge 11.Aphenomenal and unsustainable 12. Static 13. Based on boundary conditions 14. Catalyst 15. Self similarity imposed 16. Single functional 17. Irreversible 18. Non-progressive 19. Zero-adaptability (controlled condition)

CONCLUSION To achieve sustainability in technological development, a fair, consistent and scientifically acceptable criterion is needed. In this study, the time or temporal scale is considered as the prime selecting criterion for assuring inherent sustainability in technological development. The proposed model shows it to be feasible and that it could be easily applied to achieve true sustainability. This approach is particularly applicable to assess sustainable

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technology and other management tools, while the straightforward flowchart model being proposed should facilitate sustainability evaluation. Conventional technologies and management tools have been analyzed based on the proposed screening criterion. For example, the detailed pathway study was performed, including origin, degradation, oxidation and decomposition, in order to demonstrate how a natural product is sustainable and a synthetic product unsustainable. In this research, two similar products polyurethane fiber and wool fiber were selected for the sustainability study. It is shown that even when the two products have similar macroscopic characteristics, they can be completely on opposite ends of the sustainability spectrum. Natural fiber wool found to be truly sustainable while the polyurethane is completely unsustainable. A similar pathway analysis might well be applied to determine whether the development of an entire technology is sustainable or unsustainable.

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In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 97-104

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 3

A NUMERICAL SOLUTION OF REACTION-DIFFUSION BRUSSELATOR SYSTEM BY A.D.M. J. Biazar∗ and Z. Ayati Department of Mathematic, Faculty of science, University of Guilan, P.O.Box 1914. Rasht, Iran

ABSTRACT Adomian decomposition method has been applied to solve many functional equations so far. In this work, Adomian decomposition method is applied for the numerical solution of a class two-dimentional initial or boundary value problems presented by a nonlinear system of partial differential equations. The system, known as the reaction-diffusion Brusselator, arises in the modeling of certain diffusion processes. Numerical results are presented for some specific problems.

Keywords: Decomposition method, reaction-diffusion Brusselator, system of partial differential equations.

INTRODUCTION Reaction-diffusion Brusselator prepares a useful model for study the cooperative processes in chemical kinetics. Such as trimolecular reaction steps arises in the formation of ozone by atomic oxygen via a triple collision. This system governs also in enzymatic reactions and in plasma and laser physics in multiple couplings between certain modes. Reaction-diffusion Brusselator system has the following general form

∗

Corresponding autor: E-mail addresses:[email protected],[email protected].

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⎧ ∂u ∂ 2u ∂ 2u 2 = + − ( + 1 ) + ( + ) α B u v A u ⎪ ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ⎪ ∂t ⎨ 2 2 ⎪ ∂v = Au − u 2 v + α ( ∂ v + ∂ v ) ⎪⎩ ∂t ∂x 2 ∂y 2

(1)

where α , A and B are constant (Adomian, 1994). Let's have the following initial conditions u ( x, y,0) = f ( x, y ) v( x, y,0) = g ( x, y )

(2)

To illustrate the method some examples are presented.

ADOMIAN DECOMPOSITION METHOD APPLIED TO SYSTEM (1) Let's us consider the system (1) in an operator form

⎧⎪ Lt u = B + u 2 v − ( A + 1)u + α ( Lxx u + L yy u ) ⎨ 2 ⎪⎩ Lt v = Au − u v + α ( Lxx v + L yy v)

(3)

where

Lt =

∂ ∂2 ∂2 , Lxx = 2 , Lyy = 2 . ∂t ∂x ∂y −1

By applying the inverse operator Lt =

t

∫ (.)dt to both sides of (3), we have 0

⎧u ( x, y , t ) = u ( x, y ,0) + Bt + t (u 2 v − ( A + 1)u + α ( L u + L u ))dt , xx yy ∫0 ⎪ ⎨ t ⎪v( x, y, t ) = v( x, y,0) + ∫ ( Au − u 2 v + α ( Lxx v + L yy v))dt. 0 ⎩

(4)

Considering initial conditions, we derive

⎧u ( x, y, t ) = f ( x, y ) + Bt + t (u 2 v − ( A + 1)u + α ( L u + L u ))dt , xx yy ∫0 ⎪ ⎨ t ⎪v( x, y, t ) = g ( x, y ) + ∫ ( Au − u 2 v + α ( L xx v + L yy v))dt. 0 ⎩

(5)

A Numerical Solution of Reaction-Diffusion Brusselator System by A.D.M.

99

Eq. (5) is the canonical form of Eq. (1). The ADM consists of representing the functions u ( x, y, t ) and v( x, y, t ) by as the summation of series, say ∞

∞

n =0

n =0

u = ∑ u n , v = ∑ vn

(6) 2

And the nonlinear term u v is represented as: ∞

u 2 v = ∑ An (u 0 , u1 , u 2 ,..., u n )

(7)

n=0

Where An (u 0 , u1 , u 2 ,..., u n ) are called Adomian polynomials and should be determined (Biazar, Babolian, Nouri and Islam, 2002) . Substituting (6) and (7) into (5) leads to: ∞ t ∞ t ∞ t ⎧∞ u f ( x , y ) Bt A dt ( A 1 ) u dt α = + + − + + ∑ ∑ ∑ ∑ n ⎪ ∫0 n ∫0 n ∫0 (Lxxun + Lyyun )dt ⎪n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0 ⎨∞ ∞ ∞ t ∞ t ⎪ v = g(x, y) + A t u dt − An dt + α ∑ ∫ (Lxxvn + Lyyvn )dt ∑ ∑ ∑ n n ∫ ∫ 0 0 0 ⎪⎩n=0 n=0 n=0 n=0

(8)

Therefore from (8) the following procedure can be defined:

u 0 = f ( x, y ) + Bt , v0 = g ( x, y ) t

t

t

0

0

0

u n+1 = ∫ An dt − ( A + 1) ∫ u n dt + α ∫ ( L xx u n + L yy u n )dt t

t

t

0

0

0

v n +1 = A∫ u n − ∫ An + α ∫ ( L xx v n + L yy v n )dt

n = 0,1,2, … (9)

n = 0,1,2, …

Using the maple program by the second author, based on the definition of Adomian 2

polynomials, the first few Adomian polynomials for the nonlinear term u v will be derived as follows 2

A0 := u0 v0 2

A1 := 2 u0 v0 u1 + u0 v1 2

2

A2 := u1 v0 + 2 u0 v1 u1 + 2 u0 v0 u2 + u0 v2 2

2

A3 := 2 u1 v0 u2 + u1 v1 + 2 u0 v2 u1 + 2 u0 v1 u2 + 2 u0 v0 u3 + u0 v3 2

2

A4 := u2 v0 + 2 u1 v 1 u2 + 2 u1 v0 u3 + u1 v2 + 2 u0 v3 u1 + 2 u0 v2 u2 + 2 u0 v1 u3 2

+ 2 u 0 v 0 u4 + u 0 v 4

100

J. Biazar and Z. Ayati We can determine the components u 0 , u1 , u 2 , … and v0 , v1 , v 2 , … as many as is

necessary to the desired accuracy for the approximated solution. So the approximations n −1

n −1

i =0

i =0

u ( n ) = ∑ u i and v ( n ) = ∑ vi can be used to approximate the solutions.

NUMERICAL RESULTS Have two examples are presented to illustrated the method.

Example 1 Consider the nonlinear system with the following initial condition: ⎧ ∂u 1 ∂ 2u ∂ 2u 2 = − 2 + ( + ) u v u ⎪ 4 ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ⎪ ∂t ⎨ 2 2 ⎪ ∂v = u − u 2 v + 1 ( ∂ v + ∂ v ) ⎪⎩ ∂t 4 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

(10)

u ( x, y,0) = e − x − y , v( x, y,0) = e x + y −1

Applying the inverse operator Lt =

t

∫ (.)dt to both sides of (10), we get: 0

t ⎧ 1 ∂ 2u ∂ 2u 2 − x− y u x y t e u v u = + − + + ( , , ) ( 2 ( ))dt ⎪ ∫0 4 ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ⎪ ⎨ 2 2 ⎪v( x, y, t ) = e x + y + t (u − u 2 v + 1 ( ∂ v + ∂ v ))dt ∫0 ⎪⎩ 4 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

(11)

Using the model discussed as (9), we have

u 0 = e − x − y , v0 = e x + y u n +1 = ∫ An dt − 2∫ u n dt + t

t

0

0

v n +1 = ∫ u n − ∫ An + t

t

0

0

1 t ∂ 2un ∂ 2un + ( )dt 4 ∫0 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

1 t ∂ 2 vn ∂ 2 vn + ( )dt 4 ∫0 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

(12)

A Numerical Solution of Reaction-Diffusion Brusselator System by A.D.M. First few terms are

1 (x + y) 1 ( −x − y ) v1 := t e u1 := − t e 2 2

1 2 ( −x − y ) (x + y) 1 t e v2 := t 2 e 8 8 ( −x − y ) 1 1 3 (x + y) u3 := − t 3 e t e v3 := 48 48 1 4 ( −x − y ) 1 4 (x + y) u4 := t e t e v4 := 384 384 u2 :=

Therefore the general terms would be derive as the following n

u n = (−1) n

t t n −x− y , vn = n e x+ y e n 2 n! 2 n!

So ∞

∞

n=0

n=0

u = ∑ u n = ∑ (−1) n ∞

t

∞

t

t

x+ y + t n x+ y tn x+ y 2 e = e =e x + y e 2 = e ∑ n n 2 n! n = 0 2 n!

v = ∑ vn = ∑ n =0

t

n − − x− y − t n − x− y − x− y n t 2 ( 1 ) e = e − =e − x − y e 2 = e ∑ n n 2 n! 2 n!

Which are the exact solutions.

Example 2 Consider the following system with initial values

⎧ ∂u 3 1 ∂ 2u ∂ 2u 2 = 1 + − + ( + ) u v u ⎪ 2 500 ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ⎪ ∂t ⎨ 2 2 ⎪ ∂u = 1 u − u 2 v + 1 ( ∂ v + ∂ v ) ⎪⎩ ∂t 2 500 ∂x 2 ∂y 2 u ( x, y,0) = x 2 , v( x, y,0) = y 2 −1

Applying the inverse operator Lt =

t

∫ (.)dt , we get: 0

101

102

J. Biazar and Z. Ayati t ⎧ 3 1 ∂ 2u ∂ 2u 2 2 u x y t x t u v u ( , , ) ( ( ))dt = + + − + + ⎪ ∫0 2 500 ∂x 2 ∂y 2 ⎪ ⎨ 2 2 ⎪v( x, y, t ) = y 2 + t ( 1 u − u 2 v + 1 ( ∂ v + ∂ v ))dt ∫0 2 ⎪⎩ 500 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

Computing Adomian polynomial by same way as example one, Adomian method leads to the following scheme.

u 0 = x 2 + t , v0 = y 2 t

u n +1 = ∫ An dt − 0

v n +1 =

3 t 1 t ∂ 2u n ∂ 2u n ( )dt u dt + + n 2 ∫0 500 ∫0 ∂x 2 ∂y 2

t 1 t 1 t ∂ 2 vn ∂ 2 vn u − A + n ∫0 n 500 ∫0 ( ∂x 2 + ∂y 2 )dt 2 ∫0

n = 0,1,2, … n = 0,1,2, …

and we will have 1 3 1 3 t − x2 t u1 := y 2 t 3 − t 2 + t 2 x 2 y 2 + x 4 y 2 t + 3 4 250 2

1 1 1 1 t − x4 y2 t v1 := − y 2 t 3 − t 2 x 2 y 2 + t 2 + x 2 t + 3 4 2 250 1 2 5 4 1 5 2 2 1 5 2 4 2 4 1 4 2 5 4 4 2 1 4 2 t y − t x y + t + t x y − t y − t x y + t x u2 := − y 2 t 6 + 18 15 3 20 3 2 6 4 1 4 1 2 3 5 1 3 4 t + y t − 2 t3 x2 y2 + t3 x4 − t3 x6 y2 + t3 x2 + t3 + t3 x4 y4 + 750 250 12 250 8 3 2 2 2 2 9 2 4 2 9 2 2 1 2 4 1 2 6 1 2 8 2 3 2 t x y − t x y + t x + t x + t x − t x y − t + t2 x6 y4 + 125 4 8 250 4 2 500

v 2 :=

1 2 6 2 5 4 1 5 2 2 1 5 5 4 2 1 4 2 4 2 4 5 4 4 2 y t − t y + t x y − t + t y − t − t x y + t x y 18 15 3 20 12 750 3 6 1 4 2 1 3 5 3 2 2 4 3 4 4 1 2 3 1 3 2 5 3 4 y t − t x − t x + t3 x6 y2 − t x − t + t x y − t x y − 4 8 3 3 250 250 12

+

1 2 3 2 2 2 6 4 2 2 2 2 7 2 4 2 1 2 6 1 2 4 1 2 8 2 t − t x −t x y − t x y + t x y − t x − t x + t x y 500 8 125 4 4 250 2

Three terms approximations to the solutions are as follows

A Numerical Solution of Reaction-Diffusion Brusselator System by A.D.M. u :=

103

3 3 189 2 253 2 3 3 2 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 6 5 3 4 t − t + y t − x t + x2 + t x + t x + t x + t x 8 250 750 2 250 250 4 12 1 5 1 4 1 2 6 2 5 4 1 4 2 1 4 2 251 − t 3 x6 y2 − 2 t3 x2 y2 + t + t − y t + t y − t y + t x + t 20 750 18 15 2 4 250 127 2 2 2 9 2 2 1 2 8 2 9 2 4 2 2 6 4 4 3 4 4 + x4 y2 t + t x y + t x − t x y − t x y +t x y + t x y 125 8 2 4 3 5 4 4 2 2 4 2 4 1 5 2 2 − t x y + t x y − t x y 6 3 3

3 2 2 253 2 3 1 2 1 2 6 2 5 4 5 4 2 1 4 2 5 3 4 t x − y t + x t+ y t − t y + t y − t x − t x 8 750 2 18 15 12 4 12 1 3 2 1 2 4 1 2 6 1 127 2 2 2 1 5 2 2 2 4 2 4 t x − t x − t x + t− t x y + t x y − t x y − 250 250 4 250 125 3 3

v := t → y 2 −

5 3 2 2 3 6 2 1 5 2 6 4 7 2 4 2 1 2 8 2 4 3 4 4 t x y +t x y − t − t x y + t x y + t x y − t x y − x4 y2 t 3 20 4 2 3 1 63 2 5 4 4 2 1 4 − t3 + t + t x y − t 8 250 6 750 +

CONCLUSION The main goal of this work has been to derive an approximation for the solutions of reaction-diffusion Brusselator system. We have achieved this goal by applying Adomian decomposition method. The advantage of this article is twofold. First, the decomposition method reduces the computational work. Second, in comparison with existing numerical techniques, the decomposition method is an improvement with regard to its accuracy and rapid convergence. The computations are done using Maple 9.

APPENDIX Let’s consider G(u) as a nonlinear part of equation, then by using the following program in Maple we can compute Adomian polynomials: > restart: > With (student): > f:=G(u): > f:=unapply(f,u): > n:=k; > u[lambda]:=sum(u[i]*lambda^i,i=0..n); > G[lambda]:=subs (u=u[lambda], N(u)): > G: =unapply (G[lambda], lambda); > For i from 0 to n do > A[i] :=(( D@@i) (G) (0)/i!); > od;

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REFERENCES G. Adomian, The diffusion-Brusselator equation, computes. Math Appl.29 (1995) 1-3. G. Adomian, Solving Frontier problem of Physics: The Decomposition Method, Lower Academic press, 1994. J. Biazar, E. Babolian, A. Nouri, R. Islam, An alternate algorithm for computing Adomian Decomposition method in special cases, Applied Mathematics and Computation 38 (2-3) (2003) 523-529.

In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 105-130

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 4

ZERO-WASTE LIVING WITH INHERENTLY SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES M. M. Khan∗1,, D. Prior2, and M. R. Islam1 1

Civil and Resource Engineering Dept., Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 2 Veridety Environmental., Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

ABSTRACT The modern age is synonymous with wasting habits, whereas nature does not produce any waste. The fundamental motion and the mass cannot be created or destroyed dictates that only transformation of materials from its one phase to another phase take place. However, the mass balance alone does not guarantee zero waste. Nature is perfect, which means it operates at 100% efficiency. This postulate necessitates that any product that is the outcome of a natural process must be entirely usable by some other process, which is in turn would result into products that are suitable as an input to the process. A perfect system is 100% recyclable and therefore zero-waste. Such a process will renew zero waste as long as each component of the overall process also operates at with the principle of zero waste. That is why, only the imitation of nature can lead us towards truly sustainable lifestyle. This paper is aimed at emulating a zero-waste living. In a desired zero-waste scheme, the products and byproducts of one process is used for another process. The process involves a number of novel designs, including biomass energy, solar energy (refrigeration and other applications) and a desalination process. In this paper, an integrated loop system is investigated for a hundred apartment building with an approximate population of three hundred people. The system includes an anaerobic digester, which is the key unit of the integrated process. Such process produces sufficient amount of methane gas, which can be used as fuel for heating and cooling as well as solar-absorption based refrigeration. The purification of the gas can also find suitable applications in fuel cells, which converts chemical energy to electricity. The paper also includes mass balance equation, which estimates methane production in biogas and ammonia production in the effluent. Calculations show a daily methane production of ∗

Corresponding author: Email: [email protected]

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M. M. Khan, D. Prior, and M. R. Islam 6.435m3 and ammonia production of 1.09 kg. Whereas, the stoichiometry of chemical equations of desalination plant finds that 1 kg of ammonia and 2.63 kg (approximately 14 m3) of CO2 can produce approximately 92 kg of fresh water from sea-water on a 100% conversion basis. The ammonia-enriched effluent along with CO2 (exhaust) from the digester can be used for desalination plants. This ammonia can also be used to run absorption refrigeration units. Besides, free solar energy has a wide range of household applications, such as direct heating or cooling through absorption based refrigeration units. These not only reduce the energy requirements supplied from fossil fuel but also contribute to a substantial cost-savings leading to a cleaner and more economical life style.

Keywords: Biogas, desalination, solar energy, sustainability.

INTRODUCTION Non-renewable energy sources are of predominantly used today. Nearly 90% of today’s energy is supplied by oil, gas, and coal (Salameh, 2003). The burning of fossil fuel accounts for more than 100 times greater dependence than the energy generated through renewable sources (solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy). However, fossil fuels are limited. According to present consumption level, known reserves for coal, oil, gas and nuclear correspond to a duration of the order of 230, 45, 63 and 54 years, respectively (Rubbia, 2006). Moreover, today’s atmospheric pollution is derived from their combustion that produces many toxic by products, the most devastating being plastics (Khan et al., 2005). Considering these environmental concerns and limited resources, it is mandatory to depend on clean, domestic and renewable sources of energy. Even though solar energy, beaming over the planet, is squandered, it is already has been identified as the best source of energy. This source is clean, abundant and free of cost. However, the method of utilizing solar energy is different from one application to another application. Most existing processes are energyinefficient and mass-wasteful. Even when solar energy is utilized, the mere fact that the most common usage is the use of photovoltaic, the maximum efficiency can be only 15% (Gupta et al., 2006). In this paper, direct use, without intermediate conversion into electricity of solar energy, is proposed in order to develop both heating and cooling systems that can make modern household design independent of electrical supplies (Khan and Islam, 2007). In this study, various approaches are advanced that would reposition fossil fuel production in a zero-waste mode. In a desired zero-waste scheme, the products and by products of one process is used for another process. Any zero-waste scheme is considered as inherently sustainable process. However, the sustainability of the processes has been confirmed with the help of pro-nature technology developed by Khan and Islam (2007). After the industrial revolution, civilization has actually become synonymous with wasting habits. At present, the most-practiced energy and mass consumption options are possibly the most inefficient that the mankind has ever experienced. But there is some possibility of expanding production and consumption for our own needs but on the basis of a net-zero waste of mass or energy, either at the input or output of any process. Following on this, it becomes feasible to propose approaches to zero-waste (mass) living in an urban setting, including processing and regeneration of solid, liquid and gas. The process is shown in the following Figure 1.

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Figure 1. Zero-waste mass utilization scheme.

Anaerobic bio-digester (Figures 2 and 3) is the principal unit of the above proposed model which is fed regularly with kitchen waste and sewage waste.

Bio-waste

Double Valve Opening

Stir Opening

Pressure Gauge Biogas storage

Thermometer

Double Valve Opening

Solid Effluent Liquid Effluent

Figure 2. Schematic diagram of a bio-digester.

Figure 3. Experimental bio-digester in lab.

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Even the solid waste from other sources, such as water treatment plant, can be used. The aim of this study is to produce energy and valuable materials from waste. The anaerobic biodigestion is the mechanism of converting waste into value added materials such as bio-gas, ammonia and manure. The products from bio-digester can be further used in different processes leading a zero-waste living. In addition, the coupling of solar energy utilization makes the whole concept economically and environmentally attractive. In this paper, a novel concept of zero-waste living with least fossil energy utilization is proposed and investigated by integrating different processes. The source of energy and the utilization of produced materials for other application and the utilization of direct solar energy are discussed here: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Energy from kitchen waste and sewage. Utilization of produced waste in desalination plant. Solar Aquatic process to purify desalinated/waste water. Utilization of biogas in fuel cell. Direct/indirect use of solar energy

ENERGY FROM KITCHEN WASTE AND SEWAGE There are two fundamentally distinct methods of composting: aerobic and anaerobic. The anaerobic treatment is an energy generating process rather than one which demands a regular high input of energy, as in an aerobic biological system (Ince et al., 2001). One significant advantage of the anaerobic composting is the generation of methane that can be stored for use as an energy source. In the last decade, the animal waste was the raw material for the biogas production. Later on, interest was diversified to municipal organic waste. Recently, interest is growing to the kitchen waste. Mandal and Mandal (1997) performed a comparative study of biogas production from different waste materials and found kitchen waste as promising source of biogas as shown in Figure 4. The kitchen waste is characterized by high C/N ratio and high water contents (Sharma et al., 2000). Ghanem et al. (2001) has identified the requirement of huge volume of water as the problem of anaerobic process. This study suggests the use of sewage water or urinated water as the necessary water source for the process. This utilization increases the organics load and thereby increases the percentage ammonia in the digester liquid effluent. The use of sewage also facilitates biogas production due to increase amount of volatile solid load. An estimation of biogas and ammonia production for a hundred apartment buildings with an approximate population size of three hundred people is shown here. The uses of biogas have been directed. Besides lighting, cooking and heating the biogas can be utilized for different applications those have been discussed. Even the uses liquid effluent (especially ammonia) is described here. Since anaerobic destruction of organic matter is a reduction process, the final solid product, humus, is subjected to some aerobic oxidation. This oxidation is minor, takes place rapidly, and is of no consequence in the utilization of the material as manure. Even odor is not a problem for anaerobic digester. The odor problem is very little due to high water content. In addition, anaerobic digester is an air tight close system and that is why odor doesn’t come out during the degradation process. So it is found if

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Ammount of biogas produced (liter)

properly digested, the digestion process gives more value and reduces the environmental problems. During the estimation of biogas production along with other effluents, a number of assumptions have been made which were taken from different research works. Corresponding references are put in parenthesis against each assumption. 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Horse dung

Banana Peels

Modar flower

Potato leaves

Samples of various waste materials

Figure 4. Biogas generation capacity of waste materials in the various groups (redrawn from Mandal and Mandal,1997).

ESTIMATION OF THE BIOGAS AND AMMONIA PRODUCTION 100 two-bed room apartment building with approximately 300 persons. Basis:

100 kg kitchen waste/day. 16 kg Feces/day (0.053kg (dry)/person/day basis).

Assumptions : Total solids (TS), % =11-20 (Sharma et al., 2000 ; Bouallagui et al., 2004) Volatile solid (VS), % of TS = 75-87 (Zupancic and Ros., 2003; Bouallagui et al., 2004) Biogas yield, m3/kg VS = 0.25-0.50 (Owens and Chynoweth., 1993, Sadaka et al., 2003) Methane content, volume% = 60-70 (Bouallagui et al., 2004) Retention time for mesophilic digestion, days = 30 (Bouallagui et al., 2004; Al-Masri, (2001)

Calculation of Biogas Production Per Day Total Solid content Volatile solid content

= 100kg kitchen waste/day ×0.17 + 16 kg feces/day = 33 kg/day. = 33 kg TS/day × 0.75 = 24.75 kg/day.

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= 24.75 kg VS/day × 0.40 m3/kg VS = 9.9 m3/day

Methane (assume 65% in the biogas) = 6.435 m3/ day. Heating value (35.9 MJ/m3, LLV of Methane) = 231 MJ/ day. (Bouallagui et al., 2004) = 9.9 m3×0.35 CO2 production = 3.465 m3

Ammonia Production Assume, Nitrogen content in the waste is 11% of the dry solid. Again assume 75% conversion and 40% recovery as liquid effluent. Nitrogen content in the influent

= 33kg TS/ day × 0.11 =3.63kg/day. Conversation to ammonia = 3.63 kg/day × 0.75= 2.7225 kg/day Ammonia in the liquid effluent

= 2.7225 kg /day × 0.40 = 1.09 kg/day This Ammonia is available for desalination plant and solar absorption cooling system.

Daily Water Requirement Assume 8% slurry as influent (Al-Masri, 2001) The weight of slurry = 33kg TS / 0.08 = 412.5 kg Wet weight of waste = 33 kg TS/ 0.17 = 194.12 kg Daily water input

= (412.5 – 194.12) kg = 218.38 kg = 0.22 m3

No fresh water is required for making slurry. Direct utilization of sewage water can be used for making slurry as discussed earlier. This will be cost effective and again utilization of waste stream. The principal value-added outputs of bio-digester are biogas which content about 65% methane gas and the balance is carbon dioxide. Biogas can directly be used for cooking, heating and all other applications those are known for methane. The biogas content traces amount of other gases such as hydrogen sulfide, ammonia etc. which can be removed by existing removal technology. The economy of biodigester increases and approaches to zero waste living when the desalination and fuel cell technology are integrated with the system.

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Utilization of Produced Waste in a Desalination Plant Even though the Earth is known as the “watery planet”, over 97 percent of the earth’s water is found in the oceans as salt water. According to Table 1, the percentage of fresh water that we use for variety of purposes is less than 1%. Table 1. Water sources and distribution in the earth (EPA, 2006, US) Types of Water Salt Water

Fresh Water

Sources Ocean Ice caps/glaciers Ground water Surface water (e.g., lakes, river, ponds etc) Atmosphere

Percentage of Total Water 97.2 2.38 0.397 0.022 0.001

However, the modernization of the world is demanding more use water and is placing tremendous stress in the source of available fresh water. The available fresh water is being depleted at an alarming rate due to agricultural, urban and industrial water requirements (Table 2). These activities are also polluting water which are not useable without treating them properly. Most of the waste water treatment plants are chemical in nature and they generate large amount of sludge which is often toxic and is thus environmentally stressful if disposed of by ocean dumping, land filling, spreading or incinerating. They employ environmentally damaging chemicals to precipitate out solids, phosphorus and chlorine. They fail to remove metals and synthetic organic compounds. Even after treating water properly, freshwater scarcity is a growing concern in many regions of the world, especially in the arid countries. Therefore, exploration of alternative sources has become mandatory. Recently, desalination has become the most popular method of obtaining fresh water. It is found that 66% of drinking water demand of Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, is supplied by desalinated seawater while the balance is produced from ground water sources (Al-Muntaz and Ibrahim, 1996 and Alabdula’ali, 1997). Table 2. Fresh water utilization (EPA, US) Area of Fresh Water Utilization Agricultural Production of electricity urban and rural homes, offices, and hotels Manufacturing and mining activities.

Percentage of Usable Fresh Water 42 39 11 8

Most of the current practice of desalination is found expensive and energy intensive. The currently used desalination technologies are generally classified into thermal and membrane processes (Abu-Arabi and Zurigat, 2005,):

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Thermal Process: Solar Still, Humidification/dehumidification Membrane Technology: Reverse Osmosis (RO), Forward Osmosis (FO)

However, the most recent process is known as the process of chemical approach which is derived from a recent patent (Rongved, 1997). The processes and sources must be analysis to scrutinize the reliability, environmentally friendliness and sustainability. Solar energy utilization is always encouraged as a renewable and non polluting source. Humidification/dehumidification process is energy intensive. Even though utilization of nuclear energy is encouraged today, it cannot be appreciated as nuclear energy is not naturally produced (Chhetri, 2006). Reverse Osmosis (RO) is an expensive process, for which only 35-50% recovery is obtained leaving a concentrated brine to be dumped in the sea-shore again. Improvement of Rivers Osmosis is the Forward Osmosis (FO). In Forward Osmosis, water transports across a semi-permeable membrane that is impermeable to salt as observed in Rivers Osmosis. However, instead of using hydraulic pressure to create the driving force for water transport through the membrane, the FO process utilizes an osmotic pressure gradient. A ‘draw’ solution is used to create an osmotic pressure gradient greater than hydraulic pressure gradient and thus higher recovery is obtained due to higher driving force for water transport through the membrane (McCutcheon et al., 2006). A "draw" solution having a significantly higher osmotic pressure than the saline feed water flows along the permeate side of the membrane, and water naturally transports across the membrane by osmosis. Osmotic driving forces in FO can be significantly greater than hydraulic driving forces in RO, potentially leading to higher water flux rates and recoveries. McCutcheon et al. (2006) observed 75% recovery by FO. After studying a number of draw solutions, McCutcheon et al. (2006) found ammoniumbicarbonate (ammonia and CO2 mixture) as the best draw solution for its high osmotic efficiency, high solubility and lower molecular weight. However, the use of highly pure (99.9%) CO2 and highly concentrated and purified ammonium solution has placed sustainability constriction to this process. The latest process (Rongved, 1997) of desalination is known as the process of chemical approach that proposed to use pure CO2 and Ammonia. This process has drawn attention due to its several characteristics features. The stepwise reaction can be explained as follows (Ibrahim and Jibril, 2005): Primary reactions: NH3 + CO2 Æ NH2COOH NH3 + NH2COOH Æ NH4+ + NH2COOThe overall primary reaction is 2NH3 + CO2 Æ NH2COO- + NH4+ Secondary reaction: NH2COO- + H2O Æ NH3 +HCO3-

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NH4+ + HCO3- + NaCl Æ NaHCO3 + NH4Cl So the final overall reaction is as follows: NaCl + NH3 + CO2 + H2O = NaHCO3 + NH4Cl Stoichiometry of chemical equations: NaCl + NH3 + CO2 + H2O = NaHCO3 + NH4Cl (23+35.5) + (14+3) + (12+2×16)+(2+16)=(23+1+12 + 3×16) + (14+4+35.5) 58.5g NaCl + 17g NH3 + 44g CO2 + 18g H2O = 84g Na2CO3 + 53.5g NH4Cl The input and out of a desalination process both dry basis and wet basis are shown in Figure 5. Generally, sea water concentration is assumed 3.5% (3.5% NaCl and 96.5 % water). According to this assumption, it can be calculated that 3.5 unit of sodium chloride is associated with 96.5 unit of water. Accordingly, 58.5 unit of sodium chloride is associated with 1612.93 unit of water. Stoichiometry shows that 18 unit of water is consumed during reaction. So the fresh water production is (1612.93 - 18) = 1594.93 unit. In this process, Soda Ash (Na2CO3), Ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) and Hydrochloric acid (HCL) are obtained as byproducts. Soda Ash is a valuable and saleable product. Hydrochloric acid is an important acid for many industries. Ammonium chloride can be recycled to produce NH3 for reuse in the process.

Figure 5. Mass balance of desalination plant.

Ibrahim and Jibril (2005) used ammonium hydroxide solution (28% by weight) and highly pure industrial grade Carbon dioxide (99.5%) to produce desalinated water. However, the use of these industrial grade chemicals makes this process highly chemical in nature. Recently, EnPro AS, with Dr. Omar Chaalal, has demonstrated the desalination process as the natural gas cleaning method where 98% CO2 can be removed from natural gas (EnPro).

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This is very encouraging as it only absorbs CO2 leaving methane free. This process, however, is termed as purification process of natural gas but cannot be said as the zero-waste process as it is also involved industrial grade chemicals and inorganic source of raw materials. The target of this study is to choose process that is pro-nature and operated in a zerowaste mode. If raw materials are obtained from the natural activities and those are used in an efficient manner, the process can be operated in the zero-waste mode. This is a part of the Figure 1, especially where desalination has been introduced. This research suggests the use of sewage and leachate of anaerobic digester instead of chemically obtained ammonia; those liquid contains significant amount of ammonia. Biogas has been chosen as the source of CO2 instead of natural gas or other source from non-natural processes. The supply of CO2 can be increased if the exhaust of methane burner is utilized. The exhaust generally contains CO2 and other trace gases and elements. The choice of raw materials from the natural process makes this whole process inherently sustainable. Figure 6 shows the block diagram of a desalination plant of zero-waste theme. This is the process of biogas purification as well as burner exhaust utilization in a loop system to make the process zero-waste operable. Table 3 shows an overview of the process, sources and the uses.

Figure 6. Block diagram of desalination plant.

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Table 3. Overview of desalination plant Reactants and products Water Salt(NaCl) Ammonia (NH3)

Percentage of total input or output 93 3.37% 1

INPUT CO2 Sodiumbicarbonate (NaHCO3)

OUTPUT

2.63 5

Ammonium Chloride (NH4Cl)

3.2

Fresh water

91.8

Sources

Uses

Sea water Sea water Sewage, Lechate of biodigester Biogas, exhaust gas Food, textiles, glass, paper,medicines. Medicines and valuable chemical productions etc. Freshwater for Agriculture, industrial use and Fish farming.

SOLAR AQUATIC PROCESS TO PURIFY DESALINATED/ WASTE WATER The desalinated water obtained from desalination plant can be purified along with other waste water using a solar aquatic system. This paper suggests the solar aquatic waste water treatment process after reviewing the successful operation of a solar treatment facility which is operable at Annapolis valley, Canada known as Bear River solar aquatic that produces mineralized drinkable water from 100% waste material without using any chemicals. The solar aquatic system uses sunlight, bacteria, green plants, and animals to restore water to pure conditions. Unlike mechanical treatment processes, these systems are complex, dynamic, selforganizing, and resilient, so they can adapt to changing effluent quality better than mechanical/chemical systems. It is known that a natural process has the best adaptability with any system leaving no vulnerable, long term effect. Therefore, producing drinkable water by solar aquatic system is very attractive. Solar Aquatics Systems replicate and optimize natural wetlands processes to treat wastewater. Each living thing is linked to many others in the chain of nature and thus a zerowaste living is operable. Solar UV degrades dissolved organic carbon photolytically so that they can readily be taken up by bacterioplankton (Hader, 2000). In a solar aquatic system, a number solar tanks are constructed in such a way so that each of the solar tanks can be served as a mini-ecosystem with preferred organisms, plants and many other aquatic habitats to break down waste and complex molecules. Each tank participates in treating wastewater that involves destroying pathogens, reducing biological oxygen demand (BOD), filtering out

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particles, using up nitrogen and phosphorus, and stabilizing or disposing of toxins. All of this happens faster in constructed ecosystems than in conventional treatment systems. Moreover, constructed ecosystems are also self-organizing and adaptive so they can handle inconsistency in waste water. This process eliminates sludge production as seen in the chemical treatment plant.

Process Description Waste water is collected from sewage and desalination plant in a large fiberglass tanks for initial anaerobic digestion. Then it is passed through a series of tanks each of which is vigorously aerated and copiously supplied with bacteria, green plants from algae to trees, snails, shrimp, insects, and fish. Each one of the tank-series is capable of handling 75% of the maximum daily flow (Spencer,1990). Only the first tank is a closed aerobic reactor, which scrubs odor and reduces the level of organic waste matters. Others are open aerobic reactors. Here, aerobic bacteria begin to dominate and convert ammonia to nitrates. Water then flows into the last tank in which the water is pumped out of the top to the next step and any remaining sediment is pumped from the bottom back to the anaerobic tanks to begin the cycle again and be eliminated. After passing all the tanks, the bulk water is transported to a big solar tank with the same ecosystem. Part of this water can be used for irrigation, flush reuse. However, to make the rest of water potable, the process then continues in a constructed marshland filled with coarse sand and gravel and planted with typical wetland species including alligator flag, arrowhead, pickerel weed, blue flag iris, bulrush, cattail, willow and swamp lily that remove the last vestiges of nitrogen through the root systems and convert them to harmless nitrogen gas (Spencer,1990). These plants have the ability to transfer oxygen to their root and support microbes surrounding their roots. Finally, the water is passed to a rotary drum filter to separate solids. The water is then treated with solar UV to make the water disinfected and aerated to get higher quality, chemically free, clean effluent.

Figure 7. Block diagram of a solar aquatic waste water treatment plant.

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The number of solar tanks varies with the waste water volume to be handled and the aquatic habitat’s concentration. Figure 3 shows the block diagram of a typical solar aquatic waste water plant. The aquatic habitat serves different purposes. Some are discussed below (Todd,1988): Bacteria phase: The bacteria phase involves the bioaugmentation of the waste stream near the input with different bacterial types of culture. Todd (1988) identified Bacillus subtilis and Pseudomonas spp. that reduce BOD levels to those that will allow nitrifying bacteria to function efficiently to eliminate toxic ammonia from the waste stream. Microbes are a vital component behind biological treatment systems. Not only do they degrade organic matter in the water (both dissolved and particulate), they also convert carbon and other nutrients from an organic to inorganic state. As plants cannot use elements in an organic state, this conversion is necessary for plant production. Plant phase: Plant palettes for constructed ecosystems ideally include facultative plants that do not mind having their roots wet or dry. A variety of higher plants are used in the system such as willows, dog woods, iris, eucalyptus, and umbrella plants. They are excellent water purifiers and their roots act as a substrate for beneficial micro-organism including thick masses of snails. Plants provide oxygen to the upper water column (via photosynthesis and translocation), enabling the growth and productivity of microorganisms. The plants are removed when they reach to a marketable size. Aquatic plants are excellent at taking up toxic substances, including heavy metals and at polishing waster water. Bulrush is specially found absorbing remaining organic and inorganic materials and cause colloidal substance to flocculate the settle out (Todd,1988). Algal phase: The algal is unique to the solar aquatic facility. The activities of algae are particularly helpful during the cloudy period. During cloudy winter they can purify efficiently. The green algae phase are seed with Scenedesmus spp., Chlorella spp., Micractinium spp. Dictyospaerium spp., Ankistrodesmus spp., Golebkinica spp., Sphaerocystis spp., and other rare species (Todd,1988). These algae can rapidly take up nitrogen, including ammonia, nitrates, and phosphorus. The consume carbon gases and release oxygen during daylight conditions. Within the marsh the algae are consumed by grazing snails. The snails in turn are fed to trout after harvest. Other habitats: Fish (koi, goldfish, tiny freshwater shrimp), snail, trout are the other living habitats of solar aquatic system. They consume algal and phytoplankton and maintain their abnormal growth in a system. The cumulative and chain effect of all the living habitats purify water. Even some plants are capable of removing toxic heavy metal and leave the water in safe drinkable form. A desalination process, when combined with biogas production facility, increases the fuel value of biogas and reduces the air pollution by absorbing green house gases of exhaust gas. This process also uses ammonia of liquid leachate of anaerobic digester and thereby reduces the treatment process of that liquid waste. Even when sewage is used as a source of ammonia, desalination process reduces the ammonia load of the sewage and makes it easier for the next step of the water purification. The integration of solar aquatic process with desalination process make it ideal source of fresh water from supply. This is a process of converting waste into value added materials.

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UTILIZATION OF BIOGAS IN FUEL CELL Another possible application of biogas is in a fuel cell. Fuel cells are highly efficient electro-chemical energy conversion devices that convert chemical energy directly into electricity (Mills et al., 2005). Hydrogen gas is the best fuel for these cells, especially PEM (Polymer Electrolyte Membrane) cell but the generation of pure hydrogen gas is very costly. Instead, the use of natural gas has been utilized but the presence of CO in the natural gas limited the use as platinum anode which is easily contaminated by CO. So, upon removing the CO (if any) biogas can be a source of fuel for fuel cell. Several researchers have emphasized the use of biogas for fuel cell (Lemons, 1990, Zhang et al., 2004). A simple hydrogen fuel cell is shown in Figure 8 which uses costly DuPont patented electrolyte which is polymer based. However the replacement of the polymer based electrolyte with the biomembrane would be the environmentally attractive option. Recently, Yamada and Honma (2006) have reported a proton conductive biomembrane that shows large anhydrous proton conductivity from room temperature to 160ºC. Even though the biomembrane was composed from entirely biomolecular materials (uracil molecules and chitin phosphate), it produced a current under non-humidified H2/O2 condition at 160ºC when it was used in a fuel cell. The breakthrough of fuel cell by biomembrane is realistic. Because it is already found that the electric eel (Electrophorus electricus), which is found in South American tropical regions, has the ability to produce powerful electric charges (e.g. 5 to 650 volts) (Aquarium of Niagara, 2006). It can be speculated that the biomembrane of the electric eel play the vital role in the production of electric charge like fuel cell. A number of experiments have been launched to replace the costly and toxic materials to environmentally acceptable and low cost materials.

Figure 8. Fuel cell (Redrawn from Mills et al., 2005).

Both hydrogen and methane are gaseous fuels and difficult to handle. To overcome this difficulty, liquid fuels have been promoted. Due to greater volumetric energy densities and portability, liquid alcohol has been chosen as an alternative fuel for fuel cell (Jiang et al., 2004 and Xie et al., 2004). Both methanol and ethanol are now successfully used as a fuel

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source of fuel cells (Andreadis et al., 2006; Rousseau et al., 2006; Zhou et al., 2005 and Xie et al., 2004). Moreover, recent studies reveal that the direct alcohol fuel cell can use the same membrane used by PEM fuel cell but the electrodes needs some modification (Jiang et al., 2004 and Xie et al., 2004). In the direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC) the fuel cell reactions are as follows (Xie et al., 2004 and Zhou et al., 2005):

Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) Anode reaction: CH3OH + H2O → CO2 + 6H+ + 6eCathode reactions: 6H++ 6e- + ½ O2 → 3H2O Overall reaction: CH3OH + H2O + ½ O2 → CO2 + 3H2O Direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC) Anode reaction: CH3CH2OH + 3H2O → 2CO2 + 12H+ + 12eCathode reactions: 12H++ 12e- +3O2 → 6H2O Overall reaction: CH3CH2OH + 3O2 → 2CO2 + 3H2O From the chemical reactions, it is found that both alcohols produce water and CO2 along with energy. CO2 is not harmful to the environment when it releases from the trees in their respiration process. That is why this CO2 would not be harmful to the environment if the source of the alcohol is obtained from biological process. Ethanol is safer and has higher energy density than methanol. However, complete oxidation of ethanol is found difficult so far with the current technology (Jiang et al., 2004). Most of the current technology is relied on industrial grade alcohol. However, fuel alcohol can be obtained from the so-called lignocellulosic biomass that includes agricultural residues, forestry wastes, municipal solid waste, agroindustrial wastes, and food processing and other industrial wastes (Murphy and McCarthy, 2005 and Cardona and Sanchez, 2006). The use of waste material, especially biologically produced waste utilization increased the versatility of zero-waste living. Cardona and Sanchez (2006) showed the following flowchart to produce ethanol from biological waste materials using microbial activities (Figure 9). According to the information provided by Cardona and Sanchez (2006), it is found that 10% of biomass converted to ethanol leaving significant amount of solid waste and liquid waste. The waste water is very rich with volatile organic matter which can be sent to the

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anaerobic digester to produce biogas. The solid waste can be used as solid fuel or can be used as land filling as it has mineral value.

Figure 9. Block diagram for ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass; Main stream component: Cellulose (C), Hemicellulose (H), Lignin (L), Glucose (G), Pentose (P), Inhibitor (I) and Ethanol (EtOH). SSF: Simultanious saccharification and fermentation, SSCF: Simultanious saccharification and cofermentation (Modied from Cardona and Sanchez, 2006).

DIRECT USE OF SOLAR ENERGY Energy is the driving force of today’s technology. However, most of the industrial and household energy utilization is found in the form of electrical energy. Figures 10 and 11 show the pattern of electricity consumption of cold countries and hot countries, respectively. A significant portion of the annual energy bill for any apartment building is for the costs of heating, cooling, and domestic hot water. These costs can be over 60% of the annual total utility costs. Part of the cost can be reduced by utilization of solar energy.

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Figure 10. Household electricity usage in cold countries (Redrawn from Nebraska Public Power District).

Figure 11. Household electricity usage in hot countries (Modified from Tso and Yau, 2003).

Solar energy is essentially unlimited and its use is ecologically benign. The solar constant of solar energy is 1367.7 W/m² which is defined as the quantity of solar energy (W/m²) at normal incidence outside the atmosphere (extraterrestrial) at the mean sun-earth distance (Mendoza, 2005). In space, solar radiation is practically constant; on earth it varies with the time of the day and year as well as with the latitude and weather. The maximum value on earth is between 0.8 and 1.0 kW/ m² (The solarserver, 2006). However, indirect solar energy conversion does not give considerable efficiency. The design of any system that operates under the direct use of solar energy has maximum energy conversion efficiency. Followings are some examples of direct use of solar energy:

Space Heating Solar space heating is a proven effective method to reduce conventional energy requirements for domestic heating. There are two basic types for home heating: active and passive. Active systems are divided into liquid and air systems. The active solar heating system generally consists of the following sub-systems: (1) a solar thermal collector area, (2) a water storage tank, (3) a secondary water circuit, (4) a domestic hot water (DHW)

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preparation system and (5) an air ventilation/heating system (Badescu and Staicovici, 2006). They use pumps and pipes (or fans and ducts) to carry heat from the collectors to storage and from storage to the rooms of the house. Passive systems use the building itself to collect and store solar heat. The most elementary passive heating concept is letting in sunshine through glass, then capturing it to warm the inside air and the structure. This is the same greenhouse effect that turns a car into an oven on a warm day. Passive systems are found more efficient than the active system (Badescu and Staicovici, 2006). However, the best option is to use both systems together. This is known as the active solar heating to passive house.

Water Heating Solar water heaters capture the sun’s thermal energy. Active solar heating system relies on collectors to perform this task. Residential buildings typically require hot water temperatures below 95°C. The flat-plate collector is the most commonly used residential system collector (Jansen, 1985). It is an insulated, weatherproofed box containing a dark absorber plate covered by one or more transparent or translucent covers. A collector is typically 2 ft to 4 ft wide, 5 ft to 12 ft long and 4 inches in depth. The absorber plate gathers the sun’s heat energy. This heat energy warms water that flows through the attached tubes. Once heated, the liquid is pumped through the tubes to the heat exchanger, located in front of the storage tank. The heated liquid warms the cooler water in the storage tank. This warm water is then transferred into the backup storage tank. When the hot water tank falls below a preset temperature, the backup energy source maintains the preferred water temperature. A passive solar heating system generally uses storage tanks that are mounted on a buildings roof. A batch heater consists of one or more water storage tanks placed inside an insulated box. This box contains a glazed side that faces the sun. The sun’s heat energy warms the stored water. Batch heaters do not work well in colder climates because they will freeze. So passive solar heating is less efficient. But this water heating system substantially reduces the cost of electrical water heating cost.

Refrigeration and Air Cooling Recently, Khan et al. (2006) showed that if calculated from the base source of energy, absorption refrigeration shows higher coefficient of performance (COP) compare to vapor compression refrigeration system. Absorption cooling is already known as the heat dependent air conditioning system. However, both dual and triple pressure refrigeration cycles are not solely heat dependent. Only the single pressure refrigeration cycle is a thermally driven cycle that uses three fluids. One fluid acts as a refrigerant, the second as a pressure-equalizing fluid, and a third as an absorbing fluid. Heat, rather than electricity, drives the system, allowing absorption cooling systems to operate on natural gas or any other heat sources. Recent studies on Einstein single pressure refrigeration system (US Patent: 1,781,541) has generated a renewed interest and is being viewed as a viable alternative for economical refrigeration (Alefeld, 1980; Dannen, 1997; and Delano, 1998). In the Einstein cycle, butane acts as the refrigerant, ammonia as an inert gas, and water as an absorbent. The following features have made this refrigeration system unique:

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Higher heating efficiency Inexpensive equipment No moving parts High Reliability Portability

Khan et al. (2005) indicated that when this refrigeration system is coupled with the solar system, it becomes the best choice among all other types of refrigerators because of its environmentally friendly and ecologically benign features. With some modifications, the same unit can be utilized as a solar cooler (Khan et al., 2006b). Solar collectors are required for this process. The fluid in the solar collector’s receiver is used as the energy carrier, which transfers energy from receiver to an area of interest. However, most of the solar collector fluids are found to be toxic and harmful to the environment. To get rid of this toxicity, Khan et al. (2006b) used environmentally friendly vegetable oil as solar thermal oil and found successful as energy career. Figure 12 shows a parabolic trough that uses vegetable oil to absorb solar energy and transfers to a preferred place.

Figure 12. Constructed parabolic trough.

The parabolic solar collector can provide the necessary energy to run a absorption system. A household kitchen based biogas production can enhance the operability of this refrigeration in the absence of sun. Biogas can be burnt to get the necessary heat to operate the cooling system especially at night. The required ammonia can be collected from the effluent of the anaerobic digester. The whole process will save fossil fuel and consume waste materials.

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Solar Stirling Engine Recently, the utilization of solar energy has been extended to Stirling engine. The Stirling engine is a simple type of external heat engine that works on two heat reservoirs (hot and cold reservoirs) like Carnot engine and uses a compressible fluid as the working fluid (Kongtragool and Wongwises, 2005). This engine can be operated both by solar energy and heat from any combustible materials such as field waste, rice husk or the like, biomass methane. Because the working fluid is fixed in a closed system, there are no problems with contamination and explosion (Abdullah et al., 2005). The basic background and the chronological development of Stirling engine is found in the literature (Hutchinson, 2005; Kerdchang et al., 2005; Kongtragool and Wongwises, 2005; Mancini et al., 2003 and Valdes, 2004). Due to environmental concerns and increase in energy cost, the Stirling engine has received much attention in the last few decades. The development of low temperature differential (LTD) Stirling engine facilitates the use of Stirling technology in a wide range of temperature differences from various heat sources. The development of LTD Stirling technology has facilitated the use of any kind of receiver of solar collector such as flat panel collector, parabolic trough or dish collector in any country as the temperature is not the prime issue for LTD Stirling technology (Kongtragool and Wongwises, 2005). The Stirling technology can be used in any application where mechanical work is necessary. This study suggests the use of solar Stirling technology as part of zero waste process.

SUSTAINABILITY ANALYSIS The concept ‘zero waste living’ has been generated from the undisturbed activities of nature. Nature is operating in zero waste modes, generating tangible, intangible and long term benefits for the whole world. Natural activities increase its orderliness on a path that converges at infinity after providing maximum benefits over time. However, any product that resembles to a natural product does not guarantee its sustainability unless the natural pathway is followed (Khan, 2006). The term ‘sustainable’ is very growing concept of today’s technology development. Simply, it can be inferred that the word ‘sustainable’ implies the benefit from immediate to long term for the all living beings. That is why any natural product or process is said to be inherently sustainable. Immediate benefits are termed as tangibles and long term benefits are termed as intangibles. However, focus only on tangible benefit might mislead the technological development unless intangible benefits are considered. Even after extensive development of different technologies from decade to decades, it is found that the world is becoming a container of toxic materials and loosing its healthy atmosphere continuously. That is why, it is necessary to test the sustainability of any process and the pathway of the process. To date a number of definitions of sustainability are found in the literature; the common of all definitions of sustainability is the concern about the wellbeing of future generation (Krysiak and Krysiak, 2006). However, most of the assessment processes of sustainability are incomplete and because of the lack of appropriate assessment process, there exists a tendency to claim a product or technology sustainable without proper analysis. Recently, Khan and Islam (2007) developed a sustainability test model distinct from other as they emphasized on time factor and showed the direction of both new and existing

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technologies. According to this model, if and only if, a process travels a path that is beneficial for an infinite span of time, it is sustainable; otherwise the process must fall in a direction that is not beneficial in the long run. The pro-nature technology is the long-term solution, while anti-nature one is the result of ∆t approaching 0. The most commonly used theme is to select technologies that are good for t=’right now’, or ∆t =0. In reality, such models are non-existent and, thus, aphenomenal and cannot be placed on the graph (Figure 13). However, “good” technologies can be developed following the principles of nature. In nature, all functions or techniques are inherently sustainable, efficient and functional for an unlimited time period. In other words, as far as natural processes are concerned, ‘time tends to Infinity’. This can be expressed as t or, for that matter, ∆t→∞ (Khan and Islam 2007). It is found from the figure that perception does not influence the direction and the intensity of the process. Only the base is found shifted towards top or bottom, however, the direction of the process is explicit when the process advances with time. The model has been developed observing the nature and by the analysis of human intervention in the past years. Today’s regulatory organizations are banning lots of chemicals and synthetic materials from production and regular use. However, the goal of banning still remains controversial (Toman and Palmer, 1997). The vulnerable effect of products or processes that are tangible in nature are selected for ban. However, the products or processes that have intangible, long term adverse effects are allowed to continue. Khan et al (2006a) has shown that intangible and long term harm is more detrimental than tangible, short term harm. Any process or product should be analyzed carefully to understand both tangible and intangible effect. In this study, the proposed ‘zero-waste model’ has been tested for sustainability according to the above definition and details analysis has been presented here. The technology that exists in nature must be sustainable, because natural process is already proved to be beneficial for long term. The bio-digestion process is an adequate example of natural technology and that is why the technology is sustainable. Burning of marsh gas is seen in the nature. So the burning of bio-gas would not be anti-nature. It is assumed that the carbon dioxide production from the petroleum fuel (the old food) and the carbon dioxide from the renewable bio materials (new food) are not same. The same chemical with different isotope number must not be identical. The exact difference between a chemical existed for millions of years and the same chemical existed for few years is not clearly revealed. According to the nature it can be said that the waste/exhaust from the bio-material is not harmful. Khan et al (2006a) introduced a mathematical model to this concept and explained the role of intention in the sustainable development process. Intention is found as the key tool for any process to be sustainable. In this paper, this model is further developed by analyzing the term ‘perception’ which was found important at the beginning of any process explained by Khan et al (2006a). Perception varies from person to person. It is very subjective and there is no way to prove if a perception is true or false. Perception is completely one’s personal opinion developed from one’s experience without appropriate knowledge. That is why perception cannot be used as the base of the model. However, if perception is used in the model, the model would look like as follows (Figure 14). The difference between natural and synthetic materials shows that natural materials are very non-linear, complex but shows unlimited adaptability (Islam, 2005). In nature, there is no need to test natural products. Only the synthetic products should be analysis carefully for

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sustainability. So, instead of pure materials, leachate ammonia and carbon dioxide (exhaust) are the best choice to make the desalination process sustainable.

Figure 13. Direction of sustainability/green technology (Redrawn from Khan et al.,2006).

Figure 14. Sustainability model with perception (Modified from Khan et al.,2006).

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The problem of fuel cell is the use of highly pure fossil fuel, synthetic and toxic electrolyte and the ultra pure metallic electrode. However, the use of biogas, biomethanol or bioethanol in the fuel cell, the replacement of synthetic membrane by biomembrane and the use of non toxic electrode can direct the fuel cell technology towards sustainability. Ammonia, butane and water exist in nature. So the uses of these materials make the refrigeration process sustainable. However, ammonia must be collected from the biological process such as from biodigester or sewage. Solar energy is non-toxic and free. The utilization of solar energy must be sustainable. The replacement of toxic thermal oil by vegetable oil makes the process sustainable. The utilization of vegetable oil keeps the whole equipment corrosion free (Al-Darby, 2004 and Al Darby et al., 2005). Even any use of solar energy in turns reduces the dependency of fossil fuel and thereby saving the world from more air pollution. So this is also sustainable technology.

CONCLUSION It is well-known that prevention is better than cure. So, banning should not be the policy. Sometimes it is too late to take any action, specially for those products or proceses, which have long term and intangible effect. It is important to activate sustainable assessment tool to prevent the detrimental technology development and to encourage sustainable technology. It is a responsibility to all living human to save the future generation and to make this world livable in the long term. Zero-waste living with efficient and maximum utilization of solar heating is found attractive. This scheme is socially responsible, environmentally attractive and economic. Some estimated calculation shows that the process is indeed viable. This is a composite and integrated process. The dependence of one process to other process maximizes the utilization of waste leaving zero waste. Besides, the use of free sunlight shows the reduction of the dependency of the electricity or fuel cell. The whole process is sustainable.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).

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In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 131-156

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 5

TEA-WASTES AS ADSORBENTS FOR THE REMOVAL OF LEAD FROM INDUSTRIAL WASTE WATER M. Y. Mehedi1* and H. Mann†2 1

University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2

ABSTRACT Numerous engineering practices produce aqueous solutions that are high in heavy metal contents. Industral waste water could cause severe environmental consequences and irreversible damage to the environment and its biota if it is not controlled through proper treatment. It is primarily because of their severe toxicity that disrupts the ecosystem integrity and hinder sustainable management of the environment. Industrial waste water is one of the major sources of lead (Pb) and is considered to be a toxic element. Adsorption technique is one of the most popular and effective technology to treat water contaminated by heavy metals. However, most commonly used adsorbents themselves have some level of toxicity and are often expensive. In this research, Turkish black tea-waste was studied as an adsorbent to remove lead from the contaminated water. For this purpose, lead nitrate solution [Pb(NO3)2] of a wide rage of concentration (1010,000 ppm) was prepared to simulate the contaminant concentration in industrial waste water. The initial analysis was carried out using 5 gm of fresh teas (as control), wet and dry tea-waste. Wet tea-waste samples were also analyzed in 7 days intervals to find out if there is any microbial growth and its possible influence in the removal of lead. The adsorptive capacity of the adsorbent, the effect of pH on adsorption, the effect of initial concentration was investigated. Results show that fresh tea and oven dried tea waste samples effectively removed lead cations in the range of 57-92% and 69-94% respectively. The wet tea-waste samples (immediately after collection) also showed good performance and over time the removal efficiency of lead increases. About 97% of lead was removed by wet samples after 30 days at 10,000ppm of initial concentrations. The microbial concentrations were also increased overtime. The samples had representation * †

Corresponding author, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Email: [email protected] Corresponding author, email: [email protected]

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M. Y. Mehedi and H. Mann of cocci, rod shaped, fungus and yeasts. It is also revealed from the test that the adsorption capacity of wet samples can be as large as 387.5 mg/gm, with a favorable adsorption intensity value (>1). All the wet samples and the dry sample showed good performance and distinct capacity measurement either in Langmuir or in Freundlich Isotherm. Variation of pH in the range of 3.7-10.8 did not demonstrate any significant increase or decrease in the adsorption process when compared to their results with almost neutral environment of pH 6.44.

Key Words: Tea-waste, Adsorbent, Lead, Industrail Waste Water

INTRODUCTION Industrial waste water contain heavy metals, which could pose several environmental threat .Through waters the major toxic metals such as Pb, Cd, Hg, Zn, Cr, Ni finds their way to the aquatic environment (Azmal et al., 1998). Several industrial processes releases toxic metals and that ultimately turned as a hazrdous substances and enhance toxicity level to the fresh and marine biota and the environment as well. The dominant constituent of industraial waste water is water, with varying amounts of organic constituents, heavy metals, and other components. The concentration of the heavy metals in industrial waste water depends on the possible source and the quality of wastes.These metal ions in industrail waste water, when present in sufficient quantity, can be harmful to aquatic life and human health. The seperation of most of the heavy metals is very difficult due to their solubility in water that forms aqueous solutions (Hussein et al., 2004). There are several technologies to treat heavy metals in industrial water. Those include chemical precipitation, chemical oxidation or reduction, coagulation/flotation, sedimentation, flotation, filtration, membrane process, electrochemical techniques, ion exchange, biological process, and chemical reaction (CAPP, 2001, Khan and Islam 2006b). Each method has its merits and limitations in application. Today, the adsorption process is attracted by many scientists because of the effectiveness for the removal of heavy metal from contaminated water. But the process has not been used extensively for its high cost. For that reason, the uses of low cost materials as sorbent for metal removal from industrail waste water have been highlighted. More recently, great effort has been contributed to develop new adsorbents and improve existing adsorbents. The biogeochemical process in environment often relies on the origins, diversity, distributions, and functions of microorganisms. The discovery of novel microorganisms from natural environment is crucial for introducing alternative environmental tool to remediate contaminated environments, prevent environmental degradation and enhance energy production. One of the major obstacles to remediate contaminated environments is the lack of our knowledge in understanding the behavior of microorganisms into an environmental context (Zhang et al., 2005). Microorganisms could play a significant role in removing heavy metals (Chaalal et al., 2005, Mihova and Godjevargova, 2000).The bacteria are of mainly rod shaped (bacilli) and little ball shaped (cocci). Some of the bacterial cells are single while others cluster together to form pairs, chains, squares or other groupings (Gazso, 2001). The biosorption of heavy metals ions by microorganisms is an effective remediation measures (Chaalal et al., 2005).

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Lead is recognized and treated as highly toxic component that brings irreversible damage to humans and aquatic habitats (Ajmal et al., 1998). There has been increasing concern with regard to the treatment of lead from polluted water due to release of industrial wastes from different point and nonpoint sources. Most of the treatment technologies use synthetic products as adsorbents that create secondary toxicity which are sometimes more toxic than original one and poses severe environmental consequences (Kim, 2003 and Mustafiz et al., 2003). Considering all the facts in to account in this paper, Turkish black tea-waste has been used as natural adsorbents to observe the growth of microganisms over time on its surface as well as any change in their quantity and quality. The influence of microbial diversity in removing lead from contaminated solution was also investigated over time. Fresh Turkish tea samples were analyzed as control. The rationales embraced in the current paper are to develop inexpensive lead adsorbents for the treatment of industrail waste water. The principle idea behind the rationales was to find out alternative natural means for the remediation of pollution from industrial waste water for the sustainable management of aquatic environment with broad view to achieve the principles of zero-waste living (Figure 1).

ZERO-WASTE LIVING ∞ ∆t HEAVY METALS (LEAD)

Reduction of Amenities (-VE)

TEA-WASTE Microbial Pollution (-VE) Nutrient enrichment (-VE) Biodegradation (-VE) Alteration of Habitats (-VE) Coastal erosion (-VE) Depletion of natural resources (-VE) Sedimentation (-VE)

Environmentally appealing (+VE)

Increase toxicity (-VE) Harmful for Aquatic organisms (-VE) Disruption of Food chain (-VE) Biomagnifications (-VE) Mortality of natural resources (-VE) Reduced fecundity (-VE) Jeopardize natural cycles (-VE)

Economically feasible (+VE) Socially responsible (+VE)

Figure 1. A step towards zero-waste living (Modified after Mustafiz, 2002) (+VE= Good; -VE=Bad)

C HEMICAL C OMPOSITION OF B LACK T EA Tea is a popular beverage across the world due to the presence of polyphenols and methyl xanthenes. In addition, various compounds of tea aroma are used to enhance the temptation for a tea. Black tea also contains minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium

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potassium and vitamins such as A, B1, B2, Niacin & C besides the biochemical quality constituents such as amino acids and soluble sugars (Figure 2) (Chung and Wang 1996, UPASI, 2003). The polyphenols work out to about 15-20% in the black tea and it comprises the catechin fractions such as Epigallo catechin (EGO), +Catechin (+C), Epicatechin (EC), Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and Epicatechin gallate (ECG) (UPASI, 2003) (Figure 2). 35

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Thearubigins Highploymerized substance Caf f eine Total polyphenols

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Figure 2. Major Constituents of Black Tea (Modified after Chung and Wang, 1996)

Most of the chemicals are produced during processing of the tea leaves. In manufacturing process, the monomeric flavan-3-ols undergo polyphenol oxidase-dependent oxidative polymerization leading to the formation of bisflavanols, thea-flavins, thearubigins, and other oligomers. Theaflavins constitutes benzotropolone rings with dihydroxy or trihydroxy substitution systems, that give the characteristic color and taste of black tea. The structure of black tea is shown in Fig. 3 (Chung and Wang 1996).

Figure 3. Chemical Structure of Black Tea (Chung and Wang 1996)

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Tea flavanols may undergo oxidative condensation via either C-O or C-C bond formation in oxidative polymerization reactions during autoxidation or coupled oxidation. According to Chung and Wang (1996) tea polyphenols have high affinity to metals. One of the most important constituents of tea is tannin, a group of chemicals with large molecular weights and diverse structure (Chung and Wang, 1996).

EXPERIMENTAL SETUP AND PROCEDURE Adsorbent The waste material of Turkish black tea was used as the adsorbent in the experiment. The samples were collected and were stored in clean plastic bags. Fresh tea sample before used was also analyzed as controll to compare the results with tea-waste sample after use at different intervals. Tea-waste samples were dried in an oven after collection to measure its efficiency in dried conditions as well. The tea-waste samples were analyzed in 7 different states (Runs). Fresh tea samples were treated as Run 1, Tea-waste materials immediately after use was treated as Run 2, oven dried tea-waste samples after use was treated as Run 3. The wet tea-waste analyzed after 7, 15, 22 and 30 days were treated as Run 4, Run 5, Run 6 and Run 7. Since the raw tea-waste samples collected were wet in nature, they were used for the wet-tests at different intervals (7days). For the oven dried tea-waste experiment, deionized water (DI) was used to wash the samples and dried at 55oC. Later, the dry-wastes were grounded using a grinder and sieved thoroughly to make a homogeneous powder and stored into plastic bags. A stock-solution of 10,000 ppm of lead nitrate [Pb(NO3)2] was prepared in the laboratory. Later, the stock solution was diluted using deionized water to prepare solutions of a wide range of initial concentrations, from 10 ppm to 10,000 ppm.

Adsorption Experiment The batch test, sometimes referred to as the bottle-point technique (Drostie, 1997) was the method followed for all of the experiments. 20 ml of lead nitrate solution of different initial concentrations was placed in several test-tubes. In every run, depending on the state of the adsorbent, fresh tea, wet or dried, samples of particular condition was placed in each testtube in the amount of 5 gm. The experiments were carried out at room temperature of 24°C. Plastic caps were used to cover the test-tube. Then, the test tubes were vigorously shaken in a reciprocating shaker to ensure the sample is well-mixed. The lead solution of each test-tube was measured for its equilibrium concentration after 24 hours, which is assumed to be the period equilibrium has attained. The lead solution was analyzed by a Spectra 55 B Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) Hollw cathode lamps for lead were used in the atomic absorption spectrophotometer analysis in combination with air acetylene flame. Some runs were duplicated to observe the reproducibility of the results. Also, to note that, some tests were done at varying pH by using the buffer solutions (HCl or NaOH).

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Preparation of Sample for Bacterial Analysis One drop of sample was put on a microscopic slide. Then samples were spread over the surface of the slide with a glass rod as nonabsorbent sterile tool. In the analysis of bacterial concentrations 1 ml sample was used. 18 drop makes 1 ml of sample.

Counting and Identifying Bacteria from Tea-Waste Samples In order to identify and count bacteria in this study, an Image Analysis System (IAS) was used. The imaging analyzer used in this research is a Zeiss 459310. The basic system consists of a high resolution video camera (Axio-Cam) mounted on an optical microscope with high magnification (1000x), an image processor, a Pentium PC consists of two softwares, Axiovision software and KS300, a high resolution image monitor, and a high resolution text monitor (Chaalal and Islam 2001) The image is visualized with the video camera though a microscopic lens. The signal from the video camera is in analogue from and must be digitized so the computer is able to store the image in the library. Therefore, the signal has to be processed by an analogue to digital converter. However, the signal has to be converted into its analogue form in order for the image to be produced in the monitor. In addition, the IAS has the facility of sharpening, edge detection, threshold function, transition filter, chord sizing, erosion and dilatation. Once binary images are produced from an accepted microphotography, a feature count is performed (Mustafiz, 2002). According to Livingston and Islam (1999) the image analysis system is one of the useful counting technique which can be used to count bacteria. Their results show that numbers from the image analysis system match very closely with the microscopic enumeration. This method has several good points. With experience a user could perform all the image enhancements and make an accurate count as fast as or faster than using standard microbiological techniques. The results can be reproduced at any time because the image analysis system stores the images and can be manipulated easily and stored indefinitely (Livingston and Islam, 1999).

Calculation the Concentration of Bacteria In order to count bacteria, 1 drop of sample was placed on the glass slide and covered with a glass cover slip which is a rectangle with dimensions of 22 X 30 mm. The image received from the area that covered by glass cover slip. The bacteria were then counted from the slide under glass cover slip. Counting was repeated for n points on the cover slide and the average there-of was used as the number of bacteria in each point. Na = (N1 + N2 + N3 + … + Nn) / n where, Na = Average bacteria count in each point Nn = Bacteria count in point n (by image analyzer)

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n = Number of points in which bacteria have been counted The average bacteria count in each point will then be multiplied by the ratio of the area of the cover slide to the area of the point (circle) to give the total bacteria count under the cover slide. Ncs = (Acs/Ap) Na Where, Ncs = Number of bacteria under each cover slide Acs = Area of the cover slide Ap = Area of each point. Finally, the total bacteria count in each cover slide will be converted to bacteria count per milliliter. As stated before, each time, only 1 drop of sample is placed under the cover slide. The pipette used in this study is a Pasteur pipette. Using such a pipette, 1 ml of water will be 40 drops. Therefore, the total bacteria count under each cover slide will be multiplied by 18 and then rounded to give the bacteria count in milliliter. Ncs = Number of bacteria under each cover slide Nml = 18 Ncs (1 ml = 18 drops of microbiology pipette) where, Nml = Number of bacteria per ml Also, when necessary, the total bacteria count in the entire sample could be determined and used by knowing the overall volume of the sample. Therefore: N = Vs . Nml where, N = Total bacteria count in the entire sample Vs = Total volume of the sample In order to determine the number of points (n) that correctly represent the total bacteria count under a cover slide, the following method was used: A 500 ml stock sample with tea-waste was stirred by a lab shaker for 10 hours. 1 drop of tea-waste sample was placed under a cover slide and 5 successive counts were done with 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 points respectively (n = 5, 10, 15, 20, 25). Then according to the aforementioned method, bacteria count in each case was determined. The results are presented as of bacteria per ml of examined tea-waste sample.

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RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Batch Test The results from the experiments are described by the state, if dry or wet, of the sample in this section.

Run 1: Fresh Tea before Use Fresh tea showed and excellent performance in removing lead from contaminated solutions. Removing efficiency increases as the initial concentrations increased. About 96% of lead was removed in 10,000 ppm initial lead nitrate solution (Figure 4).The initial concentration was varied from 10 ppm to 1000 ppm. For this data range, the removal efficiency is found to be between 79% and 96%. The removal efficiency increased as the initial concentrations increased. Therefore, if compared to other new adsorbents, in recent years, such as fish scale (Mustafiz, 2002), fly ash (Basu, 2005), the fresh tea showed better performance. The above mentioned waste materials have been reported to remove more than 80% of the contaminant such as lead and arsenic. Langmuir Isotherm The most important feature of conducting the batch test was to develop the adsorption isotherm graphs. Figure 5 presents the Langmuir isotherm for the fresh tea sample (Run 1). To draw the graph, the results of the fresh tea sample were analyzed according to the following equation: Q = v(Ci-Cf)/m

(1)

Where, Q is the metal uptake (mg metal per gm of adsorbent), v the liquid sample volume (ml), Ci the initial concentration of the metal in the solution (mg/L), Cf the final (equilibrium) concentration of the metal in the solution (mg/L) and m the amount of the added adsorbent (mg). The importance of this isotherm is it describes the relation between the amount of concentration of lead nitrate accumulated on tea-waste and the equilibrium concentration of dissolved lead nitrate. Typically, with an increase in equilibrium concentration, the amount of contaminant adsorbed, increases. When the equilibrium concentration was 5,000 ppm, the amount adsorbed was calculated 188.40 mg/gm. In 10 ppm equilibrium concentration the amount adsorbed calculated was 0.316mg/gm (Figure 5). Therefore, it became easier to describe the trend by an equation, where the coefficient of linear regression value (R2) was found as 0.997. The Langmuir model can also be expressed asQ = Q max Cf / (1/b+Cf)

(2)

Where Q max is the maximum metal uptake under the given conditions, b a constant related to the affinity between the adsorbent and adsorbate and 1/b is known as the Langmuir adsorption factor (Figure 6). Equation 2 is often re-expressed in linear form as by plotting 1/Q vs. 1/Cf:

Tea-Wastes as Adsorbents for the Removal of Lead from Industrial Waste Water 1/Q= 1/Qmax [1/(b.Cf)+1]

139 (3)

Lead Removal (%)

The advantage of such linear plot is that the adsorptive capacity and Langmuir adsorption factor can easily be measured. The intercept of equation 3 represents the inverse of maximum adsorptive capacity (1/Qmax). The results from the Figure 6 showed a best-fitted data by a straight line similar to as described by Equation 3. It is found that the intercept becomes favorable, which is common in case of best established adsorbents. Therefore, the fresh tea sample showed an excellent adsorptive capacity in the test.

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Figure 7: Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm for Run 1

Freundlich isotherm Another commonly used adsorption isotherm is the Freundlich isotherm (Freundlich, 1926), which is expressed by the following empirical equationQ = KF.Ce 1/n

(4)

where, Q= uptake of metal (mg/gm), Ce=equilibrium concentration (mg/L) KF= a Freundlich constant; indicator of adsorption capacity KF and n are known to be the Freundlich constants that correlate to the maximum adsorption capacity and adsorption intensity respectively (Hussein et al., 2004). Equation 4 was linearized to determine the Freundlich parameters by plotting LogQ and LogCe, which can be shown in Figure 11. In linear form, equation 4 appears as:

Tea-Wastes as Adsorbents for the Removal of Lead from Industrial Waste Water Log Q = Log kF +1/n Log Ce

141 (5)

In Figure 7, a best-fit straight line is drawn. The inverse of the slope of the straight line determines the intensity of adsorption (n), which is 1.3448, and the Freundlich constant, KF is found significant. Typically, the value of n is larger than 1, so the adsorption appears to be favorable. Also, the value of KF is high, which all together determines the adsorption process is very favorable.

Lead Removal (%)

Run 2: Wet Tea-Waste Sample Immediately after Use Figure 8 shows the effect of wet tea-waste in removing lead contaminant. About 92% of lead was removed at 10000 ppm initial concentrations of lead nitrate solutions. The removal efficiency increases as the initial concentration increases except in few instances like the initial concentration of 40 and 200 ppm (Figure 8). The removal efficiency varies between 57 and 92 %. The fresh tea showed better performance than wet tea-waste samples (Run 1). In langmuir isotherm graph (Figure 9) the wet-waste samples also showed good performance in removing heavy metals. At 10000 initial lead nitrate solution the maximum adsorptive capacity was 370 mg/gm. This value is found to be very significant. If such is the capacity, wet tea-waste can be considered a significantly important and effective adsorbent as some well-known adsorbents are already proven to be more effective. For example, granular activated carbon (30 mg/gm), modified pit (90-130 mg/gm), zeolite (154.4 mg/gm) and fish scale (80 mg/gm) are reported to work effectively in removing lead cation( Basu, 2005). In Figure 11, a best-fit straight line is drawn. The inverse of the slope of the straight line determines the intensity of adsorption (n), which is 1.2919, and the Freundlich constant, KF is found favourable. Typically, the value of n is larger than 1, so the adsorption appears to be also favorable in case of wet tea-waste samples (immediately after use). Also, the value of KF is high, which all together determines the adsorption process is very favorable. 100 80 60 40 20 0 0

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Figure 8: Lead Removal (%) for Run 2

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Figure 10. Linearly rearranged Langmuir isotherm for Run 2

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Run 3. Dry Tea-Waste Samples Immediately after Use In Run 3 the oven dried tea-waste samples showed that the effect of dry tea-waste in removing lead contaminant is significant. The oven dried samples showed a better performance than the wet tea-waste samples. The removal efficiency increases as the initial concentration of lead nitrate solutions increases (Figure 12). The removal efficiency varied between 68 and 94. 94 % of lead was removed at 10000 ppm of lead nitrate solutions. Figure 13 shows the Langmuir Isotherm model for the dried tea-waste samples. Similar to Figure 9, the Langmuir isotherm is also drawn for the dried sample, which is displayed in Figure 13. A comparison between Figure 13 and Figure 9 demonstrates that the dried sample adsorb little better than the wet samples. To measure the adsorptive capacity of the dried sample, a linearized isotherm was plotted (Figure 14). 100 80 60 40 20 0 0

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Figure 12: Lead removal (%) for Run 3

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Figure 13. Langmuir isotherm for Run 3

Results show that the adsorptive capacity is 376.4 mg/gm. This capacity is based on the the intercept in Figure 18. The graph also gives the value of 1/b, which is often described as the Langmuir adsorption factor. This value is found to be significant. The capacity, the dry tea-waste can be considered a significantly important and effective adsorbent as some wellknown effective and proven adsorbents. Several trials to best-fit the equation indicate that considering the intercept and R2 values result showed an excellent performance in removing lead. Figure 15 was used to estimate the adsorption intensity and Freundlich adsorption

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factor. The value of n was 1.384. Since, the value of n is higher than 1.0, it would be more appropriate to describe the adsorption process as favorable. However, in compare to their respective values for the wet sample (immediately after use), oven dried sample indeed was found to be more effective.

4 y = 10.705x - 0.0185 R2 = 0.971

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Figure 14. Linearized form of Langmuir isotherm for Run 3 3.5 y = 0.7222x + 1.0473 R2 = 0.9734

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Figure 15. Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm for Run 3

Run 4: Wet Samples after 7 Days Figure 16 shows the effect of wet tea-waste samples (7 days after collection) in removing lead contaminant. Result showed a little better performance than the wet tea-waste samples right after collection. With regard to removal efficiency in Run 4 the same trend was observed as the removal efficiency increases with the initial concentration of lead nitrate solutions increased. The removal efficiency varied between 61 and 93 %. About 93 % of lead was removed at 10000 ppm of lead nitrate solutions (Figure 16). In Langmuir isotherm graph (Figure 17) the wet tea-waste samples (after 7 days) also showed good performance in removing heavy metals. At 10000 initial lead nitrate solutions the maximum adsorptive capacity was observed (373.18 mg/gm).Linearly rearranged Langmuir isotherm for lead on wet tea-waste samples (after 7 days) were plotted (Figure 18). The result showed favorable condition in the removal process. From the calculation of Freundlich isotherm, (Figure 19) the intensity of adsorption (n), which is 1.387, and the Freundlich constant, KF is found to be

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Lead Removal (%)

favorable. Typically, the value of n is larger than 1, so the adsorption appears to be also favorable in case of wet tea-waste samples (7 days after collection). Also, the value of KF (>1) is high, which all together determines the adsorption process is favorable. 100 80 60 40 20 0 0

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Figure 17. Langmuir isotherm for Run 4 4.5 4

y = 14.065x - 0.0933 R2 = 0.9401

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Figure 18. Linearly rearranged Langmuir isotherm for Run 4

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3.5 y = 0.7208x + 1.1045 R2 = 0.9734

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Figure 19. Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm for Run 4

L e a d R e m o v a l (% )

Run 5: Wet Samples after 15 Days Removal efficiency increases as usual with the increase of initial concentrations. The result showed the amount of lead adsorbed increased with the increase of equilibrium concentrations. At 10,000 ppm initial concentration the amount adsorbed was 200mg/gm. About 95 % of lead was removed at 10,000 ppm initial concentrations (Figure 20). At 10,000 ppm initial concentrations the adsorption capacity was maximum (374mg/gm). In 10 ppm initial concentration the adsorption capacity was minimum (0.28mg/gm). The coefficient of linear regression value (R2) was found as 0.949. Linearized form of Langmuir Isotherm was also plotted (Figure 22) to estimate the intercept.The result showed a favorable intercept value. The R2 (0.949) value is also very significant. Figure 23 was plotted to estimate the adsorption intensity and Freundlich adsorption factor. The intensity value (n) of adsorption was found higher than 1 (1.413) and the value of KF was very effective. As the e value of n is greater than 1, therefore the adsorption process appears to be favorable. So from the above graph we can easily say that the adsorption is very effective and favorable.

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Figure 20. Removal efficiency (%) for Run 5

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Figure 22. Linearized form of Langmuir isotherm for for Run 5 3.5 y = 0.7077x + 1.0551 R2 = 0.9628

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. Figure 23. Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm Model for Run 5

Run 6: Wet Tea-Waste Samples after 22 Days The removal efficiency increases after 22 days within the range between 72-95%. 95% of lead was removed at 10000 ppm of initial concentrations. Except 200 ppm initial concentration the removal efficiency increases as the concentration increased (Figure 24). The maximum adsorption capacity was 382.31 mg/gm (Figure 25). The adsorption capacity is

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Lead Removal (%)

considered to be very effective. The adsorption capacity was found to be increased with the increase initial concentrations (Figure 25).To calculate the R2 and the intercept value Linearized form of Langmuir Isotherm was also plotted (Figure 26). From the interpretation of the graph the R2 value was found as 0.9502. The value was found to be suitable for effective adsorption. The samples analyzed after 22 days also showed good results in Freundlich isotherm model. The value of n is 1.354. Like the value of n the KF value was also significant. The R2 value is 0.9599. So considering the values it can be mentioned that the adsorption process is favorable (Figure 27).

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Figure 25. Langmuir isotherm for Run 6

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Figure 26. Linearized form of langmuir isotherm Model for Run 6 y = 0.7382x + 0.945 R2 = 0.9599

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Figure 27. Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm for Run 6

Run 7: Wet Tea-Waste Samples after 30 Days With the increase concentration of bacteria after 30 days the removal efficiency also increased. The removal efficiency varied between 78 and 97%. Again highest removal efficiency has occurred at 10000 ppm of initial concentration. Similar to other runs the removal efficiency increased as the initial concentration increased (Figure 28).Figure 29 shows the Langmuir isotherm model for the wet samples after 30 days. Result showed an excellent performance in Langmuir. The highest adsorption capacity occurred during 10000 ppm of initial concentrations. The adsorption capacity varied between 0.3124 and 387.5 mg/gm.Figure 30 shows linearized form of Langmuir isotherm R2 value is 0.948. The intercept value is significant that means the adsorption efficiency is favorable (Figure 30). Similar to all Freundlich Isotherm runs, Figure 31 shows the linearized form of Freundlich isotherm. This graph was used to calculate the adsorption intensity and Freundlich adsorption factor. The result showed the value of n (1.359) is higher than 1 (Figure 31).

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Initial Concentration (ppm)

Figure 28. Removal of lead (%)for Run 7

q

450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 0

100

200

300

400

Ce

Figure 29. Langmuir isotherm model for Run 7 3.5 3

y = 6.1624x - 0.0151 R2 = 0.948

1/q

2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0

0.1

0.2

0.3 1/Ce

Figure 30. Linearized form of Langmuir isotherm for Run 7

0.4

0.5

Tea-Wastes as Adsorbents for the Removal of Lead from Industrial Waste Water

3

151

y = 0.7368x + 0.8622 R2 = 0.9445

2.5

Log q

2 1.5 1 0.5 0 -1

-0.5

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Log Ce

Figure 31. Linearized form of Freundlich isotherm Model Run 7

Effect of pH

Equilibrium c onc e ntration, C e (ppm )

To observe the effect of pH, the adsorption of lead on tea-waste at different pH was measured. The mixture was adjusted to various pH values by using 0.5M of sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or 0.5M hydrochloric acid (HCl) depending on if acidic or basic of the solution was desired. The following pH prevailed during the experiment: acidic environment: 3.7; basic environment: 10.8 and neutral environment: 6.44. Only one set having an initial concentration of 30 ppm was investigated in this research. Figure 32 shows the results at different pH condition. It is observed that a basic environment worked better than the normal environment in removing lead cations. The acidity is found to reduce the performance of the tea-waste in adsorbing the cations. However, for the initial condition of 30 ppm, the difference in results was not significant.

25 20 15 10 5 0 normal

acid Contaminant environment

Figure 32. Effect of pH on lead adsorption on wet tea-waste

basic

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Microbial Influence Types of Microorganisms Mostly cocci shaped bacteria was observed in the study. In some cases clusters of bacteria has been observed (Fig 33c). Sometime chains of joint bacteria have been reported. Rod shaped bacteria found adhered to the tea leaves (Fig 33). In few runs the samples contain hyphae, molds and yeasts could be observed. Appearance of some common molds such as alternaria, cunninghamella, helminthosporium, paecilomyces, aspergillus, fusarium, penicilium, syncephalastrum has been observed. In few analysis diploid cells and protozoa (Heteronema ) are found. In most samples rod and bacilli bacteria are almost common. Some bacilli are curved into a form resembling a comma (Figure 33c).

(a)Filamentous bacteria

(c) Cocci, filamentous and rods Figure 33. (Continued)

(b)Rods and cocci

(d) Yeast, filamentous bacteria

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(e) Rods bacteria

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(f) Rods and filamentous bacteria

Figure 33. Microphotographs of bacterial colonies (1000 magnification)

Yeast cells: Some cells are bigger than bacteria and had been observed during the experiment. They are single cells, in the shape of filaments (Figure 33d). Molds: Woolly, branching, hair-like filaments called hyphae observed in most of the samples. There are hyphae on the surface of tea-waste indicating that mold is presnt. As compared with bacteria, they are relatively large. The hyphae of mold colony grows as an intertwined mass of filaments collectively called a mycelium (Figure 33f).

14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 S am pl e 1 S am pl e 2 S am pl e 3 S am pl e 4 S am pl e 5 S am pl e 6 S am pl e 7

colonies/ml)

bacteria (Bacterial

Concentrations of

Cell Count At Different Intervals Concentrations of microorganisms were increased over the period of experiment (Figure 34). During the whole period of investigation concentration increases with time.

Samples

Figure 34. Bacterial concentration in wet tea-waste samples.

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Concentration of Bacteria and its Influence in Lead Removal The Turkish black tea-waste samples were analyzed simultaneously to measure its efficiency in removing lead from contaminated water and to find out additional bacterial influence along with tea-waste in removing lead from contaminated solutions. Result showed that over time with the increase in microbial concentrations adsorption efficiency increases. Different species of microorganisms that adheres to the surface of tea leaves proves that it is indeed a potential surface for bacterial growth and it plays a significant influence in enhancing the adsorption efficiency in removing heavy metals from polluted water (Figure 35). Lead Removal (%) 98 96 94 92 90 88 Run 1 Run 2

Run 3 Run 4 Run 5 Run 6

Run 7

Samples

Figure 35. Lead removal efficiency (%) in different Run

CONCLUSION From the above results and discussions we can conclude that Turkish black tea-waste is an effective adsorbent and provides potential implications to treat industrial waste water, discharged from land based and other sources with regard to removal of lead ions. The adsorption of lead ions on tea-waste in different conditions (fresh tea,dried tea-waste and wet tea-waste) had different removal rate, depending on the concentration of initial lead nitrate solutions and the presence of bacteria. Dried tea-waste performed efficiently in removing lead ion compared to wet tea-waste samples. The removal efficiency increases in wet tea-waste samples over times. Result showed after 30 days 97% of lead was removed with the increased microbial concentrations. Microbial concentration was increased over the time which showed that the microbial activities influences the removal process. Tea leaves provided essential surface for the bacterial growth. Bacteria played an additional role in the removal process. Results showed there is a little influence of pH during the process of adsorption. Furthermore, considering the low cost and better adsorptive capacity of tea-waste, we should consider this

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natural adsorbent to treat the industrial waste-water containing lead and other heavy metals to achieve the goal towards sustainable management of aquatic environment.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) for funding this project under the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF).

REFERENCES Ajmal, M., Khan, A.H., Ahmad, S and Ahmad, A. 1998. Role of sawdust in the removal of copper (II) From industrial wastes. Wat. Res. 32: 3085-3091. Ajmal, M., A. Mohammad, R. Yousuf and A. Ahmed, 1998. 1998. Adsorption behavior of Cadmium, Zink, Nickel, and Lead from aqueous solution by Mangifera India Seed Shell. India J. Environ Hlth. 40: 15-26. Basu, A. 2005. Experimental and Numerical Studies of a Novel Technique for abatement of Toxic Metals from Aqueous Streams. Ph.D Thesis Faculty of Engineering, Dalhousie University 304 pp. CAPP, 2001. Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. Technical Report. Produced Water Waste Management. August. Chaalal,0 and Islam, M.R. 2001. Integrated management of radioactive strontium contamination in aqueous stream systems. Journal of Environmental Management 61, 5159 Chaalal, O.,. Zekri, A and Islam, M.R., 2005. Uptake of heavy metals by microorganisms: An experimental approach, Energy Source,Vol 27, no 1-2, 87-100. Chung, S.Y, Wang, Z.Y. 1996. The chemistry of Tea. Tea and Cancer. “The Tea Man” Available from http:<www.teatalk.com/science/chemistry.htm> (accessed on April 30,2007). Dorostie, R.L. 1997. Theory and Practice of Water and Waste Water Treatment. John Wiley & Sons Inc. USA 816 pp. Freundlich, H. 1926. “Colloid and Capillary Chemistry”, Methuen & Co.. London. 884 pp. Gazso, L.G. 2001. The Key Microbial Processes in the Removal of Toxic Metals and Radionuclides from the Environment. CHJOEM 2001, Vol.7.Nos. 3-4.: 178-185. Hussein, H., Ibrahim, S.F., Kandeel, K., Moawad, H.. 2004. Biosorption of heavy metals from waste water using Pseudomonas sp. Environmental Biotechnology. Vol. 7 No. 1. Available on (accessed on April 30,2007). Khan, M.I, and Islam, M.R., 2005a. Environmental Modeling of Oil Discharges from Produced Water in the Marine Environment, Canadian Society of Civil Engineers 2005. Toronto, Canada, June 2-4, 2005. Khan, M.I. and Islam, M. R. 2006 b. Technological Analysis and Quantitative Assessment of Oil and Gas Development on the Scotian Shelf, Canada. Int. J. Risk Assessment and Management : in press.

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Kim, D. S., 2003. The removal by crab shell of mixed heavy metal ions in aqueous solution, Bioresource Technology, v 87, n 3, May, pp 355-357. Livingston R. J. and Islam, M. R., (1999), Laboratory Modeling, Field Study, and Numerical Simulation of Bioremediation of Petroleum Contaminants, Energy Sources, vol. 21, pp. 113-129. Mihova, S and Godievargova, T., 2000. Biosorption of Heavy Metals from Aqueous Solutions. Journal of International Research Publications. Issue 1 , 2000/1. Available on < http://www.ejournalnet.com/Contents/Issue_1/6/6_2001.htm>.(accessed on April 30,2007). Mustafiz, S., 2002. A Novel Method for Heavy Metal Removal from Aqueous Streams. M.A.S Thesis Faculty of Engineering, Dalhousie University 150pp. Mustafiz, S., Rahman, M.S.. Kelly, D. Tango, M. Islam, M. R., 2003. The application of the fish scales in removing heavy metals from energy-produced waster streams: the role of microbes, Energy Source, v 24, p 905-916. UPASI, 2003. Technical Report UPASI Tea Research Foundation Niar Dam BPO, Valparai, India . Available on < http://www.upasitearesearch.org>. (accessed on August 26, 2006). Zhang, G., Dong, H. Xu, Z, Zhao, D. and Zhang, C., 2005. Microbial Diversity in Ultra-HighPressure Rocks and Fluids from the Chinese Continental Scientific Drilling Project in China. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Vol. 71, No.6 p 3213-3227 .

In: Perspectives on Sustainable Technology Editor: M. Rafiqul Islam, pp. 157-175

ISBN: 978-1-60456-069-5 © 2008 Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Chapter 6

MULTIPLE SOLUTIONS IN NATURAL PHENOMENA S. H. Mousavizadegan, S. Mustafiz∗ and M. R. Islam Department of Civil and Resource Engineering, Dalhousie University, Canada

ABSTRACT Nature is nonlinear and all natural phenomena are multidimensional. The parameters involved in a natural phenomenon are not independent of each other and the variation of each of them causes others to be affected. The natural phenomena are chaotic-not in conventional sense of being arbitrary and/or unpredictable, but in the sense that they always produce multiple solutions and show no reproducibility. This is because time is a space and time is also irreversible. At present, we are unaware of the equations that truly govern natural phenomena and also the procedures to obtain multiple solutions. Often several key simplifications are posed to eliminate nonlinearities and find a numerical description of a natural phenomenon. This poses the problem of inherently wrong formulation of a problem. In this paper, several polynomials and simultaneous equations of two variables are applied as a model for a natural phenomenon, in which the other parameters are kept constant. It is shown that they produce multiple solutions, even if they are not realistic with current knowledge. The number of solutions depends on the degree of nonlinearity of the equation. From the study it can be inferred that a phenomenon with only two variables produces more than one solution and, therefore, a multi-variable phenomenon surely has multiple solutions.

Keywords: Nonlinearity, polynomials, knowledge dimension, imaginary roots, Adomian Decomposition method.

∗

Corresponding author: Tel.:+1-902-494-3217; Fax: +1-902-494-6526. Email address: [email protected] (S. Mustafiz)

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INTRODUCTION All mathematical models of the real physical problems are nonlinear. The nonlinearity is related to the interaction and inclusion of different parameters involved in a physical problem. Because, mathematical tools available today cannot solve non-linear problems beyond trivial ones, it has been a common practice to linearize the problems in order to render them ‘solvable’. In this way, a problem is forced to have a single solution ignoring the possibility of having multiple solutions. In addition, not all of the available methods are capable of predicting multiple solutions. In fact, until now, a systematic method for determining multiple solutions is limited to three variables. The general development of the set of governing equations always proceeds the same way for any material. A set of conservation laws is usually applied in integral form to a finite mass of material. Typical ‘laws’ express the conservation of mass, momentum, and energy. It is asserted that the ‘laws’ are true and the problems become that of solving the constitutive relationship of the ‘law’. These equations are then converted to a local form and are cast in the form of partial differential equations. These differential equations cannot be solved in a general way for the details of the material motion. In order to close the system, the next step is to specify the material response. The mathematical conditions are usually referred to as the constitutive relationships. The last step is to combine these constitutive relations with the local form of the balance equations. The combination of these two sets of relationships is called the field equations which are the differential equations, governing the material of interest. We are unaware of the mathematical model that truly simulates a natural phenomenon. The available models are based on several assumptions. For examples, there are many models that describe different fluid flows. The most general equations in fluid mechanics are the Navier-Stokes equations. The assumptions in derivation the Navier-Stokes equation are: • • •

The fluid is a continuum; it indicates that we deal with a continuous matter. The fields of interest such as pressure, velocity, density, temperature etc., are piecewise continuous functions of space and time. The fluid is Newtonian; a further, and very strong, restriction used is a linear stressrate of strain relationship.

Note that none of the above assumptions can be remediated by invoking non-linear form to an equation. For instance, non-linear power-law equations do not undo the information imbedded in Newtonian fluids equations. In the above, the term, ‘continuous’ means, there should be no boundary. Even quarks are not continuous. In fact, unless the size of the constitutive particles is zero, there cannot be any continuity. For any variable to be continuous in space, the above requirement of zero size must apply. For a variable to be continuous in time, the notion of ‘piecewise’ is absurd. Both space and time domains are continuous and must extend to infinity for ‘conservation of mass’ to hold true. There is not a single linear object in nature, let alone a linear relationship. In reality, there is not a single Newtonian fluid. The assumption of linear stress-rate of strain relationship is as aphenomenal (Zatzman and Islam, 2006; Khan and Islam, 2006) as the steady state assumption, in which the time dimension is eliminated.

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A general model that explains completely the fluid motion and describes the nonlinearity due to the turbulence and chaotic motion of a fluid flow has not been developed so far. The solution for a turbulent flow is usually obtained based on the Navier-Stokes equations that are not developed for such a flow. The numerical description is also found based on some simplification and linearization during the solution process. After the first linearization of the process itself by imposing ‘laws’ to forcibly describe natural phenomena, further linearization is involved during solution schemes (Mustafiz et al., 2006). All analytical methods impose linearization by dropping nonlinear terms, which is most often accomplished by neglecting terms or by imposing a fictitious boundary condition. Numerical techniques, on the other hand, impose linearization through discretization (Taylor series expansion), followed by solutins of a linear matrix. The existence of multiple solutions can be found in numerous problems. The occurrence of multiple solutions in solving the TSD-Euler equation was examined by Nixon (1989) and it was found that such solutions exist for a small range of Mach numbers and airfoil thicknesses. Nixon (1989) also found that a vorticity flux on the airfoil surface can enhance the appearance of multiple solutions. We also observe the presence of multiple solutions, which depend on the pathway, in material processing operations. The existence of multiple roots in isothermal ternary alloys was discovered by Coates and Kirkaldy (1971) and was further explored by (Maugis et Al. (1996). Coriell et Al. (1998) continued investigation of one-dimensional similarity solutions during solidification/melting of a binary alloy. Their study, to some extent, was analogous to the isothermal ternary system, except that the phases were then solid and liquid and temperature played the role of one of the components of the ternary. The diffusivity equation was used to express the variation of temperature and concentration of fluid and solid in time and space. The equation was transferred to an ordinary differential equation using the similarity technique and the existence of multiple similarity solutions for the solidification/melting problem was noticed. These results corresponded to significantly different temperature and composition profiles. Recently, a computational procedure to find the multiple solutions of convective heat transfer was proposed by Mishra and DebRoy (2005). In this approach, the conventional method of numerical solution was combined with a real number genetic algorithm (GA). These led the researchers to find a population of solutions and search for and obtain multiple set of input variable, all of which gave the desired specific output. The existence of multiple solutions was investigated in separation technology using membrane separators by Tiscareno-Lechuga (1999). The author discussed conditions of the occurrence of multiple solutions when the mole fraction of a component with intermediate permeability was specified as a design variable. When the pressure in the permeate chamber was significantly lower than that of the rententate, the conditions turned to be simpler and were expressed through equations, which involved only the composition of the feed and the permeability of the membrane. The existence of multiple solutions in natural processes has been recognized by Islam and Nandakumar (1986) and later expanded by Islam and Nandakumar (1990), Islam et al. (1992), and others. We take into account some bivariate polynomials of different degree as a token-model for a natural phenomenon. It is assumed that the other contributing parameters of the model of the bivariate polynomial are constant. The number of solutions depends on the degree of the

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nonlinearity of the polynomial. The solutions are obtained using the Newton’s method and presented in graphical form for a limited region. Some nonlinear simultaneous equations are also taken into account and the solutions of them are obtained with the Newton and Adomian decomposition methods (ADM). Our objective is to show that conventional techniques do not generate multiple solution, for instance, ADM, which is a very powerful method for solution of nonlinear equations can not produce multiple solutions. We also proposed a new scheme to show the feasibility of generating multiple solutions.

KNOWLEDGE DIMENSION Dimensions provide the existence and imagination of the universe. It may be defined as the elements or factors making up a complete personality or entity. The dimensions are unique (each dimension has unique properties that makes it different from others), codependent (the dimensions are equally dependent to each other for their existence) and transcendence (dimensions have the ability of extending or lying beyond what would otherwise be able to do). Knowledge is synonymous to truth and reflects information about the properties, which exist in objects, events or facts. Knowledge explains the physical properties (which are observable and measurable), date, history, theories, opinions, etc. It does not have time, space, mass and energy. Knowledge is a dimension for phenomena and may be possible to measure it by bits of information. Information can be lead to increasing knowledge if proper science (science of nature) is used. Knowledge can be obtained through the physical and/or mathematical simulation of a phenomenon. The physical simulation is carried out by geometrical, kinematical and dynamical scaling up or down of a problem. In many cases, it is not possible to obtain a complete physical simulation and, therefore, the experimental results are based on several assumptions. The mathematical simulation is obtained by finding the governing equation and the internal relationship between the parameters involved. Because any phenomenon is affected by a number of factors, any attempt to find the truth greatly relies on how closely these factors are addressed. It is observed that the description of any physical phenomenon involves a number of assumptions. It is understandable that as we reduce the number of assumptions, we reach closer to the truth. The multi-dimensionality is another aspect of the knowledge dimension. As the time is passed, knowledge is increased if the pathway of nature is followed. This process is onedimensional, as knowledge cannot be retracted and it cannot regress. The next step is the consciousness, which is knowledge of the knowledge. It may be considered as the second dimension of the knowledge dimension. Each dimension is naturally independent and, therefore, it may let that independent knowledge to enter. These indicate that there is no limitation or beginning and end for the knowledge dimension. This multi-dimensionality of the knowledge dimension indicate that there may be also be a range of solutions for a specific phenomenon due to the fact that there are different factors contribute to that phenomenon. If we consider a pure material and plot the curve for melting or freezing of it in a certain pressure, there is a constant temperature during the freezing or melting process. However,

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Temperature

there is no pure substance. In fact, when we refer to 100% pure, it refers to detectionable limit of the analytical method used. If an isomorphous alloy, which consists of an arbitrary composition of components A and B, is taken into account, the freezing or melting process is take place in a range of temperature that is depend on the composition of the alloy and the pressure, as shown in Figure 1. Therefore, we are dealing with a range of temperature instead of a constant temperature. Another interesting point is that during the freezing and melting process the concentrations of the equilibrium liquid or solid phases are changing and varying in a certain range dependent on the final concentration of liquid or solid state. This is more pronounced for an alloy of more components.

Weight percent of component B

Figure 1. The phase diagram for an isomorphous alloy.

There should be a population of solutions for a problem related to a natural phenomenon, dependent on the number and the behavior of involved parameters. There are many situations that the variation of parameters involved in a natural phenomenon is approximated with a polynomial function (Bjorndalen, 2002; Bjorndalen et al., 2005; Mustafiz et al., 2006). This is because we do not know the governing equation for that phenomenon. The number of solution for such a function depends on the nonlinearity of that function. There are also roots that are not real. All of the roots of such a polynomial indicate that we should expect different solutions regardless of the physical significance of them. It also indicates that if we can represent the natural data as a polynomial function at any given time, we can determine the roots, all of which should be considered for reporting some natural phenomena. Thus, roots including the imaginary ones are considered as the multiple solutions. We take into account three bivariate polynomials and solve them for all possible roots. These polynomiald are a third, two forth and a fifth degree polynomials with two variables x and y.

Example 1 The first polynomial is a third degree bivariate polynomial.

4 y 3 − 3 y 2 − 2 y + 2 = −5 x 3 + 4 x 2 + 3 x + 1

(1)

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The solution of this third degree polynomial is shown in Figures 2 to 4. The real roots of the bivariate polynomial are depicted in Figure 2. This polynomial gives three real roots in a limited range of x and y. In general, the polynomial has three complex roots at each constant real value of x and y. These roots can not be shown in a single graph. These are depicted in Figures 3 when the variable y is a fixed real number, while in Figure 4, it is plotted for a fixed real value of x.

Figure 2. The graph of a third degree polynomial.

This figure indicates that with such a simple nonlinear problem we are dealing with a population of solutions, some of which may not be tangible. However, It does not mean that the intangible solutions are not natural. A complex number consists of a real part and an imaginary part. In many cases, it was understood that the only real part describing the real world. The later applications of the complex number in different brunch of sciences such as quantum mechanics, control theory, fluid dynamics and signal analysis reveal that nature has no preference for the real number and the imaginary part being just as physical as the real part.

Example 2 The second example is a fourth degree polynomial.

5 y 4 + 4 y 3 − 3 y 2 − 2 y + 2 = 6 x 4 − 5x3 − 4 x 2 + 3x − 2

(2)

The roots of the fourth degree polynomial are given in Figs. 5 to 7. In general, this polynomial should have four roots for each constant value of the variables. Four real roots for x can be found four real roots in a limited range of the variable y. It does not have four real roots for the variable y for a fixed real value of x. At most two real roots for the variable y can be obtained if x has a real value.

6

4

4

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2

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2

0 -2

Imag. part

6

Real part

Imag. part

6

0 -2

-2

"b"

"a" -4

"c"

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6

4

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2

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Imag. part

6

Real part

Imag. part

Figure 3. The roots of the third degree polynomial for a fixed real value of γ.

0 -2

-2

"a"

"b"

-4 -6 -6

-4

-4

-2

0 Real part

2

4

0

6

-6 -6

-4

-4

Figure 4. The roots of the third polynomial for a fixed real value of χ.

-2

0

2

4

6

- 6- 6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

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Figure 5. The graph of the real value of the first fourth degree polynomial.

All of the imaginary roots for y = 0,±1,±2,±3,±4,±5 are given in Figure 6. The same graphs are shown for the roots of the forth degree polynomial in Figure 7, for which x = 0,±1,±2,±3,±4,±5.

Example 3 The next example is a fifth degree polynomial. 6 y 6 + 5 y 4 + 4 y 3 + 3 y 2 + 2 y + 1 = 7 x 5 + 6 x 4 + 5 x3 + 4 x 2 + 3x + 2

(3)

The real roots of this polynomial are depicted in Figures 8 to 10. This fifth degree polynomial has a real root for every real value of x and y. All roots of the polynomial are shown in the complex planes in Figures 9-a and 10-a for y, x = 0,±1,±2,±3,±4,±5, respectively. The figures show that each two of the four complex roots are complex conjugate. The variation of a parameter causes other parameters to be affected and prescribes some changes during the process. This indicates that all of the contributing parameters in a natural phenomenon are dependent on each other. These may be explained with some nonlinear simultaneous equations. The solution for these systems of nonlinear function is obtained mostly by the numerical methods. However, in many cases, the restriction of the applied method may limit in obtaining all of the solutions possible. The well known method in solution of nonlinear algebraic and simultaneous equations is the Newton method. The main restriction of this method is that the initial value for starting the iteration should be near the exact solution. If the initial guess is far from the exact solution it may result in a divergent iterations. We also applied

6

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Imag. part

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-2

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6

6

4

4

4

2

2

2

0

Imag. part

6

Real part

Imag. part

Figure 6. The roots of the first fourth degree polynomial for a fixed real value of γ.

0 -2

-2

-2

"a"

"b"

"c"

-4

-4 - 6- 6

-4

-2

0

2

4

0

6

-6 -6

-4

-4

-2

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Real part

Figure 7. The roots of the first fourth degree polynomial for a fixed real value of χ.

2

4

6

-6 -6

-4

-2

0

2

4

6

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Figure 8. The graph of the real roots of the fifth degree polynomial.

THE ADOMIAN DECOMPOSITION METHOD IN SOLUTION OF NONLINEAR SIMULATANEOUS EQUATIONS The Adomian Decomposition Method (ADM) is a powerful method that can be used to obtain the solutions of systems of nonlinear simultaneous equations. ADM was first proposed by a North American physicist, G. Adomian (1923-1996). The method is well addressed in Mousavizadegan et al. [2006] to discuss the limitations of ADM for partial differential equations and Mustafiz et al. [2006] to solve the Buckley-Leverett equation with the effect of the capillary pressure. The ADM solution is obtained in a series form while the nonlinear term is decomposed into a series in which the terms are calculated recursively using Adomian polynomials. A simultaneous algebraic equation with n independent variables is taken into account. It may written that

f i ( x1 , x 2 ,..., x n ) = 0

i = 1,2,..., n

and

(4)

Each equation can be solved for an independent variable as

xi = ai + g i ( x1 , x 2 ,..., x n )

and

i = 1,2,..., n

(5)

The solution may be expressed as a series solution as ∞

xi = ∑ xi , j i =0

and

i = 1,2,..., n

(6)

6

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Imag. part

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Imag. part

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"b"

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6

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4

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Real part

Imag. part

Figure 9. The roots of the fifth degree polynomial for a fixed real value of γ.

0

-2

-2 "b"

"a" -4 -6 -6

-2

0 Real part

2

4

6

-6 -6

"c"

-4

-4

-4

0

-4

-2

Figure 10. The roots of the fifth degree polynomial for a fixed real value ofχ.

0

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-6 -6

-4

-2

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The components of the series solution are obtained using the Adomian decomposition method in the form ∞

∞

i =0

k =0

(7)

∑ xi, j = a i + ∑ Ai,k where xi ,0 = a i , xi ,1 = Ai ,0 , xi , 2 = Ai ,1 , ...,

xi ,m = Ai ,m −1 , xi ,m +1 = Ai ,m , ...

(8)

The term Ai ,m is obtained by using the Adomian polynomial that is given in the following form. Ai ,m =

⎛ ∞ k 1 ⎡ dm ⎢ m g i ⎜⎜ ∑ λ x1,k , m! ⎣⎢ dλ ⎝ k =0 and

∞

∑ λk x2,k , ...,

k =0

⎞⎤

∞

(9)

∑ λk xn,k ⎟⎟⎥

⎠⎦⎥ λ =0

k =0

m = 1,2,...., ∞

for

i = 1,2,..., n

These are the first three elements of the Adomian polynomials. Ai ,0 = g i (x1,0 , x 2 ,0 ,...., x n ,0 ) Ai ,1 = x1,1

∂ ∂ g i (x1,0 , x 2 ,0 ,...., x n ,0 ) + ... + x n ,1 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) ∂x n ∂x 1

Ai , 2 = x1, 2

∂ ∂ g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ... + x n, 2 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ∂x n ∂x 1

1 1 2 ∂2 ∂2 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + x1,1 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ... + x n2,1 2 2 ∂x n2 ∂x12 x1,1 x 2,1

∂2 ∂2 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ... + x1,1 x n,1 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ∂x 1 x 2 ∂x 1 x n

x 2,1 x 3,1

∂2 ∂2 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ... + x 2,1 x n,1 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) + ∂x 2 x 3 ∂x 2 x n

...

+ ....

+ x n−1,1 x n,1

∂2 g i (x1,0 , x 2,0 ,...., x n,0 ) ∂x 2 x 3

(10) The rest is lengthy and more complicated. MATLAB is used to compute the elements of Ai , j . The elements of the series solution xi are obtained according to (6).

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169

Example 4 The first nonlinear system of equation is ⎧⎪ x 2 − 10 x + 4 y 2 + 9 = 0 , ⎨ 2 ⎪⎩ xy + x − 10 y + 5 = 0

(11)

The real solutions can be obtained by plotting the equations as given in Figure 11. The plot indicates that there are two common real roots for this nonlinear SAE.

Figure 11. The graphs of the simultaneous equations (11).

We use the ADM to find the solution for (11). The series solutions are obtained using the equations (4) to (10) with different numbers of the elements. The computations are carried on using MATLAB. The solutions and the errors with different umber of elements are x = 1.21244 & y = 0.669277 if i = 4

E1 = 0.1373 & E 2 = 0.0627

x = 1.23491 & y = 0.679418 if i = 8

E1 = 0.0223 & E 2 = 0.0108

x = 1.23802 & y = 0.680857 if i = 12 E1 = 0.0046 & E 2 = 0.0023 x = 1.23916 & y = 0.681396 if i = 16 E1 = 0.0011 & E 2 = 0.0006 x = 1.23933 & y = 0.681474 if i = 20 E1 = 0.0003 & E 2 = 0.0001

where E1 and E2 are the deviation of the first and second equation from zero. However, it gives a good approximation for the solution of this system of simultaneous equations. The deficiency of the ADM is that it is not able to give the second solution as seen from the Figure 13. The other restriction is that the Adomian polynomial does not always give a

170

S. H. Mousavizadegan, S. Mustafiz and M. R. Islam

convergent series solution. It depends on the type of the equations and the first term of the series solution. It is necessary sometimes to change the form of the equations to a get a convergent series solution for the problem.

Figure 12. The graphs of the simultaneous equations (12).

Figure 13. The graphs of the simultaneous equations (14).

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171

Example 5 The second nonlinear SAE is

⎧⎪ x 2 + 4 y 2 − 16 = 0 ⎨ ⎪⎩− 2 x 2 + xy − 3 y + 10 = 0

(12)

This system of simultaneous equations has four real common roots as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14. The graphs of the simultaneous equations (16).

These roots are computed with ADM. The system of equations is written in the form

⎧⎪ x = ± 0.5( xy − 3 y + 10) ⎨ ⎪⎩ y = ±0.5 16 − x 2 for each of the variables. It is assumed that x =

(13)

∞

∞

i =0

i =0

∑ xi and y = ∑ yi . Using ADM, it is set

that x0 = 0 and y0 = 0 . The elements of the series solutions are obtained using the adomian polynomial as given in (9).

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S. H. Mousavizadegan, S. Mustafiz and M. R. Islam

xm =

ym

⎧ 1 ⎪ ∂ m−1 ⎨ m! ⎪ ∂λm−1 ⎩

⎧ 1 ⎪ ∂ m−1 = ⎨ m−1 m! ⎪ ∂λ ⎩

⎡ ∞ ∞ ⎛ ∞ ⎞ ⎤⎫ ⎢± 0.5 ⎜ ∑ λk x m ∑ λk y k − 3 ∑ λk y k + 10 ⎟ ⎥ ⎪⎬ ⎜ ⎟⎥ ⎢ k =0 k =0 ⎝ k =0 ⎠ ⎦ ⎪⎭ ⎣ λ =0 ⎡ ∞ ⎢± 0.5 16 − ∑ λk x k ⎢ k =0 ⎣⎢

(

)

2

⎤⎫ ⎥ ⎪⎬ ⎥⎪ ⎥⎦ ⎭ λ =0

for m = 1,2,....

for m = 1,2,....

The computation are carried out and the solution are obtained when the series solution are truncated to i = 10 . The solutions are

x = 2.0426 & y = 1.7144 ; x = −1.0435 & y = 1.9316 ;

x = −2.9794 & y = −1.3193 ; and

x = 2.3554 & y = −1.6235 . which are very accurate. The more accurate result can be found with increasing the number of the series solution elements. The multiple solutions can be found if the solution is arranged in proper form. It can be considered as one of the most challenging tasks in application of ADM. A proper arrangement should be selected to obtain a convergent result as well as the multiple solutions if there are.

Example 6

The third example is a third degree system of two simultaneous equations of the variables x and y. ⎧⎪ x 3 + y 3 − 10 x − 5 = 0 ⎨ 3 ⎪⎩ x − y 3 − 15 y 2 + 2 = 0

(14)

The equations are plotted in Figure 13. It is realized that there are four real solution for this system of nonlinear equations. The solution for the variables may be arranged in the form

⎧ x = −0.2 + 0.1( x 3 + y 3 ) ⎪ ⎨ 1 (2 + x 3 − y 3 ) ⎪y = ± 15 ⎩

(15)

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173

Using ADM, the solutions are expressed in the series form as (6). The elements of the series solution for x and y are computed by taking into account that x0 = −0.5 and y0 = 0 the rest are computed using Adomian polynomial (9). The arrangement of the SAE in the form of (15) gives two of the common real roots that are ( x = −0.5089 & y = 0.3489 ) and ( x = −0.5185 & y = 0.3565 ). This arrangement in the form of (15) does not give all the common real roots of the SAE (14). The other solutions may be obtained with another arrangement for x and y. We try different arrangement for the variables but almost all of them result in a divergent series.

Example 7 The next example is a fourth degree system of simultaneous equations.

1 4 ⎧ 4 3 ⎪ x + x y + y − 15 x − 3 = 0 5 ⎨ ⎪2 x 4 − y 4 − 10 y + 3 = 0 ⎩

(16)

There are four common real roots for this system of equations as shown in Figure (14). This system of equations are rearranged in the form for x and y variables. The only solution that can be obtained with the ADM and the arrangement (17) is x = −0.19995 & y = 0.29952 where the series solution is truncated to i = 5 . 1 1 4 1 4 ⎧ 3 ⎪⎪ x = − 5 + 15 ( x + x y + 5 y ) ⎨ ⎪ y = 3 + 1 (2 x 4 − y 4 ) ⎪⎩ 10 10

(17)

CONCLUSIONS Our objective in this paper is to discuss the possibility of multiple solutions in natural phenomena. In many cases, it is possible to express or approximate a natural phenomenon by a nonlinear polynomial. This nonlinear polynomial has multiple solutions which depends on nonlinearity and number of variables. We explained about several bivariate polynomials of different degrees and show a population of solutions in the complex plane. The other objective is to show the limitation of the methods in finding the complete solutions of a given nonlinear problem. The mathematical model for many real problems are given in the form of partial differential equations. In most of the cases, the solution of these PDEs are obtained by the numerical methods. The normal procedure is to recast the PDE in the form of nonlinear simultaneous algebraic equations (SAE). The solutions of this nonlinear SAE are obtained by some linearization during the process of computations. This may affect the quality as well as the quantity of the solutions.

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We introduce several bivariate nonlinear SAEs with different degrees of nonlinearity. The real roots of these bivariate SAEs can be obtained graphically as shown in in the previous sections. All of the SAEs are solved with Adomain decomposition method (ADM) and show the limitation of the ADM method, which is used as a sample method. However, other methods such as Newton’s method may give all probable solutions but it it necessary to know the region of each solution to start a convergent iteration and find the roots. If the number of variables are increased, it will be a challenging task to find the region of all roots. Such investigation will enable us getting the complete picture of knowledge dimension, which may be useful in decision making.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors gratefully acknowledge the research grant provided through the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF). Mustafiz would also like to thank the Killam Foundation, Canada for its financial support.

REFERENCES Bjorndalen, N. 2002. Irradiation techniques for improved performance of horizontal wells, MASC Thesis, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. Bjorndalen, N., Mustafiz, S. and Islam, M.R. 2005. The effect of irradiation on immiscible fluids for increased oil production with horizontal wells, ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE), Orlando, Florida, USA, November. Coates, D. E, and Kirkaldy, J. S. 1971. Morphological stability of !- ! phase interfaces in the Cu- Zn- Ni system at 775 C , Met. Trans, vol. 2, no. 12, 3467-77, December. Coriell, S.R., McFadden, G.B., Sekerka, R.F.and Boettinger W.J. 1998. Multiple similarity solutions for solidification and melting, Journal of Crystal Growth, vol. 191, 573-585. Islam, M.R., Chakma, A. and Nandakumar, K., 1990, "Flow Transition in Mixed Convection in a Porous Medium Saturated With Water Near 4 C", Can. J. Chem. Eng., vol. 68, 777785. Islam, M.R. and Nandakumar, K., 1986, "Multiple Solution for Buoyancy-Induced Flow in Saturated Porous Media for Large Peclet Numbers", Trans. ASME Journal of Heat Transfer, vol.108 (4), 866-871. Islam, M.R. and Nandakumar, K., 1990, "Transient Convection in Saturated Porous Layers With Internal Heat Sources", Int. J. Heat and Mass Transfer, vol. 33 (1), 151-161. Khan, M.I. and Islam, M.R. 2006. True sustainability in technological development and natural resources management, Nova Science Publishers, NY, USA. Maugis, P.; Hopfe, W.D.; Morral, J.E.; Kirkaldy, J.S. 1996. Degeneracy of diffusion paths in ternary, two-phase diffusion couples, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 79, no. 10, 75927596. Mishra, S., and DebRoy, T. 2005. A computational procedure for finding multiple solutions of convective heat transfer equations, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys., vol. 38, 2977–2985.

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Mustafiz, S., Mousavizadegan, S.H. and Islam, M.R. 2006. The effects of linearization on solutions of reservoir engineering problems, Petroleum Science and Technology, accepted for publication, 17 pg. Nixon, D. 1989. Occurence of multiple solutions for the TSD-Euler equation Source: Acta Mechanica, vol. 80, no. 3-4, 191-199. Tiscareno-Lechuga, F. 1999. A sufficient condition for multiple solutions in gas membrane separators with perfect mixing, Computers and Chemical Engineering, vol. 23, no. 3: 391-394. Zatzman, G.M. and Islam, M.R. 2006. Economics of intangibles: Nova Science Publisher, NY, USA, in press.

INDEX

A abatement, 155 Abdullah, 124, 127 accelerator, 48 access, 12, 34, 35 accounting, 26, 28, 34 accuracy, 100, 103 acetylene, 135 acid, 71, 73, 77, 78, 86, 87, 113, 151 acidic, 151 acidity, 151 acrylonitrile, 88 activated carbon, 141 adaptability, 24, 90, 115, 125 adaptation, 46 additives, 25, 81, 82 adenosine, 77 adhesives, 89 adjustment, 34 administration, 47, 49 Adomian Decomposition method, 104, 157 adsorption, 131, 132, 138, 139, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 149, 151, 154 adulthood, 75 advertising, 12 aerobic bacteria, 116 age, 1, 2, 3, 4, 34, 51, 84, 92, 93, 105 aggression, 49 aging, 30 agriculture, 49 AIDS, 84 air emissions, 86 air pollutants, 87 air pollution, 117, 127 Al Qaeda, 38 alanine, 71

Albert Einstein, 5 alcohol(s), 75, 118, 119 algae, 116, 117 algorithm, 104, 159 alkaline, 78, 94 Allah, 1 alloys, 159 alternative(s), 26, 31, 46, 93, 111, 118, 122, 132, 133 aluminum, 48, 83 amines, 76 amino, 71, 72, 77, 134 amino acid(s), 71, 72, 77, 134 ammonia, 30, 80, 105, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 117, 122, 123, 126, 127 ammonium, 112, 113 amortization, 44 Amsterdam, 54 anaerobic sludge, 130 anatomy, 32 animal waste, 108 animals, 64, 76, 115 antibiotics, 40 antioxidants, 56 aquatic habitats, 115, 132 aqueous solutions, 131, 132 Aquinas, Thomas, 1, 2, 34 Arab world, 31 Arabs, 30 Argentina, 49 arginine, 71 argument, 4, 15, 19, 33, 41, 51 Aristotle, 1, 2, 4, 33 arithmetic, 34, 45 armed forces, 47 aromatic hydrocarbons, 86 arrest, 11 arsenic, 138 arteries, 58

178

Index

arthritis, 30 articulation, 38 asbestos, 9, 10 ash, 138 Asia, 41 Aspartame, 29, 66 aspirin, 58, 59 assessment, 67, 92, 94, 124, 127 assets, 47 assumptions, 2, 6, 14, 18, 20, 22, 29, 34, 35, 109, 158, 160 asthma, 30, 78, 86, 88 Athens, 42 atoms, 17, 54, 77 ATP, 77 attacks, 39, 58, 59 attention, 9, 10, 12, 28, 112, 124 Australia, 55 authority, 11, 12, 13, 32, 47, 56 automata, 28 automobiles, 80 availability, 35 Averröes, 1, 2, 3, 33, 34 awareness, 6

B B vitamins, 56 Bacillus, 78, 117 Bacillus subtilis, 117 backwardness, 31 bacteria, 4, 5, 78, 83, 115, 116, 117, 132, 136, 137, 149, 152, 153, 154 bacterial cells, 132 Baghdad, 38 bankruptcy, 47 banks, 12, 43 batteries, 27 behavior, 4, 22, 25, 30, 67, 132, 155, 161 behavioral change, 75 beliefs, 42, 50, 53, 60 beneficial effect, 21 benefits, 26, 56, 82, 124 benign, 121, 123 beverages, 4 bias, 15, 33 bible, 1, 2, 34, 51, 52 biochemistry, 52 biodegradability, 77 biodegradable, 70, 77, 83, 89 biodegradation, 77, 78 biodiversity, 95 bioethanol, 127

biomass, 105, 106, 119, 120, 124 biopolymers, 78 bioremediation, 94 biosorption, 132 biosphere, 94 biota, 131, 132 birth, 64, 88, 89 black tea, 5, 131, 133, 134, 135, 154 blame, 42 blasphemy, 4 blocks, 3, 31, 71 blood, 88 body fat, 88 bonding, 72 bonds, 71 borrowers, 44 boundary value problem, 97 boys, 63 brain, 16, 20, 21, 26, 27, 30, 34, 40, 59, 76 brainwashing, 40 branching, 153 breakdown, 31, 86 breast milk, 75, 76, 93, 94, 95 breathing, 88, 89 brominated flame retardants, 91 bronchitis, 88 Brusselator, 97, 103, 104 budget deficit, 46 buffer, 135 building blocks, 71 burning, 79, 81, 85, 106, 125 Bush administration, 49 business model, 56 buttons, 82

C cables, 76 cadmium, 81 calcium, 80, 133 calcium carbonate, 80 California, 44, 94 campaigns, 10 Canada, 1, 4, 9, 40, 61, 65, 67, 80, 92, 94, 95, 105, 115, 129, 131, 155, 157, 174 cancer, 3, 30, 35, 56, 75, 84, 88, 94 capillary, 166 capsule, 84 carbohydrates, 84, 86 carbon, 70, 76, 77, 78, 80, 87, 110, 113, 115, 117, 125, 126, 129, 141 carbon atoms, 77 carbon dioxide, 87, 110, 125, 126

Index carbon monoxide, 76 carcinogenicity, 86 carcinogen(s), 76, 81, 85, 88, 89 cardiovascular disease, 57 Carnot, 124 carotene, 56 carrier, 32, 123 case study, 82, 95 cast, 158 catalysis, 20 catalyst(s), 20, 73, 80 Catholic(s), 1, 11, 32 Catholic Church, 11, 32 cation, 141 C-C, 135 CDC, 89, 91 cell, 15, 29, 32, 105, 108, 110, 118, 119, 127 cell phones, 32 cellulose, 120 cement, 48 central bank, 47 certainty, 36 chain molecules, 84 chaos, 92 charities, 39 chemical approach’, 67, 68 chemical bonds, 71 chemical composition, 78, 79 chemical energy, 105, 118 chemical engineering, 29, 53 chemical industry, 20 chemical kinetics, 97 chemical reactions, 20, 119 children, 36, 61, 63, 88 Chile, 54 chimpanzee, 50 China, 49, 156 Chinese, 82, 156 chitin, 118 chloride, 88, 113, 115 chlorine, 20, 111 cholesterol, 59 Christianity, 35 chromium, 3 CIA, 40, 47 citizenship, 15 cleaning, 21, 113 clinical trials, 12, 56 clusters, 152 CO2, 26, 76, 87, 106, 110, 112, 113, 114, 115, 119, 130 coagulation, 132 coal, 106

179

coatings, 76, 84 coffee, 76, 88 coherence, 44 coke, 80 Cold War, 38, 40 colon, 57 colonization, 60 combustion, 20, 21, 78, 87, 92, 93, 106 commerce, 60 commodity, 89 communication, 1, 31, 91, 94 community, 30, 60, 63, 93, 95 compensation, 9, 10 competition, 12, 33, 44 competitiveness, 46 compiler, 39 complexity, 13, 23, 28, 50 components, 2, 21, 22, 77, 80, 81, 84, 86, 88, 100, 132, 159, 161, 168 composites, 68 composition, 71, 77, 78, 79, 159, 161 composting, 78, 108 compounds, 16, 20, 73, 81, 83, 84, 86, 87, 111, 133 compressibility, 22 computation, 26, 27, 172 computers, 21, 32 computing, 35, 104 concentration, 12, 20, 25, 29, 113, 117, 131, 132, 135, 138, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 149, 151, 153, 154, 159, 161 concrete, 6 condensation, 135 conditioning, 122 conductivity, 118 confidence, 60 configuration, 22 confinement, 16 conflict, 35 confusion, 2, 26, 42, 60 congestive heart failure, 56 Congress, 65, 93, 95, 174 conscious knowledge, 6 consciousness, 5, 11, 16, 49, 160 consensus, 56 conservation, 158 conspiracy, 37, 47 construction, 43, 45, 46, 48 consulting, 58 consumer price index, 46 consumer protection, 43, 44 consumers, 5 consumption, 43, 46, 48, 84, 86, 87, 106, 120 contaminant(s), 94, 131, 138, 141, 143, 144

180

Index

contamination, 75, 89, 124, 155 continuity, 158 control, 37, 49, 59, 61, 65, 131, 133, 162 convergence, 103 conversion, 30, 106, 110, 117, 118, 121 cooking, 21, 30, 39, 108, 110 cooling, 44, 105, 106, 110, 120, 122, 123 Copenhagen, 91 copper, 155 corporations, 89 correlation, 27, 42 corrosion, 127 corruption, 45 cortex, 32 cosmetics, 88 costs, 26, 89, 120 cotton, 82 cough, 89 coughing, 89 couples, 84, 174 coupling, 108 covering, 62 creative abilities, 50 credibility, 24, 29 credit, 3, 36, 46, 48 crime, 11, 41 critical period, 84 critical thinking, 33 criticism, 92 crude oil, 25, 81, 83, 84 culture, 2, 31, 35, 41, 42, 62, 82, 93, 117 currency, 42 cycles, 21, 39, 122 cystine, 71 cytoskeleton, 72

D danger, 70 Darwin, Charles, 11, 50 database, 15, 87 dating, 82 death(s), 9, 10, 38, 56, 58 debt, 43, 45, 48 decision making, 174 decisions, 13, 36, 60, 61 decomposition, 67, 81, 83, 91, 97, 103, 160, 168, 174 defects, 88, 89 deficiency, 28, 57, 169 deficit(s), 46, 75 definition, 5, 17, 18, 20, 29, 39, 99, 125 degenerate, 40 degradation, 67, 69, 77, 78, 79, 83, 91, 108, 132

degradation process, 78, 108 degradation rate, 77, 84 demand, 51, 52, 111, 115 democracy, 41, 42, 49 democrats, 45 denaturation, 78 density, 68, 119, 158 dentures, 89 Department of Energy, 87 depolymerization, 80, 81 depression, 30 desalination, 105, 106, 108, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 126 desire(s), 45, 61 destruction, 12, 13, 45, 108 detection, 54, 86, 94, 136 determinism, 42 developmental disorder, 84 deviation, 169 diarrhea, 89 differential equations, 97, 158, 166, 173 differentiation, 50 diffusion, 97, 103, 104, 174 diffusion process, 97 diffusivity, 159 digestion, 108, 109, 116, 125, 130 dimensionality, 160 dimer, 73, 75 dioxin, 19, 30, 90 diploid, 152 disaster, 9, 10, 21, 75 discourse, 1, 10, 17, 37 discretization, 159 distribution, 11, 32, 39, 92, 95, 111 divergence, 2 diversity, vii, 21, 68, 132, 133 division, 27, 34 dizziness, 88 DNA, 28, 29, 50 doctors, 56, 58, 59 doors, 85 drinking water, 111 drugs, 40, 58, 59 dumping, 111 DuPont, 19, 80, 118 durability, 30, 67, 69, 83 duration, 17, 28, 106 duties, 60, 61, 63

E earth, 12, 15, 50, 51, 52, 60, 111, 121 eating, 122, 128

Index ecology, 92, 94, 130 economic cycle, 39 economic development model, 26 economic growth, 49 economic theory, 26 economics, 22, 92 ecosystem, 30, 68, 78, 88, 94, 115, 116, 131 Ecuador, 25 education, 31, 34, 65, 92, 94, 96 effluent(s), 105, 108, 109, 110, 115, 116, 123 EIA, 87 Einstein, 2, 5, 17, 34, 122, 128 elaboration, 37, 51, 89 elasticity, 70, 71 electric charge, 118 electric circuit, 15 electric energy, 5 electricity, 5, 21, 48, 105, 106, 111, 118, 120, 121, 122, 127 electrodes, 40, 119 electrolyte, 118, 127 electromagnetic, 54 electron(s), 17, 54, 55, 70, 76 email, 131 emission, 76, 87 employment, 12 encoding, 32 endometriosis, 88 energy, 4, 18, 20, 21, 22, 26, 27, 29, 31, 52, 78, 80, 81, 86, 87, 89, 92, 93, 95, 105, 106, 108, 111, 112, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 127, 130, 132, 156, 158, 160 energy consumption, 86 energy density, 119 England, 42 entrepreneurs, 49 environment, 4, 5, 12, 16, 18, 19, 21, 25, 51, 67, 70, 75, 76, 77, 79, 81, 84, 86, 89, 119, 123, 131, 132, 133, 151, 155 environmental chemicals, 91 environmental context, 132 environmental degradation, 132 environmental impact, 4, 26, 77, 78, 86 environmental regulations, 25 environmental sustainability, 92, 93, 96 enzyme, 20 EPA, 87, 111, 128 epidemic, 30 equality, 62 equilibrium, 16, 135, 138, 140, 146, 161 equipment, 40, 41, 48, 89, 123, 127 equity, 44 erosion, 136

181

estates, 48 ethanol, 118, 119, 120, 128, 129, 130 ethers, 96 ethnicity, 2 ethylene, 76, 89, 94 ethylene glycol, 76, 94 eucalyptus, 117 Euler, 159, 175 Europe, 1, 2, 30, 33, 34, 35, 41 evidence, 2, 3, 6, 10, 14, 50, 54, 56, 82 evolution, 29, 50, 51, 52, 53 exchange rate, 47 excuse, 35, 41, 89 expertise, 36 exploitation, 13 exports, 48 exposure, 40, 57, 75, 80, 84, 86, 89, 91 extraction, 31, 48 extremism, 15 eyes, 41, 88, 89

F fabric, 53, 89 failure, 4, 9, 10, 11, 13, 46, 58, 88 faith, 2, 12, 15 family, 36, 63, 72 farmers, 48 fat, 88 fatigue, 89 fear, 60, 61, 89 feces, 109 feedback, 28 fermentation, 120 fertilizers, 3, 5, 70 fever, 30 fibers, 40, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 88, 89 fidelity, 51 filtration, 132 finance, 43, 45, 46, 48 financial institutions, 12, 46 financial support, 174 financial system, 45, 46 financing, 43 fine wool, 73 fire retardants, 76, 94 First World, 12 fish, 40, 57, 88, 116, 138, 141, 156 fission, 20 flame, 79, 91, 135 flame retardants, 91 flexibility, vii, 21, 24, 71, 89 flooring, 88

182

Index

flotation, 80, 88, 132 fluid, 27, 122, 123, 124, 158, 159, 162 fluid intelligence, 27 fluorescence, 80 fluoride, 128 foams, 76 focusing, 21, 39, 40 food, 3, 48, 77, 84, 86, 88, 89, 90, 119, 125 Food and Drug Administration (FDA), 56, 57, 58, 88 food products, 84 football, 55 footwear, 88 foreign exchange, 48 formaldehyde, 20, 30, 89 fossil, 20, 50, 81, 86, 89, 106, 108, 123, 127 fossil fuels, 81, 86, 106 fraud, 10 freedom, 2, 23, 42 freezing, 160 freshwater, 111, 117 Freundlich isotherm, 140, 142, 144, 146, 147, 148, 149, 151 fruits, 64 fuel, 20, 87, 89, 105, 106, 108, 110, 117, 118, 119, 120, 123, 125, 127 fuel cell, 105, 108, 110, 118, 119, 127 funding, 47, 53, 58, 59, 155 fundraising, 39 funds, 39 fungi(us), 78, 131 furniture, 76, 80 futures, 13 fuzzy logic, 27

G gambling, 43, 44 gases, 77, 80, 83, 88, 110, 114, 117 GDP, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48 GDP per capita, 46 general knowledge, 37 generation, 50, 77, 108, 109, 118, 124, 127 genocide, 60 genome, 29, 50, 64 Georgia, 52, 91, 128 Germany, 25, 128 gifts, 63 girls, 63 glaciers, 111 glass(es), 80, 81, 88, 115, 122, 136 glucose, 27 glutamic acid, 71 glycine, 71

glycol, 76, 94 glycolysis, 76, 94 God, 1, 2, 3, 6, 12, 51, 52, 53 gold, 58 government, 26, 37, 39, 40, 45, 46, 47, 49, 62, 89 GPS, 35 grants, 53 granules, 80 graph, 34, 125, 138, 141, 143, 144, 146, 148, 149, 162, 164, 166 grass, 77 gravity, 45, 54 grazing, 117 Greece, 42 Greeks, 42 greenhouse, 87, 88, 122 greenhouse gas(es), 87, 88 gross domestic product, 44 ground water, 111 grouping, 28 groups, 2, 12, 28, 31, 37, 51, 109 growth, 45, 48, 49, 53, 117, 131, 133, 154 Guerilla, 62 guidance, 62 guidelines, 68

H habitat, 16, 117 hands, 10, 12, 13, 41 harm, 20, 56, 62, 75, 125 Harvard, 58, 59 hazards, 15, 89 headache, 89 healing, 23 health, 20, 56, 57, 75, 76, 78, 86, 87, 88, 89, 95, 132 health effects, 75, 88, 95 heart attack, 58, 59 heart disease, 58 heart failure, 56 heat, 21, 88, 122, 123, 124, 159, 174 heat transfer, 159, 174 heating, 44, 105, 106, 108, 110, 120, 121, 122, 123, 127 heavy metals, 27, 73, 86, 117, 131, 132, 141, 144, 154, 155, 156 height, 6 helix, 71, 93 heterogeneity, vii, 21 hexachlorobenzene, 95 high school, 51, 53 higher quality, 116 hip, 56

Index histidine, 71 homogeneity, vii, 21, 83 Honda, 130 honesty, 9, 25 Hong Kong, 130 hormone, 75, 81 host, 59 hotels, 111 households, 56 housing, 43, 48 human brain, 16, 20, 21, 26, 27 human condition, 10, 26 human development, 11 human exposure, 91 human genome, 50 human milk, 95 human subjects, 40 humanity, 11, 34 humidity, 68 humus, 108 husband, 63 hydrocarbon(s), 46, 47, 67, 73, 84, 86 hydrochloric acid, 151 hydroelectric power, 48 hydrogen, 54, 55, 70, 71, 72, 110, 118 hydrogen bonds, 71 hydrogen gas, 118 hydrophobic, 73 hydroxide, 113, 151 hypothesis, 1

I ice caps, 111 identity, 19 ideology, 40 illusion, 32, 45 image analysis, 136 images, 40, 136 imagination, 160 imaging, 136 imitation, 76, 105 immune system, 56, 88 immunological, 84 implementation, 46, 47 imports, 48 impregnation, 76 impurities, 78 inauguration, 46 incidence, 121 inclusion, 49, 158 income, 42, 46, 47, 49 income tax, 46

183

independence, 5, 47 independent variable, 6, 17, 18, 166 India, 17, 30, 49, 65, 93, 155, 156 Indians, 42 indicators, 21, 49, 92, 93, 95 indigenous, 37, 60, 61 indirect solar energy, 121 Indonesia, 95 industrial production, 86 industrial revolution, 106 industrial wastes, 119, 132, 155 industry, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20, 25, 26, 46, 48, 49, 56, 57, 58, 84, 87, 89 infancy, 75 infertility, 88 infinite, 3, 15, 28, 77, 90, 125 inflation, 45, 46, 47, 48 Information Age, 9, 13, 15, 26, 37, 65, 128 infrared spectroscopy, 80 infrastructure, 48 inhibitor, 58 injury, 84 inner ear, 40 innovation, 92, 127, 155, 174 insane, 27 insects, 116 insight, 39 inspiration, 33 instability, 14, 25 instinct, 12, 60 institutions, 10, 12, 46, 52, 60 instruction, 52 instruments, 48 insulation, 71, 76, 88, 89, 95 integration, 26, 117 integrity, 131 intelligence, 27, 37, 39 intensity, 5, 21, 68, 125, 132, 140, 141, 143, 144, 146, 149 intentions, 11, 12, 14, 36, 38 interaction, 73, 158 Inter-American Development Bank, 48 interest groups, 2 interest rates, 43, 44 interference, 39 International Monetary Fund (IMF), 45, 46 international relations, 39, 49 international terrorism, 37 internet, 32, 38, 65, 89 interpretation, 27, 148 intervention, 12, 15, 16, 34, 125 inventions, 35 investment, 12, 43, 48, 58

184

Index

investment capital, 12 investors, 49 ions, 132, 154, 156 Iran, 15, 49, 97 Iran-Contra, 15 Iraq, 36, 38 Ireland, 129 iris, 116, 117 iron, 48, 133 irradiation, 86, 174 Islam, 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 12, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 33, 34, 42, 65, 66, 70, 73, 78, 79, 81, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 99, 104, 106, 124, 125, 128, 129, 132, 136, 155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 174, 175 Islamic, 15, 34, 35, 39, 42, 64 isolation, 39, 49 isoleucine, 71 isothermal, 159 isotope, 88, 125 Italy, 10, 32, 49, 65 iteration, 164, 174

J Japan, 91, 93 Jerusalem, 1 jihad, 37, 38 jobs, 45, 49 Jordan, 92 justification, 39, 40

leachate, 114, 117, 126 leaching, 86, 88 lead, 1, 24, 40, 81, 86, 105, 131, 132, 135, 138, 141, 143, 144, 146, 147, 150, 151, 154, 160 lead cations, 131 learning, 31, 35, 75 lens, 136 leucine, 71 life cycle, 77, 78, 90, 94 Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), 78, 94 lifecycle, 77, 79, 83 lifestyle, 83, 84, 105, 106 lifetime, 43, 54, 62 limitation, 160, 173, 174 linear dependence, 5 linear model, 22 linkage, 69, 70 links, 37, 42 liquid fuels, 118 listening, 64 literature, 11, 124 liver, 57, 76, 88 loans, 43, 44 London, 6, 15, 64, 94, 96, 155 Los Angeles, 58 LSD, 40 LTD, 124 lung, 30, 56, 78, 86, 89 lung cancer, 30, 56 lying, 160

M K keratin, 71, 72, 78 Keynes, 36 kidney, 76 kinetics, 93, 95, 97 King, 25 Korea, 42 Kuwait, 129

L labor, 45 lakes, 111 land, 46, 60, 61, 62, 63, 89, 111, 120, 154 landscapes, 32 language, 31, 42, 62 laser, 54, 97 Latin America, 46, 49 laws, 2, 4, 18, 22, 25, 46, 158, 159

machinery, 11, 48 males, 63 management, 12, 25, 69, 78, 91, 92, 93, 131, 133, 155, 174 mandates, 12 manipulation, 6, 11, 24 manners, 61 manufacturing, 45, 48, 69, 76, 77, 80, 89, 93, 134 manure, 108 mapping, 29 market(s), 11, 12, 13, 32, 43, 44, 47 marsh, 117, 125 Marx, 9, 34, 94 mass communication, 32 mass media, 11, 46 mathematical logic, 29 mathematics, 21, 25, 28, 34, 35 matrix, 159 meanings, 18 measurement, 1, 91, 132

Index measures, 21, 47, 54, 132 meat, 88 media, 11, 29, 32, 37, 39, 46, 61 median, 44 medicine, 18, 34 melt, 80 melting, 80, 159, 160, 174 membership, 14, 49 memory, 18, 63, 75 men, 30, 60, 61, 62, 63 mentor, 33, 62 MERCOSUR, 49 mercury, 88 messages, 12 metal content, 131 metal ions, 132, 156 metals, 27, 73, 84, 86, 111, 117, 131, 132, 135, 141, 144, 154, 155, 156 metaphor, 22 methane, 105, 108, 110, 114, 118, 124 methanol, 76, 94, 118, 119 methionine, 71 methyl methacrylate, 88 Mexico, 52, 53 Miami, 65 microbes, 117 microbial, 152, 154, 155, 156 microorganisms, 78, 117, 132, 153, 154, 155 microscope, 136 microscopy, 79 microwave, 21, 67, 69, 79, 80, 86 Middle Ages, 2, 32 militant, 20 military, 36, 39, 40, 41, 46, 60 milk, 57, 75, 76, 93, 94, 95 millennium, 94 minerals, 20, 30, 133 mining, 49, 111 Minnesota, 52, 53 minority, 42 misconceptions, 17, 22, 25 missions, 86, 87, 88 MIT, 3, 65 mixing, 175 modeling, 13, 28, 29, 94, 97 models, 16, 22, 24, 25, 26, 28, 125, 158 modernization, 111 modus operandi, 2, 4 moisture, 79 mold, 153 mole, 159 molecular biology, 51 molecular structure, 71, 78

185

molecular weight, 75, 112, 135 molecules, 22, 54, 69, 84, 86, 115, 118 momentum, 48, 158 money, 39 monomer(s), 68, 73, 74, 75, 80, 83, 86, 88, 90 monopoly, 12, 32 morality, 32 morning, 38 mortality, 57 motion, 16, 17, 32, 105, 158, 159 motives, 39 movement, 5, 32, 53 MTBE, 30 multidimensional, 157 multiplicity, vii, 21 multiplier, 48 muscles, 40 mushrooms, 57 Muslim(s), 35, 42 mutation, 84 mycelium, 153

N NaCl, 113, 115 naming, 18 nation, 60, 62 National Institutes of Health, 57 natural environment, 12, 16, 19, 67, 132 natural gas, 81, 113, 114, 118, 122 natural laws, 25 natural resources, 174 natural science(s), 14, 18, 29, 37 natural selection, 11, 34, 50, 52 nausea, 89 Navier-Stokes equation, 158, 159 near infrared spectroscopy, 80 Nebraska, 121, 130 Nepal, 95 nerve, 40 nerve fibers, 40 Netherlands, 54 network, 38 New Jersey, 128 New Mexico, 52, 53 New South Wales, 55 New York, 7, 37, 38, 64, 65, 66, 92, 93, 95, 129 New Zealand, 91 Newton, 17, 22, 160, 164, 174 Newtonian, 17, 158 nitrate(s) 116, 117, 131, 135, 138, 141, 143, 144, 154 nitrifying bacteria, 117 nitrogen, 70, 87, 116, 117

186

Index

nitrogen gas, 116 nitrogen oxides, 87 nitrous oxide, 87 Nobel Prize, 3, 18, 20 nonlinearities, 157 North America, 33, 37, 166 Norway, 94 nuclear energy, 20, 21, 112 nutrients, 5, 30, 68, 77, 117 nutrition, 20, 30

P

O obesity, 30 observations, 14, 15, 16, 21, 39, 51, 54, 55 oceans, 111 octane, 74 oil, 9, 10, 20, 25, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 57, 68, 80, 81, 83, 84, 93, 106, 123, 127, 174 oil production, 47, 81, 174 oil refineries, 48 oil revenues, 45, 47 older people, 62 oligomers, 73, 75, 134 omission, 38 one dimension, 18 opacity, 14 operations research, 35 operator, 27, 98, 100, 101 organic compounds, 86, 87, 111 organic matter, 108, 117, 119 organism, 27, 50, 51, 68, 86, 117 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), 95 organizations, 125 orthogonality, 6 oscillation, 17 osmosis, 112 osmotic, 112 osmotic pressure, 112 osteoporosis, 57 overtime, 131 ownership, 12, 32, 46 oxalate, 76 oxidants, 20, 30 oxidation, 67, 76, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 84, 86, 89, 91, 94, 108, 119, 132, 135 oxidation products, 78, 87 oxidation rate, 81 oxides, 86, 87 oxygen, 70, 97, 115, 116, 117 ozone, 86, 87, 97

pacemakers, 9, 10 packaging, 76, 84, 88, 89 pain, 9, 10, 30, 58 paints, 26, 84, 88, 89 Palestine, 2 parallelism, 27 parameter, 16, 164 parasite, 61 parents, 51, 53 Paris, 91, 95 partial differential equations, 97, 158, 166, 173 particles, 54, 116, 158 particulate matter, 17 passive, 121, 122 pathogens, 115 pathways, 2, 3, 13, 35, 59, 67, 69, 73, 77 payroll, 37 PDEs, 173 peptide chain, 71 peptides, 71, 77 perception(s), 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 24, 39, 90, 125, 126 performance, 30, 92, 95, 122, 131, 138, 141, 143, 144, 149, 151, 174 Periodic Table, 19 permeability, 159 permeable membrane, 112 permit, 44 perpetration, 15 personal, 38, 125 personality, 160 pessimism, 42 pesticide(s), 5, 20, 30 PET, 35 petroleum, 65, 91, 95, 155, 156, 175 petroleum products, 86 pH, 131, 135, 151, 154 pharmaceuticals, 35, 59 phase diagram, 161 phenylalanine, 71 phosphate, 77, 118 phosphorus, 111, 116, 117, 133 photosynthesis, 55, 117 photovoltaic, 106 physical environment, 86 physical properties, 160 physics, 17, 20, 54, 55, 97 physiology, 18 phytoplankton, 117 pigments, 81 plague, 94

Index planets, 11 planning, 26, 31, 45, 51, 53 plants, 48, 64, 83, 85, 106, 111, 115, 116, 117 plasma, 97 plastic industry, 87 plastic products, 48, 77, 78, 81, 82, 86, 89 plasticizer, 88 plastics, 21, 27, 68, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 94, 95, 106 platinum, 94, 118 Plato, 17 poison, 58 Poland, 29 police, 61 policy instruments, 48 political opposition, 45 pollutants, 87 pollution, 25, 89, 106, 117, 127, 133 polycarbonate, 80 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, 86 polyethylene, 70 polymer(s), 69, 70, 73, 74, 77, 78, 80, 81, 83, 88, 90, 118 polymerization, 74, 78, 134, 135 polynomials, 99, 103, 157, 159, 161, 166, 168, 173 polypeptide, 71 polyphenols, 133, 135 polypropylene, 70 polystyrene, 88 polyurethane, 67, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 83, 88, 90, 91, 94 polyurethane foam, 76, 94 polyvinyl chloride, 88 pools, 88 poor, 34, 45 population, 84, 105, 108, 159, 161, 162, 173 population size, 108 portability, 118 potassium, 133 power, 11, 13, 26, 27, 44, 45, 48, 63, 69, 85, 158 power plants, 85 power sharing, 45 pragmatism, 4, 28 precipitation, 132 prediction, 16, 25 preference, 162 prejudice, 42 president, 46, 49 presidential elections, 45, 49 pressure, 20, 22, 80, 112, 122, 158, 159, 160, 166 prevention, 94, 127 price index, 46 prices, 43, 46, 47, 48

187

primacy, 12 privacy, 15 private investment, 48 private property, 11 probability, 13 producers, 5, 48 production, 11, 12, 22, 26, 31, 32, 35, 47, 48, 56, 73, 75, 81, 82, 84, 86, 87, 92, 105, 106, 108, 109, 110, 113, 116, 117, 118, 120, 123, 125, 132, 174 productivity, 29, 46, 117 profession, 12 profit, 12, 58, 59 program, 99, 103 programming, 29 promote, 33, 56 propaganda, 61, 89 proposition, 10, 49 prostate, 57, 94 prostate cancer, 94 protein(s), 29, 68, 70, 71, 72, 78, 83 protocol(s), 3, 68, 69 protons, 17, 54, 55 protozoa, 152 Prozac, 21, 30 Pseudomonas, 78, 117, 155 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 78 Pseudomonas spp, 117 psychoactive, 40 psychoactive drug, 40 psychology, 53 puberty, 75 public health, 88 public investment, 48 public sector, 45 pulses, 5 pumps, 122 purification, 20, 105, 114, 117 PVC, 19, 20, 76, 81, 88

Q quantum mechanics, 162 quarks, 158 quasars, 54 questioning, 3, 15, 32

R racism, 41 radiation, 86, 121, 128 radio, 32 radius, 6

188

Index

rain, 86 range, 9, 10, 16, 20, 28, 29, 106, 124, 131, 135, 138, 147, 159, 160, 161, 162 rate of return, 12 raw materials, 11, 13, 48, 80, 114 reaction rate, 4, 20 reading, 11, 39, 51, 52 real estate, 43, 44 reality, 2, 3, 6, 16, 25, 26, 32, 40, 45, 58, 125, 158 reasoning, 27 recession, 49 recognition, 34, 39 recovery, 46, 47, 49, 110, 112 recycling, 69, 80, 81, 83, 84, 85, 93, 96 redistribution, 49 reduction, 94, 108, 127, 132 refining, 20 reflection, 46, 91 refrigeration, 21, 105, 122, 123, 127 regenerate, 27, 83 regeneration, 78, 79, 83, 106 regression, 138, 146 regulations, 25 rejection, 11, 51 relationship(s), 6, 28, 36, 158, 160 relatives, 60, 63 relativity, 34, 55 relevance, 2, 42 reliability, 12, 15, 112 religion, 2, 17 remediation, 132, 133 renewable energy, 106 Renewable Energy Technology, 95 repair, 21 reprocessing, 80 research funding, 59 reserves, 47, 106 residues, 84, 86, 119 resilience, 79 resins, 82, 85, 88 resistance, 36, 42, 49, 58, 59, 61, 78 resolution, 136 resources, 31, 93, 96, 106, 174 respiration, 78, 87, 119 respiratory, 85, 89 rice, 10, 124 rice husk, 124 rickets, 57 rings, 68, 134 risk, 12, 37, 56, 57, 59, 88, 95 rods, 152 Rome, 42 room temperature, 118, 135

routing, 40 rubber, 82 rubbers, 48, 82

S SA, 128 sabotage, 47, 48, 49 sacrifice, 33 safety, 12, 22, 89 sales, 43, 48, 59 salt, 111, 112 sample, 132, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 143, 144, 174 sampling, 12 Samsung, 69 satellite, 35 saturated fat, 30 Saudi Arabia, 111, 128 savings, 106 sawdust, 155 scaling, 160 scarcity, 111 school, 44, 51, 53 science, 1, 2, 4, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 31, 33, 34, 36, 39, 52, 53, 59, 64, 89, 92, 97, 129, 155, 160 scientific knowledge, 33 scientific method, 33, 51 scientific understanding, 56 search, 41, 159 seawater, 111 security, 10 sediment, 116 sedimentation, 132 seed, 117 selecting, 27, 90, 93 semi-permeable membrane, 112 separation, 86, 159 sequencing, 15, 32, 59 series, 6, 22, 27, 38, 48, 87, 94, 99, 116, 159, 166, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173 serine, 71 sewage, 107, 108, 110, 114, 116, 117, 127 shape, 55, 71, 80, 153 sharing, 45 sheep, 73, 77 shock, 51 shrimp, 116, 117 signals, 32, 40, 44 sign(s), 11, 15, 45, 49 similarity, 69, 90, 159, 174 simulation, 27, 28, 29, 35, 36, 94, 160 sites, 61, 89

Index skills, 64 skin, 16, 30, 57, 88, 89 skin cancer, 30 skin diseases, 88 sludge, 111, 116, 130 smog, 86 smoke, 76 smokers, 56 snakes, 40 social indicator, 49 socialization, 31 society, 31, 32, 42, 43, 60, 61, 62, 92 sodium, 113, 133, 151 sodium hydroxide, 151 software, 28, 136 soil, 30, 61, 63, 78, 86 solar energy, 5, 105, 106, 108, 120, 121, 123, 124, 127 solar system, 123 solid phase, 161 solid state, 161 solid waste, 81, 108, 119, 130 solidification, 159, 174 solubility, 112, 132 solvent, 86 sorting, 9, 16 sounds, 41 South America, 118 South Korea, 42 Soviet Union, 41 Spain, 49, 93 speciation, 11 species, 12, 29, 50, 51, 60, 68, 78, 116, 117, 154 spectrophotometer, 135 spectroscopy, 80 spectrum, 57, 91 speech, 2, 65, 92, 128 speed, 5, 27, 30, 45, 55 speed of light, 55 sperm, 30, 75, 88 stability, 174 stabilizers, 81, 86 stages, 46, 78 standards, 22, 25 statistics, 49 steel, 48 stereotyping, 42 sterile, 136 stock, 43, 135, 137 stoichiometry, 106 stomach, 34 storage, 121, 122 strain, 158

189

strategies, 60 strength, vii, 21, 54, 71 stress, 111, 158 strontium, 155 structural changes, 46, 49 students, 50, 51, 52, 53, 128 substitutes, 57, 58, 59 substitution, 22, 134 sugar, 29, 46 sugar mills, 46 suicidal behavior, 30 suicide, 33 sulfur, 86 sulfur oxides, 86 sulphur, 70 summer, 56 Sun, 11, 129, 130 supercritical, 80 supply, 26, 27, 86, 93, 114, 117 supply chain, 93 surplus, 43 surveillance, 61 survival, 60 sustainability, vii, 6, 25, 35, 67, 68, 69, 78, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 106, 112, 124, 125, 126, 127, 174 sustainable development, 68, 92, 95, 96, 125 sweets, 30 swelling, 89 switching, 57 symmetry, 35 symptom(s), 30, 34, 35 syndrome, 29, 34 synthesis, 20, 57, 68, 95 synthetic polymers, 77 systems, 11, 12, 13, 32, 35, 37, 40, 56, 90, 95, 106, 115, 116, 117, 121, 122, 134, 155, 164, 166

T tactics, 24, 62 Taiwan, 65 tanks, 115, 116, 117, 122 tar, 84 targets, 39 tax collection, 47 taxation, 46 taxis, 1 tea, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 138, 141, 143, 147, 149, 154, 155, 156 teachers, 51, 53 teaching, 51, 53 technological advancement, 68

190

Index

technological developments, 41, 67, 93 technology, vii, 3, 4, 9, 10, 17, 21, 25, 28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 41, 69, 82, 90, 91, 92, 106, 110, 119, 120, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 131, 159 telephone, 32 television, 32, 38 temperament, 63 temperature, 4, 20, 22, 68, 78, 80, 84, 85, 87, 89, 118, 122, 124, 135, 158, 159, 160 territory, 16, 50 terrorism, 37, 38, 39 Texas, 95 textiles, 70, 95, 115 theory, 11, 12, 13, 18, 26, 28, 34, 42, 50, 51, 86, 162 theory of simulation, 28 therapy, 65 thermal energy, 122 thermodynamic, 22 thinking, 17, 27, 33, 35, 42, 50, 59 threat, 19, 26, 76, 82, 132 three-dimensional space, 6, 32, 33 threonine, 71 threshold(s), 20, 28, 31, 136 thyroid, 75 TIA, 15 time, 2, 3, 5, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, 34, 37, 45, 46, 48, 51, 53, 54, 55, 57, 60, 61, 63, 68, 77, 79, 81, 82, 90, 109, 121, 124, 125, 131, 133, 136, 137, 153, 154, 157, 158, 159, 160, 161 time frame, 5 time use, 90 tobacco, 48 toluene, 89 tongue, 40, 59, 65 torture, 12, 40 total utility, 120 toxic gases, 80, 83 toxic metals, 132 toxic products, 78, 87 toxic substances, 117 toxicity, 20, 84, 88, 95, 123, 131, 132, 133 toxin, 88 toys, 81, 82, 88 trace elements, 83 tracking, 18 trade, 45, 59 tradition, 42 training, 36, 58 traits, 3, 4, 33, 34 transcendence, 160 transformation(s), 6, 32, 49, 53, 84, 93, 105 transition(s), 32, 34, 136

translation, 25, 50 translocation, 117 transmission, 30 transport, 31, 112 transportation, 45, 48 trees, 116, 119 trend, 34, 93, 138, 144 tribes, 2, 37 triggers, 28, 55 trimer, 75 turbulence, 159 turbulent, 159 Turkey, 5, 93 turnover, 43 tyrosine, 71

U U.A.E., 92 UK, 6, 29 ultraviolet light, 56, 57 UN, 46, 68 uncertainty, 36 unemployment, 45, 46, 47, 48 unemployment rate, 45, 47 UNESCO, 91 uniform, 23, 56, 90 United Arab Emirates, 4 United Kingdom, 84 United Nations, 94, 95 United States, 9, 10, 37, 41, 43, 52, 62, 128 universe, 2, 6, 17, 160 universities, 52, 93 upholstery, 88, 89 uranium, 20 urethane, 68, 69, 70, 74, 75, 83 users, 41, 56, 85 UV, 56, 57, 115, 116, 128 UV light, 57

V validity, 23 valine, 71 values, 13, 101, 143, 148, 151 vapor, 122 variable(s), 6, 13, 17, 18, 35, 157, 158, 159, 161, 162, 166, 171, 172, 173, 174 variance, 54 variation, 54, 157, 159, 161, 164 vegetable oil, 123, 127 vehicles, 38, 48

Index velocity, 158 Venezuela, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 65 ventilation, 122 versatility, 119 vertebrates, 39 vestibular system, 40 victims, 40 violence, 39, 49 visas, 15 vision, 4, 17, 40, 41, 88, 136 visualization, 31 vitamin A, 56 vitamin C, 3, 56 vitamin D, 57 Vitamin D, 55, 57, 64 vitamin D deficiency, 57 vitamin E, 56 vitamins, 56, 133 vomiting, 89 voting, 42

W Wales, 55 walking, 40, 50 Wall Street Journal, 39, 41, 56, 58, 64, 65 war, 36, 47, 62 Washington, 41, 46, 47, 65, 94 Washington Consensus, 46 waste disposal, 85 waste management, 69, 78 wastewater, 78, 108, 111, 115, 116, 117, 119, 130, 131, 132, 133, 154, 155 wastewater treatment, 78, 130 water heater, 122 weakness, 89

191

wealth, 39, 49 well-being, 124 wells, 174 Western countries, 42 Western Hemisphere, 60 wetlands, 115 White House, 49 wholesale, 39 wind, 73, 106 winning, 55 winter, 57, 117 wires, 61 Wisconsin, 40 women, 60, 61, 62, 63 wood, 30, 48, 76 wool, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 77, 78, 79, 83, 84, 91 workers, 48, 86, 88 World Bank, 46 World Health Organization (WHO), 76, 96 World War, 12 World Wide Web, 10 worldview, 17 worry, 2 writing, 3

Y yield, 20, 30, 109, 110 young men, 63

Z zinc, 86