BP oil spill

Eric this is a good article on the spill . You asked me in another topic about it . I didn't think it appropriate to mention it in that thread . Very interesting . http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=0210016E9RHO&page=3

I remember MikeNZ posting awhile back about an asphalt munching bug. This may be a not so distant cousin. Very interesting article http://www.sci-tech-today.com/story.xhtml?story_id=12100C0E3EM9

This is another interesting part of the whole picture

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/science/earth/15necropsy.html?_r=2&ref=science&pagewanted=all

OK, so let's think about this a little. All that oil doesn't just disappear. When oil "breaks down" it doesn't commit chemical hara-kiri. It's either oxidized (a little UV, a little O2), or it becomes feedstock for some hungry bacterial munchkins, or it's "dispersed" into itty-bitty bits that we don't pay attention to.

Now oxidation isn't particularly efficient, so aromatics (benzene and polycyclic molecules) are partly broken down to... something. But I don't think we end up with CO2 and water. And partly oxidized polycyclics are/maybe carcinogenic. So we got a potential experiment in large-scale genetic engineering going on with all the stuff that lives in the water and shore.

The other primary break-down method is bacterial decomposition. Sound really good. So we provide thousands and thousands of gallons of free food for the oil-munchers, and these things multiply. Add to their food a dash of gene-shuffling carcinogens, and the hundredth generation of these oil munchers may not look anything like the original great-great-great-(repeat as necessary)-grandaddy. Eventually the oil runs out. So what do the several megatons of these munchkins do? Probably start looking for a new food source. Will it be plastics? Will it be anything that used to be a petroleum molecule?

And then we have the third method of getting rid of the stuff, by dispersing it under our level of visibility. It's still there, but in very little bits. All the better to sustain the next generation of oil munchkins. Also, keep in mind that every bacterial population has a very large population of viruses that live off those bugs. Viruses shuffle genes in ways that make the most mad of scientists look like rank amateurs. And they usually are relatively "promiscuous" in that they don't just colonize only one species of bacteria. So a virus picks up a chunk of bacterial gene that makes oil-chomping proteins, and injects it into the next bug it comes across... Ya never know where this will end up.

We're going to have a few surprises after all this is done.

Somehow, this little experiment in bioengineering fills me with a sense of foreboding beyond the oil slicks and dead seabirds.

.... I agree Robert, and light sweet crude from the gulf is very different from the sludge produced in Alaska. This oil breaks down much easier.

Had some conversation with someone fairly high up in the Coast Guard over the holiday and it was a very encouraging conversation.

Now thats not true jet,i spent july 4 th weekend in pensacola beach.All you saw on the news was the beach had oil on it,well i was there and we didnt find any oil.The media hype killed the holiday weekend,the little bit that was washing up was cleaned up just as quickly.Im sure everybody has heard it has reached texas,well it was 5 gallons of oil on bolivar penisula.Not a lot of oil,but the media has you believing the beach is covered.You show me one hotel thats up for sale because of the oil?Once this capped and cleaned up it will disappear,the sand is burying it as fast as it shows up.Alaska and the gulf have nothing in common in water temps and the oil is detoriating.This is huge diaster,but it will not be death of the gulf coast tourism or fishing they will come back.The dispersant thier using is more toxic then the oil and should be stopped from being used,but BP is in charge of this mess not the goverment!Because our current goverment in washington is useless!

One local Orlando tv station sent a reporter up to Alaska to see what remains of the Exxon-Valdez ship spill. To this day it's as fresh as the day it came off the boat. All they did was did a few six inch deep holes on the shoreline and the oil/water oozed right up. This is very bad..........a lot of mom and pop motels (on the coasts) are for sale now.....cheap.

JET

How are they going to pay for all the oil sucked up in the gulf and rained down on roofs and exteriors? will contamination be excluded from policies and a cause for denial on wind?

I can't believe that something this potentially devastating would have been allowed without several backup systems to shut it off. Absolutely horrible.

CIAK Said: Not claiming to be an expert on the Oil Spill I can only post what is reported . Some claim to know it all . No sense arguing with that . http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/raw-video-hd-video-of-gulf-spill-released-20247596 That being said another feather in the cap of insurance carriers . Thank God for insurance company .

I'm thinking that in the end the insurance company will be the US taxpayer.

Not claiming to be an expert on the Oil Spill I can only post what is reported . Some claim to know it all . No sense arguing with that . http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/raw-video-hd-video-of-gulf-spill-released-20247596 That being said another feather in the cap of insurance carriers . Thank God for insurance company .

Another great article ...... http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/beneath_the_surface/ B) :( :huh: :) B)

You can always ask for a supplement if you get a hack job. Of course it could go to legal . Subrogation can be a real problem if it is determined poor workmanship . Egos certainly are fussy and will fight depreciation to the end . B) :laugh: :laugh: B)

lol

CIAK, an eighth might be ok if you can afford a real expert, but I heard if you don't get it all on the first shot it can spread.

I like my hair, far too much to risk it. :laugh:

I heard a max of an 1/8 depending on the size of the ego.You always save the hair.