MY GRAND SCIENTIFIC CONTRIBUTIONS TO PLANET EARTH AND HUMANITY

 From Worldometer (new deaths yesterday):

        DAY  USA  WORLD   Brazil    India    South Africa

June     9     1093     4732        1185        246       82

July    22     1205     7128        1293      1120      572

Aug    12     1504     6556        1242       835       130

Sept     9     1208     6222        1136      1168        82

Oct     21     1225     6849          571       703        85

Nov    11     1479     10178        564       550        60

           25     2304    12025         620       518      118

           30     1238       8291        317       482        58

Dec       1     2611     11891         697      500      109

             2     2833     12356         669      498        65

             3     2918     12660        776       570        94

             4     2718     12142        674       509      160

             8     2913    11714         796       404      183 

             9     3265    12342         848       337      142

           10     3107    12932         769       487      173

           11     3031     12401        652       440      205

           14     2976     12635        909       384      210

Summary:  Not getting better.  Here is a graphic from The New York Times this morning showing how terrible the situation is in the USA:

Many of these countries have shut-down their countries during this holiday period, and they are nowhere as challenged as the U.S.

If you think you are bummed out with this pandemic, some have it worse:

A PhD in biochemical engineering provides a ticket through portals and pathways not open to most.  Armed with this advantage, you have more leverage to save the world.  Of course, most have more meaningful, personal and limited objectives.  I don't know of anyone who has grander visions for Humanity and Planet Earth than me.  Of course, the more imaginative one gets, the more difficult it is to attain any kind of success.

My original title today was MY GRAND SCIENTIFIC FAILURES.  Then, it occurred to me that unlike an artist who paints to produce a portrait, or a chef who blends ingredients to bake a cake, scientists, and even many engineers, are merely part of a longer-term process.  We do what we can to push the boundaries of knowledge, sometimes actually ending up with a product, but much more frequently taking a concept to a point where someone else takes over.  Being at a university gives you the freedom to explore greater unknowns.  I've mostly experienced what might be labeled as failures, but on further thought, are really seeds of progress.  Mind you, I have had a few minor successes:

I was on the Hawaii Geothermal Project team that in the 1970's developed the 3 MW well that initiated the field in Hawaii.  We actually found the highest bottom-hole temperature at that time, 640 F.  Puna Geothermal Ventures built their operations next to our well, and, unfortunately, got mostly inundated by lava.  However, they sufficiently recovered and are today again producing electricity.  My hope is that they can somehow utilize the wastewater to support new industries, as we once did at Noi'i O Puna.  The potential for the Big Island is 500 MW, which can be exported as electricity through underwater cables or hydrogen.

I chaired the American Solar Energy Society Wind Energy Division in the 70's, and went on to help draft and pass the first legislation on wind energy systems for the U.S. Congress in 1980 when I worked in the U.S Senate.  Today, it has become the most successful renewable source to be widely commercialized.  The potential is unlimited when someday off shore wind power plants become competitive.

However, much of what else I tried to develop are in the early stages of development:

• In 1976 I worked on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence at the NASA Ames Research Center.  No aliens have thus far contacted us.

• 
  In the mid-70's I also spent some time at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on laser fusion.  Fusion remains 30 years away for commercialization, at best.
• Also in this period I led a team from the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute on a Department of Energy-funded project to determine, given biomass, what was the ideal biofuel.  We reported that bioethanol was far superior to ethanol, and that the direct methanol fuel cell was worthy of development to power vehicles.  The Farm Lobby overwhelmed our recommendation with their ethanol from corn option, which was an expensive dud of an option.

• 
  However, the USDOE gave us one more chance by funding a $25 million methanol from bagasse project on Maui, led by the Pacific International Center for High Technology Research, which was overcome by too many environmental requirements and the fact that oil prices reached an all-time low when we were ready to work with industry in the 1990's.

• 
  I helped write the original Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) bill in 1979 when I worked for the U.S. Senate.  We projected 10,000 MW by the Year 2000.  Today, this sum is close to zero.
• I wrote the original hydrogen legislation introduced by Senator Spark Matsunaga.  While the bill became law and created funding for the field, hydrogen today is like fusion.  Wonderful, but not now.

• 
  I began to work on the Blue Revolution thirty years ago.  Today?  A great idea awaiting funding from an imaginative billionaire.
• There were others:  10% Simple Solution for World Peace, Eternal Life, Hawaiian Onsen, Geoengineering to Remediate Climate Warming, the Ultimate Ocean Ranch and Rainbow Pearls International.  Glance at this talk I gave to MENSA three years ago.

So while my life has been mostly grand failures, whoops, make that visionary adventures, I have nevertheless planted some seeds for the future of Humanity and Planet Earth:

• Someday, we will receive and interpret alien signals to produce an Encyclopedia Galactica and arrive at a solution to world peace.  We can't seem to do this ourselves.

• 
  While it might be Cold Fusion or very hot, it's just a matter of time before we mimic what the Sun and all stars do to produce useful energy.
• I still think the best solution for ground transportation is bioemethanol and the direct methanol fuel cell.

• 
  The future of aviation is the hydrogen jetliner.
• The Blue Revolution will use OTEC to produce a cornucopia of products while enhancing the environment.

Just after World War II, the first hit in Japan was Ringo no Uta, by Michiko Namiki, having to do with apples.  Soon thereafter came Misora Hibari's first hit song at the age of 12 in 1949, Kappa Boogie Woogie, followed by Kanashiki Kuchibue.  

Ironically my song #11 is Hibari's final, Kawa no Nagare no Yo ni, composed by Akira Mitake.  She released this song in 1989 and soon passed away at the age of 52.  

She is considered to be the most popular singer ever in Japan, and this song is regularly rated as all-time #1 in Japan.  She helped inspire Japan out of World War II with her performances as a young child, and eventually recorded an astounding 1200 songs, selling more than 100 million, appearing in 160 films just from 1949 to 1971.

The Three Tenors singing song #11 in Tokyo in 1996.  Two Tenors plus Dina Ross in Osaka in 1997.   By Teresa Teng of Taiwan.  She returns tomorrow. Here, again, is Hibari Misora's final performance of Kawa no Nagare no Yo ni.

-