When I first heard about the Kindle from Amazon I thought it was just going to be another failed attempt at creating an e-book. It is my belief that Sony’s e-book will fall on its expensive face soon, however after reading about the Kindle, I think it has a chance. It is bigish, but has decent memory, it doesn’t flicker so it probably won’t make reads sick, and it uses cell networks instead of WiFi to download content. (That is a brilliant touch!)
The real test will be if Amazon can convince the FAA, the various foreign aviation regulatory bodies and the airlines to allow the Kindle to be put in a “plane mode” left on during taxi and takeoff. Hardcore travelers are the proving ground and spring board for technologies like this, and they will want to read uninterrupted during the often hours long taxi process. If they still have to drag out a book when they are number 20 for takeoff, the Kindle loses some utility.
As with Apple’s iPhone, once they have to sell the Kindle to regular people, and “not me first”, gadget lovers, to help boast sales it should come with year subscriptions to daily content (think a local and national newspaper) and cost about hundred bucks less. (I still won’t be getting one at $299.)
If it was $199 I’d buy one just so I could read the occasional book and Wikipedia. I noticed it has a SD memory port and headphone jack, when it replaces my iPod by letting me listen to music and book tapes, while reading digital content I’d consider it at $299.
I don’t think e-books will take off until the digital ink is full color, and has the resolution needed for magazines. E-books will be main stream when content providers subsidize the cost with a multi-year contract, and allow you print coupons and digitally “cutout” and print articles. To replace newspapers they will have to have a digital coupon card that has a smart chip to safe the coupon data since ads and coupon revenue support the media companies and raise subscription rates. Also, it will need to allow people to use digital library books and buy and sell used e-books.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
YouTube, Netflix and Bit Torrent
This might be abit of a duh post, but NetFlix newish streaming movie service (or any streaming content service for that matter) could benefit immensely from using a bit torrent like application on its back end. Normal streaming services provide all the content (like YouTube), and this works great if your streaming to a set top box or can wait minutes to hours while the content caches. However, streaming real time over the net causes some problems, like the more popular the content is, the hard it is to get. Normal bit torrent fixes this problem, but due to the distributed nature and the need to balance the load isn’t well suited for streaming content, since the order is random or rarest first. The application I have in mind it a hybrid of bit torrent where the central server could provide all of the content and organize a P2P network. This would mean that when you clicked start on a movie the central server would check the network to see what the best way to get you the pieces of the file you need start the play. Then it would instruct your machine on where to get the pieces, which would likely be a combination of peers and the central system. As content progressed it could see what pieces would be available where and at what speed and do the download by availability not order in order to maximize the bandwidth. As long as all the pieces were present at the time they would be played, if really doesn’t matter when they are downloaded. This allows the central server to better load balance. This would allow the company to reduce the bandwidth it needs and while still providing the streaming you get with a regular http file transfer system. To truly make the system work well the files would remain resident on the systems until they have to be removed to make room for something else. This would allow “idle” machines to take a greater part of the load, since they could act more like seeds on a pure bit torrent network. Similarly if there was something in it for the user, this approach could be used for pure load balancing, by copying popular content to numerous machines in order to ensure the content would be available quickly. This could allow YouTube, and others to deal with flash crowds, especially localized ones like when a radio station mentions a clip or something.
A virtual semi-centralized electrical storage network
The biggest problem with electrical power is its expensive to store. The most “practical” way to store electricity is in massive batteries banks. However, this battery storage networks are expensive to build and maintain, which makes them impractical for large scale peak shaving.
However, that might change since a perk of having lots of plugin hybrids (or electric only cars) is that if enough people had them and had them on the grid at the same time (like if people charged them during the day when they were at work) they would form a massive virtual semi-centralized electrical storage network. This massive virtual battery could then be used for peak shaving either by the company or the utilities. Most cars would start charging in the morning, by the heat of the afternoon they would be fully charged and power could be drawn off to meet demand. As I said in the past this isn’t a perfect solution since people tend to leave for home at peak times. However, with enough plugin hybrids the virtual electrical storage network, could get large enough to make a difference. People could charge mostly at home during off peak hours and in the early morning, them “sell” mostly likely trade, the power back to the utilities during peak times. If the cars have enough charge left when the people got home (see the previous post), the owner could draw power from the battery to met some of their peak demands (the massive surge in power use when they get home and turn on the lights, AC, TV, computer, etc, etc). Then the car could charge during off peak hours.
The beauty of this virtual semi-centralized electrical storage network, is that it would put the power into regions where the people are, so there would be conversion losses but almost no transmission losses. (The conversion losses will happen on the customer’s side of the meter so that will likely be acceptable for the utility companies. The price differences between selling and buying just have to make it appear to be a win for the customer too.) The part the utilities will love the best is that this network won’t cost them very much to build or maintain, but will allow them to convert the over-generation capacity of their base generators to help the amount of peak generation capacity they need.
If this comes to pass the green car people will get a powerful new ally. The utility companies will lobby the government and automakers to make these cars available and cheap, not since it reduces the amount of oil we import or cuts emission, but because they want billions dollars in free batteries, and massive savings in fuel costs from not using inefficient plants for peaking.
I enjoy ironic possibility of TXU or Reliant Energy and Greenpeace supporting the same bill.
However, that might change since a perk of having lots of plugin hybrids (or electric only cars) is that if enough people had them and had them on the grid at the same time (like if people charged them during the day when they were at work) they would form a massive virtual semi-centralized electrical storage network. This massive virtual battery could then be used for peak shaving either by the company or the utilities. Most cars would start charging in the morning, by the heat of the afternoon they would be fully charged and power could be drawn off to meet demand. As I said in the past this isn’t a perfect solution since people tend to leave for home at peak times. However, with enough plugin hybrids the virtual electrical storage network, could get large enough to make a difference. People could charge mostly at home during off peak hours and in the early morning, them “sell” mostly likely trade, the power back to the utilities during peak times. If the cars have enough charge left when the people got home (see the previous post), the owner could draw power from the battery to met some of their peak demands (the massive surge in power use when they get home and turn on the lights, AC, TV, computer, etc, etc). Then the car could charge during off peak hours.
The beauty of this virtual semi-centralized electrical storage network, is that it would put the power into regions where the people are, so there would be conversion losses but almost no transmission losses. (The conversion losses will happen on the customer’s side of the meter so that will likely be acceptable for the utility companies. The price differences between selling and buying just have to make it appear to be a win for the customer too.) The part the utilities will love the best is that this network won’t cost them very much to build or maintain, but will allow them to convert the over-generation capacity of their base generators to help the amount of peak generation capacity they need.
If this comes to pass the green car people will get a powerful new ally. The utility companies will lobby the government and automakers to make these cars available and cheap, not since it reduces the amount of oil we import or cuts emission, but because they want billions dollars in free batteries, and massive savings in fuel costs from not using inefficient plants for peaking.
I enjoy ironic possibility of TXU or Reliant Energy and Greenpeace supporting the same bill.
High speed trains and plugin hybrids
As America’s population grows, its cities will sprawl even more, but as long as the jobs remain centrally located people will have to commute further and further. This means that the advantage of plugin hybrids will be lost since people will have to drive further then the charge will take them. Without this advantage plugin hybrids will be marginalized, and never reach the economy of scale required to give them mass market appeal. This leaves high speed trains as the savior of the American commuter. I love the concept of trains, since it would be great to commute from northern New Mexico to San Diego every day to work. The issue is trains require people to get to and from the central locations were the train stops via other means. This might work in NYC, but in LA, Dallas, Atlanta, etc you need a car. I propose we combine the two concepts to create a drive on drive off train system for plugin hybrids. As long as plugin hybrids can conform to certain standards (wheelbase, height, charge adaptor, safety, etc), it would be possible for people to drive to the train station, and drive right on to the train. Get out and plug in their car so it could be “running” during the journey, then sit back and enjoy the ride while the car is charged by the train from the grid. At their destination they would drive off and go about their day with a full charge on their batteries. Then reverse the process to go home. The journey would cost more then charging their car at home and driving it in, but the range would be unlimited, there would be no traffic, and they could be productive like they were on public transportation, only without the issues associated with public transportation.
CA and the Northeast would be prefect test markets, and the trains could carry cars and people, so the risk would be low. If the system worked out, and the routes got longer it would be possible to use the batteries in the car to power the train for short periods of time. This would allow the train to run on tracks without overhead or third rail electrical power, and save weight by not having to carry large dedicated battery packs. With the virtual battery made up by the cars, these trains could actually become hybrid as well, since some of the energy normally lost to braking could be transfered to cars batteries (batteries that are payload, not dead weight.)
CA and the Northeast would be prefect test markets, and the trains could carry cars and people, so the risk would be low. If the system worked out, and the routes got longer it would be possible to use the batteries in the car to power the train for short periods of time. This would allow the train to run on tracks without overhead or third rail electrical power, and save weight by not having to carry large dedicated battery packs. With the virtual battery made up by the cars, these trains could actually become hybrid as well, since some of the energy normally lost to braking could be transfered to cars batteries (batteries that are payload, not dead weight.)
Blinkers, backup cameras and P2P networking
My dad just got a new car with a backup camera, and the quietest turn signals you’ve ever heard. In order to prevent people from driving with their blinkers on and increase safety when changing lanes, it would be nice if when the blinkers were on the console screen showed as picture in picture the image from backup camera, so you could see if there where other cars in your blind spot. If they wanted to get real fancy they could add algorithm that could put boxes around cars that might interfere with a safe lane change. This wouldn’t be as good as collision avoidance radar, but a heck of a lot cheaper, and the cars computer is already powerful enough to do this.
As more and more cars get GPS navigation systems, if the privacy issues could be over come it would be helpful if cars could use Bluetooth to talk to each other. Bluetooth’s range is about the error of GPS, so two cars that occupied the same space might want to know about each other, and use other information to correct the error. Think of it like a car based Peer to Peer network. Traffic signals could have transmitters to let the car know that a light was going to change before the car could make it through the light, or that coming intersection was a four way stop.
This could be the way we baby step to cars that can drive themselves.
If this pans out Garmin, Tom-tom, etc become companies to watch.
However, I see the Koreans, the Japanese and the Chinese (when they can sell cars in the States) carmakers leading this movement. Why? Because they can figure out how to get it to home in their home markets and then go overseas.
As more and more cars get GPS navigation systems, if the privacy issues could be over come it would be helpful if cars could use Bluetooth to talk to each other. Bluetooth’s range is about the error of GPS, so two cars that occupied the same space might want to know about each other, and use other information to correct the error. Think of it like a car based Peer to Peer network. Traffic signals could have transmitters to let the car know that a light was going to change before the car could make it through the light, or that coming intersection was a four way stop.
This could be the way we baby step to cars that can drive themselves.
If this pans out Garmin, Tom-tom, etc become companies to watch.
However, I see the Koreans, the Japanese and the Chinese (when they can sell cars in the States) carmakers leading this movement. Why? Because they can figure out how to get it to home in their home markets and then go overseas.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Crime, punishment and life sentence
I normally don’t write about social commentary, since sharing my opinion is not the point of this site, but I was reading on Wikipedia today that the UKs oldest prisoner died today. He served 55 years of his life sentence, a term I believe he has now fulfilled. The reason this is worth noting is there was side note in the article that the EU is considering banning life sentences, since they are “cruel and inhumane”. The EU doesn’t have the death penalty, which means if they ban life sentences a large part of the Western world will no longer have any means to ensure the certain individuals can never reenter society. That seems like bad planning, some people are simply too evil or broken to be loosed on the world.
The man who died, and is the mourned since he died in prison, was sent to prison for strangling two little girls, crimes he confessed too, but showed no remorse for. Then at one point he broke out and in the four hours he was free he might have murdered a little girl as she rode her bike. I will leave it you to decide if his one life is sufficient payment for the 3 young lives he stole.
The man who died, and is the mourned since he died in prison, was sent to prison for strangling two little girls, crimes he confessed too, but showed no remorse for. Then at one point he broke out and in the four hours he was free he might have murdered a little girl as she rode her bike. I will leave it you to decide if his one life is sufficient payment for the 3 young lives he stole.
RSS and Random thoughts, interspersed with wisdom
It’s not like anyone reads this anyways, but if you somehow took a wrong turn on the information super highway, and ended up here. Welcome!
In case you found something of interest, but you find my that my erratic posting habits make it hard to keep up with my random thoughts, interspersed with wisdom please take note of the fact that I am signed up for all the major RSS services. (Those little banners on the right side of the page.) This means if you have an RSS enabled browser, a Yahoo or Google homepage, or bless your soul Windows Vista you can subscribe to my feeds and enjoy my unproofread thoughts and ideas without having to remember my difficult to remember URL. Thank you, and remember me if one of my ideas gets you a Nobel Prize. ;)
In case you found something of interest, but you find my that my erratic posting habits make it hard to keep up with my random thoughts, interspersed with wisdom please take note of the fact that I am signed up for all the major RSS services. (Those little banners on the right side of the page.) This means if you have an RSS enabled browser, a Yahoo or Google homepage, or bless your soul Windows Vista you can subscribe to my feeds and enjoy my unproofread thoughts and ideas without having to remember my difficult to remember URL. Thank you, and remember me if one of my ideas gets you a Nobel Prize. ;)
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Desalination for modern age
With the drought in the SE USA there is a lot of attention being paid to where we are going to get our water in the future. Switching to “clean” biofuels will only make the water shortages worse; since biofuels only trade oil for water (one gallon of corn ethanol conservatively requires the use of 5,000 gallons of water.)
This means unless we learn to control the weather in the next couple years, we are going to have to get more and more water from desalinization of sea water. The issue with that is pure sea water destroys Reverse Osmosis membranes very quickly and recent research has shown that water made by RO can contain dangerous levels of boron, and other ions smaller than sodium. So, RO water will still require ion exchange and remineralization before it can be used for agriculture or drinking.
Originally I was thinking it might be cheaper draw the very cold water from the bottom of the oceans up and freeze it to remove the salt, but looking at energy loses to freeze the water and purge the brine this is only a viable method for extremely cold areas of the world. However, Canada could make a fortune desalinating the fridge and already hyposaline waters of Hudson Bay and selling the water to the thirsty and land locked grain producing Midwestern USA via massive underground pipelines. (This might sound stupid now, but Hudson Bay is the closest any ocean gets to a large part of the USA. That makes it is the best source of water if we can’t get it from the ground, and at that point we would need water no matter the cost.)
For the rest of the world where it isn’t cold enough to freeze the salt out of the water, evaporative methods are the best bet. In the Middle East they burn crude oil to boil seawater to make fresh steam. We could burn coal and make fresh water but that would be a waste of coal and create lots of CO2, etc. We need renewable or at least clean evaporative methods to get fresh clean water. Many people have proposed elegant solutions like massive greenhouses, or induced draft evaporators, but elegant often means impractical. I believe that large scale desalination plants will look more like oil refineries then they will the Sydney Opera House. With that in mind I think the two best bets for large-scale evaporative desalination are using nuclear power to directly boil water or if electricity is more available (solar, wind, etc) large scale microwaves to boil the water, instead of resistive heating. We’ll come back nuclear desalination, so that we can explore the microwave-based method.
First off why microwaves, when submerged resistive coils would be more efficient? Microwaves can directly excite the water molecules, so water under pressure can be flowed through a microwave and only the water gets hot. There are no elements to be corroded by the salt or eroded by the pressure or bubble formation. There are no high power electrical connections to be made in wet and corrosive environments, just massive microwave sources, that sit on the pipes and covert electric into heat and rf energy. Then just like many unfortunate people who have seen super heated water flash to steam as the remove a container from a microwave oven, the water is flash boiled by reducing the pressure. The fresh water steam is condensed by boiling a secondary loop of low boiling point fluid, which turns a turbine and regenerates some of the power. Then all the waste heat is used in a counter current circulator to preheat the incoming seawater, and chill the out going fresh water. On a small scale this is a terrible idea, but on a large scale (for a small, hot and windy city) I think the economy of scale would make it viable.
The best solution I still think is nuclear (or coal) co-generation/desalination, since you get the water and the electricity. Instead of the reactor boiling the same already fresh water over and over and turning a turbine to make power, the reactor heat would boil seawater via a secondary loop. (Direct boiling of seawater would be very, very dangerous since neutron bombardment of the ions would make them very radioactive.) Then like before the steam would be condensed by boiling a low boiling point fluid in a quaternary loop which would turn the turbines. Then the quaternary fluid would be condensed by preheating the incoming seawater, to complete the loop. (Think of it, no more massive cooling towers, just massive reservoirs of warmish freshwater.) I think a 5 to 10% lose in generation capacity; to get millions of gallons a day of fresh water is a very worth while trade. I will admit that it won’t be easy or cheap since everything touching the seawater would have to be made of stainless steel, but what price should we place on ensuring a ready supply of drinking water. Ask Atlanta. They are only a couple hundred miles from all the water in the world and have among others a 2 GW coal fired generation plant, but they are worried about where they are going to get water next year.
This means unless we learn to control the weather in the next couple years, we are going to have to get more and more water from desalinization of sea water. The issue with that is pure sea water destroys Reverse Osmosis membranes very quickly and recent research has shown that water made by RO can contain dangerous levels of boron, and other ions smaller than sodium. So, RO water will still require ion exchange and remineralization before it can be used for agriculture or drinking.
Originally I was thinking it might be cheaper draw the very cold water from the bottom of the oceans up and freeze it to remove the salt, but looking at energy loses to freeze the water and purge the brine this is only a viable method for extremely cold areas of the world. However, Canada could make a fortune desalinating the fridge and already hyposaline waters of Hudson Bay and selling the water to the thirsty and land locked grain producing Midwestern USA via massive underground pipelines. (This might sound stupid now, but Hudson Bay is the closest any ocean gets to a large part of the USA. That makes it is the best source of water if we can’t get it from the ground, and at that point we would need water no matter the cost.)
For the rest of the world where it isn’t cold enough to freeze the salt out of the water, evaporative methods are the best bet. In the Middle East they burn crude oil to boil seawater to make fresh steam. We could burn coal and make fresh water but that would be a waste of coal and create lots of CO2, etc. We need renewable or at least clean evaporative methods to get fresh clean water. Many people have proposed elegant solutions like massive greenhouses, or induced draft evaporators, but elegant often means impractical. I believe that large scale desalination plants will look more like oil refineries then they will the Sydney Opera House. With that in mind I think the two best bets for large-scale evaporative desalination are using nuclear power to directly boil water or if electricity is more available (solar, wind, etc) large scale microwaves to boil the water, instead of resistive heating. We’ll come back nuclear desalination, so that we can explore the microwave-based method.
First off why microwaves, when submerged resistive coils would be more efficient? Microwaves can directly excite the water molecules, so water under pressure can be flowed through a microwave and only the water gets hot. There are no elements to be corroded by the salt or eroded by the pressure or bubble formation. There are no high power electrical connections to be made in wet and corrosive environments, just massive microwave sources, that sit on the pipes and covert electric into heat and rf energy. Then just like many unfortunate people who have seen super heated water flash to steam as the remove a container from a microwave oven, the water is flash boiled by reducing the pressure. The fresh water steam is condensed by boiling a secondary loop of low boiling point fluid, which turns a turbine and regenerates some of the power. Then all the waste heat is used in a counter current circulator to preheat the incoming seawater, and chill the out going fresh water. On a small scale this is a terrible idea, but on a large scale (for a small, hot and windy city) I think the economy of scale would make it viable.
The best solution I still think is nuclear (or coal) co-generation/desalination, since you get the water and the electricity. Instead of the reactor boiling the same already fresh water over and over and turning a turbine to make power, the reactor heat would boil seawater via a secondary loop. (Direct boiling of seawater would be very, very dangerous since neutron bombardment of the ions would make them very radioactive.) Then like before the steam would be condensed by boiling a low boiling point fluid in a quaternary loop which would turn the turbines. Then the quaternary fluid would be condensed by preheating the incoming seawater, to complete the loop. (Think of it, no more massive cooling towers, just massive reservoirs of warmish freshwater.) I think a 5 to 10% lose in generation capacity; to get millions of gallons a day of fresh water is a very worth while trade. I will admit that it won’t be easy or cheap since everything touching the seawater would have to be made of stainless steel, but what price should we place on ensuring a ready supply of drinking water. Ask Atlanta. They are only a couple hundred miles from all the water in the world and have among others a 2 GW coal fired generation plant, but they are worried about where they are going to get water next year.
Methods for reducing metallic whisker formation
Since the passing of the RoHS in 2006 it is now against the law for lead to be mixed into solder and other coatings using in electronics, the problem of tin (and zinc) whiskers damaging critical systems is likely to rise. Tin whiskers are filaments that grow from tin covered surfaces, and can be mm long. They cause short circuits and in some circuits can act like antenna, which can cause all kinds of problems. It takes years for whiskers to grow, which is why you have not heard of massive recalls of cell phones caused by tin whiskers. These items are disposable anyways so it is likely it will never be a serious problem, but by as early as ’09 electronics with long lives like the avionics of the new Airbus planes might have problems. The mechanism behind whisker growth is unknown, but is likely do to stresses in the materials.
From studying what has been published by NASA and others on tin whisker formation it seems that gamma or electron bombardment of the component followed by annealing to reduce the stress should significantly reduce the formation of tin whiskers, far more than annealing alone. It also seems possible that the addition of small amounts of bismuth, aluminum or titanium to the tin (and possibly zinc) should also help prevent or slow the formation of whiskers. The reason I believe any of this would help is all of these things will at the atomic level alter the crystalline structure of the tin (or zinc) and slow the formation of the whiskers. Now there is a chance that doing this would actually make the problem worse, since the mechanism of whisker formation is not known. However? If it turns out the mechanism of whisker formation has anything to do with the tin (or zinc) changing phase to as a result of the broken crystals lattices or needing an asymmetric site to begin the growth then these suggestions will make the problem way worse. However the lead seems to prevent the formation of whiskers by preventing the tin from forming crystals large enough to create a whisker, since lead is not soluble in tin.
I think the biggest preventives will be in the form of a wax or polymer that is non-conductive that can be sprayed or bath plated on to electronics to prevent the formation of whiskers. For example components could be submerged in a bath of the monomers then a focused magnetic field used to heat the only the areas near metal up enough to cause the polymerization. The heat could also be produced by energizing the components, but this would result in uneven coating. This would insulate all the bare metal and perhaps compress it enough to prevent the growth of whiskers. Another excellent method would be to make the solder out of nano-crystalline materials and not really melt it on in the traditional sense but use ultrasonic waves in a vacuum to cause the material to pack together and fuse the crystals to form bonds. (It would likely be helpful if the leads of the component being “soldered” or plated were made of, or coated with a metal (or more like metal oxide) that was soluble in the material being used to allow “wetting” of the surface.) This would be for the moment a very expensive way to solder or plate components but for certain industries well worth it.
Some experiments I would like to do to study metallic whisker formation are:
Isotopic studies of zinc or tin whiskers, to determine if there is over or under representation of one or more isotopes. (I assume chemical studies have already been done, and no smoking gun was found.) Electron beam or other microetching of the plating to see if “expansion” gaps in could prevent or at least control whisker formation. Finally I would like to see what affects the microstructure of the metal beneath the tin/zinc has on whisker formation. It seems entirely possible the whiskers are build like mountains or volcanoes, where forces from underneath displace the tin “crust” to form whiskers.
From studying what has been published by NASA and others on tin whisker formation it seems that gamma or electron bombardment of the component followed by annealing to reduce the stress should significantly reduce the formation of tin whiskers, far more than annealing alone. It also seems possible that the addition of small amounts of bismuth, aluminum or titanium to the tin (and possibly zinc) should also help prevent or slow the formation of whiskers. The reason I believe any of this would help is all of these things will at the atomic level alter the crystalline structure of the tin (or zinc) and slow the formation of the whiskers. Now there is a chance that doing this would actually make the problem worse, since the mechanism of whisker formation is not known. However? If it turns out the mechanism of whisker formation has anything to do with the tin (or zinc) changing phase to as a result of the broken crystals lattices or needing an asymmetric site to begin the growth then these suggestions will make the problem way worse. However the lead seems to prevent the formation of whiskers by preventing the tin from forming crystals large enough to create a whisker, since lead is not soluble in tin.
I think the biggest preventives will be in the form of a wax or polymer that is non-conductive that can be sprayed or bath plated on to electronics to prevent the formation of whiskers. For example components could be submerged in a bath of the monomers then a focused magnetic field used to heat the only the areas near metal up enough to cause the polymerization. The heat could also be produced by energizing the components, but this would result in uneven coating. This would insulate all the bare metal and perhaps compress it enough to prevent the growth of whiskers. Another excellent method would be to make the solder out of nano-crystalline materials and not really melt it on in the traditional sense but use ultrasonic waves in a vacuum to cause the material to pack together and fuse the crystals to form bonds. (It would likely be helpful if the leads of the component being “soldered” or plated were made of, or coated with a metal (or more like metal oxide) that was soluble in the material being used to allow “wetting” of the surface.) This would be for the moment a very expensive way to solder or plate components but for certain industries well worth it.
Some experiments I would like to do to study metallic whisker formation are:
Isotopic studies of zinc or tin whiskers, to determine if there is over or under representation of one or more isotopes. (I assume chemical studies have already been done, and no smoking gun was found.) Electron beam or other microetching of the plating to see if “expansion” gaps in could prevent or at least control whisker formation. Finally I would like to see what affects the microstructure of the metal beneath the tin/zinc has on whisker formation. It seems entirely possible the whiskers are build like mountains or volcanoes, where forces from underneath displace the tin “crust” to form whiskers.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Incomplete penetrance explained
Some huge breakthroughs are likely in the near future as mechanisms of random or selected monoallelic expression are unraveled.
There are a lot of diseases with incomplete penetrance, that should be semi-Mendelian but even when they are modeled as a complex genetic system, the results make no sense. However, if monoallelic expression is considered it might go a long way to explaining why two people can have the same genetic makeup, but a different phenotype. Unfortunately it means phenotype can be determined by a cosmic dice roll on a drum head. The upside is the treatment for lots of chronic illnesses (like Type 2 Diabetes and some vascular disease) could be as simple as changing which copy is expressing. If you are reading this and you are with drug company you probably know how to do this already. If not, well you know how to reach me.
There are a lot of diseases with incomplete penetrance, that should be semi-Mendelian but even when they are modeled as a complex genetic system, the results make no sense. However, if monoallelic expression is considered it might go a long way to explaining why two people can have the same genetic makeup, but a different phenotype. Unfortunately it means phenotype can be determined by a cosmic dice roll on a drum head. The upside is the treatment for lots of chronic illnesses (like Type 2 Diabetes and some vascular disease) could be as simple as changing which copy is expressing. If you are reading this and you are with drug company you probably know how to do this already. If not, well you know how to reach me.
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