[Arktwo] These days at Ark Two

[Bruce Beach]

For the Fall Equinox Sept. 21st Marker -
went out for our Sunrise observation.
About a day off off
because Spring Equinox
was actually on the 23rd.

So back up the hill
before Sunrise
again on the 23rd.
Yup,
dead on.
Still don't understand all this.

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This Sunday is the 30th -
the Derivatives settlement day -
which has been anticipated with some dread.
However,
with the way that everything else happened
this month -
all the negative economic pointers -
bank runs,
and such catastrophic economic events -
which one would think
that they would bring down
the whole deck of cards -
and still the stock market has gone up, up, up.

Couldn't figure that out at all -
and simply contributed it
to the stock market being manipulated
by the PTB -
but finally came an explanation
from a highly praised financial paper -
that great pockets of money -
are simply getting out of money -
because of the Fed action -
and the fastest thing they can do -
is to buy stocks.
There are also dire predictions
of what will happen because of that -
but I don't pretend to understand any of it.

Still -
consider this:
In 2000, when Bush took office,
gold was $273 per ounce,
oil was $22 per barrel
and the euro was worth $.87 per dollar.

Currently:
gold is over $700 per ounce,
oil is over $80 per barrel,
and the euro is nearly $1.40 per dollar.

And the stock market goes up, up, up.

So also have the profits
of all his oily buddies -
and the industrial complex
that serves the military.

Well, some people are doing well -
so I don't suppose they are complaining
about the war going on.
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Bear Stearns
(which owns Citi Bank -
which owens Citi Financial -
which holds my mortgage)
said last Thursday
that its profit plunged 62 percent
in the third quarter.

Not to worry to much about Bear Stearns, either.
They are big and important -
and it is not likely the government will let them
go under.

Beach,
on the other hand ....
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Iran has said that it has -
or will -
or has already -
or will again -
give its final, final, final word
on the nuclear issue.

Quds Day in 2007
is on Friday, the 12th of October.
This is somehow supposed to be
especially significant.

IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed El Baradi,
of course wants to do everything possible
to avoid speaking harshly of Iran -
because if he ever once does it -
then it is game over
and Bush or Israel will bomb them.

May anyway.
Lots of things are pressing them that way.
Personally,
I thought they would do it long ago.
I have been as good at predicting that
as predicting the stock market.

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Coincidently, October 11 is NEW MOON,
which is significant from a military POV -
rather than an astrological one.

-------------
But still Putin will go to Iran on Oct. 16
where he says he will work to complete
Iran's civilian nuclear project
and Russia has flatly warned the US
to not try any funny stuff
while he is there.
--------------

If anything ever does happen -
there could hardly be more warning
than what we have already received  -
and more than likely
there will be no more warning -
and the situation will be such
that I will have no way to send out
these newsletters.

Still, for some reason -
people like to hear
what is going on at Ark Two.

Well -
lots.
Always big problems / tasks.

A couple of days ago -
John put the battery boards
back into the three phone switchboards
so we need Phil to come
to do the hook-up.

Bill came yesterday
and bush-hogged the new big garden area.
We are expanding the big garden area
to eight times its present size.
Several things make this possible.

A group of a half dozen young people -
(late twenties through early thirties)
have decided that is what they want to do -
and the nearby city is contributing
and delivering to us tons of compost.

Major hurdle at the moment -
and upon which I have spent the entire day
is trying to find something to turn the soil.
Plow, disc, whatever.
Have a big tractor lined up -
but no implement.

This Sunday
the troops are planning a hike
down through Little Wonder Valley
which is mostly on our property.
It will take them about two hours.

First down to the bottom
of the hundred and fifty foot cliff
and then hiking down alongside
the wide fast moving stream
which one needs to negotiate
back and forth
by crossing over large fallen tree trunks -
or leaping from rock to rock -
which is all very inspiring and exhilirating
with the beautiful fall colors.

I made the trip for the last time
a few years back
when someone had to help me through.
Jean hasn't gone for decades.
I hope someday that we can establish a path
that someone can push a wheel chair down -
and by that time -
maybe I can go again :)

All the parts are back
for the Caterpillar generator
and I am hoping that Dennis will come
and reassemble it before the hike.

Andy came yesterday evening
and rototilled the Memorial Garden
and Jean gathered a basket of apples
to make apple crisp for the crew
on Sunday.

No idea how many will come.
A couple of dozen have been invited.
Wilf is bringing a carload -
and perhaps Chris also.
Several have said that they can't make it
for that day -
but will come soon.

Cliff and his gang
(I don't know yet how many)
are coming a week from Sunday
to finish hooking up hot water tank #4
(if Terry doesn't have it done by then)
and then we can begin a new level of tasks.

Vince is coming from the states
next week -
for a week.
And another US group of three
is scheduled for the week after.

The doctor's group is scheduled
for the last weekend in October.
They are one of the thirteen groups
of Project 3000.

I have often said -
that people have no idea
of the types of things
that we do here at Ark Two.

Dale, our bioengineer,
has given me permission to include
in this newsletter -
his analysis of some of our proposed
medicine making process.
This will give you some concept
of the types of tasks undertaken here.

----------------
I have the basic guidelines for 'care & feeding' of P. chrysogenum
(aeration, agitator, substrates,  etc.) and extraction/purification
processes.  The purification costs directly relate to volume of solvent
processed...

Crucial detail:  We must obtain a freeze-dried spore sample of
'vat-friendly' mutants from the culture bank. The mutant strains are about
250 times more productive than Flemming's original isolates of 120 mg/mL. (1
Oxford unit of penicillin G = 0.6 mg of penicillin G)

No, natural (wild-type) penicillin fungus will Not do.  Here's why:

The original Flemming isolate (lives on rotting meats...) is not very
productive in a culture-flask.  We need the same amount of time, energy,
supplies, and labour to grow any penicillin fungus.  We need a mutant
strain.

The mutant strains may not revert back to wild-type, but they will not
survive long without human intervention in a nice, comfy fermentation vat.

Or keep them in the freeze-dried state until needed...

Also imagine a typical daily dose of penicillin may be 5 Million iu (3
grams)

Consider a fermentor about 250 US gallons.  This is about the size of a
typical residential oil-tank.  We (may) get enough penicillin to treat:

(about) 2 people using Flemming's isolate of 'wild-type' fungus (2.3 people)

(about) 2 dozen people using mutant strains from the mid-to-late '50's

(about) 600 people using mutants strains from the late '70's

(about) 1000 people using today's mutant strains... near theoretical max.

One would consider retrofitting a dairy or winery into a fermentation
facility.

Considering the energy requirements for running the fermentor alone:

would need a 4 hp agitator,
and a 5 hp air-compressor running 24/7
(this means you need an air compressor
rated for at least 7 peak hp...)
Oh, and if the power goes off
the fungus will suffocate more or less
just as fast as we would if somebody
held our head underwater.
Power must be 24/7 !!

We are very blessed with wind-turbines
in this area
but wind turbines are not continuous.

If the power all comes from a generator set,
it would look something like the following:

It could use about 6 US gallons gasoline/hour,

or 4 gal biodiesel,

or 9 gal ethanol,

or 85 to 100 lbs of nice, dry fire-wood
in a woodgas burner.

Concerning ethanol:
It would take all that corn,
plus need to raise steam
to convert it into the ethanol etc

Over the course of the fermentation:
This would represent about 8 cords of hardwood.
Carried by about 16 box-loads
in a typical full-sized pickup-truck

Biodiesel would come from about 20 acres of canola
 + 5 acres of corn/potatos

Ethanol would come from about 15 acres of corn,
or about 20 acres of potatos
(If expressed as food,
this is about 50000 lbs of corn...
quite a bit of food)

Also need solvent:
prefer methyl iso-butyl ketone,
and phenylacetic acid,
sugar,
and corn as substrates
and also need separatory funnels,
along with the usual (deluxe)
lab-scale organic chemistry glassware 'kit'

A 'batch' of penicillin
would keep fermentation faciliites busy
for about 10 days 'round-the-clock'
until the fungus has matured.

We may consider other beta-lactams?
ie. cephaloporins etc.?

concerning macrolides:
I also have basic instructions for erythromycin.

Realistically, the erythromycin needs pretty much similar equipment as does
the penicillin: freeze-dried spore samples, fermentation, extraction...etc.

Can 'upgrade' erythromycin  to Azithromycin
(ie. Zithromax).

concerning antifungals:
the 'azole types ie ketoconazole, micronazole...  also from fermentation.
Can also make 'statins, and aromatase inhibitors

concerning antibacterials:
one should have 'biguande,
chlorohexidine,
peroxide,
iodine,
chloroxylenol,
triclosan,
and some quaternariums
for cleaning and disinfecting

would consider thimerosal,
benzyl alcohol,
and chlorobutanol for preserving injected medicines

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Don't know if you find all that interesting -
but it does show the activity here.

Peace and love,
Bruce