Solar Power - rapidly approaching the tipping point.

The cost of Solar Power has been plummeting - Solar development in many areas is outstripping Moore's Law and in cost per unit, there is now almost parity between solar power and fossil fuels.

We will soon - maybe only in a matter of months,be reaching a point where bulk purchased solar power infrastructure is cheaper per watt than any other current electricity generation method.

The Solar industry will not need grants and subsidies to compete, any more than the digital camera industry needed subsidies to compete against film cameras. The same holds true for electric vehicles, and advanced battery technology.

Breaking Moore's Law - again and again

Today, another announcement in the application of AI to biochemistry was announced, resulting in a speeding up of two orders of magnitude the ability to classify proteins. The extreme rapidity of these advances is unprecedented.

Independence of the City of London

IF the government wants to protect the UK's financial services industry from the rules imposed by the EU, there is a simple, and elegant solution - grant to the City of London it's full Independence, as a City-State, and write treaties with it, so that the City's contribution to the exchequer can be guaranteed.

This is not such an implausible idea The City already has its own 100 member parliament - older than the one that sits at Westminster. It can pass legislation,and cannot be Ultra Vires within its jurisdiction; Acts of Common Council are binding within the City's jurisdiction. In many respects is it already quasi-independent.

The government would not need to do anything to create a democratic system artificially,or set up a parliament,or other structures of a State, as these already all exist. The City of London has its own bicameral parliament, its own judiciary, and its own military ( though the latter is now vestigial). All that would be required is an Act of Devolution, and a few treaties would need to be negotiated, so that the City can function effectively as a partner with Great Britain.   Cameron's and Osbourne's problems with EU regulation affecting the financial services industry in the UK would be solved at a stroke of a pen.

Methylene Blue - something to keep an eye on???

Methylene Blue is a dye that was found to be bioactive, and has been in use in one way or another for over 100 years to treat a variety of ailments, but in most applications it has been replaced by more modern drugs.
Interesting Methylene Blue is the first synthetic chemical substance ever used therapeutically - in 1886. Because of its long history of use, we have a pretty clear idea about its toxicology. Humans have
taken 300 mg/day of methylene blue (corresponding to 4.3 mg/kg for a 70 kg person) for one year without significant side effects (Naylor et al., 1986).

It has recently been discovered that the effects of Methylene Blue are highly dose dependent. (Powerpoint synopsis of the research to date)
At very low doses the dye becomes an electron donor, assisting the mitochondria - the cell's power plants - to work while creating less oxidative damage.

Great attention is now being paid to the function of mitochondria in a wide range of disease states related to ageing, with mitochondrial neogenesis being a target of many drugs and regimes related to healthy life span, and implicated in life extension in lower animals.

The initial research  on MB - carried out in the late 1970's - showed an effect on memory. More recent research in the last 12 months has significantly broadened the field of activity, with a clear understanding that MBs activity is dose dependent.

MB may possibly be set to join the list of  chemicals such as resveratrol and curcumin (another dye) which have been shown to have effects that, while not necessarily promoting extended lifespan, appear to promote extended healthy lifespan,which is in many ways more important, from a subjective perspective. As of yet,few human trials have been carried out with MB, and little is known about its long term impact on the body at low chronic dosages.

There is an interesting overview on this chemical here, and an NIH synopsis of the latest science here

Methylene Blue is interesting, because it is extremely cheap. At the low doses where a positive effect is registered,there are few known side effects - the dosages used historically are an order or magnitude larger - sometimes 2 orders of magnitude -  a massive difference in dosage.

Note to self:

More on mitochondria here - see footnotes

Strategies to prevent Alzheimer's Disease - Atamna et alia.

Memory improvement with low dose MB (Doctoral Thesis)

Methylene Blue diffusion in skin tissue