The way I see it our arsenic project has unravelled into several strands. First, we still have the original idea of using water hyacinth to remove arsenic from water. There are several difficulties there. How much dried water hyacinth will absorb how much arsenic? Scientifically what are the isotherms that describe the sorptive behavior? What …
My favorite quote: The 69-page decision described the Bush administration’s arguments as “weak,” “questionable,” “not sustainable,” and “not sufficient,” and rebuked EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson for failing to issue CO2 regulations, repeatedly recommending an “action of nationwide scope.” Click on the title for the link. Elmo
Keep thinking about ways to help people economically. It’s not just about chemistry. At the same time, when you watch this, consider ways in which chemistry is involved in what people like this are doing. Often, people are completely unaware of the occupational and environmental risks of their activities. November 6, 2008 | Transcript: The …
Social Values and Shopping Merge Through ‘World of Good’ Read More »
This is an important story in which I believe Chemists Without Borders must become involved. Lives are at stake and it is our chemistry that is jeopardizing them. Please watch this video segment and respond with thoughts on where we can make a difference. Thank you.
On October 27, Muhammad Yunus and Michael Milken were interviewed by Charlie Rose on PBS. Very impressive. They are implementing in the United States the micro-financing model for which Muhammad Yunus so deservedly received the Nobel Prize in 2006. Microloans in the United States are naturally of a different scale from those in developing countries, …
Chemists Without Borders Newsletter #9 is out on the website. Click on the title of this post for the link (.pdf). ELMO
An announcement from Professor Fahmy: Dear colleagues- We are pleased to be able to announce the availability of the official Systemic Approach to Teaching and Learning (SATL) website; the website is called “SATL Central.”[www.satlcentral.com] . As you may know, SATL techniques have been successfully applied to a wide spectrum of disciplines, and those reports have …
My sister-in-law recently recommended that I read Ken Follett’s On Wings of Eagles about extricating Ross Perot’s falsely accused EDS employees from prison in Iran during the fall of the Shah. It was a fascinating story, and often quite moving. I found various comments, listed below, quite relevant to our own Chemists Without Borders enterprise. …
Chemists Without Borders holds open conference calls twice a month (see here for details), in which I encourage you to participate. This Thursday at 6 PM PDT, we will start a discussion of social styles and how understanding them can have amazing results. Whether we are chemists or not, much of what we do involves …
Another interesting piece, “Potentially hazardous arsenic-containing compounds are characterized”, by Carrie Arnold, in Chemical & Engineering News: Latest News – Arsenolipids In Fish Oil, August 11, 2008, Volume 86, Number 32, p. 10. It seems the fish we’ve been encouraged to eat may contain arsenic. We usually just worry about drinking water, whether here in …
If it’s not one thing, it’s another: Latest News – Arsenolipids In Fish Oil Read More »