OK you Steve Martin fans out there, I know what you’re thinking…but that’s not it, a report has come over the wire today that indicates scientists may finally understand the “special purpose” of the appendix:

Via CNN.com:

Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut.

That’s the theory from surgeons and immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function. Surgeons removed them routinely. People live fine without them.

And when infected the appendix can turn deadly. It gets inflamed quickly and some people die if it isn’t removed in time. Two years ago, 321,000 Americans were hospitalized with appendicitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most are good and help digest food.

Read more…

Well, it’s about time. Thank you appendix for all you do…

Hmm. Maybe those two don’t want to sit in that arrangement in the future? This is apparently from the West Virginia bench…..An aside, the area where I grew up had a record and head shop with the name Dingleberry’s (where the merry record shoppers go *whip crack*) that advertised frequently using the tune “Oklahoma” as stock music. That’s all I can hear decades later when the word dingleberry comes up…

Originally published at Montara Energy Ventures.

One of the more interesting talks and technologies at the GRC Annual Meeting was given by MIT Researcher Chad Augustine on Spallation Drilling using a hydrogen-oxygen (H²-O²) fuel source. Spallation is essentially catastrophic structural failure of rock when extreme heat is applied in a small area. As the rock heats, small pieces spring free of the face of the rock in micro explosions.

Spallation drilling consists of a torch placed in close physical proximity to the rock face, the application of extreme heat to a small surface area, and removal of the waste material produced by spallation. The trick to this is, how does one get a flame to burn in the presence of water (used to remove the waste material) in an extremely high pressure (250 bar) environment? Chad and team reproduced this environment in a test facility at Potter Drilling in Redwood City and discovered that not only was it possible to keep the flame active in the high pressure aqueous environment, but that temperatures necessary for spallation to occur (500C) were maintained.

This could be an important and cheaper alternative to rotary drilling. And, there are a bunch of holes to be drilled…

Originally published at Montara Energy Ventures.

The Geothermal Resources Council (GRC) held its annual meeting this year in Sparks, Nevada at John Ascuaga’s Nugget hotel and convention center October 1-3. The event was heavily attended by developers, service providers, geologists, and financiers and featured several heavyweight speakers including Alexander “Andy” Karsner from the Department of Energy, Michael Olsen from the Department of the Interior, and Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons. The basic structure of the event included special pre-meeting sessions and field trips, a morning of keynote addresses, and then parallel sessions for presenting and sharing geothermal industry breakthroughs over the following days. There was also a tradeshow sponsored by the Geothermal Energy Association that ran during the entire conference. All of this activity was supplemented by dinners, receptions, and many private meetings among the attendees. While the final attendee count was not announced, we estimate there were at least 1,000 people attending the event.

There were 99 breakout sessions available over 21 timeslots (unfortunately, the individual breakout sessions only ran one time, so there were mulitple interesting topics that were competing…) and there was one 2 hour “poster session” where 38 topics were represented (with significant overlap between poster hosts and breakout sessions.) The tradeshow featured at least 50 different exhibitors from service providers (drilling, operations & maintenance, law, finance) to geothermal developers to government and non-profit associations. Over the course of the next few days, you’ll see content from the conference that caught our attention in some detail.

Suffice to say, it was a busy and productive 3 days. The takeaway MeV has from the event is a structured approach to the assessment of the resources on our Sou Hills, Nevada prospect. To whet your appetite for future entries, here are some facts gleaned about geothermal resources in Nevada from the keynote speakers:

• The Nugget (hotel, casino, and convention center) electricity bill is $4M per year
• Nevada’s peak demand is around 8,000MW
• 300MW of geothermal power is being developed in Nevada, to add to the 200+MW already in production
• 556,000 acres of geothermal leases, or 80% of all geothermal leases, are in Nevada
• Geothermal resource estimates for Nevada range from 1,500 to 5,000MW

OK, so it’s a day late. Shoot me…

Saturday, October 6th, the Ohio State Buckeyes will travel to glorious West Lafayette, Indiana to battle the Purdue Boilermakers who hold a record of 5-0. Since the Buckeyes also have a record of 5-0, someone will be leaving Ross-Ade Stadium with the first loss of the season. Game data is available as always from your Buckeye information source, Bucknuts. This is a night, away game for the Buckeyes, kickoff is 5pm PT and the Buckeyes are installed as 7 point favorites.

Through the first five games of the season, Purdue has proven to have a potent offense producing 45 points and 495 yards on average. The defense however, is a different story. Through the first five games it has surrendered an average of 20 points and 384 yards per game. Since both Purdue and Ohio State have played Minnesota this year just a week apart on the road, comparisons of performance are in order. In Purdue’s case, the margin of victory was 45-31 with the offense putting up 504 yards and the defense surrendering 469 yards; in short, a shootout. In Ohio State’s case, the margin of victory was 30-7 with the offense putting up 459 yards and the defense surrendering 277 yards; in short, a controlled victory.

Make no mistake about it, the keys to this game are defensive performances and specifically defensive performances along the line. Whichever team can stop the run and put consistent pressure on the opposing quarterback during the game will emerge with the win. Purdue represents the most complete and competent offensive unit the Buckeye defense has seen this year. Painter is putting up big numbers, he’s only been sacked 4 times all season, and the running game with Kory Sheets is effective. I think Purdue will put some points on the board, and Purdue always plays the Buckeyes tough.

The mismatch seems to be Purdue’s porous defense vs. Ohio State’s efficient offense. The numbers would seem to indicate that barring bizarre turnovers, penalties, and other mental errors, the Bucks stand a good chance of meeting their average scoring plateau this game. So it really becomes a question of Ohio State’s defense vs. Purdue’s offense – will the Boilermakers score their average of 45? Will the Buckeyes hold Purdue to their average of 7? It’s not likely that either of those extremes will be seen. I’d put it somewhere in the middle, call it 20-27 points.

Wait, I’ve got it, Ohio State wins 35-24 in a game that is close through 3 quarters. As always, we’ll post an after game report to see just how wrong this preview was. Go Bucks!