A talk will be held at the National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara on Saturday, 27 March at 4:30 p.m. It will be a power point slide presentation of over 75 slides
Title: “Are Recent Emerging Diseases like Mad Cow’s Disease, SARS, and Avian Flu Caused by Alien Viruses Seeded On Earth From Another World? “
Speaker: Dr Lim Ju Boo BSc PG Dip Nutr MSc MD PhD FRSH FRSMed DSc
Venue: Conference Room or Auditorium National Science Centre Bukit Kiara Kuala Lumpur
Date & Time: Saturday, 27 March, 2004
Chaired by: Academician Tan Sri Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong, PhD (Lond) FASc
About the Speaker : Dr JB Lim is a very prolific and highly eloquent speaker, a presenter extra-ordinary, who has delighted countless audiences in the past, both to the lay-public, and members of academia by his superb style of explaining a very highly technical subject to a level within the reach of a mixed audience.
A naturally-gifted speaker, and highly qualified presenter, who is known to be extremely witty, and sometimes sarcastic in remarks,. Dr Lim teaches with exceptional beauty, and is in very high demand as a speaker and consultant at several scientific and health forums. He was commented by the present Prime Minister to whom he attend to on regular and countless occasions as, “one who is very professional in his approach, explains things very well, a very caring physician, and one who makes people very happy”.
Dr Lim is a Founder President of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia, and is currently Head / Principal and Special Medical and Science Adviser on to a Group of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies in Penang.
He is also a Member of the Panel of Experts for Guthrie Scholar Foundation, and a Member of the Technical Supervisory Committee for Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd Post-doctoral Scholar’s Award
Here he is to delight us with his combined knowledge in astronomy, medicine and bio-medical sciences, with his flair to explain, teach and speak. He will reveal some of the correlations he found between Alien particles from Outer Space, and Events leading to The Emergence of New Diseases on Earth.
The author Dr JB Lim uses his combined knowledge drawn from multidisciplinary Sciences in Astronomy, Geography, Oceanography, Toxicology, Physiology and Medicine, Mathematics in his attempt to try to answer what this star “Wormwood” revealed in the Bible is.
A very brief summary on the basic info he knows from these disciplines in sciences and then calculated out to expand on them are spelt out as follows:
1. Earth has a total of 1.39 X 109 cubic km of waters 2. 96.5 % are in global oceans = 1.34 X 109 cubic km 3. 1.34 X 109 cubic km = 1.34 X 1018 cubic metres = 1.34 X1021 litres 4. Volume of water in 1/3 of all the global oceans = 4.47 X 1020 litres 5. Earth’s 263 international river basins and major rivers covering 45.3 % (231,059,898 km2) of land surface area has an estimated 2115 km3 of fresh river waters (Groombridge & Jenkins, 1998) 6. 2115 km3 = 2.115 X 1012 m3 = 2.115 X 1015 litres 7. Volume of 1/3 of rivers = 7.05 X 1014 litres 8. Radius of Earth = 6,378 km 9. Volume of Earth = 1.087 X 1012 cubic km 10. Radius of Sun = 695,000 km 11. Volume of Sun = 1.406 X 1018 cubic km 12. Sun / Earth Volume Ratio = 1,293,468 13. 1.29 million Earth can drop into the Sun 14. A small comet 0.5 km (500 metres) in diameter 15. Volume of a 500 meter comet = 6.55 X 107 m3 16. Density of comet = 3,000 kg / m3 17. Weight of comet = 1.965 X 1011 kg 18. 10 % of a 500 meter comet contains cyanide 19. Amount of cyanide present in a small comet = 1.965 X 1010 kg = 1.965 X 1016 mg 20. Dilution of cyanide in 1/3 of the rivers = 27.9 mg / dl (litres) – the lethal dose 21. Intake of cyanide in fluid intake @ 2.5 litres a day = 69.75 mg (extremely bitter and fatal) 22. Volume of an average comet 5 km (5000 metres) in diameter 23. Volume of a 5000 metre comet = 6.55 X 1010 m3 24. Density of average-size comet = 3,000 kg / m3 25. Weight of average comet = 1.965 X 1014 kg 26. At 10 % content, an average comet has : 1.965 X 1013 kg of cyanide 27. = 1.963 X 1019 mg 28. Dilution (concentration) of cyanide in 1/3 ocean waters 29. = 0.04 mg / dl (not lethal, but accumulative poison). 30. Intake of CN in water and all fluid intake at 2.5 litres a day = 0.1 mg (not fatal) 31. Chemical compounds found in comets like Hale-Bopp include: methane, acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, methyl cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, formic acid, ethylene, and carbonyl sulfide 32. Amount of cyanide in an average comet at estimated 10 % content = 1.965 X 1013 kg
A Biblical Revelation: “And the third angel sounded, and there fell, a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8: 10 -11)
A Holistic Scientific Analysis: A search of the scientific literature did no yield much information about the mystery star called “Wormwood” described in the Bible (Revelation 8:10 -11).
Neither was there useful and relevant information that could be sourced from the Internet. This ‘star’ thus remains much of a mystery to the scientific world as it is an event that has yet to come to pass.
An analysis of information pieced together by the author from several disciples of science and medicine may reveal a probable explanation to this mystery. No single field or key of science, whether it be astronomy, Christian science, physics, chemistry, cosmology, mathematics or even space medicine can open up this mystery about this Wormwood Star.
It requires the concerted and integrated efforts from all fields of knowledge including geography to disseminate the mystery. No wonder not even the massive information stored in the Internet provide a satisfactory explanation.
Hence all the statements described below need to be referred to the compilation of analytical data set out in the above Table to support the statements.
An analysis of our current knowledge in astronomy tell us that the Wormwood star is probably a typical comet yet to arrive, but it will be one that is going to crash into Earth.
We know from our knowledge in geography that three-quarter of the Earth’s surface is covered by water – the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers. Earth has a total of 1.39 X 109 cubic km of waters. About 96.5 % of the waters are in the oceans. This means there are 1.34 X 1018 cubic metres or 1.34 X 1021 liters of waters in all the oceans of the world.
The Bible tells us that the star will fall into a third of the waters. That implies that a third of the global oceans will contain 4.47 X 1020 litres of water. The Bible also describes ‘a great star from heaven’ that fell down (to Earth). Can this be possible?
We know from our knowledge in astronomy that this is not possible, given the fact that an average star in heaven is about the same size as our own Sun. The radius of Earth is 6,378 km, and its volume is 1.087 X 1012 cubic km. The Sun, technically a star, has a radius of 695,000 km, and hence a volume of 1.406 X 1018 cubic km. The Sun / Earth volume ratio is thus 1,293,468.
In other words, 1.3 million Earths can drop into the Sun to be equivalent to its size. Hence there is no possibility for the Sun or any star to drop into Earth. The reverse is true. This far, for ‘mathematical geography’ of the story to link up.. So we need to look for another explanation.
Let’s now turn to astronomy. In ancient times anything that ‘burns like a lamp’ in the sky are all called stars. That includes a comet. The presence of a comet since ancient times has also been a suspect of a disaster. It is to the ancient civilization the presence of a comet in the sky is a harbinger of bad omen. They bring disease and death to Earth. So how does a comet make the waters bitter, and cause death to many men.
Let us assume it is an average size comet. An average size comet is some 5 km (500 metres) in diameter. Its volume is thus 6.55 X 1010 cubic metres. The density of an average-size comet is 3,000 kg / m3. Hence its average weight is 1.965 X 1014 kg. Now a number of studies on the chemical composition of a comet have already been done. One such study is Hale-Bopp Comet. It was found to contain chemical compounds that include methane, acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, methyl cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, formic acid, ethylene, and carbonyl sulfide. It was estimated that about 10 % of the chemical compounds in a typical comet could be hydrogen cyanide or cyanide compounds. If that is true, the amount of cyanides in a typical comet at 10 % would have a weight of 1.965 X 1013 kg or 1.965 X 1019 mg. Let see what happens if an average-size comet were to drop into our oceans. We already calculated out that 1/3 of the oceans contain 4.47 X 1020 litres of water. That means that if an average comet 5 km (5,000 metres) wide were to fall into one of the 3 major oceans – Pacific, Atlantic or Indian oceans, it will contaminate its waters at a dilution of 0.04 mg / deciliter.
Let us now examine the consequence from the view point of physiology and toxicology. In physiology we know that the fluid intake of an average human adult is about 2.5 litres a day to replace a minimum obligatory urinary output and loss of about 800 ml a day. Hence the amount of cyanide ingested through water intake at 2.5 litres a day is a mere 0.1 mg. This, in toxicology is not immediately fatal, although it could act as an accumulative poison. So a human drinking from that water will not die instantly. What’s more, no human drink the salt water from the oceans. So this explanation doesn’t seem very satisfactory. Let’s look at Revelation once again, and read carefully what it says there. In Revelation Chapter 8, verses 10 – 11 it did not speak about the oceans.
It says: “a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters”
So it is the rivers, and not the ocean that the ‘star’ fell into. But how could a 5 km diameter comet fall into a river. I do not think there is a river wide enough to accommodate an average comet. We know from our current knowledge that comets are of different sizes, and weight. They can be small, as small as only a tenth the size of an average one. If we assume just a small comet, as small as only 500 metres (0.5 km) in diameter drops into one of the rivers (fountain of all waters), what will be the scenario like? To answer that, let us return to geography once again. It has been documented that Earth has 263 international river basin and major rivers, covering 45.3 % or 231.059,898 km2 of the land surface area (not the ocean area). There is an estimated 2115 cubic km of fresh river waters in all the rivers of the world (Groombridge & Jenkins, 1998).
There are 3 major rivers with the highest volume of water discharge a year. These are: the Amazon (6.92 cubic km of water per year), Ganges (1.38 km3 /year), and the Congo (1.30 km3 /year). Other rivers are merely very long, like the Yangtze, Nile, and Mississippi, but they do not mean they have the highest volume of water discharge. The total volume of all the rivers is 2.115 X 1012 cubic metres or 2.115 X 1015 litres. A third of the total volume would be 7.05 X 1014 litres.
Since neither the Amazon or the Mighty Yangtze River can accommodate a 5 km wide comet if it should falls into them, a 0.5 km will easily fit into any of the 3 major rivers. A 500 metres diameter comet with an average density of 3,000 kg / m3 weighs about 1.965 X 1011 kg. At 10 % content, a small comet will contain 1.965 X 1010 kg or 1.965 X 1016 mg of cyanide. In other words, if this was to fall into a third of the ‘fountains of waters’ the cyanide levels in the fresh drinkable waters of the rivers will be in the order of 27.9 mg / dl (litres). This is immediately a fatal dose, and many men will die drinking that water because it was made bitter.
Very Brief Chemical, Physiological, Toxicological and Medical Summary of Cyanide Poisoning:
Let me now move you from geography, astronomy, chemistry, to the medical aspects of cyanide poisoning. How does it work? Let us just describe it briefly: Please bear with me as we need to shift from one branch of science to another.
• Chemistry of cyanide :
Hydrogen cyanide / prussic acid: extremely bitter. Taste like bitter almonds, extremely toxic and highly soluble in water
• Toxicity : Lethal concentration of gaseous hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in humans is between 100 – 500 ppm (parts per million) within a few minutes due to respiratory failure. Lethal oral dose of cyanide compounds in solutions, say in water, is between 0.5 – 3.0 mg / kg of body weight. The lethal dose for an average 60 kg (150 lbs) reference man at 0.5 mg / kg body weight = 30 mg in a single dose
• Mode of Action:
It binds with a number of body enzymes. Primarily, its action is by inhibiting the cytochrome c oxidase, mainly by binding the ferric ion of the cytochrome. This interferes with tissue oxidative phophorylation as it blocks the electron transfer in the energy-rich phosphate ATP / ADP biochemistry. To make this simple, short and sweet to understand, death is due to respiratory inhibition, mainly oxygen deprivation to the tissues, but more importantly to the brain.
• Fluid Loss:
Obligatory fluid loss in urine per day in adult human = 830 dl (830 ml.)
• Fluid Intake:
Average fluid (water) intake of an average man = 2,500 dl (2.5 litres), depending on humidity, temperature, physiological needs, exercise, lungs and skin output, gastrointestinal, kidney output, osmmol (salt) load, medical conditions, etc. About 2.5 litres a day is about right and about the average intake for a reference man.
• Signs & Symptoms:
Cyanide acts rapidly on the tissues, respiratory and nervous systems. In high concentration, there is a dramatic increase in the rate and depth of respiration. This compensatory response mechanism against tissue respiratory failure is so powerful, that it overrides the casualty’s normal ability to hold his breadth. Fierce convulsions set in with 20-30 seconds with cessation of respiration within a minute. Cardiac failure sets in within a minute or two. In lower concentrations, HCN acts on the CNS (Central Nervous System) leading to serial neurological events such as motor weakness of the lower extremities (legs), vertigo (giddiness), nausea and headache, loss of neuro-motor coordination and unsteady gait. The reflexes are altered, and there may be convulsions followed by coma. These signs and symptoms very much depend on the concentration of the cyanide ingested, body weight, and body constitution. In high doses above 0.5 mg / body weight, death is the ultimate sequel.
The Conclusion: From the chemical and medical summary above, we know that cyanide is an extremely bitter substance. It tastes like bitter almonds. Doesn’t this fit the description that the star is called ‘Wormwood’ because the waters were made bitter? Doesn’t that fit the picture of a bitter star that fell onto Earth? When it does fall into the rivers, does all these calculations presented here tell us exactly how much it needs to pollute the total volumes of a third of the rivers in such an exact dilution that “many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8: 11).
Doesn’t our knowledge in physiology and nutrition tell us that we cannot, but forced to drink a minimum quantity of water to replace an obligatory loss of 800 ml of water daily, whether or not we like it. Invariably many men is going to die from this.
As I pointed out, most scientists or doctors specializes only on one field of science or medicine. With that myopic, cross-eyed and un-holistic view they will never see the sights that came down from heaven as in my separate story about the SARS Virus as An Alien from Outer Space. See my write up on this in the other section on “Aerospace Medicine” in the Astronomical Society of Malaysia website at:
A talk will be held at the National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara on Saturday, 27 March at 4:30 p.m. It will be a power point slide presentation of over 75 slides
Title: “Are Recent Emerging Diseases like Mad Cow’s Disease, SARS, and Avian Flu Caused by Alien Viruses Seeded On Earth From Another World? “
Speaker: Dr Lim Ju Boo BSc PG Dip Nutr MSc MD PhD FRSH FRSMed DSc
Venue: Conference Room or Auditorium National Science Centre Bukit Kiara Kuala Lumpur
Date & Time: Saturday, 27 March, 2004
Chaired by: Academician Tan Sri Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong, PhD (Lond) FASc
About the Speaker : Dr JB Lim is a very prolific and highly eloquent speaker, a presenter extra-ordinary, who has delighted countless audiences in the past, both to the lay-public, and members of academia by his superb style of explaining a very highly technical subject to a level within the reach of a mixed audience.
A naturally-gifted speaker, and highly qualified presenter, who is known to be extremely witty, and sometimes sarcastic in remarks,. Dr Lim teaches with exceptional beauty, and is in very high demand as a speaker and consultant at several scientific and health forums. He was commented by the present Prime Minister to whom he attend to on regular and countless occasions as, “one who is very professional in his approach, explains things very well, a very caring physician, and one who makes people very happy”.
Dr Lim is a Founder President of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia, and is currently Head / Principal and Special Medical and Science Adviser on to a Group of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies in Penang.
He is also a Member of the Panel of Experts for Guthrie Scholar Foundation, and a Member of the Technical Supervisory Committee for Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd Post-doctoral Scholar’s Award
Here he is to delight us with his combined knowledge in astronomy, medicine and bio-medical sciences, with his flair to explain, teach and speak. He will reveal some of the correlations he found between Alien particles from Outer Space, and Events leading to The Emergence of New Diseases on Earth.
The Tsunami-Earthquake Triggered by A Very Rare Lunar-Gravitational Event
Dr Lim Ju Boo
Founder & Immediate Past President The Astronomical Society of Malaysia
and
Member of Council The Malaysian Senior Scientist Association
Summary
The tragic event of the tidal waves that took the toll of thousands of lives the day after Christmas could have been caused by the massive gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s Tectonic Plates where the faults and fractures lie.
What exactly happens on a Full Moon is that both the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the Earth exert a tremendous pull on the Earth surface causing the oceans waters to drag upwards on either side of the Earth as spring tides. As the Earth rotates underneath these two massive heaps of water once in 24 hours, and any location on Earth facing an open sea will experience two huge spring tides twice a day.
But these are ordinary tides, and are probably the most marked effect of the awesome powers of gravitation of the Moon exerting over Earth. Most people ignored and take this effect for granted because they are just ordinary common tides.
But what actually could have happened on the morning of December 26, 2004 was probably this.
Most people and non-scientists don’t realized is that, the Moon exert a far more powerful effect on Earth than even much more massive Sun since the Moon is nearest to Earth. The lunar gravitational power so powerful that it drags not only huge masses of ocean waters round and round the Earth twice a day as tides, but it also causes frictional tides beneath the oceans, and land masses causing enormous frictional rub on the Earth’s solid crust especially on the tectonic plates that slide, collide, rub, crush and drift among them.
This tidal effect on the solid crust beneath the oceans and on land is hardly noticeable to the man-in-the-street since the pull of the liquid water as spring and neap tides are much more pronounced and visible.
By-and-by as the Moon sweeps round and round the Earth hundreds or thousands of times, frictional solid tides over the Earth’s land masses, and beneath the oceans, its tidal effect over the faults and tectonic plates becomes apparent at breaking point.
This effect is especially pronounced during a Full or a New Moon when both the Sun and the Moon combined to act on Earth. This could have triggered the earth quark at the fracture.
This happened on December 26, 2004, an event that could only happen once in 143, 171 and 207 years during which, the points of the Earth where the sensitive Indian-Burma tectonic plates are, fall near the maximum gravitational tug of the Full Moon. This implies that a similar event could have taken place in the years 1797, 1833 and 1861
Full Version
The tragic event of the tidal waves that took the toll of thousands of lives the day after Christmas could have been caused by the massive gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s Tectonic Plates where the faults and fractures lie.
What exactly happens on a Full Moon is that both the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the Earth exert a tremendous pull on the Earth surface causing the oceans waters to drag upwards on either side of the Earth as spring tides. As the Earth rotates underneath these two massive heaps of water once in 24 hours, and any location on Earth facing an open sea will experience two huge spring tides twice a day.
But these are ordinary tides which everyone are familiar with, although the majority of people do not realize this is the most marked effect of the awesome powers of gravitation of the Moon exerting over Earth. Most people take ordinary common tides for granted because they are just on the surface of oceans and seas that occurs each Full and New Moon. But almost all do not realize there are also solid tides beneath the oceans and land which are also being pulled up by the Moon. This is exactly what happened on the morning of December 26, 2004. The Moon was at the at the wrong place and wrong time.
Tidal Effects
Most people, especially non-scientists don’t realize is that, the Moon exert a far more powerful effect on Earth than just causing ocean tides. Its gravitational pull on Earth is more than twice than even much more massive Sun since the Moon is much near to Earth than the Sun. The lunar gravitational power is so powerful that it drags not only huge masses of ocean waters round and round the Earth twice a day as tides, but it also causes solid frictional tides beneath the oceans floors and land masses, causing enormous frictional rub on the Earth’s solid crust especially on the tectonic plates that slide, collide, rub, crush and drift among them.
This tidal effect on the solid crust beneath the oceans and on land is hardly noticeable to the man-in-the-street since the pull of the liquid water as spring and neap tides are much more pronounced and visible effect of the Moon.
By-and-by as the Moon sweeps round and round the Earth hundreds or thousands of times, frictional solid tides over the Earth’s land masses, and beneath the oceans, its tidal effect over the faults in the tectonic plates becomes apparent.
This effect is especially pronounced during a Full or a New Moon when both the Sun and the Moon combined to act on Earth. This could have triggered the earth quark where the tectonic fracture lie. The gravitational pull of the Moon on Earth is so immense that it causes not only frictional rub on the Earth’s crust, but it is actually slowing down the rotation of the Earth as well. This effect of the moon on Earth is hardly known to the public. It actually slows down the Earth’s rotation at a rate of about 2 thousandths of a second per day per century. So a day now takes about 2 thousandths of a second longer to complete than it did in 1900. According to Geoff Chester, astronomer and public affairs officer at the US Naval Observatory, at this current rate of slowing, 3 million years from now, a day will be about 1 minute longer than it is now. The moon has a tidal pull on the solid surface of the earth as well, just as much as it has an effect on the liquid surface of the earth. You can actually measure the tidal influence on land during the course of a day; it goes up and down a few centimeters every day, depending on where the moon is in the sky and where we are on the tide cycle.
Besides causing ocean tides, and slowing down the Earth, the Moon may trigger off earthquakes. It has been shown that earthquakes are much more common around the times of new moon or full moon. The Tsunami Event could not have happened at a more appropriate date and time than on the morning of December 26, 2004 when the Full Moon occurred precisely at 15 hrs 03 min 36 sec UT (22:06 hours UT Indonesian Time). This occurred about half a day before the Moon achieved its Full Moon phase. Geographical Location Seismologists said the epicentre of the December 26, 2004 quake was more than 8.8 km (5.5 miles) below the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra and about 240 km (150 miles) south of the city of Banda Aceh on the islands northern tip. Beneath the ocean floor, the quake occurred along a long north-south fault where the edge of the Indian plate dives below the Burma plate. A sea floor feature known as the Sunda Trench marks where the Indian plate begins its grinding decent into the Earth's hot mantle. Complicating matters, the edges of three other tectonic plates also bump here, with the Indian and Australian plates slowly sliding north west relative to the Burma plate. A 8-magnitude earthquake on the island's southern tip was the most deadly tremor of 2000, causing at least 103 fatalities and more than 2,000 injuries. Giant quakes could have rocked the area in 1797, 1833 and 1861. Pressed, lifted or slipped from many directions, stress built up along the fault line off the Sumatra coast. A north-south fault ruptured along a 1192 km (745-mile) stretch, or about the length of Malaysia till the whole of southern Thailand. Many people believe that the Sun, the Moon, and other planets trigger earthquakes. I was told that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Tangshan (39.6 N, 118.2 E) on July 28, 1976 had been on a new moon (the 2nd) and the 6.9 Kobe on January 16, 1995 (UTC) had been on a full moon (the 3rd LT). However, they considered why neither large one happened at other places on Earth where were on the same new moon or full moon, nor why no large one happened at Tangshan or Kobe 1, 2, 3, ... months before or after when the times were also on a new moon or a full moon.
The reason is simple. Not all New and Full Moons fall exactly on same place where fault lines and slips below the earth surface lies. I shall explain this in a little detail later. But first let look at some data:
Apparent Geocentric Position of Moon
Position of Moon December 16 2004 December 26, 2004 Right Ascension 22h 3m 17 6h 17m 10s Declination -16° 48' 50" (South) 27° 54' 6" (North) Earth-Moon Distance 368,619 km 405,949 km Constellations Aquarius Gemini
Topocentric Lunar Event on December 26 2004
Maximum Altitude 60 deg 36 min 0 sec Time of Maximum Tides 5 hrs (GMT) Time of Full moon 15 hrs 07 min 21 sec (GMT)
Solar and Lunar Data for Banda Aceh (longitude E 95.3, latitude N 5.6) on Sunday 26 December 2004 Indonesian Time is Universal Time (UT) + 7 hours
The following information is calculated for Banda Aceh at longitude East 95.3, latitude North 5.6:
Sun-Moon data on 26 December 2004 Universal Time + 7h = Indonesian Time
SUN
Begin civil twilight 06:23 Sunrise 06:45 hrs Sun transit 12:39 hrs Sunset 18:33 hrs End civil twilight 18:56 hrs
MOON
Moonrise 17:30 hrs on preceding day (25 Dec 05) Moon transit 23:54 hrs on preceding day (25 Dec 05) Moonset 06:19 hrs on 26 Dec 05
Moonrise 18:21 hrs on 26 Dec 05 Moonset 07:10 hrs on following day (27 Dec 05)
Maximum Altitude 60 deg 36 min 0 sec Time of Maximum Tides 5 hrs GMT Time of Full moon 15 hrs 07 min 21 sec UT Full Moon on 26 December 2004 at 15 hrs 03 min 36 sec UT ( 22:06 hours Indonesian Time) On that morning an earthquake followed almost two centuries of tension during which the India plate pressed against the Burma microplate, which carries the tip of Sumatra as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The plates move against one another at an average rate of about 6 centimetres a year, but this movement does not occur smoothly. There has not been a very large quake along this fault since 1833 — a fact that may have contributed to the huge force of this one. The India plate's jarring slide released the tension on the Burma microplate, causing it to spring violently upwards.
Data from the above table, we see that 10 days before (16 December) the event, the Moon was in the southern hemisphere as indicated in red with a minus sign in the declination as shown :
Declination -16° 48' 50" (South)
However, 10 days later on that tragic morning on 26 December, the Moon had already moved to the North as shown in red with a positive (north) sign
Declination 27° 54' 6" (North)
The Moon was setting in the west at 06:19 hrs Indonesian Time (7 hors ahead of GMT (UT / UTC) by the time it has done its job of sweeping over the Indian-Burma tectonic plates.
This means the Moon was actually crossing the equator from south to north to be over northern Sumatra where the fault line was near Banda Aceh (latitude 5 0 35 ‘ N, and 95 0 20 ‘ longitude) some time between 19 and 20 December as given in the data
The apparent geocentric positions of the Moon between 19 and 20 December, 2004 were :
19 December, 2004
Right ascension 0h 40m 45s Declination 2° 28' 3" Range 385,730 km Constellation Cetus
20 December 2004
Right ascension 1h 26m 36s Declination 8° 22' 59" Range 390,551 km Constellation Pisces
In other words, there was a possibility that the Moon could have been acting over these tectonic plates from the beginning of December itself, and begins to dislodge and loosen them around just after mid December. By the 20 December, it would have managed to lift upper layer fully, dragged it over towards the north and slipped it westwards by about 30 metres westwards by the time it set in the west on that fateful day.
In order for Moon to achieve this exact positioning, the Earth need to spin 62357.75 times round its axis, while the Moon needs to rotate 2115 times around the Earth or 2115 lunar days of Full Moon for that same point on Earth to come directly under the same Full Moon as taken place on December 26, 2004. In short, it will take about 143-207 years for Earth to carry the Indian-Burma tectonic plates to be at the same point under a Full Moon as on December 26, 2004
In short, the earthquake-tsunami event of December 26, 2004, could only happen once in 143, 171 and 207 years during which, this point of the Earth where the sensitive Indian-Burma tectonic plates are, fall almost directly under a Full Moon near where the maximum lunar gravitational tug would be. This implies that a similar geological event could have happened in the years 1797, 1833 and 1861 The Moon is inclined to the ecliptic and varies about 5 degrees 8' 43" (5.145 degrees) from the Ecliptic, and can be 37,000 km. (5.29 degrees) above or below Ecliptic achieving a maximum of 29 degrees North or South of the equator. This means at every Full Moon, any point on Earth can be directly underneath it. A point on the Earth surface which is directly underneath the Moon means if a line (axis) is drawn from the center of the Moon to the center of Earth, it will penetrate the Earth’s surface at that point defined by its geographical longitude and latitude. This point could be any of the millions of points or spots on Earth ‘s surface where the axis will enter. At this point the pull of the Moon will obviously be the most powerful as the force along this line (axis) is most concentrated being the line joining the centers of gravity of Moon, Earth and Sun. That Geographical Spot and That Event This spot could be anywhere on Earth which will come the direct and maximum influence at the precise second of a Full Moon. It could be a town in North America, or in the south of Africa, or somewhere at the Equator, say over Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It could be anywhere. Millions of points on Earth could be directly under it at the precise moment. However, this means that not every Full or New Moon is going to result in an earthquake, unless it is unfortunate enough that that point lie on the spot of tectonic instability. This was the case when the Full Moon fell over the Sumatra fault line where the Indian-Burma-Australian plates were. It so happened that for a few days before the Tsunami event, the Moon was actually moving from south (shown by a minus declination), and was rapidly crossing over the equator towards the north. As it did so, it crossed over where the plates and fault line were. These spots where the three plates were, was when the Moon was becoming increasing Full. However, a week earlier, the tectonic plates could have already suffered tremendous tidal forces from solid tides that swept round them with each rotation of the Earth. The tectonic plates could have been lifted and slide over each other as the Earth rotated, and the Moon became increasing Full. By the time it achieved near Full Moon on December 26 (Full Moon occurred a few hours later at 22:06 hours Indonesian Time that day) it could have dragged the plates northwards and also westwards as the Moon sets that morning. Such event could only happen once in about 170 years, or even much later. The position of the Moon’s nodes and their period are like that. The node is the point where Moon's Center crosses Ecliptic, and the Nodal Period: is 2.6 hrs less than Sidereal, Node Recesses (West backwards) at 053 degrees per day. This astronomical-geographical positioning seems like an astronomical chance of probability (coincidence). How much does the moon’s gravitational pull affect earthquakes? Seismologists have investigated the effect of the moon’s gravity for many years. The short answer is that while the moon does deform the earth slightly in a 12-hour cycle called the solid earth tides, it doesn’t seem to have any large and major effect on the time an occurrence of big earthquakes. There are difficulties in understanding the effects of tidal forces. However, if a fault or region is ready to rupture, it wouldn’t take much to tip the local stress field to the point of rupture. It’s worth noting that there is a much better correlation between the earth’s gravitational pull on the moon and moonquakes. Yes, seismographs have been taken to the moon and have recorded between 300 and 600 ‘moonquakes’ per year. This is because the Earth has a mass 81.43 times that of the Moon, and hence Earth’s tidal action on the Moon is obviously 81.43 times greater than that of the Moon on Earth. And yet, despite of the relatively smaller tidal influence, the Moon can still cause geological upheaval on Earth over time. Moreover the surface area of the Moon is also much less than that of Earth. Hence Earth’s gravitational influence on the Moon covers a much wider area. It is 13.5 times greater (radius of Earth is 6,378,140 metres; Moon is 1,737,400 metres). Animals, Tidal Forces, and Earthquakes The short answer is yes, they do, and science has recorded thousands of examples showing a positive correlation between animal behavior (this includes human behavior) and the moon. Science however has not explained the mechanism that triggers this behavior; or more simply exactly how the moon causes this influence. The abundance of fish that comes out from their hiding places at high tides every Full Moon is a phenomenon all fishermen know, and yet they all take it for granted since they cannot explain why! This has nothing to do with the higher amounts of water in the seas during high tides. In fact, on the contradictory, the higher volumes of waters at high tides would only dilute the density of fish per cubic kilometers of water. So in fact we ought to get less fish during high tides because the fishes will have more space to swim around with all those ‘extra’ waters around. Why then are the fishes so frightened to congregate together in large numbers like ‘birds of the same feathers’ during a Full Moon as if something was lurking and brewing up below the ocean floors? Was there some very, very fine tremors beneath the dark deep ocean floors generated by the movements of solid tidal actions beneath them at each Full and New Moon, Perhaps! These tremors and rumblings below the ocean floors as the Moon sweeps, rubs, and grinds the solid tides round the Earth twice a day, are far, far too fine for our scientists, seismologists, geologists with their so-called ‘highly sophisticated’ instruments to detect! To me, the animals are far more sophisticated with their ability to detect fine rumbling and grinding noises below. Think ! My dear scientific colleagues, and arrogant scientists working in the Ivory Towers of the academia and research institutes, I have this to say. Sorry about that ! Let us learn from the primitive fish, which were evolved with the rest of lower animals hundreds of millions of years earlier than us. They have much better sense than we do because they need to survive drastic geological, and harsh environmental changes in the early years of Earth’s history. They developed senses which modern human may not require. These extra senses may forewarn these animals of imminent natural disasters, so that they can run away.
We scientists must learn to be humble, and learn from them. We must not assume that our state-of-art seismic sensory instruments can do better. The animals can warn us humans of an impending earthquake days in advance. Our cutting edge seismological and scientific instruments can only register a seismic movement only at the moment it happens. We cannot replace the extra sensory sensitivity of animals with whatever ‘sophisticated’ and ‘early warning systems’ we may implant on the ocean and sea floors, and linked them to the satellites relays up above the Earth. Animals do not require these sophisticated man-made “Early Warning Systems” like we do. I strongly believe the successful lower animals already have an inbuilt “Biological Very, Very Early Warning System:” implanted into them through evolution for them to survive so long. We need to learn from the fish, which evolved during the Devonian Period (Red Sandstone) 360 to 408 million years ago. It was an Era of Fishes, a great variety of fish species evolved then that probably evolved with those ‘six senses’ to run away from natural disasters for their survival over their long geological eras. In those early epochs of geological and natural history, I strongly believe, earth’s geological structures were still in their early stages of formation, and were still very unstable. As such, I believe natural events like volcanoes, earthquakes, minor earth tremors; meteorite impacts, intense ultraviolet and cosmic radiations on Earth were very rampant and severe. It was the smaller and less complicated animals whose simpler DNA make-up that was less likely to suffer extensive damage, that could survive all those natural disasters. Hence they need to have sensory mechanisms to escape well in advance of the event. It is my strong scientific conviction why they inherit those “biological early warning systems” (as I coin it) in their bodies which we don’t have. The first human civilization with cities, agriculture and domesticated animals only came into being during the Holocene Epoch, which is ‘recent’ to 10.000 years ago. Humans use ‘scientific’ methods with metals, coal, oil and other natural resources by then, although early ‘humans’ may have made ‘his’ appearance at the end of the Mesozoic era, 65 million years ago (Wilson, 1989). Still, primitive fish instinct seems far more sensitive and a far better predictor of earthquakes, and seismic movements beneath the Earth with every tide. We scientists with all our state-of-art technologies are no match with them. There is just no comparison. We emerged only 400 million years later after the fishes. Other sea creatures are also known to respond to diurnal and tidal rhythms of activity. Rhythmic activity in littoral fish has been described. (Franklin H Barnwell. Nature 207544-545. 1966). Daily and tidal patterns of activity in individual fiddler crabs have also been described elsewhere.
Strange Behaviour Other animals too have been known to behave strangely on Full Moons even though our most sensitive and advanced seismographs failed to detect the very minute Earth tremors generated by solid tides sweeping beneath the Earth’s crust as the Earth’s rotates under a Full and New Moon. Each sweeps carries with it minute solid tidal bulges of a few centimeters round the Earth. Animals are able to detect these changes each month, and they behave strangely on Full Moons even though very minute changes in the Earth’s tectonic plates are not detectable by even by our most sophisticated seismographs. Dogs and wolves howl madly at a Full Moon each month. So they say even human behaviour change, and hormonal cycles fall in rhythm with the lunar cycles. The word ‘lunatic’ is derived from the word lunar (moon). This animal extrasensory perception is not only extremely interesting, but even very helpful and useful. They behave even much more strangely just minutes, hours or even days before an earthquake is due. We are not sure of the mechanism or the time that triggered it. There is a book “When the Snakes Awake” by Helmut Tributsch, a geologist who was interested in earthquake prediction. Dr. Tributsch was interested in why animals seemed to be able to predict the arrival of earthquakes minutes, hours and even days, before they occurred. He collected a huge number of examples of this phenomenon stretching back thousands of years and on every continent. He also enumerated and explored a large number of little known and unexplained phenomena associated with earthquakes (earthquake lights, fogs, lightning, noises and electrical phenomena) in an attempt to find a common denominator both for the earthquake effects and their effect on animals
His conclusion was that just before the actual earthquake proper, the rock layers are under extreme stress due to compression, bending and stretching of the strata. This stress causes the silica in the rocks to release electrons due to the well-known piezoelectric effect on quartz crystals. These electrons both liberate hydrogen and oxygen by splitting water molecules due to electrolysis and also form large numbers of highly active ions, which are expelled from the ground just prior to the earthquake.
His hypothesis is that it's these ions that excite and disturb the animals. The beauty of his theory is that these ions explain why fish in water, animals on land, birds in the air, and even animals locked in the equivalent of Faraday cages (a device used to isolate a given volume of space from all electrical effects) would react strongly just before an earthquake hits. Professor Tributsch's theory remains the best so far, and the only one that fits all the data
The Scientists Pride
So why can’t those seismologists and geophysicists use animals as a much better, and early predictor of imminent earthquakes than relying on those useless instruments of theirs? I think it is just their scientific pride and arrogance that separates them from the animals.
Even as doctors and medical scientists ourselves, we use animals for our research for the advancement of medicine. Sometimes we use in vivo (inside the body) procedures, such as injecting or implanting a substance into the body, or excising an organ out, or in vitro (outside the body) methods such as in tissue or growth cultures or in incubators.
If we can do that, why can’t scientists of physical sciences use animals for the advancement of astronomy, physics and geophysics?
How are astronomers and astrophysicists going to study exobiology (extraterrestrial life) without wanting anything to do with animals, biochemistry or even chemistry? Maybe they don’t know anything about biology or want to have anything to do with those ‘sissy’ biological sciences.
But I think scientists who are considered the learned and intellectual elites by the society, and who work in secrecy in the ivory towers of the closed doors of research laboratories, it is just their intellectual pride and arrogance that’s all. Solunar Theory However, back in the 1920's a fellow named John Alden Knight attempted to predict the activities of animals based on the positions of the sun and moon. In an interesting, but frustratingly vague, book Moon Up - Moon Down he detailed the story of his discovery of this phenomenon without revealing his methods for determining it. He named his hypothesis the Solunar Theory and annually published small pamphlets, The Solunar Tables that predicted the activity periods for every day of the coming year.
In a nutshell his theory was that when the moon passes directly overhead (Moon Up) or directly beneath the observer (Moon Down) animal activity was greatest - and hunting, fishing, and observation of animals most fruitful. He found that the sun's position relative to the moon also played a role and retarded or accelerated the time of activity, or what he called the Solunar Period. What he was actually predicting were the periods of high tide for any given place on earth. Having used his Solunar Tables for several years scientists say that they work, after a fashion, and are well worth the modest price not only for biologists, but also for any serious hunter or fisherman who cares to invest in a copy.
Ion Response Mechanism
The relevance of this theory that ions may have some link to daily animal activity periods wasn't immediately apparent, but the ideas and some data presented sort of percolated around some scientists mind for a number of years. Knight's tidal theory and Tributsch's work on earthquakes are some examples linking ions discharge into the air during a Full Moon and animal instinct.
As I never tire of telling people, the moon causes tides in more than just the oceans of our planet. There are atmospheric tides, groundwater tides, tides in the magnetosphere and earth tides. When the moon is directly overhead you're about two feet closer to our orbiting satellite than when the moon is at right angles to you. This rise and fall of the earth beneath our feet happens twice each day. The only reason we don't notice it is that it rises gradually and occurs over tens of thousands of square kilometers simultaneously. And it affects the entire planet down to the core.
Now while this tidal deformation of the crust isn't as extreme as that produced by an earthquake, it is enough to cause silica in the crust (the most abundant element there) to be deformed and release some electrons (which create ions) twice each day. This, coupled with the exhalation of these ions by the rising groundwater tides, would propel a small but significant number of ions into the atmosphere from the earth. And it's these ions, which some believe, that animals sense and which signal them into their tidally regulated activities each day.
Of course some animals, oysters for instance and several corals, actually respond to lunar gravitation. It could well be that all animals (including us) respond to fluctuations in gravity, but based on animal behavior during these activity periods. Perhaps, we believe that there is probably more at work than mere response to lunar gravity. Based on individual experience, and the reports of a large number of observers, smaller animals react more quickly to lunar tides than larger ones. Were they all reacting to merely gravitational cues one would expect all creatures to react simultaneously regardless of size? Since size does seem to matter and since this theory predicts that smaller animals which would collect electrical charge and reach electrical equilibrium more quickly than animals with a larger volume (and hence larger electrical capacity) I believe this to be the true explanation of how and why the moon affects living organisms.
A Random or Predictable Geological Event? One of the largest earthquake of recorded history occurred Dec. 26, 2004 00:59 GMT just off of Indonesia, causing a rift 700 miles long on the ocean floor resulting in a series of Tsunami's (Tidal Waves) which devastated shorelines of surrounding countries killing well over 100,000. Was this a random event or was there a trigger factor for the massive earthquake? The time around Dec 26th, 2004 had a series of known astronomical events taking place. On Dec 21st the Winter Solstice (Longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere). On January 2, 2005 the Earth is closest to the sun in the yearly orbit (3 million miles closer than on July 2nd). The Full Moon was on Dec 26th and the moon was at apogee (farthest point in the lunar orbit from Earth). The High tide for Dec 26, 2004 in Sumatra, Indonesia took place at 7:48 AM local time, the Earthquake took place at 11 minutes later at 7:59 AM Local time (00:59 GMT).
These combined events meant that the Suns tidal effect was increased more than any other time of the year. The actual tidal influence of the Sun is 44% of that of the Moon as it's distance is that much farther away than the moon. Winter Solstice: Dec. 21, 2004 12:42 GMT / UT Lunar Apogee (farthest point of orbit to earth) Dec 27th 1:48 PM EST 2004 December 27 19:16 Moon’s tidal effects can be up to 18% less than those at the average distance. But the Full Moon on 2004 December 26 15:07 had a combined tidal effect of the Sun and the Moon which was approximately 12% stronger than usual. Earth Perihelion (Closest point of Earth's orbit to Sun) was on Dec 27th 1:48 PM EST 2005 January 2 00:37 Tidal effect for the Sun on that fateful day increased by some 5%.
When the Sun, Earth and the Moon all lie along a straight line, as at new and full Moon, the Sun’s and the Moon’s tidal forces pull in the same direction and cause high tides to be higher than average, and low tides to be lower than average. Parts of continent may rise and fall as much as 0.40m (16 inches) when the Moon passes overhead.
So while the Moon has a greater influence on tidal forces, the time around 00:59 AM GMT on Dec. 26th, 2004 the Sun had a higher percentage tidal influence than under normal circumstances. This tug of war on our tides between the Sun and the Moon was stronger between the two at this point and may have contributed to the extra stress over the fault line over Sumatra to trigger the large quake. Even Sumatra Moved Conservative estimates say that in the December earthquake of 2004 the whole island of Sumatra was picked up and physically moved by a staggering 40 metres ! Such movements are impossible without help from some external forces acting on it from outside the Earth. Geologists can only think of internal forces within the Earth’s mantle. Being scientists who study only the Earth’s geological structure, they do not think holistically that there are also external forces acting from outside Earth, which could trigger off earthquakes. Hence geologists could only tell you, and the newspapers around the world that an earthquake caused the Tsunami Event of December 26. But if you were a scientist and to ask them why did that earthquake happened only on that special day, they will just give you a blank stare. Once an earthquake is triggered, irrespective due to internal or external forces, counter movements elsewhere on the globe may act around the world fault lines to weaken them further. We might see a whole series of major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that would not otherwise have happened so quickly. In turn these earthquakes will precipitate yet further quakes, setting loose a chain of events whose catastrophic outcome no one can dare predict. What Did Other Scientists Say Indian scientists recently claimed they found a scientific method of predicting earthquakes quite accurately. The great quake of Sumatra along Andaman fault line on December 26th, according to the Indian scientists could have been predicted if the world would have taken them seriously.
If their theory is true, we are in for many mega earthquakes soon. Accordingly to the Indian scientists who are from the Dept of Applied Geology at the University of Madras, they said “ when two or more planets, moon and earth and sun come in one line, these mega earthquakes happen. The sun influences the rotation of earth. Now imagine you are in a train or bus, they quoted. If all on a sudden the driver pushes the brake, you tend to move forward in a jerk. Exactly same thing happens when two or more planets line up with earth and pulls from the other side. The tectonic pressures built up get released in specific points of epicenter” I have already suspected the Moon first, and to an certain extent the Sun as well all along in this paper. But I have not mentioned about the planets. But according to the Indian scientists, “in this case Jupiter, Venus, Moon, Earth, Sun came in one line and the scientists predicted on the dot the earthquake. Unfortunately the world did not take them seriously enough” so they said.
It is a fascinating theory of course to involve the planets as well, and according to the Indian scientists “it is correct 99% times in the last 100 years. The ancient Mayans, Egyptians, Chinese and Indians all used to get very concerned on planetary alignments because something catastrophic happened”.
The Indian scientists were predicting many earthquake around India they quoted.
Here is the full text in green and red below about their planetary theory PLANETARY CONFIGURATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION N.VENKATANATHAN, N.Rajeswara Rao, K.K.Sharma and P.Periakali Department of Applied Geology, University of Madras
Earthquakes really pose little direct danger to a person. But due to earthquakes there are some effects like ground shaking, ground displacement, liquefaction, flooding (tsunami), and fire which are hazardous to human beings. The hazards mentioned above are avoidable if prediction can be made early, which would enable their mitigation, reduce damage to life and property drastically and facilitate precautionary measures by government and NGOs. Though there have been several attempts at earthquake prediction from different perspectives, this attempt aims at establishing planetary configurations as a definitive means of earthquake prediction. Also this study aims to establish the occurrence of earthquake precursors like fore shocks and change in ground water level with respect to planetary configurations. When two or more than two planets, Sun and Moon are aligned more or less in line (0o or 180o) with the Earth, then the Earth would be caught in the middle of a huge gravity struggle between the Sun and the planets. The gravitational stresses would change the speed of the Earth in its orbit. When the speed of rotation of the earth changes the tectonic plate motion also gets affected, just as people collide with each other when the bus driver suddenly applies the brakes. The total angular momentum of planets involving in earthquake triggering mechanism can be calculated and the total force acting at the epicenter in the opposite direction to the rotation of the earth can also be determined. At the epicenter, the speed of rotation of the earth can be calculated with the help of available software. So the planetary forces acting in the opposite direction to the rotation of earth act as a triggering mechanism for the accumulated stress at faults and plate boundaries, to be released abruptly. This does not, however, mean that earthquakes will occur at all edges of the plate boundaries. In order to trigger an earthquake in one particular place, two conditions should be satisfied. They are a) distance of epicenter from the planet position and b) Direction of force acting at the possible epicenter. From the analysis of “Most significant earthquakes” over past 100 years, it is inferred that the latitude, longitude and magnitude of the tremor is related to the distance from the planet and direction of planetary forces acting at any particular point. So the planetary positions can be used to predict the earthquakes in long term prospect and then by correlating the planetary positions and their forces with geology of that area, earthquakes can be predicted with fair accuracy with regard to latitude, longitude and magnitude at least a month before. As A Scientist, I Disagree With The Scientists Although I am not a geologist, or a scientist in physical sciences, I actually have special interest in astronomy (mathematical astronomy), and earth sciences. I am in fact a trained medical scientist, a nutritionist, and a doctor with special interest, and in natural therapeutics. Even though, I disagree with what the Indian scientists said about the influence of the planets in their paper. The reason is very simple. Mathematically, only the Moon (first), and the Sun (second), can have a appreciable tidal effect on Earth. Even though the Sun, which is 26.8 million times more massive than the moon, it is 392 times further away than the Moon is. Hence it can be calculated that the Sun’s gravitational pull is less than half (0.45) that of the Moon on Earth. Here are my arguments with the calculations below. Let’s look at the table:
The relative influences of object in the solar system, in order of magnitude. are: Object Mass (Earth=1) Distance (Million km) Relative Influence (Moon=1) Moon 0.01228 0.38 1.00 Sun 329390 149 0.45 Venus 0.8073 41 0.000052 Jupiter 314.5 629 0.0000056 Mars 0.1065 79 0.00000096 Mercury 0.0549 91 0.00000033 Saturn 94.07 1277 0.00000020 Uranus 14.40 2720 0.000000004
From the data, we can see the combined influence of the rest of the objects in the solar system is less than 10 billionths of the influence if the moon. The combined influence of all objects in the solar system, other than the moon and the sun, is at most 0.000059 or only 1/24500 the combined influence of the moon and the sun. Thus even when all the planets are lined up, their combined influence is relatively small. Besides the dominant semi-diurnal periodicity, there are other significant periods. Most notably, there is the synodic month (~29.53 days) periodicity due to the moon's orbit around the earth (relative to the sun) and the 18.5-year periodicity due to the 5-degree inclination of the moons orbit. Its periodicity, angle of orbit, smaller eccentricity of orbit, and its proximity to Earth, would put the Moon a far greater influence on Earth, than the greater orbital eccentricity and much farther distances of the planets, even if they were combined or even all aligned up together Given the relative influence of a planetary alignment and the lack of correlation of earthquakes with the dominant gravitational effects, we would not expect planetary alignments to significantly influence either the rate of occurrence of earthquakes or the relative motion of the tectonic plates. In other literature search, I found there were no significant correlations between earthquakes with planetary alignments. The only major gravitational influence on Earth comes from the Moon. Even the Sun, which is 26.8 million times more massive than the Moon, can only exert less than half the gravitational pull than the nearer Moon, since the gravitational force falls off inversely as the square of its distance. Lunar Phase and Earthquakes Occurrences Let us now look at some of the records of earthquakes occurring at, or a few days before or after a New or Full Moon, and the geographical locations where faults were under those Moons. Historical Records of Earthquakes Occurring During Lunar Phases Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 26, 1700 8+ FQ Jan 28 First Quarter 2 days later 9PM June 24, 1808 6.0 NM June 23 New Moon 1 day earlier, San Francisco December 16, 1811 8.1 NM Dec 15 New Moon 1 day before New Madrid 8:15 UT February 7, 1812 8+ LQ Feb 5 Last Quarter 2 days before New Madrid 09:45 UT June 16, 1819 7.5 - 8.3 LQ June 14 Last Quarter 2 days before 23.60N 69.60E India 7:00 PM June 10, 1836 NM June 11 New Moon 1 day later January 9, 1857 8.25 FM January 10 Full Moon 1 day later Fort Tejon, CA September 3, 1857 FM September 3 Full Moon that day December 16, 1858 NM December 16 New Moon that day May 27, 1862 NM May 28 New Moon 1 day later October 21, 1868 7.0 FQ Oct 23 First Quarter 2 days later Hayward Fault September 10, 1899 8.0 FQ Sep 12 First Quarter 2 days later Alaska 21:41 UT January 31, 1906 Off the coast of Ecuador April 18, 1906 7.7 LQ Apr 15 Last Quarter 3 days before San Francisco 5:12 AM series of quakes November 21, 1915 7.1 FM Nov 21 Full Moon that day Volcano Lake, B.C. January 26, 1922 6.0 NM Jan 27 New Moon 1 day after W. of Eureka January 31, 1922 7.3 NM Jan 27 New Moon 4 days before W. of Eureka January 22, 1923 7.2 FQ Jan 25 First Quarter 3 days after Cape Mendocino February 3, 1923 8.5 FM Feb 1 New Moon 2 days before Kamchatka, 54.0N 161.0E December 21, 1932 7.2 LQ Dec 20 Last Quarter 1 day before Cedar Mountain, Nevada December 31, 1934 7.0 LQ Dec 29 Last Quarter 2 days before Colorado River Delta February 1, 1938 8.5 NM Jan 31 New Moon 1 day before Banda Sea, Indonesia, 5.25S 130.5E November 10, 1938 8.2 FM Nov 7 Full Moon 3 days before 20:18 UT May 19, 1940 7.1 FM May 21 Full Moon 2 days after Imperial Valley February 9, 1941 FM February 11 Full Moon 2 days later April 9, 1941 FM April 11 Full Moon 2 days later October 3, 1941 FM October 5 Full Moon 2 days later August 15, 1950 India-China border July 21, 1952 7.7 NM July 21 New Moon that day Kern County November 4, 1952 Kamchatka November 12, 1954 FM November 10 Full Moon 2 days earlier December 16, 1954 7.1 LQ Dec 17 Last Quarter 1 day after Fairview Peak, Nevada February 9, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 2 days later San Miguel, B.C February 14, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 3 days earlier San Miguel, B.C February 15, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 4 days earlier San Miguel, B.C. March 9, 1957 9.1 FQ Mar 9 First Quarter that day Andreanof Islands, Aleutians, Alaska 14:22 UT May 22, 1960 Chile October 13, 1963 8.5 NM Oct 17 New moon 4 days later Kuril Islands, 44.9N 149.6E March 28, 1964 9.2 FM Mar 28 Full moon that day Alaska 03:36 UT mar 27? 5:30 AM local February 4, 1965 8.7 NM Feb 1 New moon 3 days before Rat Islands, Aleutians Alaska 15:01 UT September 12, 1966 FM September 14 Full moon 2 days later February 9, 1971 FM February 9 Lunar eclipse that night August 6, 1979 FM August 7 Full moon the next day November 8, 1980 7.2 NM Nov 7 New moon day before W. of Eureka May 7, 1986 8.0 NM May 8 New moon day after Alaska, 22:47 UT July 20, 1986 FM July 21 Full moon the next day July 21, 1986 FM July 21 Full moon that day October 17, 1989 7.1 FM Oct 14 Full moon 3 days before Loma Prieta August 16, 1991 6.3 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter next day W. of Crescent City August 17, 1991 7.1 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter that day W. of Crescent City August 17, 1991 6.2 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter that day Punta Gorda June 28, 1992 NM June 30 New Moon 2 days later Landers Quake June 28, 1992 NM June 30 New Moon 2 days later Big Bear Quake January 17, 1994 6.7 FQ Jan 19 First Quarter 2 days later 4:31 AM local, same area as 6.6 in 1971 June 26, 1998 5.9 NM June 24 New moon 2 days before Ceylon Modern 2000 Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks January 8, 2000 7.2 NM Jan 6 New Moon 2 days before Tonga Islands 16.925S 174.248E February 25, 2000 7.1 LQ Feb 27 Last Quarter 2 days later Vanuatu Islands 19.528S 173.818W March 28, 2000 7.6 LQ Mar 28 Last Quarter that day Japan 22.338N 143.730W April 23, 2000 7.0 LQ Apr 26 Last Quarter 3 days later Argentina 28.307S 62.990E May 4, 2000 7.6 NM May 4 New Moon that day Sulawesi 1.105S 123.573W May 12, 2000 7.2 FQ May 10 First Quarter 2 days earlier Argentina 23.548S 66.452E June 4, 2000 7.9 NM June 2 New Moon 2 days earlier Indonesia 4.721S 102.087W June 18, 2000 7.9 FM June 16 Full Moon 2 days before South Indian Ocean 13.802S 97.453W July 11, 2000 6.7 FQ Jul 8 First Quarter 3 days earlier August 6, 2000 7.4 FQ Aug 7 First Quarter 1 day earlier Japan 28.856N 139.556W September 3, 2000 5.2 FQ Sep 5 First Quarter 2 days earlier October 4, 2000 7.0 FQ Oct 5 First Quarter next day Vanuatu Islands 15.421S 166.910W October 6, 2000 6.7 FQ Oct 5 First Quarter day before October 29, 2000 7.0 NM Oct 27 New moon 2 days before New Ireland 4.766S 153.945W November 16, 2000 8.0 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 2 days later New Ireland 5.233S 153.102W 04:54 UT November 16, 2000 7.8 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 2 days later New Ireland 3.980S 152.169W 07:42 UT November 17, 2000 7.6 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 1day later New Ireland 5.496S 151.781W 21:01 UT December 6, 2000 7.0 FQ Dec 4 First Quarter 2 days before Turkmenistan 39.566N 54.799W
2001 Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks January 1, 2001 7.5 FQ Jan 2 First Quarter 1 day after January 9, 2001 7.1 FM Jan 9 Full Moon same day January 10, 2001 7.0 FM Jan 9 Full Moon 1 day before January 13, 2001 7.7 LQ Jan 16 Last Quarter 3 days after January 26, 2001 7.7 NM Jan 24 New Moon 2 days before February 13, 2001 7.4 LQ Feb 15 Last Quarter 2 days after February 24, 2001 7.1 NM Feb 23 New Moon 2 days before June 3, 2001 7.2 FM June 6 Full Moon 3 days after June 23, 2001 8.4 NM June 21 New Moon 2 days before July 7, 2001 7.6 FM July 5 Full Moon 2 days before August 21, 2001 7.1 NM Aug 19 New Moon 2 days before October 12, 2001 7.0 NM Oct 16 New Moon 4 days later October 19, 2001 7.5 NM Oct 16 New Moon 3 days before October 31, 2001 7.0 FM Nov 1 Full Moon next day November 14, 2001 7.8 NM Nov 15 New Moon next day December 12, 2001 7.1 NM Dec 14 New Moon 2 days after
2002 Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks January 2, 2002 7.2 FM Dec 30 Full Moon 3 days before Vanuatu Islands 17.6S 167.856W March 3, 2002 7.4 LQ Mar 6 Last Quarter 3 days after Afghanistan 36.502N 70.482W March 5, 2002 7.5 LQ Mar 6 Last Quarter next day Philippines 6.033N 124.249W March 31, 2002 7.1 FM Mar 28 Full Moon 3 days before Taiwan 24.279N 122.179W April 26, 2002 7.1 FM Apr 27 Full Moon next day Mariana Islands 13.088N 144.619W June 28, 2002 7.3 FM Jun 24 Full Moon 4 days before China Russia border 43.752N 130.666W August 19, 2002 7.7 FM Aug 22 Full Moon 3 days later 11:01 UTFiji 21.696S 179.513E August 19, 2002 7.7 FM Aug 22 Full Moon 3 days later 11:08 UTFiji 23.884S 178.495W September 8, 2002 7.6 NM Sep 7 New Moon 1 day before New Guinea 3.302S 142.945W October 10, 2002 7.6 FQ Oct 13 First Quarter 3 days later Indonesia 1.757S 134.297W November 2, 2002 7.4 NM Nov 4 New Moon 2 days later Indonesia 2.824N 96.085W November 3, 2002 7.9 NM Nov 4 New Moon next day Alaska 63.517N 147.444E November 17, 2002 7.3 FM Nov 20 Full Moon 3 days later Kuril Islands 47.824N 146.209W
2003 Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks January 20, 2003 7.3 FM Jan 18 Full Moon 2 days before January 22, 2003 7.6 LQ Jan 25 Last Quarter 3 days after March 17, 2003 7.0 FM Mar 18 Full Moon next day May 26, 2003 7.0 LQ May 23 Last Quarter 3 days before Honshu, Japan, 9:24 UT May 26, 2003 7.0 LQ May 23 Last Quarter 3 days before Indonesia, 19:23 UT June 20, 2003 7.1 NM June 29 New Moon day before July 15, 2003 7.6 FM July 13 Full Moon 2 days before August 4, 2003 7.5 FQ Aug 5 First Quarter 1 day after August 21, 2003 7.2 LQ Aug 20 Last Quarter 1 day before September 25, 2003 8.3 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day after 19:50 UT September 25, 2003 7.4 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day after 21:08 UT September 27, 2003 7.3 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day before October 31, 2003 7.0 FQ Nov 1 First Quarter 1 day after November 17, 2003 7.8 LQ Nov 17 Last Quarter that day December 27, 2003 7.3 FQ Dec 30 First Quarter 3 days after 2004 Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks January 3, 2004 7.1 FQ Dec 30 First Quarter 4 days before Feb 6, 2004 7.1 FM Feb 6 FullMoon that day Full Moon Feb 20, 2004 6.6 NM Feb 20 New Moon that day New Moon Jul 15, 2004 7.1 NM Jul 17 New Moon 2 days later Fiji Jul 25, 2004 7.3 FQ Jul 25 First Quarter that day Southern Sumatra, Indonesia Sep 5, 2004 7.2 LQ Sep 6 Last Quarter next day Honshu, Japan Sep 28, 2004 6.0 FM Sep 28 Full Moon that day Full Moon Nov 11, 2004 7.5 NM Nov 12 New Moon next day Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia Nov 15, 2004 7.2 FQ Nov 19 First quarter 4 days later Nov 26, 2004 7.1 FM Nov 26 Full Moon that day Papua, Indonesia Nov 28, 2004 7.0 FM Nov 26 Full Moon two days before Hokkaido, Japan Dec 26, 2004 9.0 FM Dec 26 Full Moon that day North Sumatra For the year 2000, we have 18 major quakes recorded worldwide, with only two of them falling outside the lunar effect zone (lunar window). In 2001 we had 16 major quakes, with three of them outside the tidal parameters. 2002 was an odd year in that we had 13 quakes, with only 5 of them occurring within the lunar window. This is worse than chance, which is 30%. In 2003 we had 15 quakes, with 4 outside. For 2004, the record shows 12 quakes, with only 2 outside the window. If quakes happened every month we would be able to minimize the damage. But they don’t, except when the fault lines in the tectonic plates get near or directly under a Full Moon. Sometimes large ones seem to come about at irregular intervals, because there are also many other factors of which we are unaware. We need to know how to measure the strain on a fault, and how to predict with accuracy how much strain is enough to trigger the quake. Since many fault slippages occur many kilometers beneath the surface of the earth, and since there is no way to get down there to measure every fault, it may be many years before we have enough information on them. The nearest and the fastest is to reply on previous records and the positioning of the Moon. Seismographs are utterly useless. They only register a quake only when it happens. They don’t tell us when it is going to happen. Only animals can do this, and tables of Moon phases give us strong indications of risks. Moon itself does not cause the earthquake The positions of the moon and sun do not "cause" earthquakes to happen by themselves. The landmasses must be at or near "ready" to snap into their new positions. The moon and / or sun only serve to trigger a quake that would happen within weeks otherwise. At the point where the Earth surface came directly beneath a Full Moon, that part of the Earth may not have any geological fault line beneath. One have to understand that the Moon’s path round the Earth is elliptical, and at certain times it comes close to Earth, when its gravitational force and tidal effects on Earth is strongest. At other times, it moves away from the Earth surface (technically it should be the Earth’s center). This is when gravitational effect is the minimum. Moreover, because the Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, while the Moon circuits the Earth once every 29.54 days, by the time the Moon gets back to the same position relative to the Sun, that does not mean the exact spot on the Earth will face the Moon after every 29.54 days. Moreover, because the Moon is inclined to the ecliptic at a different angle, it will seem to swing north and south all the time. It may take tens of thousands of Earth’s rotations, and thousands of Moon circuit around the Earth before it returns exactly the same point on Earth. In the case of the December 26, 2004 earthquake-tsunami event, this particular Moon-Sun-Earth geographical alignment can only occur once in 122 years (minimum), and 1,890 years (maximum). This implies there could have been a similar earthquake-tsunami event in the year 1883, and the next earliest one may not be due until the year 2127 when the Sun-Moon-Earth geographic line up over Sumatra once again But even is there is a line up, this does not mean it will always trigger off an earthquake. The India-Burma tectonic plates may have stabilized by then, or the line-up may take place at a later year. It is precisely similar to the occurrences of solar and lunar eclipses on different date of the year even though a Full or a New Moon may occur every month without a single eclipse in sight.. It all depends on the angle of tilt between Sun-Earth and Moon along the ecliptic and the nodes at that moment in time. Even eclipses cannot happen at every Full or New Moon even though the Sun, Earth and Moon all lines up. This is because of the elliptical tilt of the Moon, which may its shadow to fall slightly outside the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment. This is exactly the same that no same spot on Earth falls directly under a Full Moon every month. What’s more can we expect to have a tsunami every month? Such perfect alignment rarely exists. The Earth and Moon spinning round at different speeds and at different angles around their axis, and inclined at certain angles to the ecliptic. If eclipses are rare what more can we expect to have exactly the same earthquake at every lunar month. The Moon’s solid tides far beneath the ocean floors sweeping over exactly the same spot on Earth come only once in a ‘Blue Moon’ (figuratively speaking). This event on December 26, 2004 is one such unfortunate example. The Moon's Declination and Tides The moon does not lie directly above the equator, but rather is inclined at up to 28.5 degrees each side of the equator, and moves up and down over a period of 27.2 days. The tidal bulges will tend to align themselves with the moon, and so when the moon is not aligned over the equator alternating tides will be higher and lower than average, particularly in mid latitudes. In this way, the moon has a diurnal (daily) effect on the tides, which varies from maximum to minimum every week. At each Full or New Moon, any of the millions of geographical locations from East to West, and along the North-South path could face directly under the Moon, and at different distances to the Moon too. But the 26 December event is so unique as I have already explained, but unfortunately escaped the foresight and knowledge of geologists who are not astronomers So They Told the Newspapers So the geologists told the newspapers all over the world, that the Tsunami Event of Dec 26, 2004 was caused by an earthquake of 11 magnitude on the Richter scale off the coast of north Sumatra. Although this is true, but not a word came from them as to how, and why the earthquake happened on that particular day. Don’t they study records and the influence of the Moon? That’s the problem when a scientist becomes too specialized, and had not looked at the problem or a mechanism holistically. Neither have they sought help from other fields of science, or involved in multi-disciplinary studies. A Summary Finding Dr Fergus Wood, Ph.D., a former Research Associate at National Ocean Survey, and later at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the author of "THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF PERIGEAN SPRING TIDES IN NAUTICAL HISTORY AND NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL FLOODING, 1635-1976", published by NOAA in 1978, sent a copy of his book to the U.S. Geological Survey with a comment about possible tide / quake connection. On pages 201-203, Wood points out that during six centuries (1635-1976), the greatest tidal force exerted on the Earth by the Sun and Moon was January 4, 1912. On that date it was a Full Moon. At that moment of the Full Moon, the Earth-Sun distance was at a minimum (perihelion). It was only 6.5 minutes away from an extreme minimum perigee. Only two quakes are listed for California / Nevada during 1912-1913, with the strongest of these hitting near the California-Nevada border, close to Bishop (about 5.5M), which occurred on that day of Full Moon, January 4, 1912. That day Dr Wood mentioned was the day of the maximum tidal forces in six centuries. So was the Tsunami Event of December 24, 2004. If you need further technical details or explanation, do feel free to contact me
I read a very interesting answer the other day coming from Captain KH Lim in his website (Google Search : ‘KH Lim Boeing 777’) when someone wrote to him enquiring what happens when a passenger is thrown out from a plane flying at 35,000 feet ? I believe Capt Lim gave a very accurate answer to that question. The question was so interesting that I could not help thinking of the possible physics and physiology occurring to a human body falling from such a tremendous height. Allow me to fill in the details where Capt Lim left out.
Before I start elaborating on the answer Captain KH Lim gave, let me straight away tell you I do not know the answer with absolute certainty. The reason is very simple. I have never seen a person falling off from an aircraft before, let alone has a study or a scientific experiment been done to study him as he falls to his death. Neither do I not know of any sane person who would conduct such an bizarre experiment either. In the absence of any account documented in the literature, whatever discussed here is entirely, and personally my own. I conjure up a scientific hypothesis, based on other indirect existing observations, and established facts. Knowledge can only come from a study. All scientific experiments on humans are governed by professional ethics, and scientists do not go round murdering people just to gather some scientific facts. Hence I do not know of any experiment being done where a person is being pushed out of a plane at 35,000 feet just to observe what happens to him during the fall. I do not think they have done this even to an animal. The only other way to study such an effect is through controlled experiments using a parachute. But the psychological and physiological effects on a parachutist who knows he is undergoing an experiment, and who knows he is safe, and will land safely, is entirely different from one who accidentally fell off from a plane without a parachute. Furthermore, it is from a height more than three times higher than those attempts by a parachutist The scenarios are totally, and entirely different. There is just no comparison. As I am not a parachutist, I do not know if there had been any one attempting to jump from a height of over 10 km, where the air is so thin, and where the temperature is a forbidden – 55 0 C. I do not think a parachute could open effectively at such great heights where the air is very thin. A parachute can only work when air rushes into it to unfold it. When the air is so rarified at that attitude, one can hardly breath. The parachutist will be knocked unconscious within 30 seconds before he could even open his parachute.
So what I am attempting here is to construct a scenario using intelligent guesses based on existing knowledge, and observations in physics, medicine and physiology. Some indirect experiments may already been conducted by NASA scientists but some of the results are kept in very tight wrap, and the rest of the scientific world is kept in the dark.
The Scenario :
Now, let us imagine a picture of a human passenger falling off a jet liner flying at 35,000 feet. That’s 10,668 metres or 10.67 km up in a hostile environment where the temperatures are down to the tune of – 55 0 C. The atmospheric pressure there registers only 8.89 inches of mercury, whereas the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 29.9 inch of mercury. What happens then? Thanks to Capt KH Lim who assures us that, that will never happen as the aircraft doors are shut tight by air pressures within the cabin, and it can never be opened unless the pressure is released by the Captain on landing. That’s assuring enough ! But let us examine a hypothetical situation where the plane burst open due to an onboard explosion. Hopefully this will not be another Satanic act by another madman onboard. Let us assume the passengers are all thrown out. What happens ?
Let us look at the haemodynamics first. This means its effects on the physics and dynamic of blood circulation. We assume the passengers were not killed or injured by the explosion, but were merely falling down, and begins to accelerate downwards. It will continue to accelerate until air resistance, and drag brake it to a maximum velocity. This is called the terminal velocity. Once the terminal velocity is reached, no matter how fast that speed is, it will have no effect on the haemodynamics. The danger lies not because of the maximum (terminal) velocity, but from the acceleration as the body plunges faster and faster towards the ground. As I said, I have not seen or studied the effects of a human body plunging downwards to earth before, let alone from such great height, so the scenario I construct here are only based on theoretical scientific principles on to expect.
Circulatory Dynamics :
First of all, I do not anticipate much changes to the haemodynamics since the acceleration is only 1 G (one unit of gravitation force). This is from the natural pull of the Earth’s gravity. During the fall, the casualty if conscious, will only experience the feeling of weightlessness and free floating, and this may not have a very profound effect on the circulatory system. This feeling of weightlessness will soon disappear the moment the terminal speed is reached, and there is no more acceleration. The victim will feel as if he was riding on a very fast roller coaster, or in a very fast car.
But suppose now we imagine a situation where the passenger didn’t fall out of the plane, but was actually diving downwards together with the plane at a tremendous acceleration of let’s say 4-5 G (4-5 times greater than the pull of natural Earth’s gravity). This probably is achievable by a very fast plane accelerating downwards at a rate greater than the natural gravity of Earth. What happen then? Ah ! that make a great difference. Suppose now he plunges downwards head first, and legs up. The acceleration that mimics tremendous gravitation pull downwards will act like a centrifugal force, similar to the water being spun outwards from wet clothes against the drum in a washing machine. This will cause all the blood to pool towards the legs, leaving no or little blood going to the head (brain). The casualty will immediately suffer a syncopal event (faints) or a ‘black out’ due to low cerebral perfusion of blood and oxygen. This gives rise to an event called transient cerebral ischaemia leading to a “black out”. The black out is similar to one caused by hypoxia (lack of oxygen), but not exactly the same as the cabin partial oxygen pressure is still maintained. But both are due to lack of sufficient oxygen perfusion into the brain, although the mechanism causing it is different.
Of course a number of other factors can also cause faints (syncope). It is not just from falling off a plane into a hostile environment where the oxygen tension is very low. In fact anything that causes the blood flow to the brain to be compromised, will result in a faint. For instance, if the vagus nerve (the 10th cranial nerve – the longest and the principal component of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system) is over-stimulated, it will cause the heart to slow down, thus reducing the blood flow to the brain. In medicine, we call this phenomenon “(vaso) vagal attack” brought about by factors such as fear, pain, stress, and shock as Capt Lim pointed out. This event result in vaso- dilation, and a corresponding drop in blood pressure. This event temporary de-stabilizes blood pressure, affect circulatory dynamics, and the blood supply to the brain. I have quite a number of patients (predominantly females) who came to me complaining about their frequent ‘blackouts’ Most of these are young patients who are tall, and have low haemoglobin (Hb) levels, a feature among young menstruating women. Their frequent momentary faints were due to sudden change in their positions from lying down to standing up. That sudden change in the position, coupled with their low Hb which carries vital oxygen to the tissues, causes a sudden drop in blood pressure as the heart pumping ability (cardiac efficiency and output) is unable to cope with the sudden change in position against gravity. This phenomena is called postural hypotension. This affects sufficient blood going to the brain. On a number of other occasions I have elderly patients with the same problem. But they were normotensive (normal blood pressures), meaning they were also not hypotensive (low blood pressure). On further investigations, I found they were diabetic, a disease that damages the nerves (neuropathy), which in turn controls blood pressure among other functions. Some of them with frequent faints were also taking antihypertensive, or vasodilator drugs, all of which may affect blood flow to the brain (cerebral insufficiency).
Syncopes & Heart Disease :
Other cases though I have not come across, were those with vertebrobasilar insufficiency or those with Stokes-Adams Syndrome. They affect cerebral perfusion because of cardiac arrhythmia (irregularities in the heartbeat), which in turn is caused by heart block (interruption to electrical impulses to the heart muscles to contract rhythmically). Heart block or auriculoventricular block, is a medical term to mean an interruption to the transmission of electrical impulses from the sinoatrial nodes (SA node or “pacemaker”) onwards to the atrioventricular (AV) nodes. Ultimately, the electrical impulses enters the muscles of ventricles to contact rhythmically (alternately) with the auricles via specialized conducting systems (AV bundle, or the Bundle of His) before distribution to a network of fibres in the ventricles. If there is any interruption to this electrical transmission it will cause the heart to beat irregularly (arrhythmia). The P-R interval in the ECG tracing is prolonged. There are many types of ‘heart block - branch bundle block, etc, and the severity (degrees) of heart block, but we will not go into that.
Heart block here does not mean that the coronary vessels were blocked by cholesterol e.g. atherosclerosis, although heart block may be an indirect result of “hardening” (sclerosis) of the Bundle of His caused by interference of blood supply to the heart. This affects subsequent electrical transmission through the network of ventricular fibres (Purkinje fibres) through the damaged myocardium (heart muscles). The Bundle of His is a sheath of insulating connective tissues, also called the atrioventricular bundle, which extends from the atrioventricular node from the atrium across the fibrous skeleton of the heart to the ventricles. It acts as the main transmission wire to conduct electrical impulse across the heart from the atrium to the ventricles.
However, these are separate pathologies, and have no relationships to ‘faints’ caused by hypoxia in an environment where the oxygen tension is very low. We are not discussing a subject on medicine or physiology here, although it is good to know that there are many other factors that can cause a person to faint, and not just the fright of falling off a plane. But Capt KH Lim has correctly pointed out that a person can be unconscious from sudden (nervous / emotional ) shock of falling.
But as I said earlier, the likelihood of a casualty fainting due to a mechanical cause (not emotional shock) such as blood being pulled away from the head (if he accelerates head first) is unlikely as the acceleration is only 1 G. This is just not great enough to destabilize haemodynamics or induce any profound physiological changes. In fact a person falling from a great height merely feels the sensation of weightlessness (I guess) during the initial stages of acceleration, but once the terminal velocity is reached, he probably feels he is riding on a fast vehicle. This is my guess, as I have not experienced it myself.
Acceleration & Shifting Parameters :
In the event of a tremendous acceleration experienced by a falling (human) body such as a pilot in a plane nose diving down at a fantastic speeds with the victim inside, and if the position the body is such, that the legs go first and head last towards the direction of the dive. A lot of blood will start to pull towards the head causing tremendous cerebral congestion due to pooling of blood towards the brain This also results in lesser venous return from the brain. The result can be even more disastrous than a mere faint. The casualty instead, may run the very heavy risk of suffering a hemorrhage in the brain – a CVA (Cerebral Vascular Accident) or stroke. One of the vessels may burst open due to increased intracranial / intravascular pressures. In the actual situation of a body falling off a plane, it is very unlikely that he will black out (head downward first) due to this particular mechanical reason, or run a risk of a CVA event (legs downward first) as the acceleration is too small, and the time too short to elicit an effect. He would by then achieved a terminal velocity. In fact with the air drag and air resistance, the acceleration due to earth’s gravity is even less than the standard 9.81 metres per second per second. The rate of acceleration is less at very high altitudes since the force of attraction between the body and the Earth’s gravitational pull falls off inversely as the square of their distance. As the body falls nearer and nearer towards Earth, the pull (force) becomes greater and greater , and thus the acceleration will no longer be constant at 9.81 m / sec /sec. Acceleration (a) is directly proportion to pull or force (F). . F = ma, where m (mass) is constant. In truth this is not so. Remember air is always there. It will slow down all the acceleration until a terminal velocity is reached. The very slightly greater acceleration achieved nearer Earth will be cancelled out by the vastly increased in air drag due to higher air density at lower heights. In fact (I guess) the air resistance will be a much greater factor in slowing down the speed of fall than the mild increase in speed due to a change in acceleration as the body plunges down towards Earth.
Capt Lim mentioned about terminal velocity of 130 mph (11440 feet / min = 190.67 feet / sec = 58.1 metres per second). The question I like to address now is, how far the drop would have to be before the body reaches this terminal velocity of 58.1 m / sec ? I made an assumption that this will be reached after the body has dropped 565 feet (172.2 metre) to terminal velocity I calculated this out from Newton’s equations on motion. But this is only true had the body fallen through a vacuum without any resistance. It is also correct if the acceleration had been constant. This is not true in practice. There is air up there, albeit thin to offer considerable resistance and drag. As the body falls, the air density gets higher and higher. The density of the air affects the drag. But density will also depend on the humidity and the temperature. Hence the drag will depend on all these factors. To add to the difficulty of calculating acceleration, drag and final speed these parameters keep on changing at varying altitudes, in fact every second, and a fraction of a second. The denser air at lower heights may even have a mild braking effect on the terminal velocity, and the braking effect is even greater if the body drops into the sea where the density of salt water is even higher than fresh water. It is very hard to determine what these changes would be, as the parameters are continuously shifting. With variables changing all the time, it is almost impossible to apply standard equations to come with some final conclusion. It is of course possible to apply calculus to evaluate small increments over time, but how are we to know what the values would be to enable them to be substituted into the equations.
Then again, the drag will also depend on the shape and size of the falling body. If a passenger stretch out his legs and arms the drag will be greater against the air resistance. He will take a longer time, and also greater distance to fall before he arrives at the terminal velocity. But if the passenger /victim curls up like a ball, or put his arms and legs by his sides and drop vertically down, the effect is the other way round – faster. All these parameters are very difficult to determine and calculate. I suppose one way is to use a super-computer to simulate these changes in order for us to arrive at the correct distance traveled before the body arrives at the terminal velocity of 130 mph (58.1 metres per second). So I have assumed the air up at 35,000 feet (10.668 km) is almost ‘vacuum’ and then applying Newton equations to arrive a drop of 565 feet before reaching terminal velocity of 130 mph. I guess it should not differ very much from the actual figure since the air density up there is near “vacuum”. This means the drop is from 35,000 - 565 feet = 34,435 feet (10,495.8 metres) before terminal velocity.
Hypoxia & Oxygen Saturation :
Then as Capt Lim correctly said, the passenger will be unconscious after 30 seconds. In other words, at 10,700 metres (about 35,000 feet) where the air pressure is only 260 hPa (normal at sea-level = 1013 hPa), and a density of only 0.41 kg / m3, the oxygen partial pressure will drop to 21/100 X 260 = 54.6 hPa. At that partial pressure of oxygen, the oxygehaemoglobin dissociation curve showed that the haemoglobin is only about 82 % saturated with oxygen. This is well below the safe level of at least 95 % saturation recommended by the American College of Chest Physicians and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a person to stay conscious. Oxygen saturation (SaO2) level below 90 % will result in hypoxaemia (hypoxia), and unconsciousness. A SaO2 level of 82 % at that height feet (35,000 feet), the “useful consciousness” last only 30 seconds from severe hypoxia as rightly pointed out by Capt Lim. If he is a parachutist at that height (God-forbids), he better get his parachute opened before 30 seconds, or else…….? He will remain unconscious until he reaches 10,000 feet when there is sufficient air. The time taken at 130 mph or 11440 feet / min = 190.67 feet / sec will be 128.15 seconds (2 minutes 8 sec) before he reaches that height. He will probably have another 52.5 seconds more to go before he crashes into the ground towards a certain death, provided there is no updraft of air currents to delay the death. All in, he will take 180 seconds – exactly 3 minutes since achieving a terminal velocity of 130 mph at a height of 34,435 feet.
This SARS Virus is An Alien from Another World Thank you so much for all your letters. To Tan Sri Khoon, Simon Chow, Professor Dr SH Goh, Dr MT Cheng, Ms June Lai, Mr Ismail, Dr May Wei, Dr Amir Farik Ishak, Mr Vellu (or was it Vadoo), and many more who have written in. Thank you so much. I have read your versions about SARS and its connection with Sadam Hussein’s biological weapons, about God, about epidemics, about pigs and eating pork, about Jesus Christ, about Bush and Tony Blair, about future predictions, about astrology, about the Bible and the animals, about fasting, about Tan Sr Khoo’s cinema release on his new movies which he directed himself in Chow Kit, and Old Klang Roads, and all your various thinking and associations with this outbreak of SARS. I am really quite confused by all your ideas. Your mails are too plenty, and very amusing, but it is not possible to reply, except to thank you for your great and funny ideas. Current Theory: I am taking a further step away from my original thinking that the suspect atypical pneumonia coronavirus which currently affects humans was a zoonotic disease, had jumped the species barrier from animals to humans. That original thought was based on the fact that most strains of coronavirus (CoV) affect mainly animals damaging their respiratory and alimentary systems, including the liver (hepatitis). In pigs, according to the literature, coronavirus affects only their digestive system causing gastroenteritis, but not their respiratory system as seen in birds. We think that a new strain of CoV is now affecting the respiratory system in humans. First isolated in 1937, the coronaviruses have always been an avian (bird) virus, affecting chicken causing infectious bronchitis. Since then, it started to infect other systems in a lot of other animals – cattle, horses, pigs, turkey, dogs, cats, rats, and mice. A few strains responsible for most of the common colds in humans were isolated in the 1960’s from the nasal cavities of patients with common colds. In fact they were responsible for about 30 % of the common colds in humans after the rhinoviruses. Currently it is beli! eved that some members of this CoV which previously affected mainly animals, could have mutated in such a way that it could now jump the animal-human barrier to present an entirely new feature in human respiratory disease. Lessons Taught in RNA-based Virology : In my original letter as a reply to Ms Tan Cheng Sim’s letter, I thought this hypothesis could be the most probable aetiological (causative) explanation. Since it originated in the Guangdong Province of South China and Hong Kong where living conditions were crowded in flats, and where the Chinese keep their ducks, hens, goose, rabbits, birds, snakes, goats, pigs, cats and dogs as part of their ‘family members’. This closely knitted ‘nucleated family’ structure between animals and humans could have made a break in the species barrier pathogenesis. After all, scientists have all! along believed it need only some structural changes in the RNA configuration on the virus during the mutation process to lock onto the receptor cells of humans. The structure of the coronavirus genome is a single strand, unlike the double helix DNA strand in higher organisms. Its genome has over 30,000 nucleotides (about 32 kilobases long on a single strand of RNA), and is probably the largest RNA virus genome. We know this using an analytical technique in molecular genetics called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to determine short sequence of RNA / DNA without the need to clo! ne it. It was one technique I remember learning during my post-doctoral training in medical biotechnology a few years ago. I remember using Restriction Enzymes (DNA-cutting enzymes) to cut off the DNA at particular sequence of the nucleotides, making templates for copying, and joining them again using DNA ligases to produce different sorts of Recombinant DNA (rDNA) later. It was one heck of biotechnology and microbiology some 15 of us, doctors and medical research scientists selected from ASEAN countries for their Regional ASEAN training to learn from a team of French experts at the Institute for Medical Research (IMR). It was our 3 month-long Regional In-Service Postdoctoral Training some years ago. Virology was again taught to some 60 doctors and medical scientists from ASEAN countries during another part of our postgraduate training in Epidemiology and Tropical Diseases some years later, also held at the IMR This was chicken feed compared with what we already had during our PhD training programmes years earlier . The MD programme that included microbiology was comparatively at a much far lower level compared to a PhD standard.
PCR analytical procedures have much applications in our understanding in genome sequencing, including those of SARS viruses. Anyway, these group of viruses are unusual in the sense they have the highest frequency of recombination of any positive strand RNA virus, meaning that it has the highest ability of combining genetic information from other sources. This makes them capable of mutating into other forms,. So far so good, so the virologists believe.
But how does viruses attack in general? The mechanisms varies from virus to virus. In HIV for instance, the RNA of HIV attacks the immune bodies such as the lymphocytes, monocytes etc, and gain entry into the body through receptor sites. Once the virus enters the human cell, it duplicates itself by a mechanism called reverse transcription through the help of reverse transcription enzyme (nucleoside reverse transcription). This changes the viral RNA into DNA to mimic the DNA profile of the host cells. This coy cheats the body cells into integration and acceptance by the virus. By a process called translation (reading) of messenger RNA (mRNA), the end result is a cascade of intracellular events that cause the virus to multiply rapidly inside the cell until it dies.
In SARS case, the coronavirus probably (I believe, but I am uncertain), attack the cells in the lung parenchyma – lung tissues that are responsible for gases exchange and respiratory functions. Lungs cells involved could probably be the CD8+ve cells, the poorly-differentiated cells, ciliated cells, mucous cells, Clara-like cells, and the typical basal cells. Probably the tracheal tissues may also be involved ? The mechanism of attack and multiplication is probably similar to most other viral infection ? This sequence of events in vi! ral infection and transmission is not something new to most of us although the mechanisms in viral pathogenesis may not be an exact mirror image for every viral infection.
Viral Transmission and Pathogenesis :
Given our current understanding on the dynamics of transmission, any route of invasion is possible, at least theoretically. It is a matter how the virus transcribes itself directionally to find its way from host-to-host, viz. animals-to-animals, animals-to-humans, and humans-to-humans. Transgenic mutation is real, and it can occurs naturally as the result of environment changes, radiation, and exposure to mutagenic chemicals., including being challenged by the immunoglobulins (antibodies) of the host.! It can even be manipulated artificially. In fact genetic engineering is the basis of biotechnology for better hybrids of plants and animals.
Given the possibility that SARS coronavirus is mutant of a previously existing family of coronaviruses, one very crucial question remains unanswered. That is, where did the first coronavirus on Earth came into existence? Scientists have so far not bothered about this question about finding out where did the first virus origuinated. Were these group of coronavirsus merely mutant forms of one another, or were they actually new separate viruses as separate entities coming from somewhere else outside this planet? In short, do all the existing viruses mutate into new ones, or were the new ones actually brought here from another world? It is either this, or they were actually some mutant CoV that managed to cross the animals barrier to infect humans? Did it actually jumped the species barrier, or could it already exist in humans in a less variant form, considering that this atypical pneumonia virus exhibits pathogenic features quite differently from the rest of the C! oV family? In as far as we know, the common cold coronavirus strain, and other rhinoviruses underwent mutation periodically, so virologists believe. Because of these rapid variation in mutagenic directions, no specific vaccine, or even poly-vaccines against all viruses can be formulated ?
Mutation and Immunological Defences:
The next question we need to address is why did these viruses undergo mutation? Virologists will tell us they need to change in order to survive because of harsher environmental changes, mimicking a small-scale evolution perhaps ? But is this entirely true? Couldn’t they have survive happily without undergoing RNA structural transformations since there are hundreds of billions of hosts (animals and man) on earth upon which their RNA can be transcribed and copied again and again in the unlimited supply of hosts? Are they suddenly so defenseless against us when we have not had even an iota of chance acquiring any specific antibodies against them ? If not, why then did they change or evolved into a new strain or species as scientists have until now believe. Wouldn’t an alternative explanation be more probable, in that the new virus did not actually evolved from an older strain, but was actually an entirely new form of life that came down on us from outside this planet? In short, the current SARS virus has absolutely no ‘blood relationship’ with the rest of the family of CoV already in existence? This is the question I want to challenge my learned and elite scientific and medical colleagues to answer. Identifying a new virus is already a very daunting scientific task, but is not impossible. One method I have already explained is to study its genome sequencing, and the length of its bases (A,T,G, C nucleotide) chain through PCR analysis. But attempting to prove with certainty that it evolved from some existing known strain is even more intimidating.
My original thought that SARS may be zoonotic in origin could be dead wrong, and this letter will give me a chance to retrieve that hypothesis. After all, I was only picking up the bits and pieces here and there from our current understanding in virology. I merely followed the belief of the rest of the scientific community. Initially, I went along with them. Current hypothesis of virologists that a similar large base CoV virus underwent some structural changes in their RNA (ribonucleic acid), perhaps in the sequencing and the translocation of their nucleotides to generate this new strain may be quite wrong. But now I strongly believe I was wrong too if I follow their trend of thinking. .
So we think that new strains from existing ones are evolved because of unfavorable environmental changes that threatens their existence? We also think that these changes put new challenges and surprises on our immunological surveillance. When our immunological status becomes compromised, they attack. Once suitable and specific antibodies – immunoglobulins like IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM are produced naturally by the body to combat the an! tigen (the virus), the virus no longer have a hold. They just go away, or they may mutate into another form. They may reestablish their invasion in the body in another form to survive. In short, this would be a logical sequence in evolution. This scenario explained here in the simplest way I could possibly illustrate, is a theory that is quite well accepted by the scientific / medical community. But…. is this true? It was something that we, as students years ago, were once taught in the elite schools of immunology, virology, medicine and biomedical sciences.
Genesis and Creation:
Looking back, that was what medical and biomedical students were taught in classical microbiology. That was history. But now we need not follow the teachings of our learned university professors, but to have a mind of our own to think analytically and independently. Three very haunting questions therefore I would like to ask members of the scientific community. First, where did the first RNA fragment on&nbs! p; Earth come from? The second, how terribly sure are we that this new virus was actually an extension (evolved) from another virus through the process of mutation (to generate a new creature). Third, what evidence have we that SARS viruses were transmitted from animals to generate this new disease ? Can anyone of us out there able to answer with the! appropriate findings in the literature ?
Does this line of thought conform with evidence-based virology or evidence-based medicine? Could we challenge the scientific community who may come out with the hypothesis that a member of the CoV self-orchestrated its own genetic engineering to confront the animal- human hosts with this new threat? On hind thought, I am more inclined to believe that this new viral emergence had never originated from this Earth before. They probably came from another world to this Planet Earth as An Alien
The Oort Cloud:
Dark clouds of comets from outer space periodically bathe the Earth with cosmic dust as they pass by in the neighbourhood of the Sun and Earth. These gigantic ‘dirty snowballs’ as comets are described, have been seeding Earth with complex life-giving organic compounds each time Earth intercepts the trails of dusts left behind by a passing comet. Both execute an orbit round the Sun, and at some ! point, Earth would intersect the path left by a passing comet. Sometimes, comets would plunged straight into the Sun, never to come up anymore. Most would pass round and round the Sun, and each time it comes near the Sun, the heat and radiation from the Sun would ‘boil off’ the ‘dirty snow ball’ to leave a trial of comet’s debris in its wake. Even without the comets, astronomers already know that hundreds of millions and micrometeorites (about 300 million of them) pepper the Earth’s atmosphere everyday. Dozens of larger meteorites&nbs! p; fall directly onto the Earth’s surface daily. All told, some 1000 metric tons of cosmic debris rained down on Earth everyday even without a single comet seen in Earth’s neighbourhood. This figure rises tens of hundreds of times when the Earth orbits (passes) through the tail of a passing comet.
In ancient times, all civilizations view Comets as a harbinger of bad omen, plagues, disease and black death. Where did all the ancient civilizations get all that information and wisdom from? They seemed to know better. May I request doctors and scientists to look upwards above them towards heavens. New alien life forms have been falling on our heads without us realizing them. ! They fall not only on our heads, but on our roof-tops, over our gardens, on our neighbour’s fences and door steps, our sheep, cows, ducks, goats, pgs, chicken, goose, dogs and cats. We have all along been looking sideways with myopic eyes, and an introvert mind, blaming on our poor animals, and on one another, including our neighbour’s unkempt gardens, the food we eat or don’t eat, etc. Like a gardener or a farmer who scatters numerous seeds on the ground, some will take root and b! ear fruits, others will just lie there barren forever. Some of these alien RNA, viruses, infectious prion (half life, half inanimate atypical proteinaceous virus-like particles) have been raining all over us daily without us being aware of it. We didn’t look up, but always sideways at our ducks and geese, and suspiciously at another human fellow, or downwards at our soil for the origin of these new ‘mutant strains of viruses’. These viruses may have been mutating very fast as virologists claimed, but they mutate only once they reach earth. They may have remained deeply frozen in the frigid and darkness of outer space, perhaps for hundreds of thousand, or millions of years before they arrive on Earth to mutate and multiply.
An Alien Invasion:
We blame air-crafts and rapid air travels for spreading infectious diseases from one country to another, like someone scattering those seeds on the soil as they travel along. Would it be more reasonable, applying the same scientific logic, that a much, much bigger, and much more efficient space-craft, called a Comet has been doing exactly the same job? These natural space-crafts carry thousands of millions of tons of hibernating ‘biological passengers’ - these new biological fragments of life and viruses from another world to pepper down on our Earth, over our heads everyday. Look upwards, and not sideways or down your feet where the mud is, my dear doctors and research scientists ! It’s coming from up there, not sideways from our neighbour’s fences, or from our poultry’s pens. Natur! ally, once they infect a person, the viruses will quickly spread on to the next nearest person in contact. But none of the patient simply got it out of nothing. Nothing begets nothing. Did our dear and learned virologists think of this mode of transmission? There is absolutely no point studying these viruses in detail under an electron microscope, or sequencing their genome using PCR analysis or Southern Block technique (to separate the DNA fragments by Gel Electrophoresis). We know all those stuff by heart, and there is no need to repeat them like an old gramophone record. It all published in the scientific literatures, tons of them. None of these information will help us prevent the infection from spreading.
Virologists and health authorities waste a lot of their time doing this. It is exactly and precisely like a motorist getting out of his car to open his car bonnet and study how his car engine works in a massive traffic jam in his futile attempt to explain what causes that massive jam, or in his attempt to prevent that massive jam. What relationship has his car engine got to do with that jam? That motorist would have done a lot, lot better had he taken a helicopter up and have a bird’s eye view of the whole situation, and to study where that bottle-neck is instead of looking at his car engine for the cause or a solution. How idiotic!&! nbsp;
My dear colleagues in science and medicine, should we not look at the whole problem with a bird’s eye view (holistically), and not using our electron microscope to study the problem even much smaller until all we see are just clusters or strands of molecules. Shouldn’t we look at them on a much larger mega-scale? The heavens are bizarrely huge, and this tiny, tiny Earth is like an sub-atomic particle lost in a mighty, mighty, mighty cosmic ocean. Wouldn’t that be in a right direction? As ! it is, virologists are trying to solve a problem by looking at the nucleotides of the virus. The problem with us in the scientific community is that we tend to specialize far too much, such that we lose sight of the surrounding environment, specializing looking just at the molecules and atoms. With narrower and narrower specialization, our views become more and more clouded, and our eyes becomes more and more myopic (short-sighted). We begin to lose touch with reality of the entire whole picture. How does examining the molecular deta! ils of the SARS virus help us in prevention and treatment when the dusts are all falling all over on our heads from above? I am very aware and prepared by what the virologists will reply me. They will sharply reply by saying that by looking at the molecular configurations, and identifying the virus, it will help clinicians diagnose SARS and separate it from other pneumonia-like respiratory disease. Diagnose, yes. In medicine this is called ‘differential diagnosis’ Next they will reply by claiming that they will be able to develop a vaccine for SARS. A treatment (cure) or a prophylaxis (prevention) perhaps? Yes, no ? I am not too sure. I am very aware that theo! retically, by studying the structure of the viral RNA, and the mechanisms by which they invade the body, we can design a drug that can block that mechanism, the receptor site of the cells perhaps? Alternatively, we may try identifying the viral E protein (gene) that may be responsible for viral RNA/DNA transcription and replication, and pharmacological ways of damaging / blocking that synthesis ? So far so good, at least from our theoretical classical knowledge. But what happens if the virus starts to mutate and change their molecular configurations? In that case, neither an (antiviral) drug, nor any vaccine will work, as it took the blocking (locking) mechanisms of! f gear. So our treatment protocol and our vaccination will still come to naught – wasted efforts, I may add.
Myopic Sight and Vaccination :
Microbiologists (virologists, bacteriologists mycologists, protozoa parasitologists) and pharmacologists have been explaining the pharmacodynamics and mode of action of drugs against microbial invasions to us all these years. Despite all those pharmacology and microbiology lectures, did we manage to stop HIV, hepatitis, or even just the simple common cold, and now SARS from spreading? We credit the eradication of smallpox and poliomyelitis to t! he vaccines, but many quarters have already questioned the validity of this claim. They believe that both smallpox. and poliomyelitis died a natural death after some time, with or without vaccines. In some measure we might have some successes with Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertusis (whooping cough), H. Influenza, Polio (with Salk injectable or Sabin oral), Rotavirus in children’s diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. Against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German measles) and aginst Varicella (chicken pox). Yes / no ? This issue is very debatable even among health providers, and we shall not go into that.
Smallpox vaccination is perhaps the most successful campaign against the variola (smallpox) virus and WHO declared smallpox eradicated in 1980 after intensive vaccination started in 1961 with the last case recorded in Somalia in 1977. It broke out again in 1978 after a small laboratory accident in Birmingham. Some medical opponents are against vaccinations, and they have even spoken out against the value of vaccination. They publish data, findings and opinion in the Lancet and medical journals questioning the value of such pro! phylactic measures. They also question the safety of these vaccinations, quoting the authorative CDC ( Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta) study in 1977 that 11,365 vaccine adverse effects were recoded, compared to 7,535 cases of benefits from vaccine-preventable-disease (documented by CDC). It is rumored that because of safety and questionable benefits, even the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair did not allowed his children to be vaccinated? Because of some of these findings and publications, there is now a growing group in the medical circle against unnecessary vaccination, supported by a number of law suits by members of the public in American, Britain&nbs! p; and Europe caught up in this controversy. The Spanish flu and great influenza which swept across Europe and America killing two million people in 1918 as an example, died a natural death without the help of vaccines. A lot of people are now questioning the benefits of vaccination, when other modalities such as good nutrition, proper housing, clean water supply, clean air, and clean environment and other measures would have done the same job? Without these realities of proper and healthy living, giving vaccination to solve a health problem is like sweeping dirt under a carpet to cover up reality (so that it! looks ‘healthy’ on the front). But we shall not go into all these debates as we can write chapters without end on this issue. This is not the tropic of our discussion.
The Biological Cosmic Warheads and Logic :
Am I not scientifically logical enough to challenge the rational of looking at genomes of this SARS to solve the problem instead of looking at ity holistically like the view seen by a bird soaring high into the air to examine the causes of a traffic jam, the bottle neck, and the extent the jam was spreading, and in which direction, while that p! oor myopic motorist down there on the ground was still trying to sort the problem of the jam by looking at his car engine (the RNA) under the bonnet (the viral coating) ? Poor chap, I must say. He will never be able to solve that traffic jam problem by looking under his car bonnet.. Looking under the bonnet and RNA, to my mind is the most idiotic way of understanding and solving this problem. We will land up like trying to solve the hepatitis, HIV and the common cold problems. These jams still persist.
Wouldn’t it be reasonable if I were now to tell you that your nostrils were pointing downwards, and not upwards to minimize your risk of inhaling cosmic particles that float downwards? Yes or no? After all, do we need to question the Wisdom of God who designed and created us? He ensured that our nostrils need be pointed downwards during His Masterpiece Blueprint, and not upwards to prevent us f! rom directly receiving those infective and hostile prion (virus-like) particles floating down on us to protect us from harm’s way? Isn’t He (God) such a wonderful, wonderful and brilliant Designer and Protector of Life. He is not a destructor of life unlike some extremists humans on this world do in His name. Think about this wonderful design my dear scientists. Open up our eyes and minds heavenwards. Unto Him we must praise. You, me, and all living things on Earth originated from out there, made from star dusts that He created , along with the viruses.
Hibernation in Deep Freeze :
Cosmic dusts containing complex mixtures of organic molecules, probably containing DNA fragments as well, not to say single-stranded RNA, are precursors and signatures of all life. They are being released out there by passing comets. These passing comets released hundreds of thousands of tons of these ‘biological passengers’ each time they come near the ‘space-port’ of our Sun. The heat, light and radiation of our Sun merely melt their icy load! s of ‘biological passengers’ (truly biological weapons) into our ‘port of call’ (Earth), and seed them onto our earthly abode. This is like water vapour, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons being discharged into our atmosphere by passing aircrafts that constantly pollute and damage the atmosphere, and rain them on the surface.
If this hypothesis on the mechanism I proposed here is correct, then life is actually seeded into Earth and allowed to germinate (created) here. God created it from (star) dusts. Life does not spring up spontaneously out of nothing. Nothing begets nothing. It has to come from somewhere, and this needs to be created. An extremely hot Earth in the very beginning was completely sterile and void of all life. Life was brought in like seeds being scattered on cooled, sterile ground. When watered, some will germinate right here, others will just lie barren. Life, including the nucleotides (RNA and DNA) can never suddenly made their appearance out of nothing. Nothing bear out nothing. It makes no scientific sense to me to say that a new virus called the atypical pneumonia virus came out from nowhere. Even if we got it from our family duck, where did that poor pet duck got it from in the first place? Why blame the poor duck, or the “Chinese in Guandong Province” They blamed the Chinese who eats anything. They blamed it on Chinese food, so the Canadians believe? They blamed it on anything – the e-mails I received contained all those ‘aetiologies’ . Neither did the SARS virus originate from our neighbour’s house, or from a hospital patient, or someone who did not wash their hands or wear a face mask? The most reckless thing I have come across is to put the blame on innocent ducks, chickens, pig, goats or on the Chinese from South China. The Chinese has been eating their food for over 9,000 years, and yet their nutritious foods have enabled them to work so hard, produce so prolifically, and thrive so healthily by the tens of billions over the generations of the tens of centuries. Did the Chinese get SARS before March 2003 AD ? Why only from Guandong Province, and not all the Chinese in the world got it simultaneously?
I am convinced that the present atypical pneumonia SARS virus is an entirely life forms brought here to Earth by cosmic dusts. Organic molecules carried by the periodically passing comets may have been responsible. These inert life form must have taken a very, long journey from another w! orld, from another ‘country’ you may say, to spread their seedlings to another world – our Earth, as a ‘foreign country’ (new ground) you may say. This analogy and reasoning is exactly like what the health authorities are talking about all the time - spreading the disease from one country to another country via fast jet airliners. They are right in many sense. Many infectious diseases are imported by rapid travels. But we never look at it beyond the shores of this very, very tiny Earth. Unfortunately, we have become so myopic (short-! sighted) because of our narrower, and narrower specialization. We merely look at the ravine below, and jumped downwards at the deep blue sea, not realizing that the seeding have all the while been raining down on us over our heads (from above).
About a 1,000 metric tons of microscopic cosmic debris rain down on Earth everyday, even if there is no comet passing by. The discharge load could be another 100,000 times more massive when a comet is around. How much cosmic debris they rain down, depends on their mass, size, distance and the constituency of these cosmic dirty snow-balls. I want to specially target this piece of information to the health authorities, especially to the virologists, the epidemiologists and other medical scientists, including the clinicians. I thinks it is high time doctors learn some astronomy t! o realize that infectious agents, especially the new ones could come from outer space, and not just from our neighbour’s house, or the next village. It may originate and start from there. Once down, they tend to spread out, and invade from the ground like those paramilitary invaders who came parachuting down from the air and planes Don’t be myopic dear colleagues, scientists and doctors. Look above our heads, and understand that you, I and every living creature on Earth first came from out there too.
Think about this. Only the simplest like form – the organic molecules, and at best, only the RNA of viruses could survive this terribly, terribly long, long journey through the cold, cold, frigid chasm of deep, deep space. These biological load of ‘passengers’ would need to be hibernated at almost zero Kelvin (near absolute temperature of - 273 degrees Celsius) to stabilize their molecular structures after they were assembled somewhere out there in interstellar space. We are very much les! s than a drop of water in a colossally huge ocean. We are all surrounded by unknown things – cosmic dusts, interstellar dark matter. Some will have complex organic molecules, and simple life form in them, others none. They must have been assembled (individual component parts) and packed into ‘container ships’ - that chuck of icy, dirty snowball of the comet’s head, before they were shipped out from their ‘factory’ for ‘export’ into a foreign land. They were shipped out by those exceeding fast ‘space containers’ called comets to another foreign world, just like we do here with factory component and spare parts to be reassembled in another country of import. These ‘biological goods’ (as I coin them) need to be encapsulated in deep freezing temperatures near absolute temperature in order to ‘survive’ that horrendously long, frigid and dark journey. They will also need an extremely fast space-craft (the comet) to hurtle them through that bizarre long, long, interstellar (between the stars) journey, from the Oort Cloud.
The Cosmic Patrol : A Trillion Hydrogen Bombs
The Oort Cloud is a huge mass of looming and dark gathering of comets (‘natural container space ships’ with nuclear warheads) surrounding our entire Solar System menacingly. Each of them contains warheads and biological weapons of true magnitude of mass destructions. It is estimated that in the Oort Cloud there are about a trillion of these comets surrounding not just us, but the entire Solar System – all ready to be sent out as war-heads. Even! if they are all sterile, each of them is so huge and massive, that if just one of them were to crash onto Earth, their destruction by mere physical punch alone, is to the tune of 140,000 times more than the entire nuclear arsenal in the world fired simultaneously. This magnitude from just a single comet, far, far exceeds all the nuclear weapons of President George Bush, Tony Blair, China, France, and Russia, Pakistan, India, perhaps Israel as well, put together. Is this just wild guess? Of course not. I have already calculated this out for you before I put the figure down. Imagine a typical comet 10 km wide (radius 5000 metres). It will have a volume 4/3. Pi. R 3 = 5.23 X 10 11 cubic metres. A typical density of a comet is 3,000 kg per cubic metre. Thus the total mass is in the order of 1.5708 X 10 15 kg. Its velocity near in the vicinity of the Sun’s pull (accelerating as it comes nearer and nearer) is in the region of 60 km (60,000 metres) per second. The Kinetic Energy developed would be ½ mv 2 = 2.8 X 10 24 Joules (where m = mass,m v = final velocity). Most of the hydrogen bombs on Earth are only a megaton (1 million tons of TNT) each in power. At one megaton, each nuclear bomb delivers 4 X 10 15 Joules of energy. It is estimated the current stock-pile of all the nuclear arsenals in the world is about 5,000 one megaton. This means if all the nuclear devices were to put together, and exploded at the same time, the total energy released is 2 X 10 19 Joules. The impact of a typical comet just calculated out for you is in the order of 2.8 X 10 24 Joules. This means that a single impact of just a single comet on Earth is equivalent to 140,000 time more than all the thermonuclear devices in this entire world. Isn’t this fascinating? . And, what’s more. There are 1 trillion of these comets hiding and waiting out there, all ready in the Oort Cloud, all docked some 075 light years away. Not fairy tales I am relating here. It pure, clean Science. The power of their single physical punches is only just one thing. We do not even know how many of them carry biological weapons of untold latency, and ready-to-call-up for war and destructions, not just for this tiny Earth, but to the entire Solar System perhaps? The Bible speaks of a great star called Wormwood which fell into the sea and men and creatures were destroyed (Revelation 8:8-11). Clusters of these comets periodically come to our neighbourhood, make a circuit to patrol around us, making periodic checks in groups as if to see what are we doing. Fighting with Saddam Hussein, Osama fighting with George Bush, Israel with the Palestine perhaps ? Each of them with their infinitesimal and crude man-made weapons that pale in comparison.? While all these things are going on, virologists and scientists are still looking at molecules. But we don’t realize clouds of weapons are surrounding us from all sides, making frequent patrolling rounds, and watching us over the centuries. !
The Dinosaurs, Human Civilization and Our Alien Guests :
I personally believe it was a comet or an asteroid chunk that came crashing down on Earth with a viral load that wiped out the entire population of dinosaurs 70 million years. I personally theorize that it was a epidemic of diseases brought in by a comet that killed off these giant lizards, and not dusts generated by the impact that generated an artificial ‘winter’ to cut off photosynthesis, causing the vegetation on which the dinosaurs fed to die as other scientists believe. We all have independent scientific thinking don’t we?
This titanic dark Cloud enveloping us all round was named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort. This intimidating Cloud is believed to surround the entire Solar System. These ‘war-ships’ of unimaginable magnitude and masses are all docked and ready at a distance of 50,000 AU or about 0.75 light year away. 1 AU or Astronomical Unit is the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth, or approximately 150,000,000 km away. If you need the exact figure, it is 149,597,870.691 km, and one light-year which is the distance light travels in a year at a near velocity of 300,000 km per second. A light year is approximately 1! 0 million, million km or 1 followed by 13 zeros km This Cloud contains swarms of comets some one trillion (one million, million, 1 followed by 12 zeros) in numbers. Most of these extraterrestrial missiles may be armed with a variety of biological warheads to sweep round and round our territorial (cosmic) space. It must have been God-sent warning of gigantic magnitude to us fragile humans if we do not behave, but our friend, Simon Choow don’t agree.
Once this huge cometary’s ‘space-ships ’ approache their next ‘port of call’ (planet Earth) where the radiant light and heat of our life-giving Sun is, and in the neighbourhood of a ‘garden’ (the Earth), they will shed some of their passenger load of ‘biological weapons’, like seeds being thrown on ! soft moist ground. After all, Earth has plenty of water, an ambient temperature, a friendly and conducive environment, and billions of generous hosts like you and me, our ducks, hens, and birds, and cattle all around to receive them. Such hospitality, why not?
The heat and light from our friendly Sun will thaw these icy load of ‘ foreign visitors’. These comets unpack and to unload their ‘biological guests’ into our homes, and into our bodies. After all, with all these hospitable human hosts, plus our ducks, hens, and birds ‘they’ can live comfortably here! for a few months before leaving us. Wouldn’t this biological hospitality we give them, exactly like turning on our home and car porch lights (the Sun) on to invite strange visitors in the night after they came from such a long, long, dark, lonely and frigidly cold and lonely journey ? When they come a-calling, we would! provide them with water, lodging, shelter and food (lodging, shelter and food being yours and my bodies). Our family members, the ducks and chicken all living together also share their hospitality, their shelter and their food (their blood and cells) with them. What’s more, these alien ‘guests’ are also free to move about from host to host. They are not very choosy, so long as someone can provide them with the appropria! te food and warmth after arriving from a terribly long, cold, and hazardous journey. They have been hibernating without food throughout that incredibly unforgiving journey. Don’t we welcome them, and they take the pleasure of our hospitality? After they have fed on yours, mine, and our avian family kindness, our ‘guests’ will go away, exactly like all those past epidemics of flu, and influenza did in the past with or without our vaccines.
The All or None Law : The Blind Sheep
This current SARS isolated ‘pandemic’ is absolutely nothing compared to the Spanish flu pandemic that wiped out 2,000,000 (2 million) people in 1918. What ever the past history of influenza, they all went away only after we realized they were invaders. Our body sounds the alarm with high temperatures, generates all the appropriate classes and sub-classes of antibodies, the various types of antibody-producing B-lymphocytes, perhaps even the T-lymphocytes (for rejection), monocytes (to ingest debris and foreign particles), and activated all other immunological defenses against them. They come and go periodically depending on our immunological status against them, and the frequency, passage and visits of these ‘black biological clouds’. For thousands of millions of years these ‘biological container ships’ have been hurtling at 50-60 km per second above our heads - their earthy port of call.
Once the spark of life is ignited (created) to fit into Simon Chow’s belief, it could then be evolved through multiple transgenic mutations into many other life forms (to satisfy Tan Sri Khoon conviction on Evolution). Would this be inconformity with the Theory of Creation first, followed by the Theory of Evolution later ? So we are back to square one agai! n to the original heated arguments of Simon and Khoon. I believe this SARS issue has opened up an old wound once again.
Like a flock of idiotic sheep that follows its leaders blindly to jump from the cliff top into the sea, I think the entire scientific community is also doing the same by following each other’s blind spot. Unfortunately I was no different as a member of this community. If we merely look downwards, with myopic eyes and an introvert earth straddled mind, we would continue to blame the ducks, birds, poultry, and farm animals, our neighbours, hospital patients and medical staff who did not don face masks We blame ourselves last. We will blame it as a zoonotic disease, because we refuse to look heaven-wards to accept that the elementary spark of life, could have arrived like an Olympic Torch from a very distant world to start off this race of epidemics. I know most of my scientific-medical friends and colleagues still believe that it was the ducks and the cats, or the Southern Chinese (who ate everything) who started all this ? Why blame all these emerging new infectious diseases on animals, or on specific ethnic groups ? Was this new strain of coronavirus truly factory made in China, or was it unfortunately rained down on China by statistically random selection from another planet?
After I wrote my first letter that was my original hypothesis, I gave it a second thought, and realized how wrong I was like any other member of the scientific community. Suddenly, I found myself as idiotic as the rest of a flock of blind sheep. We merely follow our leader, and each other to jump over the high cliff down into the sea below. The rest of the herd will follow the suicidal jump down into the deep blue sea. They merely looked down, never upwards. In many ways, I am very happy I took up astronomy to look at the distant worlds as a hobby, and saw a great difference. Else, we will only be peering downwards short-sighted through a microscope. I am afraid this is&! nbsp; exactly what scientists and doctors are doing currently, running hither and thither trying to identify the SARS virus. Did we examine where it come from in the first place? We are just not brave enough to put our foot down to speak a mind of our own and say something different, lest we make a laughing-stock of ourselves among our learned and elite scientific and academic colleagues?
Perhaps I may have made myself a black sheep among this flock of normal white sheep. I speak my own mind, because I believe this new virus was never a mutant form from those family of CoVs. I have a feeling that all previously unknown viruses also did not originate from this Earth. Why should they be when the supply from the Dark Oort Cloud is almost enormously unlimited. Neither did they come from pigs, cats,&nb! sp; goats and the cows. Neither did it sprout out from a Chinese body somewhere in China nor was it from the Chinese food they eat. These aliens came directly from outer space. And I mean it. I am not crazy or a scientific outcast – so you may think so.
My Passion in Astronomy and Astrobiology :
I think a lot of you out there knows my passion for astronomy. This debate about diseases and life coming from the Comets is not new. The distinguished Cambridge Astronomer and Mathematician Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), who later worked at the world famous California Institute of Techmnology (CIT), together with the celebrated Professor Dr Chandra Wickramasinghe have published a long list of technical papers on their hypothesis and findings in prestigious scientific journals about the appearance of comets and plagues. The Black Death in the 1300s and several major pandemics of ! the Bubonic Plagues were linked to the appearances of great comets. Their studies have shown this. So were ancient Chinese records listing a chain of comets and plagues incidences Were these just coincidences. Were Fred Holye, Chandra Wickramasinhe, and all the ancient civilizations over the centuries who connected the appearance of comets and diseases on Earth all coincidental or were they also black sheep among white-coat modern scientists and doctors? If they are, count me in as well. I would rather be dubbed as one wearing a black coat but with ancient wisdom, rather than one in white coat with modern arrogance. Hoyle and Chrandra! has shown that many sudden pandemics and epidemics of new infectious diseases in the past were closely correlated to the passage of comets. They came out with this proposition called ‘The Panspermia Theory’ Their publications are far too long for me to list here. Later their theories were joined by other scientific minds and researchers who thought the same, as the evidences kept rolling in. They are so compelling to believe. One of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe papers was “Does Epidemic Disease Come from Space” which was published in “New Scientist, 76:402, 1977”. Among one of Hoyle’s best works was “The Black Cloud” It speaks about an intelligent an! d very much alive cloud which was approaching the Solar System. Professor Chris Kinsley of Cambridge calculated its proximity between the Sun and Earth which would lead to global disaster…..and so the story went (it was only a story then). Hoyle did show the epidemiology (incidence) of influenza increased with altitude and was linked with the presence of a comet in the region of earth a few months earlier. He demonstrated this correlation many times over, but the medical community chose to ignore his findings, and blamed it on something else earth-bound. Yet these medical researchers could not show an iota of evidence where all those seasonal influenza bugs came from, or what triggered them. They all keep saying it’s ‘mutation, its mutation’ . I am just presenting scientific truth to you. In Science, if the result is zero we will ethically say it is zero, and if it is positive and quantifiable, we will show the exact data to the entire world through our technical publications. We don’t claim what is not there. Scientific and medical training, their education and discipline are very strict and regimented . Academic honesty, ethics, and professionalism are their hallmark, and are used as ethical guidelines. The scientist / doctor moral code is like that. If there are strong reasons for us to argue logically based on previous observations and findings, or even based on a logical hypothesis, we will stand up to provide all the background evidences. There is nothing to hide, or twist around.
Recent Visits :
It is just not possible for me to discuss this complex and lengthy subject here any further. It will cover another 50-60 more pages. And what about all the recent comets that came in the early part of 2003? I have a long list of them, but it is just possible to me to write and name them – Wirtanen, Swift-Neat, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Wild 2, Shoemaker-Levy, Shoemaker 3, Neat-Linear and so on, down the list all night long I could list and describe. This e-mail forum is already too long. It suffice to summarize all those literatures in just one or two sentences.
That, those comets originating from the titanic dark organic Clouds out there in interstellar space could harbour life-giving compounds. That, their debris pepper the Earth whenever they vapourise in the vicinity of the Sun. That, these compounds in the presence of heat, light and energy from the Sun could trigger off synthesis (reassemble) from component parts into! neurotropic viruses, and infectious prion particles. Prion particles are atypical viruses, proteinaceous in nature that could explain the emergence of strange diseases like Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and fatal familial insomia, as examples among many others. Now this thing called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, our current visitor, is your guess and guest, and mine too ?
I have lots and lots of other ideas and hypothesis which I could type and type through the pages ….. through one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock… all night long, till drawn breaks. However this is definitely one thing I am not going to do for the moment (as I am now quite tired by now). I shall discuss no more.
My Former Thought Cast Into Eternal Jail:
That stupid old theory of mine - that SARS was a zoonotic disease originating from animals living together with the Chinese in crowded flats in Southern China, and Hong Kong, along with the even more bizarre Canadian theory that SARS is caused by the Chinese eating th! eir own pets as part of their family food should be cast into eternal jail, okay ! My old theory should be locked up in the East Wing, and the Canadian’s in the West Wing, so that we don’t see each other faces anymore - forever. Other scientific minds are free to have their own theories ! After all, ‘mutations’ is their business, but it is none of my business. But none has told me where did the first virus come from to start off this mutation business okay ?????
2. Research Medical Toxicologist Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
3. Senior Researcher, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur
Currently,
1. Special Medical and Science Adviser & Head of Technical Advisory Board The Dynapharm Pharmaceutical Group Malaysia
2. Member of Panel of Experts Guthrie Post-doctoral Scholar Foundation Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd
3. Member of Technical Supervisory Committee Guthrie Post-doctoral Scholar Award Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd
4. Member of Expert Panel The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Malaysia Kuala Lumpur
Dear Capt KH Lim,
Nose Bleed or Epistaxis
Thanks for your reply. This letter is not meant for your website. It is too long for it I know. It is just a casual personal letter from me to you just for the fun of writing and reading. This letter is just similar to kopi-O talk between friends to exchange views, except these days we don’t go to a coffee-shop anymore. We just do this from the comfort of our home or “chat-room” and talk over the Internet. Actually I should use “ICQ” chat facilities instead of e-mail. But never mind, e-mail is just as good if there are only two persons. ICQ is good for multi-people group discussion. This mail is just to give you some of my ideas, and is not for inserting into your website. .
Nose Bleed at High Altitude
I thought you wouldn’t want to reply or accept my comment about the causes of nose bleed or epistaxis as it is called medically, as it might jeopardize the trust your website visitors rest on you to give them all the answers for all their flying problems. I didn’t mean to interfere as that was your site, and you can write anything you like inside it.
On second thought, yours has been a very dynamic site, and this should serve as a interactive electronic platform for visitors to interact also. Just look at our ASM website for comparison It is uninteresting because it is just a one-way traffic website with no chance for visitors to ask questions, comment or criticize at all. No fault of mine. I have no idea how to create and manage a website, so I have no control.
Of course making the ASM website dull as Jack was never my idea. As you know I am not the webmaster who can control the ASM site This job was given to Ir Tan Seng Khoon I depend on him totally. I have reminded him several times to put a guest section there so that people can ask questions, give their comments, air their views, and even disagree with us. They can even criticize us if they think we write rubbish. I would like to make ASM website an interactive e-forum where people can throw in all sorts of ideas – right or wrong. Anyone can read the view points of any person - whether their ideas are crazy or brilliant.
After all, ours is a democratic country where anyone should be allowed to exchange ideas and view points. I like it to be like that. But the ASM website is just a one-way traffic, and others who enter into it, may think I dominate all the stories, and don’t allow others to throw mine out. I am sure many may like to replace my ideas and stories with theirs. Dominating the ASM site with just my stories is the last thing I like to do. Unfortunately there are no other contributors despite my many requests to the ASM members to contribute. I am one chap who likes to get new ideas from others also. It makes a website interesting and dynamic with people throwing in all sorts of ideas. After all, they have their own stories to tell too. You learn a lot reading other people’s stories.
Furthermore, in an academic world like ours where we practice our respective professions, we allow academic freedom to allow others to air their intellectual thinking. This will allow professionals like yourself; scientists, researchers, doctors, engineers, and technocrats to express and to interact and air their views, ideas, innovation, hypothesis, theories, thesis, findings, and their visions without fear or favor. This is where we accept and learn from others.
Knowledge is a very dynamic on-going process. We find it changing all the time. That is why we do research to update not only ourselves, but also to educate the public with the right information. Knowledge and correct information are very vital to learning. We divorce ourselves from some old theories based on some shaky findings done some quarter of a century ago. Some of which can now be thrown into the drain. People do this all the time without hesitation if new ideas and newer findings are forthcoming. Some ideas are more logical than some old practices.
Medicine and medical sciences are very dynamic. They change all the time. It is like aeronautical research coming out with better and better planes and their designs every few years. If not for these new ideas and innovation of flight engineers we will still be flying in Otto Lilienthal hang gliders and the Wright’s brother planes of the 1800’s. Probably you may have to pilot them instead of Boeing 777. It is okay if you pilot them, but where are we poor passengers going to sit in these devices ?
Medicine is like that. Look at the GPs in town. They don’t read anymore after graduation. So they only treat coughs, colds, chills, fever, migraine, and vomiting. Sometimes they manage high blood pressures or extra high sugars levels in the blood of their patients. The rest of the time, they learn nothing. The only “new knowledge” they learn are those sales talks from drug salesmen who come a-calling once a month to stock-up their medicine cabinets. Sorry, I work for a group of drug manufacturing companies, after my retirement, so I know exactly what’s going on in the commercial world What boring practice that is ! It is a world of difference from medical research in my younger years with the Ministry of Health.
These days there are so many newer knowledge been added to the scientific world. That includes all the sciences, include aeronautical and flight sciences of course. Just a few days ago I read in the newspapers NASA has tested out a jet scram plane that can soar at 10 times the speed of sound. And that they say is going to be a passenger plane for the future.
In an area I know best, the avalanche of new knowledge and new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of disease is so overwhelming that we too cannot follow. Physicians have to decide now which approach to accept, and which to throw out. This decision is very crucial in patients care. Scientists may have found out a number of causes or treatment for a number of disease, and their findings all are valid. It is very confusing even for us. Which path to take we sometimes ask.
Take for instance, the causes of nose bled. Dry air may be one of the many causes, albeit rarely. That’s why I listed it as “rarely” and put its causes among blood clotting disorders (the second category), against the more common causes like a blow on the nose or a face trauma (in the first category). Frankly I have no experience with patients suffering from epistaxis (nose bleed) because of dry air. Most of the cases seen in Malaysia have nothing to do with climate where the humidity is well over 80 %. Yet they bleed in the nose. When I was in England and also in India and Pakistan where the climate was very dry and cold in winter, I hardly meet a case of epistaxis due to the weather (or climate). But if there are cases of epistaxis due to low humidity, then that becomes a new knowledge, and it can be documented in the literature.
But as with current knowledge, the most common complaints due to dry air are chapped lips, and cracked skin which ‘bleeds’ just a little. In fact the association between nose bleed and dry air was not even mentioned in reputable reference textbooks of medicine. Nevertheless, very dry air or oxygen if breathed in for a very long time, can dry out the lungs and respiratory tract. But this will not happen for short periods of just a few hours or a day. Over short periods the airways and lungs will respond by increasing secretion of fluid and mucous.
To illustrate this, you may have seen critically ill patients on life support and ventilated with supplementary oxygen in intensive care units (ICU) in hospitals. What you may have observed was the supplemental oxygen was bubbled through water a jar in which a flowmeter is attached. The reason why the O2 need to pass through a jar of water is because the O2 is very, very dry. In an unconscious patient the ventilation with pure O2 has to be sustained for days, weeks and months on end.
If the O2 is not humidified through water in the flowmeter container, the O2 will dry up the entire respiratory system after prolonged inhalation. The alveoli of the lungs must be kept slightly moist to facilitate oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange. But they should not be flooded with fluid either as in plural effusion. Gases cannot exchange either if the alveoli are “drowned” The oxygen need to be humidified first only if the patient is on ventilatory support for an extended period. But if it is only for a short period where oxygen is given as in an ambulance on the way to hospital, or in an aircraft during an emergency the oxygen need not be humidified The body’s feedback mucous secretions will taker care of that. That’s why you see oxygen bubbling inside a flow meter jar besides a critically-ill patient’s bed, but you don’t see it inside the cabin of an aircraft or inside an ambulance.
The reason why the supplemental oxygen inside an oxygen cylinder is so dry is because during the manufacture of oxygen, air has to be cooled down until the oxygen in the air is liquefied (boiling point is 182.962 º C). This is well below the freezing point of water at 0 o C The air temperature has to pass through the freezing point of water, before it go down, and down to reach the temperature where oxygen begins to liquefy. By then all the water will turn into stone-hard ice, and removed. Even if this is not removed, the water ice will still be left behind when the temperature of liquid oxygen is raised to turn it back to gas to be compressed into the cylinder. There you are, the oxygen from the cylinder has a humidity of 0 %. That need to be humidified if the patient is going to breath it for days and weeks. By then, the homeostatic feedback mechanism can no longer work.
But I know some websites mention this as the cause, as if it was the only cause. Some of these websites are just pure unqualified rubbish. Actually when I need to get any medical or health information, I just log into the Medical Library of prestigious 300 year old The Royal Society of Medicine in London using my password. That Medical Library is the biggest and the oldest in Europe documenting original medical information dating back 500 years old. Alternatively, I can also access the Library of equally old - The Royal Society of Health, also in London. Both these royal societies I belong as their Life Fellow. So it is very easy for me to access their libraries with my Fellow’s password, and within seconds I retrieve the information within seconds all the way from London
But of course this does not mean it can never happen. It does not mean just because it is not in the reference books, so it can never happen? We meet all sorts of funny things once in a while. Some of them are beyond our understanding and makes no scientific sense. They defy all laws of nature, scientific logic, and our best of scientific understanding. We just don’t know how to account for them. I have seen patients whom we know can never live long after a definitive diagnosis, but somehow down the road 15 years later we accidentally bumped into them somewhere in a shop or a supermarket. They will then warmly greet you, smile broadly, shake your hands as if we saw and met a ghost? It is just beyond our understanding if medical statistics is anything to go by, or to be relied on for the majority of the population. So a nose bleed in very low humidity maybe just one of those things. I don’t know for sure?
So I am not saying what I commented is right all the time. There are so many things we do not know. There are many cases in medicine that does not make any scientific sense at all. We just have to accept them against all our reasonable understanding, knowledge and experience. That’s where scientific research comes in – to discover new things, and to learn new things. If there are sufficient scientific evidences to support a new finding, we will just throw away the old understanding without hesitation. Some of these old concepts are found in old reference textbooks. If we don’t want to accept new advances in science and medicine will never make any headway. So life just goes on in our profession.
For instance, I am more than sure many doctors may not even agree with me if their experiences showed otherwise. It is their professional right if their experiences or research showed the contrary to my own experiences and my own findings. Everyone have the right to practice what they believe. All can be right at the same time.
In medicine, there may be so many causes, and not just one, to a disorder. All are valid. So we need to take them all in as a whole (holistically). In scientific conferences where we present research papers, we get all sorts of views and questions from the audience – most of them are highly trained and highly qualified doctors and scientists who are also there to attend the conference. But actually they know next to nothing on that subject you are presenting. Because they did not conduct the research or the study, so how is it possible they know better than you when only you who did the study or the research should know much better. It is only the paper presenter knows best, and not only that, but a very intimate and very deep knowledge in that area. Because you were the person who did that study, and nobody from the floor can have a better understanding on that subject than you do. After all, you are equally qualified, and sometimes much more qualified than all these jokers from the floor. If you are not qualified, you will not be capable of doing research and write scientific papers for presentation in scientific and professional conferences. These jokers who just sit conveniently on the floor, but are incapable of presenting papers just want to discredit and corner you with their stupid questions until you cannot answer. Normally I managed to field all of them with counter-questions and additional knowledge and references they are not familiar with. So we corner them instead.
So life in an academic world goes on with us. After all, that’s how we learn from each other whether we are pilots, practicing doctors, research doctors or highly academic scientists. Having said all that, I was glad you weren’t angry with me when I gave my view in your fantastic website.
Do you know I visit your website far more than the ASM and “Dr JB Lim Scientific Corner” websites? There are a lot of new things I learn from your site, whereas the ASM and the JBLim Corner ones are absolutely boring to me, as both these websites contained nothing but mainly my articles only. How boring! I hope Seng Khoon the webmaster for the ASM website will do something about this to make it interesting and interactive from other contributors There is not much I can do to insert a column or a guest book for people who wants to ask questions or give a critical opinion. As you know I know next-to-nothing about creating a website. So I depend on people like you, and Seng Khoon to do this job.
Actually I want to ask you two simple questions about pilots, and the wings of a plane. The first question has something to do with pilots and cabin crew going through the immigration and customs checkpoints and the other question is about the wings of a plane breaking off in flight. This question of the aircraft wings get torn off in flight sounds very silly even though I have some hazy idea on aeronautics, air flow, aerodynamics, how the wings and engine work together to give the plane the lift, thrust, and the inevitable drag. Maybe it is just my psychological fear knowing that the wings breaking apart can hardly happen
But I shall ask these two questions in more detail and more specifically a bit later as I have so many things to do at the moment.
In fact even this (personal) letter is long enough. It is not meant for your website, as it is just to tell you my side of the story for casual reading.
BSc (Chemistry & Physiology), MSc (Food Tech & Food QC) (University of Reading, England), Postgrad Dip Nutrition (University of London) Doctor of Medicine (Cal), PhD (London), FRSH (London), FRSM (Lond)
Warning !
Straight away from this beginning before you read the letter below, I must warn you that it is not possible to make Nescafe or Decaffeinated coffee from the exhaust gases of a jet plane. One may think this is possible after reading this letter. In theory - Yes, in practice - No. If you really need a cup of coffee without the caffeine in it, please go out to the shop or supermarket and buy it, and not take a plane to suck out its exhaust into your traditional Chinese coffee to decaffeinate it. This is a letter to Capt KH Lim (lkkc@pc.jaring.my) a Senior Pilot of a well-known airline. I write to Capt KH Lim because I love reading his very interesting website. I like exciting professions like being a pilot, but at last ! the best I can do about flying is jump down from a reasonable height and flap my arms as I come crashing down. That’s all the flying I do. Just key in “Boeing 777” using Google search engine, and you are there – I recommend Capt Lim’s fantastic website.
Dear Captain KH Lim, Wow ! you are such an expert on fuel chemistry besides being a pilot. I shall try to check out the octane rating and energy values of kerosene and diesel independently as well. This may require some time as it involves a bit of literature search in fuel and energy technology from an appropriate journal. At the moment I have no idea about the difference except that their energy densities are about the same. Surely, a little common sense will tell any layman like myself that, in the aviation industry, they will look for the lightest fuel with the highest energy values. It is just the question of cost-effectiveness and economics. Have I lost My Memory ? No, Captain, I hope not. I have not made a mistake about that figure on fuel consumption I gave you for a B 707 unless I am beginning to suffer from Alzheimer’s or one of those senile or pre-senile dementia ? Or have I? You see I know next to nothing about planes, and yet I was able to describe it in terms of “consumption per engine per minutes” in my last letter to you. That shows I actually saw it printed on the brochure in the plane, else how could I use the correct sentence when I have no inkling about jet engines. If I was unable to recall, or I just made it up, I would have said ‘so many miles per gallon’….for the whole plane for all the 4 engines like as if I was describing it for a car with 4 pistons / cylinders ? Although it was many, many years ago when I saw it in the brochure at the back of the seat of a plane in front of me, that figure or some phases printed on it impressed me very much, and I don’t think I will forget that. I cannot remember on which flight it was, on which airline, or where I was going then. Those years I used to travel here and there mainly in the B 707, until in later years I flew in other series of Boeing. When I first saw it, I was comparing it with a car, and wondered the tremendous power and thrust a jet engine must have generated to make it consumed so much fuel ? Energy Dissipated in Jet Engines It is either I am loosing memory on that figure (hopefully not), or that the engine technology by now must have improved so tremendously, that engines are currently becoming more and more fuel efficient. I would not be a surprised that with better and better technology, more effective engines are being developed over the years. Even then, I do admit that the disparity between a B 707 and the current B 777 in terms of fuel consumption as pointed by you is so enormous. What’s more, the load is now almost doubled for the B 777. I do not know what engines were used to power the B 707 in the plane I was in, although I faintly remember they were RR engines. I faintly remember the name of this engine (Rolls Royce) that was mentioned in the brochure. It may not be fair to compare the current powerful Rolls Royce Trent 892 with an older version of the same engine made years ago, let alone compare it with another type of engine such as Whitney-Pratt. I do not know anything about planes as I said, but I do believe the name of the plane does not mean much. It is the engines, the powerhouse of the plane, whatever the name we like to call it, that matters in terms of power and reliability. The only thing about the body of the plane that matters perhaps is the aerodynamic shape that is going to affect fuel consumption due to air-resistance and drag. Am I not right Captain? But are the B 707 and B 777 aerodynamically the same or about the same between two eras? But I know through common sense, with a tiny bit of guesswork and logic, a lot of energy is dissipated and lost by just the need to heat up the extremely cold and huge volumes of air from outside into the intake point of the engines, besides the energy required to compress the air, and to bring up the temperatures to firing / flash points to ignite the fuel inside the turbines, not to say significant energy loss through friction by the blades. That’s not all, a lot of heat would also be wasted in the exhaust. A great deal of energy are lost due to all these factors, and perhaps only a tiny amount are converted into useful work. All these demand a lot of fuel. The older engines and the aerodynamic shape of the B 707 may not be as efficient as the latest Boeing 777 you are flying. Whatever that is left would be reserved for lifting those tons of load, 336,000 lbs (152.4 metric tons) for B 707 and 632,500 lbs (286.9 metric tons) for B 777 up to 35,000 feet (10.67 km) into the air. It will have to go against gravity, besides hurtling (the thrust) the plane at near 1000 km per hour against tremendous air resistance, and turbulence from the air flow generated. I believe no matter how aerodynamic the shape, tremendous amount of energy would be required to overcome all these, unless the plane flies higher where the air densities are lower. But I am unsure if this will affect complete combustion of the fuel since the oxygen concentration is also lower at higher altitudes? You know best on this point. In fact as far as my elementary knowledge of physics is concerned, the more efficient the engines, the more it is going to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the adiabatic sequence of the Carnot Cycle in an ideal engine. Just as I typed the last sentence, a thought ran up my mind, how does Bernoulli’s Theorem due to various viscosity and air densities, streamlining of air flow and kinetic energy, fit into this fluid dynamics of flight? I am just pondering over this right now. Perhaps I should write a small essay on this later. The Designer of Reversible Cycles :
Strangely in medicine and physiology, an area and discipline where I am more familiar and conversant than on aviation, there is also a energy conversion cycle called Kreb’s Cycle, sometimes called citric acid, tricarboxylic acid cycle (after Hans Adolf Kreb, an Oxford Nobel Laureate) where food (fuel) in its metabolic breakdown are also similarly converted into energy. But this a slow combustion involving ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide) metabolic dynamics. In the Kreb’s Cycle, the energy conversion efficiency for a biological machine like our human body, is around 30 % , and this is far more efficient than any jet or propulsion engines or any mechanical machines. No man-made machine of any design, of any kind, whether made yesterday, today or tomorrow, whether for applications in medicine, science or in technology, can be better or more efficient than what is already naturally designed and programmed for us billions of years ago. It was programmed by God, the Designer and Creator Himself. We can never beat nature, no matter what technological, scientific or medical advances we have frog-leaped over the centuries. Carnot Cycle for an ideal heat engine is Physics, and Kreb’s Cycle is Biochemistry, Medicine and Physiology, but none of these energy utilization systems is as ideal and reversible as the Natural Cycle of Mother Nature – the Energy Balance in the Equations of Ecosystem - the Wind, the Rain, the Sun, and the Water Cycles, the Plants, and the Animals, the Food Chain, the Day and the Night, and the precision circuits of the Earth and other planets round the Sun. These natural and reversible cycles has kept us all alive for a 100 million years on this good planet. It is the Designer’s flawless programme, a retrievable and renewable Cycle for all living things on Earth, and they are not something that could be designed, made or mimic by a physicist or a mechanical / aeronautical engineer, even in their wildest dreams. Let us cherish this Good Earth. Let us be thankful for this life-sustaining Cycles already programmed and given to us. Let’s not break them with our stupid technology. We can never fight Nature.
Now, How to Make Instant Decaffeinated Coffee from Jet Engine Exhaust :
The Super Critical Liquids Poser ?
Many thanks for your information that anti-icing agent(s) were added to the aviation fuel to prevent the fuel from freezing at high altitudes where I believe the temperature outside could be down to – 50 0 Celsius or less. Facts and figures like these fascinate me tremendously. I only know that anti-caking agents are added to manufactured food products for similar reasons. But I never thought this problem applies for fuel as well. With this ignorance, I wonder whether they will ever give me a job in the fuel industry ? However, we know that the boiling point of any liquid, including fuels, becomes lower and lower with decreasing gas pressures. Conversely, the boiling point of liquid increases with increasing pressures. At very low atmospheric pressures volatile fuels like alcohol may just boil off at ordinary room temperatures, but definitely not with kerosene. No fuel except liquid hydrazine and liquid hydrogen I believe, could boil-off even under very low atmospheric pressures. After all, even an air-breathing jet liner can manage only up to 35,000 ft (10.66 km) into the mid to upper region of the troposphere. At that altitude, the temperature is in the region of – 50 to –55 o Celsius, and it should register an atmospheric pressure of only about 260 hPa (26 kilo Pascal), equivalent to 195 mm of Mercury (atmospheric pressure at sea level = 760 mm Hg = 101.325 kPa = 1.01325 bar) from a rough calculation I just made. The air density 10 km up there is about 0.41 kg / m3 This means at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668 metres) the pressure outside, bearing variations in humidity and temperatures, showed it ought to be only (26/101.325) X 100 = 25.66 % compared with that registered at sea level. The approximate calculation is based on a linear-curve table. Am I right Captain ? It’s an area you can tell me and all of us better.
Given this horrendously frigid temperatures – well below the freezing points of most solvents, organic liquids and almost all fuels, no fuel (except liquid hydrogen) could just boil off. They will all be frozen solid hard if not for the anti-icing agents being added, as pointed out by you - thanks to you for this beautiful information I just have just learnt from you. Even in the intensely frigid environment of outer space, well above the mesosphere and thermosphere, into the exosphere where the condition is near vacuum, exposed fuel could never boil off even at almost zero pressure. All normal liquid fuels will be frozen rock hard at temperatures from – 200o C downwards to almost absolute temperature (near zero Kelvin). But what I wanted to write here is not about the possibility of kerosene getting all iced up, but an extension of a thought of what you said about anti-icing agent being added. It’s another thought that just ran up my mind a few seconds ago. Suppose in a theoretical situation where we have the intensely high pressures generated within the turbines of a jet-engine acting on the extremely cold air drawn into the engine’s intake point, we should get a situation where at some point in the compression, the carbon dioxide from combustion is produced at the right amount, and at the right pressure, and at the right temperature (the hot gases mixed with the very cold air). What happens at that point ? Well to save us all the problem of guessing over this riddle, let me tell you what will happen. The carbon dioxide (CO2) from the exhaust will turn into something called a Supercritical Liqud. Its temperature is neither cold enough to turn the CO2 into solid dry ice, or liquid CO2 (under pressure), nor is it warm enough to remain perfectly gaseous under normal pressure. It becomes a phase which is “half liquid half gas”. It will achieve this at a certain critical pressure, and at a certain critical temperature. Technically, we call this a “Supercritical Liquid” When that happens, the gas, especially carbon dioxide becomes a super efficient solvent. This criteria varies from gas to gas. For carbon dioxide it is a very efficient solvent that could dissolve out the caffeine out of coffee at about 45o C at a pressure of 300 atmospheric pressures. It could act as a very clean and non-toxic solvent to extract fats from foods, and also aromatic compounds from herbal extracts for making perfumes.
In short, if we were to bubble the exhaust gas taken at that particular point in the air compression into our cup of coffee (not practical or possible please – just in theory) it will instantly turn the aroma of traditional and natural coffee into tasteless decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine will simply dissolve out into the carbon dioxide and throw out the caffeine along with the exhaust gases of the air-craft into the land below to whoever wants it. Isn’t this thought fascinating ? Sounds like a page from Science Fiction doesn’t it?
I am actually asking myself this possibility as a spin off thought of a food scientist (besides being a nutritionist). My imagination can really run wild in all directions at times. Frankly I am not sure of the answer myself. I am just using scientific logic gleaned from first principles in science and technology to churn and brew up this cup of strange concoction. Why not ? Why can’t we change our ordinary cup of traditional Chinese coffee into Nescafe if we were pass a tiny, tiny bit of jet exhaust through it at the right pressure and temperature? I know it is very ticklish idea to conjure up. I know everybody will laugh at me at my nonsensical imagination. But I have to affirm to you Captain, this Supercritical Fluid Principle is very real. It is not a science fiction or some non-existing principle I conjure up myself. It is a real technological procedure that has already been applied in the food, pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic industry. It’s genuine, very real indeed. If you need to know, that’s how they make Nescafe (decaffeinated coffee) in Germany . Of course they did not use the exhaust from a jet engine to do this. But the principle still stands, and it is still the same. It is also a procedure being used to extract organic substances such as expensive and rare drugs, herbal medicines, and other high-tech pharmaceutical preparations. In the high tech pharmaceutical industry, we use super-cooled gas at very high pressures to act as a solvent for the isolation of heat-sensitive drugs. This is called Supercritical Liquids Extraction. In food technology, that’s how they make Instant Coffee and Nescafe. It is also used to purify a substance, such as removing fat or a toxin from food, or to make concentrates of food products. I am combing whatever I know in food engineering, pharmaceutical and drug extraction, in medicine, in applied chemistry, and in cosmetic manufacturing to boldly tell you this.
So why not make instant Nescafe from jet exhaust? So we may have a situation where the air steward(ess) serves hot, natural, aromatic, traditional Chinese coffee inside the cabin, but unwittingly only be able to serve frozen Western decaffeinated coffee outside the cabin made from the exhaust gases of the jet engines. I suppose it serves its purpose for those who refuse to pay air-fare, and be warm and comfortable inside the pressurized cabin. They may sit outside on the wings to be served another type of coffee ! At a God-forbidden temperature of – 55o C outside, even their tongues and their taste-buds will turn brittle, and instantly crumble into powder even when lightly beaten with a spoon, let alone feel any taste or pain from intense frostbites They will blown off the wings by a 1,000 km per hour wind, let alone taste any type of coffee ? Just fancy that for imaginary science stories ? Maybe it is possible in space travels where we can just float about in a vacuum, and drink coffee at leisure. Maybe I should write some thoughts about traveling in space later, but right now I have so many other letters to reply.
Caution: Just a note of care. It is just not possible to extract even a tiny bit of the combustion gases from the turbines. How are we going to get it out without damaging the blades ? Although it may be possible to divert a little of it through an inlet tube, but how are we going to maintain it at 300 atmospheric pressure (30,398 hPa), and kept it at 318 Kelvin (45o C) exactly in the conditions that is needed to turn carbon dioxide into a Super Critical Liquid even though I believe it may be generated somewhere inside the turbines? The CO2 will act as a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Solvent no doubt if we can pass it through our cup of coffee to remove the caffeine. I do not know the velocity of the jet blast inside the turbines, but it has to be much faster than the entire plane. The plane itself is already traveling at near 1,000 kph, and the velocity of ejection of the hot gases from the exhaust must be far, far, higher than that, albeit the discharged is divided equally among all the 4 engines. This is just the principles of physics and fluid flow mechanics (Bernoulli’s Theorem).
I am only writing this for fun to tease our brains for imagination sake only. Don’t take me seriously. Theoretically the principle is okay, but in practice – No ! But the extraction of caffeine from natural, traditional coffee to produce decaffeinated coffee, or drugs and natural medicines using the Supercritical Fluid Principles as I have described IS REAL – VERY REAL INDEED. This part of the story remains valid forever. The rest are just my wild imagination found only in Science Fiction. What Rubbish Stuff Am I Writing? A close friend came into my room a short while ago and asked me what was I typing on my computer the whole of this afternoon in between seeing patients. He reminded me that some of them were still waiting outside. I told him they can wait. He remarked that it looks like I enjoy playing with my computer (sometimes on my violin) more than doing my serious job. He was very right. I restrict the appointments to a maximum of only 5 patients a day, so that I can have time for other more enjoyable things. I told him I was writing to a pilot of a Boeing 777 jetliner telling him how to make instant coffee from the exhaust of his jet engines. He was taken aback, and remarked that I was a cuckoo. He asked me why don’t I write more articles about health, nutrition, disease, and medical issues - something more relevant, practical, and more interesting to people so that they can benefit from them. Why should I. ? I have already written hundreds of articles about health, nutrition, biomedical and other health-related subjects, and all those sissy stuff. All these have already been published here and there, in bulletins, newsletters, company brochures, pamphlets, health magazines, besides notes I write for my regular public lectures I give almost once a month. These things are very boring to me by now. A lot of people forget I am also formally trained in other areas of sciences - chemistry, zoology, physiology, nutrition, food quality control, and food engineering too.
In fact I have Bachelor and Master’s degrees in them. But I wish could I have just one single Bachelor’s degree, or even a diploma on aviation, aeronautics, astronomy or even on music. That would be fantastic, but at last I have not a single qualification in this pet area. How sad, but I am more than willing to exchange all what I have, including exchanging all my current 3 doctorates degrees for a single Bachelor’s degree in astronomy, astronautics, or even on how to pilot a plane. That would be fantastic. I am more crazy about physical sciences than on girlish subjects like biomedical sciences. I landed up on the wrong runaway you can loudly say that. If I am an astronaut today, how nice would it be to be able to see the fantastic stars and galaxies from the depth of space. It will give me inspirations to write outrageous hypothesis on astronomy, cosmic and particle physics, space medicine, space travel, and space technology, and even on religion Even writing on music makes learning more fun, and life less boring. After all, we all need to live a balanced life which would be far richer, more holistic, spiritually and materially. Life would be more fulfilling than merely doing the same old routine job everyday. Unfortunately, we are all caught up in this commercial world, and have no where to go but eke out a living day-to-day to feed our families. But there are also “weird hobbies” I have never had a chance of doing all these years. Making Nescafe from a jet engine exhaust is just one. Some say I am mad – perhaps I am.
Captain, Can you please join our Senior Scientists Consultative Group : Lastly Capt Lim, as a Senior Pilot, I think you should be a member of our newly established organization called “Senior Scientists Consultative Group” (SSCG). It is an establishment initiated by the Government through Academician Tan Sri Professor Datuk Dr Ong Soon Hock, PhD (Lond), FMASc. This is a group of academicians and professionals headed by Academician Tan Sri Professor Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong who is also a Senior Fellow of The Malaysian Academy of Sciences. Academician Tan Sri Ong is also the President of COSTAM (Confederation of Scientific and Technological Associations of Malaysia). The SSCG consists of very senior and high caliber scientists, engineers, doctors, clinicians, and cutting edge technologists in the country. The country is very short of these “highly wanted” people, and the Government has asked Academician Tan Sri to set up this special group of people so that their skills, matured experiences, and expertise may be harvested for nation building after their retirement. Currently, we have specialist scientists, medical specialists, and engineers from varied disciplines in the group, but not a single pilot has landed. Piloting and aviation are highly skilled sciences, so why not join us ? We will love to have people like yourself to help the SSCG to grow into a huge pool of expertise in all areas of sciences – science, medicine, engineering and technology. I hope you can fly in and land at the “Malaysian SSCG Airport”. Can I recommend you in if you have already reached senior status. We will turn on the guiding lights for your safe landing I assure you. The application form is in COSTAM website. Just key in “COSTAM” (Google Engine) and contact Ms JoAnn, the Executive Secretary. Else contact me. I shall propose you in. Warmest Regards - JB Lim
Someone suggested that I should sign my name as JB -007 (James Bond Lim – 007). After all “JB” is truly my legal initial, and my Membership No in the Nutrition Society of Malaysia is also : 007, so I think it is not wrong if I call myself as “ James Bond 007.” Joking only lah ! I am not that crazy.
I do not know how you knew I was trying to calculate and do some measurements on the plane on my way from Malaysia to China? I never told you this. In fact I never told anyone.
The only place I mentioned about this was in one of the many articles I wrote in Senior Pilot Captain KH Lim website about flying. My articles are scattered here and there in other people’s website as I don’t have a website of my own. But I do have a blog and a U-tube, but I put nothing inside my own site. Most of my articles go into other people’s website as a link to theirs. Some of them are found here – please click below: 1. Airline pilot - a very responsible and noble profession - a medical scientist's insight. 2. Home > Profession > Airline pilot - a very responsible and noble profession - a medical scientist's insight. http://askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=683:airline-pilot-a-very-responsible-and-noble-profession-a-medical-scientists-insight&catid=26:profession&Itemid=52
4. What is the fuel consumption of a Boeing 777 as compared to a Boeing 707? 5. Can we actually see a city from a plane flying at 10,000 metres? http://www.askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:can-we-actually-see-a-city-from-a-plane-flying-at-10000-metres&catid=23:air-travel&Itemid=49
6. What is the fuel consumption of a Boeing 777 as compared to a Boeing 707?
7. Dr JB Lim also wrote dozens of articles on various disciplines of sciences – medical research, medicine, health issues, biology, physiology, pharmacology, aviation, physics, mathematics, scientific discoveries, music, literature, etc, etc. he put them all under the Astronomical Society of Malaysia website address:
Unfortunately this website has remained inactive for some time, and Yahoo search engine has removed the above site. There is a time limit for free websites to remain active. Else they will remove the website. Try to use Yahoo Search Engine instead of Google.
9. There are also numerous other health and nutrition articles written by Dr JB Lim for his pharmaceutical group of companies (Dynapharm & Diamond Interest, etc).
10. Additionally below is also another article which I wrote to Captain Lim 2 years ago but left it half-way. But since you mention about my flight to China, I decided to complete this article today. But I did not send it to Captain Lim as he is far too busy flying here and there. It is below the dotted line here:
11 comments:
A talk will be held at the National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara on Saturday, 27 March at 4:30 p.m. It will be a power point slide presentation of over 75 slides
Title: “Are Recent Emerging Diseases like Mad Cow’s Disease, SARS, and Avian Flu Caused by Alien Viruses Seeded On Earth From Another World? “
Speaker: Dr Lim Ju Boo BSc PG Dip Nutr MSc MD PhD FRSH FRSMed DSc
Venue: Conference Room or Auditorium
National Science Centre
Bukit Kiara
Kuala Lumpur
Date & Time: Saturday, 27 March, 2004
Chaired by: Academician Tan Sri Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong, PhD (Lond) FASc
About the Speaker : Dr JB Lim is a very prolific and highly eloquent speaker, a presenter extra-ordinary, who has delighted countless audiences in the past, both to the lay-public, and members of academia by his superb style of explaining a very highly technical subject to a level within the reach of a mixed audience.
A naturally-gifted speaker, and highly qualified presenter, who is known to be extremely witty, and sometimes sarcastic in remarks,. Dr Lim teaches with exceptional beauty, and is in very high demand as a speaker and consultant at several scientific and health forums. He was commented by the present Prime Minister to whom he attend to on regular and countless occasions as, “one who is very professional in his approach, explains things very well, a very caring physician, and one who makes people very happy”.
Dr Lim is a Founder President of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia, and is currently Head / Principal and Special Medical and Science Adviser on to a Group of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies in Penang.
He is also a Member of the Panel of Experts for Guthrie Scholar Foundation, and a Member of the Technical Supervisory Committee for Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd Post-doctoral Scholar’s Award
Here he is to delight us with his combined knowledge in astronomy, medicine and bio-medical sciences, with his flair to explain, teach and speak. He will reveal some of the correlations he found between Alien particles from Outer Space, and Events leading to The Emergence of New Diseases on Earth.
All Are Welcomed!
Prof Dr Cherie Chin
The Mystery of the “Star” Wormwood
A Holistic Scientific Analysis
by
Lim Ju Boo BSc Postgrad Dip Nutr MD MSc PhD FRSH FRSMed DSc
The author Dr JB Lim uses his combined knowledge drawn from multidisciplinary Sciences in Astronomy, Geography, Oceanography, Toxicology, Physiology and Medicine, Mathematics in his attempt to try to answer what this star “Wormwood” revealed in the Bible is.
A very brief summary on the basic info he knows from these disciplines in sciences and then calculated out to expand on them are spelt out as follows:
1. Earth has a total of 1.39 X 109 cubic km of waters
2. 96.5 % are in global oceans = 1.34 X 109 cubic km
3. 1.34 X 109 cubic km = 1.34 X 1018 cubic metres = 1.34 X1021 litres
4. Volume of water in 1/3 of all the global oceans = 4.47 X 1020 litres
5. Earth’s 263 international river basins and major rivers covering 45.3 % (231,059,898 km2) of land surface area has an estimated 2115 km3 of fresh river waters (Groombridge & Jenkins, 1998)
6. 2115 km3 = 2.115 X 1012 m3 = 2.115 X 1015 litres
7. Volume of 1/3 of rivers = 7.05 X 1014 litres
8. Radius of Earth = 6,378 km
9. Volume of Earth = 1.087 X 1012 cubic km
10. Radius of Sun = 695,000 km
11. Volume of Sun = 1.406 X 1018 cubic km
12. Sun / Earth Volume Ratio = 1,293,468
13. 1.29 million Earth can drop into the Sun
14. A small comet 0.5 km (500 metres) in diameter
15. Volume of a 500 meter comet = 6.55 X 107 m3
16. Density of comet = 3,000 kg / m3
17. Weight of comet = 1.965 X 1011 kg
18. 10 % of a 500 meter comet contains cyanide
19. Amount of cyanide present in a small comet = 1.965 X 1010 kg
= 1.965 X 1016 mg
20. Dilution of cyanide in 1/3 of the rivers = 27.9 mg / dl (litres) – the lethal dose
21. Intake of cyanide in fluid intake @ 2.5 litres a day
= 69.75 mg (extremely bitter and fatal)
22. Volume of an average comet 5 km (5000 metres) in diameter
23. Volume of a 5000 metre comet = 6.55 X 1010 m3
24. Density of average-size comet = 3,000 kg / m3
25. Weight of average comet = 1.965 X 1014 kg
26. At 10 % content, an average comet has : 1.965 X 1013 kg of cyanide
27. = 1.963 X 1019 mg
28. Dilution (concentration) of cyanide in 1/3 ocean waters
29. = 0.04 mg / dl (not lethal, but accumulative poison).
30. Intake of CN in water and all fluid intake at 2.5 litres a day = 0.1 mg (not fatal)
31. Chemical compounds found in comets like Hale-Bopp include: methane, acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, methyl cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, formic acid, ethylene, and carbonyl sulfide
32. Amount of cyanide in an average comet at estimated 10 % content = 1.965 X 1013 kg
A Biblical Revelation:
“And the third angel sounded, and there fell, a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters;
And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8: 10 -11)
A Holistic Scientific Analysis:
A search of the scientific literature did no yield much information about the mystery star called “Wormwood” described in the Bible (Revelation 8:10 -11).
Neither was there useful and relevant information that could be sourced from the Internet. This ‘star’ thus remains much of a mystery to the scientific world as it is an event that has yet to come to pass.
An analysis of information pieced together by the author from several disciples of science and medicine may reveal a probable explanation to this mystery. No single field or key of science, whether it be astronomy, Christian science, physics, chemistry, cosmology, mathematics or even space medicine can open up this mystery about this Wormwood Star.
It requires the concerted and integrated efforts from all fields of knowledge including geography to disseminate the mystery. No wonder not even the massive information stored in the Internet provide a satisfactory explanation.
Hence all the statements described below need to be referred to the compilation of analytical data set out in the above Table to support the statements.
An analysis of our current knowledge in astronomy tell us that the Wormwood star is probably a typical comet yet to arrive, but it will be one that is going to crash into Earth.
We know from our knowledge in geography that three-quarter of the Earth’s surface is covered by water – the oceans, seas, lakes and rivers. Earth has a total of 1.39 X 109 cubic km of waters. About 96.5 % of the waters are in the oceans. This means there are 1.34 X 1018 cubic metres or 1.34 X 1021 liters of waters in all the oceans of the world.
The Bible tells us that the star will fall into a third of the waters. That implies that a third of the global oceans will contain 4.47 X 1020 litres of water. The Bible also describes ‘a great star from heaven’ that fell down (to Earth). Can this be possible?
We know from our knowledge in astronomy that this is not possible, given the fact that an average star in heaven is about the same size as our own Sun. The radius of Earth is 6,378 km, and its volume is 1.087 X 1012 cubic km. The Sun, technically a star, has a radius of 695,000 km, and hence a volume of 1.406 X 1018 cubic km. The Sun / Earth volume ratio is thus 1,293,468.
In other words, 1.3 million Earths can drop into the Sun to be equivalent to its size. Hence there is no possibility for the Sun or any star to drop into Earth. The reverse is true. This far, for ‘mathematical geography’ of the story to link up.. So we need to look for another explanation.
Let’s now turn to astronomy. In ancient times anything that ‘burns like a lamp’ in the sky are all called stars. That includes a comet. The presence of a comet since ancient times has also been a suspect of a disaster. It is to the ancient civilization the presence of a comet in the sky is a harbinger of bad omen. They bring disease and death to Earth. So how does a comet make the waters bitter, and cause death to many men.
Let us assume it is an average size comet. An average size comet is some 5 km (500 metres) in diameter. Its volume is thus 6.55 X 1010 cubic metres. The density of an average-size comet is 3,000 kg / m3. Hence its average weight is 1.965 X 1014 kg. Now a number of studies on the chemical composition of a comet have already been done. One such study is Hale-Bopp Comet. It was found to contain chemical compounds that include methane, acetylene, hydrogen cyanide, methyl cyanide, hydrogen sulfide, formic acid, ethylene, and carbonyl sulfide. It was estimated that about 10 % of the chemical compounds in a typical comet could be hydrogen cyanide or cyanide compounds. If that is true, the amount of cyanides in a typical comet at 10 % would have a weight of 1.965 X 1013 kg or 1.965 X 1019 mg. Let see what happens if an average-size comet were to drop into our oceans. We already calculated out that 1/3 of the oceans contain 4.47 X 1020 litres of water. That means that if an average comet 5 km (5,000 metres) wide were to fall into one of the 3 major oceans – Pacific, Atlantic or Indian oceans, it will contaminate its waters at a dilution of 0.04 mg / deciliter.
Let us now examine the consequence from the view point of physiology and toxicology. In physiology we know that the fluid intake of an average human adult is about 2.5 litres a day to replace a minimum obligatory urinary output and loss of about 800 ml a day. Hence the amount of cyanide ingested through water intake at 2.5 litres a day is a mere 0.1 mg. This, in toxicology is not immediately fatal, although it could act as an accumulative poison. So a human drinking from that water will not die instantly. What’s more, no human drink the salt water from the oceans. So this explanation doesn’t seem very satisfactory.
Let’s look at Revelation once again, and read carefully what it says there. In Revelation Chapter 8, verses 10 – 11 it did not speak about the oceans.
It says: “a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers and upon the fountains of waters”
So it is the rivers, and not the ocean that the ‘star’ fell into. But how could a 5 km diameter comet fall into a river. I do not think there is a river wide enough to accommodate an average comet. We know from our current knowledge that comets are of different sizes, and weight. They can be small, as small as only a tenth the size of an average one. If we assume just a small comet, as small as only 500 metres (0.5 km) in diameter drops into one of the rivers (fountain of all waters), what will be the scenario like? To answer that, let us return to geography once again. It has been documented that Earth has 263 international river basin and major rivers, covering 45.3 % or 231.059,898 km2 of the land surface area (not the ocean area). There is an estimated 2115 cubic km of fresh river waters in all the rivers of the world (Groombridge & Jenkins, 1998).
There are 3 major rivers with the highest volume of water discharge a year. These are: the Amazon (6.92 cubic km of water per year), Ganges (1.38 km3 /year), and the Congo (1.30 km3 /year). Other rivers are merely very long, like the Yangtze, Nile, and Mississippi, but they do not mean they have the highest volume of water discharge. The total volume of all the rivers is 2.115 X 1012 cubic metres or 2.115 X 1015 litres. A third of the total volume would be 7.05 X 1014 litres.
Since neither the Amazon or the Mighty Yangtze River can accommodate a 5 km wide comet if it should falls into them, a 0.5 km will easily fit into any of the 3 major rivers. A 500 metres diameter comet with an average density of 3,000 kg / m3 weighs about
1.965 X 1011 kg. At 10 % content, a small comet will contain 1.965 X 1010 kg or 1.965 X 1016 mg of cyanide. In other words, if this was to fall into a third of the ‘fountains of waters’ the cyanide levels in the fresh drinkable waters of the rivers will be in the order of 27.9 mg / dl (litres). This is immediately a fatal dose, and many men will die drinking that water because it was made bitter.
Very Brief Chemical, Physiological, Toxicological and Medical Summary of Cyanide Poisoning:
Let me now move you from geography, astronomy, chemistry, to the medical aspects of cyanide poisoning. How does it work? Let us just describe it briefly: Please bear with me as we need to shift from one branch of science to another.
• Chemistry of cyanide :
Hydrogen cyanide / prussic acid: extremely bitter. Taste like bitter almonds, extremely toxic and highly soluble in water
• Toxicity :
Lethal concentration of gaseous hydrogen cyanide (HCN) in humans is between 100 – 500 ppm (parts per million) within a few minutes due to respiratory failure. Lethal oral dose of cyanide compounds in solutions, say in water, is between 0.5 – 3.0 mg / kg of body weight. The lethal dose for an average 60 kg (150 lbs) reference man at 0.5 mg / kg body weight = 30 mg in a single dose
• Mode of Action:
It binds with a number of body enzymes. Primarily, its action is by inhibiting the cytochrome c oxidase, mainly by binding the ferric ion of the cytochrome. This interferes with tissue oxidative phophorylation as it blocks the electron transfer in the energy-rich phosphate ATP / ADP biochemistry. To make this simple, short and sweet to understand, death is due to respiratory inhibition, mainly oxygen deprivation to the tissues, but more importantly to the brain.
• Fluid Loss:
Obligatory fluid loss in urine per day in adult human = 830 dl (830 ml.)
• Fluid Intake:
Average fluid (water) intake of an average man = 2,500 dl (2.5 litres), depending on humidity, temperature, physiological needs, exercise, lungs and skin output, gastrointestinal, kidney output, osmmol (salt) load, medical conditions, etc. About 2.5 litres a day is about right and about the average intake for a reference man.
• Signs & Symptoms:
Cyanide acts rapidly on the tissues, respiratory and nervous systems. In high concentration, there is a dramatic increase in the rate and depth of respiration. This compensatory response mechanism against tissue respiratory failure is so powerful, that it overrides the casualty’s normal ability to hold his breadth. Fierce convulsions set in with 20-30 seconds with cessation of respiration within a minute. Cardiac failure sets in within a minute or two. In lower concentrations, HCN acts on the CNS (Central Nervous System) leading to serial neurological events such as motor weakness of the lower extremities (legs), vertigo (giddiness), nausea and headache, loss of neuro-motor coordination and unsteady gait. The reflexes are altered, and there may be convulsions followed by coma. These signs and symptoms very much depend on the concentration of the cyanide ingested, body weight, and body constitution. In high doses above 0.5 mg / body weight, death is the ultimate sequel.
The Conclusion:
From the chemical and medical summary above, we know that cyanide is an extremely bitter substance. It tastes like bitter almonds. Doesn’t this fit the description that the star is called ‘Wormwood’ because the waters were made bitter? Doesn’t that fit the picture of a bitter star that fell onto Earth? When it does fall into the rivers, does all these calculations presented here tell us exactly how much it needs to pollute the total volumes of a third of the rivers in such an exact dilution that “many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter” (Revelation 8: 11).
Doesn’t our knowledge in physiology and nutrition tell us that we cannot, but forced to drink a minimum quantity of water to replace an obligatory loss of 800 ml of water daily, whether or not we like it. Invariably many men is going to die from this.
As I pointed out, most scientists or doctors specializes only on one field of science or medicine. With that myopic, cross-eyed and un-holistic view they will never see the sights that came down from heaven as in my separate story about the SARS Virus as An Alien from Outer Space. See my write up on this in the other section on “Aerospace Medicine” in the Astronomical Society of Malaysia website at:
http://www.geocities.com/astronomicalsocietyofmalaysia/Activities.htm
JB
September 4, 2003
A talk will be held at the National Science Centre at Bukit Kiara on Saturday, 27 March at 4:30 p.m. It will be a power point slide presentation of over 75 slides
Title: “Are Recent Emerging Diseases like Mad Cow’s Disease, SARS, and Avian Flu Caused by Alien Viruses Seeded On Earth From Another World? “
Speaker: Dr Lim Ju Boo BSc PG Dip Nutr MSc MD PhD FRSH FRSMed DSc
Venue: Conference Room or Auditorium
National Science Centre
Bukit Kiara
Kuala Lumpur
Date & Time: Saturday, 27 March, 2004
Chaired by: Academician Tan Sri Professor Emeritus Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong, PhD (Lond) FASc
About the Speaker : Dr JB Lim is a very prolific and highly eloquent speaker, a presenter extra-ordinary, who has delighted countless audiences in the past, both to the lay-public, and members of academia by his superb style of explaining a very highly technical subject to a level within the reach of a mixed audience.
A naturally-gifted speaker, and highly qualified presenter, who is known to be extremely witty, and sometimes sarcastic in remarks,. Dr Lim teaches with exceptional beauty, and is in very high demand as a speaker and consultant at several scientific and health forums. He was commented by the present Prime Minister to whom he attend to on regular and countless occasions as, “one who is very professional in his approach, explains things very well, a very caring physician, and one who makes people very happy”.
Dr Lim is a Founder President of the Astronomical Society of Malaysia, and is currently Head / Principal and Special Medical and Science Adviser on to a Group of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Companies in Penang.
He is also a Member of the Panel of Experts for Guthrie Scholar Foundation, and a Member of the Technical Supervisory Committee for Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd Post-doctoral Scholar’s Award
Here he is to delight us with his combined knowledge in astronomy, medicine and bio-medical sciences, with his flair to explain, teach and speak. He will reveal some of the correlations he found between Alien particles from Outer Space, and Events leading to The Emergence of New Diseases on Earth.
All Are Welcomed!
Prof Dr Cherie Chin
November 12, 2007 7:38 AM
The Tsunami-Earthquake Triggered by
A Very Rare Lunar-Gravitational Event
Dr Lim Ju Boo
Founder & Immediate Past President
The Astronomical Society of Malaysia
and
Member of Council
The Malaysian Senior Scientist Association
Summary
The tragic event of the tidal waves that took the toll of thousands of lives the day after Christmas could have been caused by the massive gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s Tectonic Plates where the faults and fractures lie.
What exactly happens on a Full Moon is that both the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the Earth exert a tremendous pull on the Earth surface causing the oceans waters to drag upwards on either side of the Earth as spring tides. As the Earth rotates underneath these two massive heaps of water once in 24 hours, and any location on Earth facing an open sea will experience two huge spring tides twice a day.
But these are ordinary tides, and are probably the most marked effect of the awesome powers of gravitation of the Moon exerting over Earth. Most people ignored and take this effect for granted because they are just ordinary common tides.
But what actually could have happened on the morning of December 26, 2004 was probably this.
Most people and non-scientists don’t realized is that, the Moon exert a far more powerful effect on Earth than even much more massive Sun since the Moon is nearest to Earth. The lunar gravitational power so powerful that it drags not only huge masses of ocean waters round and round the Earth twice a day as tides, but it also causes frictional tides beneath the oceans, and land masses causing enormous frictional rub on the Earth’s solid crust especially on the tectonic plates that slide, collide, rub, crush and drift among them.
This tidal effect on the solid crust beneath the oceans and on land is hardly noticeable to the man-in-the-street since the pull of the liquid water as spring and neap tides are much more pronounced and visible.
By-and-by as the Moon sweeps round and round the Earth hundreds or thousands of times, frictional solid tides over the Earth’s land masses, and beneath the oceans, its tidal effect over the faults and tectonic plates becomes apparent at breaking point.
This effect is especially pronounced during a Full or a New Moon when both the Sun and the Moon combined to act on Earth. This could have triggered the earth quark at the fracture.
This happened on December 26, 2004, an event that could only happen once in 143, 171 and 207 years during which, the points of the Earth where the sensitive Indian-Burma tectonic plates are, fall near the maximum gravitational tug of the Full Moon. This implies that a similar event could have taken place in the years 1797, 1833 and 1861
Full Version
The tragic event of the tidal waves that took the toll of thousands of lives the day after Christmas could have been caused by the massive gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on Earth’s Tectonic Plates where the faults and fractures lie.
What exactly happens on a Full Moon is that both the Sun and Moon on opposite sides of the Earth exert a tremendous pull on the Earth surface causing the oceans waters to drag upwards on either side of the Earth as spring tides. As the Earth rotates underneath these two massive heaps of water once in 24 hours, and any location on Earth facing an open sea will experience two huge spring tides twice a day.
But these are ordinary tides which everyone are familiar with, although the majority of people do not realize this is the most marked effect of the awesome powers of gravitation of the Moon exerting over Earth. Most people take ordinary common tides for granted because they are just on the surface of oceans and seas that occurs each Full and New Moon. But almost all do not realize there are also solid tides beneath the oceans and land which are also being pulled up by the Moon. This is exactly what happened on the morning of December 26, 2004. The Moon was at the at the wrong place and wrong time.
Tidal Effects
Most people, especially non-scientists don’t realize is that, the Moon exert a far more powerful effect on Earth than just causing ocean tides. Its gravitational pull on Earth is more than twice than even much more massive Sun since the Moon is much near to Earth than the Sun. The lunar gravitational power is so powerful that it drags not only huge masses of ocean waters round and round the Earth twice a day as tides, but it also causes solid frictional tides beneath the oceans floors and land masses, causing enormous frictional rub on the Earth’s solid crust especially on the tectonic plates that slide, collide, rub, crush and drift among them.
This tidal effect on the solid crust beneath the oceans and on land is hardly noticeable to the man-in-the-street since the pull of the liquid water as spring and neap tides are much more pronounced and visible effect of the Moon.
By-and-by as the Moon sweeps round and round the Earth hundreds or thousands of times, frictional solid tides over the Earth’s land masses, and beneath the oceans, its tidal effect over the faults in the tectonic plates becomes apparent.
This effect is especially pronounced during a Full or a New Moon when both the Sun and the Moon combined to act on Earth. This could have triggered the earth quark where the tectonic fracture lie.
The gravitational pull of the Moon on Earth is so immense that it causes not only frictional rub on the Earth’s crust, but it is actually slowing down the rotation of the Earth as well. This effect of the moon on Earth is hardly known to the public. It actually slows down the Earth’s rotation at a rate of about 2 thousandths of a second per day per century. So a day now takes about 2 thousandths of a second longer to complete than it did in 1900.
According to Geoff Chester, astronomer and public affairs officer at the US Naval Observatory, at this current rate of slowing, 3 million years from now, a day will be about 1 minute longer than it is now. The moon has a tidal pull on the solid surface of the earth as well, just as much as it has an effect on the liquid surface of the earth. You can actually measure the tidal influence on land during the course of a day; it goes up and down a few centimeters every day, depending on where the moon is in the sky and where we are on the tide cycle.
Besides causing ocean tides, and slowing down the Earth, the Moon may trigger off earthquakes. It has been shown that earthquakes are much more common around the times of new moon or full moon.
The Tsunami Event could not have happened at a more appropriate date and time than on the morning of December 26, 2004 when the Full Moon occurred precisely at 15 hrs 03 min 36 sec UT (22:06 hours UT Indonesian Time). This occurred about half a day before the Moon achieved its Full Moon phase.
Geographical Location
Seismologists said the epicentre of the December 26, 2004 quake was more than 8.8 km (5.5 miles) below the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Sumatra and about 240 km (150 miles) south of the city of Banda Aceh on the islands northern tip.
Beneath the ocean floor, the quake occurred along a long north-south fault where the edge of the Indian plate dives below the Burma plate. A sea floor feature known as the Sunda Trench marks where the Indian plate begins its grinding decent into the Earth's hot mantle.
Complicating matters, the edges of three other tectonic plates also bump here, with the Indian and Australian plates slowly sliding north west relative to the Burma plate.
A 8-magnitude earthquake on the island's southern tip was the most deadly tremor of 2000, causing at least 103 fatalities and more than 2,000 injuries. Giant quakes could have rocked the area in 1797, 1833 and 1861.
Pressed, lifted or slipped from many directions, stress built up along the fault line off the Sumatra coast. A north-south fault ruptured along a 1192 km (745-mile) stretch, or about the length of Malaysia till the whole of southern Thailand.
Many people believe that the Sun, the Moon, and other planets trigger earthquakes. I was told that the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Tangshan (39.6 N, 118.2 E) on July 28, 1976 had been on a new moon (the 2nd) and the 6.9 Kobe on January 16, 1995 (UTC) had been on a full moon (the 3rd LT). However, they considered why neither large one happened at other places on Earth where were on the same new moon or full moon, nor why no large one happened at Tangshan or Kobe 1, 2, 3, ... months before or after when the times were also on a new moon or a full moon.
The reason is simple. Not all New and Full Moons fall exactly on same place where fault lines and slips below the earth surface lies. I shall explain this in a little detail later. But first let look at some data:
Apparent Geocentric Position of Moon
Position of Moon December 16 2004 December 26, 2004
Right Ascension 22h 3m 17 6h 17m 10s
Declination -16° 48' 50" (South) 27° 54' 6" (North)
Earth-Moon Distance 368,619 km 405,949 km
Constellations Aquarius Gemini
Topocentric Lunar Event on December 26 2004
Maximum Altitude 60 deg 36 min 0 sec
Time of Maximum Tides 5 hrs (GMT)
Time of Full moon 15 hrs 07 min 21 sec (GMT)
Solar and Lunar Data for Banda Aceh (longitude E 95.3, latitude N 5.6) on Sunday 26 December 2004 Indonesian Time is Universal Time (UT) + 7 hours
The following information is calculated for Banda Aceh at longitude East 95.3, latitude North 5.6:
Sun-Moon data on 26 December 2004 Universal Time + 7h = Indonesian Time
SUN
Begin civil twilight 06:23
Sunrise 06:45 hrs
Sun transit 12:39 hrs
Sunset 18:33 hrs
End civil twilight 18:56 hrs
MOON
Moonrise 17:30 hrs on preceding day (25 Dec 05)
Moon transit 23:54 hrs on preceding day (25 Dec 05)
Moonset 06:19 hrs on 26 Dec 05
Moonrise 18:21 hrs on 26 Dec 05
Moonset 07:10 hrs on following day (27 Dec 05)
Maximum Altitude 60 deg 36 min 0 sec
Time of Maximum Tides 5 hrs GMT
Time of Full moon 15 hrs 07 min 21 sec UT
Full Moon on 26 December 2004 at 15 hrs 03 min 36 sec UT ( 22:06 hours Indonesian Time)
On that morning an earthquake followed almost two centuries of tension during which the India plate pressed against the Burma microplate, which carries the tip of Sumatra as well as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The plates move against one another at an average rate of about 6 centimetres a year, but this movement does not occur smoothly. There has not been a very large quake along this fault since 1833 — a fact that may have contributed to the huge force of this one. The India plate's jarring slide released the tension on the Burma microplate, causing it to spring violently upwards.
Data from the above table, we see that 10 days before (16 December) the event, the Moon was in the southern hemisphere as indicated in red with a minus sign in the declination as shown :
Declination -16° 48' 50" (South)
However, 10 days later on that tragic morning on 26 December, the Moon had already moved to the North as shown in red with a positive (north) sign
Declination 27° 54' 6" (North)
The Moon was setting in the west at 06:19 hrs Indonesian Time (7 hors ahead of GMT (UT / UTC) by the time it has done its job of sweeping over the Indian-Burma tectonic plates.
This means the Moon was actually crossing the equator from south to north to be over northern Sumatra where the fault line was near Banda Aceh (latitude 5 0 35 ‘ N, and 95 0 20 ‘ longitude) some time between 19 and 20 December as given in the data
The apparent geocentric positions of the Moon between 19 and 20 December, 2004 were :
19 December, 2004
Right ascension 0h 40m 45s
Declination 2° 28' 3"
Range 385,730 km
Constellation Cetus
20 December 2004
Right ascension 1h 26m 36s
Declination 8° 22' 59"
Range 390,551 km
Constellation Pisces
In other words, there was a possibility that the Moon could have been acting over these tectonic plates from the beginning of December itself, and begins to dislodge and loosen them around just after mid December. By the 20 December, it would have managed to lift upper layer fully, dragged it over towards the north and slipped it westwards by about 30 metres westwards by the time it set in the west on that fateful day.
In order for Moon to achieve this exact positioning, the Earth need to spin 62357.75 times round its axis, while the Moon needs to rotate 2115 times around the Earth or 2115 lunar days of Full Moon for that same point on Earth to come directly under the same Full Moon as taken place on December 26, 2004. In short, it will take about 143-207 years for Earth to carry the Indian-Burma tectonic plates to be at the same point under a Full Moon as on December 26, 2004
In short, the earthquake-tsunami event of December 26, 2004, could only happen once in 143, 171 and 207 years during which, this point of the Earth where the sensitive Indian-Burma tectonic plates are, fall almost directly under a Full Moon near where the maximum lunar gravitational tug would be. This implies that a similar geological event could have happened in the years 1797, 1833 and 1861
The Moon is inclined to the ecliptic and varies about 5 degrees 8' 43" (5.145 degrees) from the Ecliptic, and can be 37,000 km. (5.29 degrees) above or below Ecliptic achieving a maximum of 29 degrees North or South of the equator. This means at every Full Moon, any point on Earth can be directly underneath it. A point on the Earth surface which is directly underneath the Moon means if a line (axis) is drawn from the center of the Moon to the center of Earth, it will penetrate the Earth’s surface at that point defined by its geographical longitude and latitude. This point could be any of the millions of points or spots on Earth ‘s surface where the axis will enter. At this point the pull of the Moon will obviously be the most powerful as the force along this line (axis) is most concentrated being the line joining the centers of gravity of Moon, Earth and Sun.
That Geographical Spot and That Event
This spot could be anywhere on Earth which will come the direct and maximum influence at the precise second of a Full Moon. It could be a town in North America, or in the south of Africa, or somewhere at the Equator, say over Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It could be anywhere. Millions of points on Earth could be directly under it at the precise moment.
However, this means that not every Full or New Moon is going to result in an earthquake, unless it is unfortunate enough that that point lie on the spot of tectonic instability. This was the case when the Full Moon fell over the Sumatra fault line where the Indian-Burma-Australian plates were.
It so happened that for a few days before the Tsunami event, the Moon was actually moving from south (shown by a minus declination), and was rapidly crossing over the equator towards the north. As it did so, it crossed over where the plates and fault line were. These spots where the three plates were, was when the Moon was becoming increasing Full. However, a week earlier, the tectonic plates could have already suffered tremendous tidal forces from solid tides that swept round them with each rotation of the Earth. The tectonic plates could have been lifted and slide over each other as the Earth rotated, and the Moon became increasing Full. By the time it achieved near Full Moon on December 26 (Full Moon occurred a few hours later at 22:06 hours Indonesian Time that day) it could have dragged the plates northwards and also westwards as the Moon sets that morning. Such event could only happen once in about 170 years, or even much later.
The position of the Moon’s nodes and their period are like that. The node is the point where Moon's Center crosses Ecliptic, and the Nodal Period: is 2.6 hrs less than Sidereal, Node Recesses (West backwards) at 053 degrees per day. This astronomical-geographical positioning seems like an astronomical chance of probability (coincidence).
How much does the moon’s gravitational pull affect earthquakes?
Seismologists have investigated the effect of the moon’s gravity for many years. The short answer is that while the moon does deform the earth slightly in a 12-hour cycle called the solid earth tides, it doesn’t seem to have any large and major effect on the time an occurrence of big earthquakes. There are difficulties in understanding the effects of tidal forces. However, if a fault or region is ready to rupture, it wouldn’t take much to tip the local stress field to the point of rupture.
It’s worth noting that there is a much better correlation between the earth’s gravitational pull on the moon and moonquakes. Yes, seismographs have been taken to the moon and have recorded between 300 and 600 ‘moonquakes’ per year. This is because the Earth has a mass 81.43 times that of the Moon, and hence Earth’s tidal action on the Moon is obviously 81.43 times greater than that of the Moon on Earth. And yet, despite of the relatively smaller tidal influence, the Moon can still cause geological upheaval on Earth over time.
Moreover the surface area of the Moon is also much less than that of Earth. Hence Earth’s gravitational influence on the Moon covers a much wider area. It is 13.5 times greater (radius of Earth is 6,378,140 metres; Moon is 1,737,400 metres).
Animals, Tidal Forces, and Earthquakes
The short answer is yes, they do, and science has recorded thousands of examples showing a positive correlation between animal behavior (this includes human behavior) and the moon. Science however has not explained the mechanism that triggers this behavior; or more simply exactly how the moon causes this influence.
The abundance of fish that comes out from their hiding places at high tides every Full Moon is a phenomenon all fishermen know, and yet they all take it for granted since they cannot explain why! This has nothing to do with the higher amounts of water in the seas during high tides. In fact, on the contradictory, the higher volumes of waters at high tides would only dilute the density of fish per cubic kilometers of water. So in fact we ought to get less fish during high tides because the fishes will have more space to swim around with all those ‘extra’ waters around.
Why then are the fishes so frightened to congregate together in large numbers like ‘birds of the same feathers’ during a Full Moon as if something was lurking and brewing up below the ocean floors? Was there some very, very fine tremors beneath the dark deep ocean floors generated by the movements of solid tidal actions beneath them at each Full and New Moon, Perhaps! These tremors and rumblings below the ocean floors as the Moon sweeps, rubs, and grinds the solid tides round the Earth twice a day, are far, far too fine for our scientists, seismologists, geologists with their so-called ‘highly sophisticated’ instruments to detect! To me, the animals are far more sophisticated with their ability to detect fine rumbling and grinding noises below.
Think !
My dear scientific colleagues, and arrogant scientists working in the Ivory Towers of the academia and research institutes, I have this to say. Sorry about that ! Let us learn from the primitive fish, which were evolved with the rest of lower animals hundreds of millions of years earlier than us. They have much better sense than we do because they need to survive drastic geological, and harsh environmental changes in the early years of Earth’s history. They developed senses which modern human may not require. These extra senses may forewarn these animals of imminent natural disasters, so that they can run away.
We scientists must learn to be humble, and learn from them. We must not assume that our state-of-art seismic sensory instruments can do better. The animals can warn us humans of an impending earthquake days in advance.
Our cutting edge seismological and scientific instruments can only register a seismic movement only at the moment it happens. We cannot replace the extra sensory sensitivity of animals with whatever ‘sophisticated’ and ‘early warning systems’ we may implant on the ocean and sea floors, and linked them to the satellites relays up above the Earth. Animals do not require these sophisticated man-made “Early Warning Systems” like we do.
I strongly believe the successful lower animals already have an inbuilt “Biological Very, Very Early Warning System:” implanted into them through evolution for them to survive so long. We need to learn from the fish, which evolved during the Devonian Period (Red Sandstone) 360 to 408 million years ago. It was an Era of Fishes, a great variety of fish species evolved then that probably evolved with those ‘six senses’ to run away from natural disasters for their survival over their long geological eras. In those early epochs of geological and natural history, I strongly believe, earth’s geological structures were still in their early stages of formation, and were still very unstable. As such, I believe natural events like volcanoes, earthquakes, minor earth tremors; meteorite impacts, intense ultraviolet and cosmic radiations on Earth were very rampant and severe. It was the smaller and less complicated animals whose simpler DNA make-up that was less likely to suffer extensive damage, that could survive all those natural disasters. Hence they need to have sensory mechanisms to escape well in advance of the event. It is my strong scientific conviction why they inherit those “biological early warning systems” (as I coin it) in their bodies which we don’t have.
The first human civilization with cities, agriculture and domesticated animals only came into being during the Holocene Epoch, which is ‘recent’ to 10.000 years ago. Humans use ‘scientific’ methods with metals, coal, oil and other natural resources by then, although early ‘humans’ may have made ‘his’ appearance at the end of the Mesozoic era, 65 million years ago (Wilson, 1989).
Still, primitive fish instinct seems far more sensitive and a far better predictor of earthquakes, and seismic movements beneath the Earth with every tide. We scientists with all our state-of-art technologies are no match with them. There is just no comparison. We emerged only 400 million years later after the fishes.
Other sea creatures are also known to respond to diurnal and tidal rhythms of activity. Rhythmic activity in littoral fish has been described. (Franklin H Barnwell. Nature 207544-545. 1966). Daily and tidal patterns of activity in individual fiddler crabs have also been described elsewhere.
Strange Behaviour
Other animals too have been known to behave strangely on Full Moons even though our most sensitive and advanced seismographs failed to detect the very minute Earth tremors generated by solid tides sweeping beneath the Earth’s crust as the Earth’s rotates under a Full and New Moon. Each sweeps carries with it minute solid tidal bulges of a few centimeters round the Earth.
Animals are able to detect these changes each month, and they behave strangely on Full Moons even though very minute changes in the Earth’s tectonic plates are not detectable by even by our most sophisticated seismographs. Dogs and wolves howl madly at a Full Moon each month. So they say even human behaviour change, and hormonal cycles fall in rhythm with the lunar cycles. The word ‘lunatic’ is derived from the word lunar (moon). This animal extrasensory perception is not only extremely interesting, but even very helpful and useful. They behave even much more strangely just minutes, hours or even days before an earthquake is due. We are not sure of the mechanism or the time that triggered it.
There is a book “When the Snakes Awake” by Helmut Tributsch, a geologist who was interested in earthquake prediction.
Dr. Tributsch was interested in why animals seemed to be able to predict the arrival of earthquakes minutes, hours and even days, before they occurred. He collected a huge number of examples of this phenomenon stretching back thousands of years and on every continent. He also enumerated and explored a large number of little known and unexplained phenomena associated with earthquakes (earthquake lights, fogs, lightning, noises and electrical phenomena) in an attempt to find a common denominator both for the earthquake effects and their effect on animals
His conclusion was that just before the actual earthquake proper, the rock layers are under extreme stress due to compression, bending and stretching of the strata. This stress causes the silica in the rocks to release electrons due to the well-known piezoelectric effect on quartz crystals. These electrons both liberate hydrogen and oxygen by splitting water molecules due to electrolysis and also form large numbers of highly active ions, which are expelled from the ground just prior to the earthquake.
His hypothesis is that it's these ions that excite and disturb the animals. The beauty of his theory is that these ions explain why fish in water, animals on land, birds in the air, and even animals locked in the equivalent of Faraday cages (a device used to isolate a given volume of space from all electrical effects) would react strongly just before an earthquake hits. Professor Tributsch's theory remains the best so far, and the only one that fits all the data
The Scientists Pride
So why can’t those seismologists and geophysicists use animals as a much better, and early predictor of imminent earthquakes than relying on those useless instruments of theirs? I think it is just their scientific pride and arrogance that separates them from the animals.
Even as doctors and medical scientists ourselves, we use animals for our research for the advancement of medicine. Sometimes we use in vivo (inside the body) procedures, such as injecting or implanting a substance into the body, or excising an organ out, or in vitro (outside the body) methods such as in tissue or growth cultures or in incubators.
If we can do that, why can’t scientists of physical sciences use animals for the advancement of astronomy, physics and geophysics?
How are astronomers and astrophysicists going to study exobiology (extraterrestrial life) without wanting anything to do with animals, biochemistry or even chemistry? Maybe they don’t know anything about biology or want to have anything to do with those ‘sissy’ biological sciences.
But I think scientists who are considered the learned and intellectual elites by the society, and who work in secrecy in the ivory towers of the closed doors of research laboratories, it is just their intellectual pride and arrogance that’s all.
Solunar Theory
However, back in the 1920's a fellow named John Alden Knight attempted to predict the activities of animals based on the positions of the sun and moon. In an interesting, but frustratingly vague, book Moon Up - Moon Down he detailed the story of his discovery of this phenomenon without revealing his methods for determining it. He named his hypothesis the Solunar Theory and annually published small pamphlets, The Solunar Tables that predicted the activity periods for every day of the coming year.
In a nutshell his theory was that when the moon passes directly overhead (Moon Up) or directly beneath the observer (Moon Down) animal activity was greatest - and hunting, fishing, and observation of animals most fruitful. He found that the sun's position relative to the moon also played a role and retarded or accelerated the time of activity, or what he called the Solunar Period. What he was actually predicting were the periods of high tide for any given place on earth. Having used his Solunar Tables for several years scientists say that they work, after a fashion, and are well worth the modest price not only for biologists, but also for any serious hunter or fisherman who cares to invest in a copy.
Ion Response Mechanism
The relevance of this theory that ions may have some link to daily animal activity periods wasn't immediately apparent, but the ideas and some data presented sort of percolated around some scientists mind for a number of years. Knight's tidal theory and Tributsch's work on earthquakes are some examples linking ions discharge into the air during a Full Moon and animal instinct.
As I never tire of telling people, the moon causes tides in more than just the oceans of our planet. There are atmospheric tides, groundwater tides, tides in the magnetosphere and earth tides. When the moon is directly overhead you're about two feet closer to our orbiting satellite than when the moon is at right angles to you. This rise and fall of the earth beneath our feet happens twice each day. The only reason we don't notice it is that it rises gradually and occurs over tens of thousands of square kilometers simultaneously. And it affects the entire planet down to the core.
Now while this tidal deformation of the crust isn't as extreme as that produced by an earthquake, it is enough to cause silica in the crust (the most abundant element there) to be deformed and release some electrons (which create ions) twice each day. This, coupled with the exhalation of these ions by the rising groundwater tides, would propel a small but significant number of ions into the atmosphere from the earth. And it's these ions, which some believe, that animals sense and which signal them into their tidally regulated activities each day.
Of course some animals, oysters for instance and several corals, actually respond to lunar gravitation. It could well be that all animals (including us) respond to fluctuations in gravity, but based on animal behavior during these activity periods. Perhaps, we believe that there is probably more at work than mere response to lunar gravity. Based on individual experience, and the reports of a large number of observers, smaller animals react more quickly to lunar tides than larger ones. Were they all reacting to merely gravitational cues one would expect all creatures to react simultaneously regardless of size? Since size does seem to matter and since this theory predicts that smaller animals which would collect electrical charge and reach electrical equilibrium more quickly than animals with a larger volume (and hence larger electrical capacity) I believe this to be the true explanation of how and why the moon affects living organisms.
A Random or Predictable Geological Event?
One of the largest earthquake of recorded history occurred Dec. 26, 2004 00:59 GMT just off of Indonesia, causing a rift 700 miles long on the ocean floor resulting in a series of Tsunami's (Tidal Waves) which devastated shorelines of surrounding countries killing well over 100,000.
Was this a random event or was there a trigger factor for the massive earthquake?
The time around Dec 26th, 2004 had a series of known astronomical events taking place. On Dec 21st the Winter Solstice (Longest day of the year in the southern hemisphere). On January 2, 2005 the Earth is closest to the sun in the yearly orbit (3 million miles closer than on July 2nd). The Full Moon was on Dec 26th and the moon was at apogee (farthest point in the lunar orbit from Earth). The High tide for Dec 26, 2004 in Sumatra, Indonesia took place at 7:48 AM local time, the Earthquake took place at 11 minutes later at 7:59 AM Local time (00:59 GMT).
These combined events meant that the Suns tidal effect was increased more than any other time of the year. The actual tidal influence of the Sun is 44% of that of the Moon as it's distance is that much farther away than the moon.
Winter Solstice: Dec. 21, 2004 12:42 GMT / UT
Lunar Apogee (farthest point of orbit to earth) Dec 27th 1:48 PM EST 2004 December 27 19:16 Moon’s tidal effects can be up to 18% less than those at the average distance. But the Full Moon on 2004 December 26 15:07 had a combined tidal effect of the Sun and the Moon which was approximately 12% stronger than usual. Earth Perihelion (Closest point of Earth's orbit to Sun) was on Dec 27th 1:48 PM EST 2005 January 2 00:37 Tidal effect for the Sun on that fateful day increased by some 5%.
When the Sun, Earth and the Moon all lie along a straight line, as at new and full Moon, the Sun’s and the Moon’s tidal forces pull in the same direction and cause high tides to be higher than average, and low tides to be lower than average. Parts of continent may rise and fall as much as 0.40m (16 inches) when the Moon passes overhead.
So while the Moon has a greater influence on tidal forces, the time around 00:59 AM GMT on Dec. 26th, 2004 the Sun had a higher percentage tidal influence than under normal circumstances. This tug of war on our tides between the Sun and the Moon was stronger between the two at this point and may have contributed to the extra stress over the fault line over Sumatra to trigger the large quake.
Even Sumatra Moved
Conservative estimates say that in the December earthquake of 2004 the whole island of Sumatra was picked up and physically moved by a staggering 40 metres ! Such movements are impossible without help from some external forces acting on it from outside the Earth. Geologists can only think of internal forces within the Earth’s mantle. Being scientists who study only the Earth’s geological structure, they do not think holistically that there are also external forces acting from outside Earth, which could trigger off earthquakes.
Hence geologists could only tell you, and the newspapers around the world that an earthquake caused the Tsunami Event of December 26. But if you were a scientist and to ask them why did that earthquake happened only on that special day, they will just give you a blank stare.
Once an earthquake is triggered, irrespective due to internal or external forces, counter movements elsewhere on the globe may act around the world fault lines to weaken them further. We might see a whole series of major earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that would not otherwise have happened so quickly. In turn these earthquakes will precipitate yet further quakes, setting loose a chain of events whose catastrophic outcome no one can dare predict.
What Did Other Scientists Say
Indian scientists recently claimed they found a scientific method of predicting earthquakes quite accurately. The great quake of Sumatra along Andaman fault line on December 26th, according to the Indian scientists could have been predicted if the world would have taken them seriously.
If their theory is true, we are in for many mega earthquakes soon. Accordingly to the Indian scientists who are from the Dept of Applied Geology at the University of Madras, they said “ when two or more planets, moon and earth and sun come in one line, these mega earthquakes happen. The sun influences the rotation of earth. Now imagine you are in a train or bus, they quoted. If all on a sudden the driver pushes the brake, you tend to move forward in a jerk. Exactly same thing happens when two or more planets line up with earth and pulls from the other side. The tectonic pressures built up get released in specific points of epicenter”
I have already suspected the Moon first, and to an certain extent the Sun as well all along in this paper. But I have not mentioned about the planets.
But according to the Indian scientists, “in this case Jupiter, Venus, Moon, Earth, Sun came in one line and the scientists predicted on the dot the earthquake. Unfortunately the world did not take them seriously enough” so they said.
It is a fascinating theory of course to involve the planets as well, and according to the Indian scientists “it is correct 99% times in the last 100 years. The ancient Mayans, Egyptians, Chinese and Indians all used to get very concerned on planetary alignments because something catastrophic happened”.
The Indian scientists were predicting many earthquake around India they quoted.
Here is the full text in green and red below about their planetary theory
PLANETARY CONFIGURATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR EARTHQUAKE PREDICTION
N.VENKATANATHAN, N.Rajeswara Rao, K.K.Sharma and P.Periakali
Department of Applied Geology, University of Madras
Earthquakes really pose little direct danger to a person. But due to earthquakes there are some effects like ground shaking, ground displacement, liquefaction, flooding (tsunami), and fire which are hazardous to human beings. The hazards mentioned above are avoidable if prediction can be made early, which would enable their mitigation, reduce damage to life and property drastically and facilitate precautionary measures by government and NGOs. Though there have been several attempts at earthquake prediction from different perspectives, this attempt aims at establishing planetary configurations as a definitive means of earthquake prediction. Also this study aims to establish the occurrence of earthquake precursors like fore shocks and change in ground water level with respect to planetary configurations.
When two or more than two planets, Sun and Moon are aligned more or less in line (0o or 180o) with the Earth, then the Earth would be caught in the middle of a huge gravity struggle between the Sun and the planets. The gravitational stresses would change the speed of the Earth in its orbit. When the speed of rotation of the earth changes the tectonic plate motion also gets affected, just as people collide with each other when the bus driver suddenly applies the brakes. The total angular momentum of planets involving in earthquake triggering mechanism can be calculated and the total force acting at the epicenter in the opposite direction to the rotation of the earth can also be determined. At the epicenter, the speed of rotation of the earth can be calculated with the help of available software. So the planetary forces acting in the opposite direction to the rotation of earth act as a triggering mechanism for the accumulated stress at faults and plate boundaries, to be released abruptly. This does not, however, mean that earthquakes will occur at all edges of the plate boundaries.
In order to trigger an earthquake in one particular place, two conditions should be satisfied. They are a) distance of epicenter from the planet position and b) Direction of force acting at the possible epicenter. From the analysis of “Most significant earthquakes” over past 100 years, it is inferred that the latitude, longitude and magnitude of the tremor is related to the distance from the planet and direction of planetary forces acting at any particular point. So the planetary positions can be used to predict the earthquakes in long term prospect and then by correlating the planetary positions and their forces with geology of that area, earthquakes can be predicted with fair accuracy with regard to latitude, longitude and magnitude at least a month before.
As A Scientist, I Disagree With The Scientists
Although I am not a geologist, or a scientist in physical sciences, I actually have special interest in astronomy (mathematical astronomy), and earth sciences. I am in fact a trained medical scientist, a nutritionist, and a doctor with special interest, and in natural therapeutics.
Even though, I disagree with what the Indian scientists said about the influence of the planets in their paper. The reason is very simple. Mathematically, only the Moon (first), and the Sun (second), can have a appreciable tidal effect on Earth. Even though the Sun, which is 26.8 million times more massive than the moon, it is 392 times further away than the Moon is. Hence it can be calculated that the Sun’s gravitational pull is less than half (0.45) that of the Moon on Earth. Here are my arguments with the calculations below. Let’s look at the table:
The relative influences of object in the solar system, in order of magnitude. are:
Object Mass
(Earth=1) Distance
(Million km) Relative Influence
(Moon=1)
Moon 0.01228 0.38 1.00
Sun 329390 149 0.45
Venus 0.8073 41 0.000052
Jupiter 314.5 629 0.0000056
Mars 0.1065 79 0.00000096
Mercury 0.0549 91 0.00000033
Saturn 94.07 1277 0.00000020
Uranus 14.40 2720 0.000000004
From the data, we can see the combined influence of the rest of the objects in the solar system is less than 10 billionths of the influence if the moon. The combined influence of all objects in the solar system, other than the moon and the sun, is at most 0.000059 or only 1/24500 the combined influence of the moon and the sun. Thus even when all the planets are lined up, their combined influence is relatively small.
Besides the dominant semi-diurnal periodicity, there are other significant periods. Most notably, there is the synodic month (~29.53 days) periodicity due to the moon's orbit around the earth (relative to the sun) and the 18.5-year periodicity due to the 5-degree inclination of the moons orbit. Its periodicity, angle of orbit, smaller eccentricity of orbit, and its proximity to Earth, would put the Moon a far greater influence on Earth, than the greater orbital eccentricity and much farther distances of the planets, even if they were combined or even all aligned up together
Given the relative influence of a planetary alignment and the lack of correlation of earthquakes with the dominant gravitational effects, we would not expect planetary alignments to significantly influence either the rate of occurrence of earthquakes or the relative motion of the tectonic plates. In other literature search, I found there were no significant correlations between earthquakes with planetary alignments. The only major gravitational influence on Earth comes from the Moon. Even the Sun, which is 26.8 million times more massive than the Moon, can only exert less than half the gravitational pull than the nearer Moon, since the gravitational force falls off inversely as the square of its distance.
Lunar Phase and Earthquakes Occurrences
Let us now look at some of the records of earthquakes occurring at, or a few days before or after a New or Full Moon, and the geographical locations where faults were under those Moons.
Historical Records of Earthquakes Occurring During Lunar Phases
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 26, 1700 8+ FQ Jan 28 First Quarter 2 days later 9PM
June 24, 1808 6.0 NM June 23 New Moon 1 day earlier, San Francisco
December 16, 1811 8.1 NM Dec 15 New Moon 1 day before New Madrid 8:15 UT
February 7, 1812 8+ LQ Feb 5 Last Quarter 2 days before New Madrid 09:45 UT
June 16, 1819 7.5 - 8.3 LQ June 14 Last Quarter 2 days before 23.60N 69.60E India 7:00 PM
June 10, 1836 NM June 11 New Moon 1 day later
January 9, 1857 8.25 FM January 10 Full Moon 1 day later Fort Tejon, CA
September 3, 1857 FM September 3 Full Moon that day
December 16, 1858 NM December 16 New Moon that day
May 27, 1862 NM May 28 New Moon 1 day later
October 21, 1868 7.0 FQ Oct 23 First Quarter 2 days later Hayward Fault
September 10, 1899 8.0 FQ Sep 12 First Quarter 2 days later Alaska 21:41 UT
January 31, 1906 Off the coast of Ecuador
April 18, 1906 7.7 LQ Apr 15 Last Quarter 3 days before San Francisco 5:12 AM series of quakes
November 21, 1915 7.1 FM Nov 21 Full Moon that day Volcano Lake, B.C.
January 26, 1922 6.0 NM Jan 27 New Moon 1 day after W. of Eureka
January 31, 1922 7.3 NM Jan 27 New Moon 4 days before W. of Eureka
January 22, 1923 7.2 FQ Jan 25 First Quarter 3 days after Cape Mendocino
February 3, 1923 8.5 FM Feb 1 New Moon 2 days before Kamchatka, 54.0N 161.0E
December 21, 1932 7.2 LQ Dec 20 Last Quarter 1 day before Cedar Mountain, Nevada
December 31, 1934 7.0 LQ Dec 29 Last Quarter 2 days before Colorado River Delta
February 1, 1938 8.5 NM Jan 31 New Moon 1 day before Banda Sea, Indonesia, 5.25S 130.5E
November 10, 1938 8.2 FM Nov 7 Full Moon 3 days before 20:18 UT
May 19, 1940 7.1 FM May 21 Full Moon 2 days after Imperial Valley
February 9, 1941 FM February 11 Full Moon 2 days later
April 9, 1941 FM April 11 Full Moon 2 days later
October 3, 1941 FM October 5 Full Moon 2 days later
August 15, 1950 India-China border
July 21, 1952 7.7 NM July 21 New Moon that day Kern County
November 4, 1952 Kamchatka
November 12, 1954 FM November 10 Full Moon 2 days earlier
December 16, 1954 7.1 LQ Dec 17 Last Quarter 1 day after Fairview Peak, Nevada
February 9, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 2 days later San Miguel, B.C
February 14, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 3 days earlier San Miguel, B.C
February 15, 1956 FM February 11 Full Moon 4 days earlier San Miguel, B.C.
March 9, 1957 9.1 FQ Mar 9 First Quarter that day Andreanof Islands, Aleutians, Alaska 14:22 UT
May 22, 1960 Chile
October 13, 1963 8.5 NM Oct 17 New moon 4 days later Kuril Islands, 44.9N 149.6E
March 28, 1964 9.2 FM Mar 28 Full moon that day Alaska 03:36 UT mar 27? 5:30 AM local
February 4, 1965 8.7 NM Feb 1 New moon 3 days before Rat Islands, Aleutians Alaska 15:01 UT
September 12, 1966 FM September 14 Full moon 2 days later
February 9, 1971 FM February 9 Lunar eclipse that night
August 6, 1979 FM August 7 Full moon the next day
November 8, 1980 7.2 NM Nov 7 New moon day before W. of Eureka
May 7, 1986 8.0 NM May 8 New moon day after Alaska, 22:47 UT
July 20, 1986 FM July 21 Full moon the next day
July 21, 1986 FM July 21 Full moon that day
October 17, 1989 7.1 FM Oct 14 Full moon 3 days before Loma Prieta
August 16, 1991 6.3 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter next day W. of Crescent City
August 17, 1991 7.1 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter that day W. of Crescent City
August 17, 1991 6.2 FQ Aug 17 First Quarter that day Punta Gorda
June 28, 1992 NM June 30 New Moon 2 days later Landers Quake
June 28, 1992 NM June 30 New Moon 2 days later Big Bear Quake
January 17, 1994 6.7 FQ Jan 19 First Quarter 2 days later 4:31 AM local, same area as 6.6 in 1971
June 26, 1998 5.9 NM June 24 New moon 2 days before Ceylon
Modern
2000
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 8, 2000 7.2 NM Jan 6 New Moon 2 days before Tonga Islands 16.925S 174.248E
February 25, 2000 7.1 LQ Feb 27 Last Quarter 2 days later Vanuatu Islands 19.528S 173.818W
March 28, 2000 7.6 LQ Mar 28 Last Quarter that day Japan 22.338N 143.730W
April 23, 2000 7.0 LQ Apr 26 Last Quarter 3 days later Argentina 28.307S 62.990E
May 4, 2000 7.6 NM May 4 New Moon that day Sulawesi 1.105S 123.573W
May 12, 2000 7.2 FQ May 10 First Quarter 2 days earlier Argentina 23.548S 66.452E
June 4, 2000 7.9 NM June 2 New Moon 2 days earlier Indonesia 4.721S 102.087W
June 18, 2000 7.9 FM June 16 Full Moon 2 days before South Indian Ocean 13.802S 97.453W
July 11, 2000 6.7 FQ Jul 8 First Quarter 3 days earlier
August 6, 2000 7.4 FQ Aug 7 First Quarter 1 day earlier Japan 28.856N 139.556W
September 3, 2000 5.2 FQ Sep 5 First Quarter 2 days earlier
October 4, 2000 7.0 FQ Oct 5 First Quarter next day Vanuatu Islands 15.421S 166.910W
October 6, 2000 6.7 FQ Oct 5 First Quarter day before
October 29, 2000 7.0 NM Oct 27 New moon 2 days before New Ireland 4.766S 153.945W
November 16, 2000 8.0 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 2 days later New Ireland 5.233S 153.102W 04:54 UT
November 16, 2000 7.8 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 2 days later New Ireland 3.980S 152.169W 07:42 UT
November 17, 2000 7.6 LQ Nov 18 Last Quarter 1day later New Ireland 5.496S 151.781W 21:01 UT
December 6, 2000 7.0 FQ Dec 4 First Quarter 2 days before Turkmenistan 39.566N 54.799W
2001
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 1, 2001 7.5 FQ Jan 2 First Quarter 1 day after
January 9, 2001 7.1 FM Jan 9 Full Moon same day
January 10, 2001 7.0 FM Jan 9 Full Moon 1 day before
January 13, 2001 7.7 LQ Jan 16 Last Quarter 3 days after
January 26, 2001 7.7 NM Jan 24 New Moon 2 days before
February 13, 2001 7.4 LQ Feb 15 Last Quarter 2 days after
February 24, 2001 7.1 NM Feb 23 New Moon 2 days before
June 3, 2001 7.2 FM June 6 Full Moon 3 days after
June 23, 2001 8.4 NM June 21 New Moon 2 days before
July 7, 2001 7.6 FM July 5 Full Moon 2 days before
August 21, 2001 7.1 NM Aug 19 New Moon 2 days before
October 12, 2001 7.0 NM Oct 16 New Moon 4 days later
October 19, 2001 7.5 NM Oct 16 New Moon 3 days before
October 31, 2001 7.0 FM Nov 1 Full Moon next day
November 14, 2001 7.8 NM Nov 15 New Moon next day
December 12, 2001 7.1 NM Dec 14 New Moon 2 days after
2002
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 2, 2002 7.2 FM Dec 30 Full Moon 3 days before Vanuatu Islands 17.6S 167.856W
March 3, 2002 7.4 LQ Mar 6 Last Quarter 3 days after Afghanistan 36.502N 70.482W
March 5, 2002 7.5 LQ Mar 6 Last Quarter next day Philippines 6.033N 124.249W
March 31, 2002 7.1 FM Mar 28 Full Moon 3 days before Taiwan 24.279N 122.179W
April 26, 2002 7.1 FM Apr 27 Full Moon next day Mariana Islands 13.088N 144.619W
June 28, 2002 7.3 FM Jun 24 Full Moon 4 days before China Russia border 43.752N 130.666W
August 19, 2002 7.7 FM Aug 22 Full Moon 3 days later 11:01 UTFiji 21.696S 179.513E
August 19, 2002 7.7 FM Aug 22 Full Moon 3 days later 11:08 UTFiji 23.884S 178.495W
September 8, 2002 7.6 NM Sep 7 New Moon 1 day before New Guinea 3.302S 142.945W
October 10, 2002 7.6 FQ Oct 13 First Quarter 3 days later Indonesia 1.757S 134.297W
November 2, 2002 7.4 NM Nov 4 New Moon 2 days later Indonesia 2.824N 96.085W
November 3, 2002 7.9 NM Nov 4 New Moon next day Alaska 63.517N 147.444E
November 17, 2002 7.3 FM Nov 20 Full Moon 3 days later Kuril Islands 47.824N 146.209W
2003
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 20, 2003 7.3 FM Jan 18 Full Moon 2 days before
January 22, 2003 7.6 LQ Jan 25 Last Quarter 3 days after
March 17, 2003 7.0 FM Mar 18 Full Moon next day
May 26, 2003 7.0 LQ May 23 Last Quarter 3 days before Honshu, Japan, 9:24 UT
May 26, 2003 7.0 LQ May 23 Last Quarter 3 days before Indonesia, 19:23 UT
June 20, 2003 7.1 NM June 29 New Moon day before
July 15, 2003 7.6 FM July 13 Full Moon 2 days before
August 4, 2003 7.5 FQ Aug 5 First Quarter 1 day after
August 21, 2003 7.2 LQ Aug 20 Last Quarter 1 day before
September 25, 2003 8.3 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day after 19:50 UT
September 25, 2003 7.4 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day after 21:08 UT
September 27, 2003 7.3 NM Sep 26 New Moon 1 day before
October 31, 2003 7.0 FQ Nov 1 First Quarter 1 day after
November 17, 2003 7.8 LQ Nov 17 Last Quarter that day
December 27, 2003 7.3 FQ Dec 30 First Quarter 3 days after
2004
Date Mag Lunar Phase Interactivity Remarks
January 3, 2004 7.1 FQ Dec 30 First Quarter 4 days before
Feb 6, 2004 7.1 FM Feb 6 FullMoon that day Full Moon
Feb 20, 2004 6.6 NM Feb 20 New Moon that day New Moon
Jul 15, 2004 7.1 NM Jul 17 New Moon 2 days later Fiji
Jul 25, 2004 7.3 FQ Jul 25 First Quarter that day Southern Sumatra, Indonesia
Sep 5, 2004 7.2 LQ Sep 6 Last Quarter next day Honshu, Japan
Sep 28, 2004 6.0 FM Sep 28 Full Moon that day Full Moon
Nov 11, 2004 7.5 NM Nov 12 New Moon next day Kepulauan Alor, Indonesia
Nov 15, 2004 7.2 FQ Nov 19 First quarter 4 days later
Nov 26, 2004 7.1 FM Nov 26 Full Moon that day Papua, Indonesia
Nov 28, 2004 7.0 FM Nov 26 Full Moon two days before Hokkaido, Japan
Dec 26, 2004 9.0 FM Dec 26 Full Moon that day North Sumatra
For the year 2000, we have 18 major quakes recorded worldwide, with only two of them falling outside the lunar effect zone (lunar window). In 2001 we had 16 major quakes, with three of them outside the tidal parameters. 2002 was an odd year in that we had 13 quakes, with only 5 of them occurring within the lunar window. This is worse than chance, which is 30%. In 2003 we had 15 quakes, with 4 outside. For 2004, the record shows 12 quakes, with only 2 outside the window.
If quakes happened every month we would be able to minimize the damage. But they don’t, except when the fault lines in the tectonic plates get near or directly under a Full Moon.
Sometimes large ones seem to come about at irregular intervals, because there are also many other factors of which we are unaware. We need to know how to measure the strain on a fault, and how to predict with accuracy how much strain is enough to trigger the quake. Since many fault slippages occur many kilometers beneath the surface of the earth, and since there is no way to get down there to measure every fault, it may be many years before we have enough information on them. The nearest and the fastest is to reply on previous records and the positioning of the Moon. Seismographs are utterly useless. They only register a quake only when it happens. They don’t tell us when it is going to happen. Only animals can do this, and tables of Moon phases give us strong indications of risks.
Moon itself does not cause the earthquake
The positions of the moon and sun do not "cause" earthquakes to happen by themselves. The landmasses must be at or near "ready" to snap into their new positions. The moon and / or sun only serve to trigger a quake that would happen within weeks otherwise. At the point where the Earth surface came directly beneath a Full Moon, that part of the Earth may not have any geological fault line beneath. One have to understand that the Moon’s path round the Earth is elliptical, and at certain times it comes close to Earth, when its gravitational force and tidal effects on Earth is strongest. At other times, it moves away from the Earth surface (technically it should be the Earth’s center). This is when gravitational effect is the minimum. Moreover, because the Earth rotates on its axis once every 24 hours, while the Moon circuits the Earth once every 29.54 days, by the time the Moon gets back to the same position relative to the Sun, that does not mean the exact spot on the Earth will face the Moon after every 29.54 days.
Moreover, because the Moon is inclined to the ecliptic at a different angle, it will seem to swing north and south all the time. It may take tens of thousands of Earth’s rotations, and thousands of Moon circuit around the Earth before it returns exactly the same point on Earth.
In the case of the December 26, 2004 earthquake-tsunami event, this particular Moon-Sun-Earth geographical alignment can only occur once in 122 years (minimum), and 1,890 years (maximum). This implies there could have been a similar earthquake-tsunami event in the year 1883, and the next earliest one may not be due until the year 2127 when the Sun-Moon-Earth geographic line up over Sumatra once again
But even is there is a line up, this does not mean it will always trigger off an earthquake. The India-Burma tectonic plates may have stabilized by then, or the line-up may take place at a later year. It is precisely similar to the occurrences of solar and lunar eclipses on different date of the year even though a Full or a New Moon may occur every month without a single eclipse in sight.. It all depends on the angle of tilt between Sun-Earth and Moon along the ecliptic and the nodes at that moment in time.
Even eclipses cannot happen at every Full or New Moon even though the Sun, Earth and Moon all lines up. This is because of the elliptical tilt of the Moon, which may its shadow to fall slightly outside the Sun-Earth-Moon alignment. This is exactly the same that no same spot on Earth falls directly under a Full Moon every month. What’s more can we expect to have a tsunami every month? Such perfect alignment rarely exists. The Earth and Moon spinning round at different speeds and at different angles around their axis, and inclined at certain angles to the ecliptic. If eclipses are rare what more can we expect to have exactly the same earthquake at every lunar month. The Moon’s solid tides far beneath the ocean floors sweeping over exactly the same spot on Earth come only once in a ‘Blue Moon’ (figuratively speaking). This event on December 26, 2004 is one such unfortunate example.
The Moon's Declination and Tides
The moon does not lie directly above the equator, but rather is inclined at up to 28.5 degrees each side of the equator, and moves up and down over a period of 27.2 days. The tidal bulges will tend to align themselves with the moon, and so when the moon is not aligned over the equator alternating tides will be higher and lower than average, particularly in mid latitudes. In this way, the moon has a diurnal (daily) effect on the tides, which varies from maximum to minimum every week.
At each Full or New Moon, any of the millions of geographical locations from East to West, and along the North-South path could face directly under the Moon, and at different distances to the Moon too. But the 26 December event is so unique as I have already explained, but unfortunately escaped the foresight and knowledge of geologists who are not astronomers
So They Told the Newspapers
So the geologists told the newspapers all over the world, that the Tsunami Event of Dec 26, 2004 was caused by an earthquake of 11 magnitude on the Richter scale off the coast of north Sumatra. Although this is true, but not a word came from them as to how, and why the earthquake happened on that particular day. Don’t they study records and the influence of the Moon? That’s the problem when a scientist becomes too specialized, and had not looked at the problem or a mechanism holistically. Neither have they sought help from other fields of science, or involved in multi-disciplinary studies.
A Summary Finding
Dr Fergus Wood, Ph.D., a former Research Associate at National Ocean Survey, and later at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the author of "THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF PERIGEAN SPRING TIDES IN NAUTICAL HISTORY AND NORTH AMERICAN COASTAL FLOODING, 1635-1976", published by NOAA in 1978, sent a copy of his book to the U.S. Geological Survey with a comment about possible tide / quake connection. On pages 201-203, Wood points out that during six centuries (1635-1976), the greatest tidal force exerted on the Earth by the Sun and Moon was January 4, 1912. On that date it was a Full Moon. At that moment of the Full Moon, the Earth-Sun distance was at a minimum (perihelion). It was only 6.5 minutes away from an extreme minimum perigee.
Only two quakes are listed for California / Nevada during 1912-1913, with the strongest of these hitting near the California-Nevada border, close to Bishop (about 5.5M), which occurred on that day of Full Moon, January 4, 1912. That day Dr Wood mentioned was the day of the maximum tidal forces in six centuries.
So was the Tsunami Event of December 24, 2004.
If you need further technical details or explanation, do feel free to contact me
Lim Ju Boo
BSc (Physiol), PG Dip Nutr, MSc
MD, PhD (Int Med), FRSH, FRSMed
What Happens When A Human Falls from 35,000 Feet ?
The Physics and Physiology of Falling
Lim Ju Boo
BSc, PG Dip Nutr, MSc, PhD (Med)
MD (IU), FRSH, FRSMed, DSc
A Scientific Poser :
I read a very interesting answer the other day coming from Captain KH Lim in his website (Google Search : ‘KH Lim Boeing 777’) when someone wrote to him enquiring what happens when a passenger is thrown out from a plane flying at 35,000 feet ? I believe Capt Lim gave a very accurate answer to that question. The question was so interesting that I could not help thinking of the possible physics and physiology occurring to a human body falling from such a tremendous height. Allow me to fill in the details where Capt Lim left out.
Before I start elaborating on the answer Captain KH Lim gave, let me straight away tell you I do not know the answer with absolute certainty. The reason is very simple. I have never seen a person falling off from an aircraft before, let alone has a study or a scientific experiment been done to study him as he falls to his death. Neither do I not know of any sane person who would conduct such an bizarre experiment either. In the absence of any account documented in the literature, whatever discussed here is entirely, and personally my own. I conjure up a scientific hypothesis, based on other indirect existing observations, and established facts. Knowledge can only come from a study. All scientific experiments on humans are governed by professional ethics, and scientists do not go round murdering people just to gather some scientific facts. Hence I do not know of any experiment being done where a person is being pushed out of a plane at 35,000 feet just to observe what happens to him during the fall. I do not think they have done this even to an animal. The only other way to study such an effect is through controlled experiments using a parachute. But the psychological and physiological effects on a parachutist who knows he is undergoing an experiment, and who knows he is safe, and will land safely, is entirely different from one who accidentally fell off from a plane without a parachute. Furthermore, it is from a height more than three times higher than those attempts by a parachutist The scenarios are totally, and entirely different. There is just no comparison. As I am not a parachutist, I do not know if there had been any one attempting to jump from a height of over 10 km, where the air is so thin, and where the temperature is a forbidden – 55 0 C. I do not think a parachute could open effectively at such great heights where the air is very thin. A parachute can only work when air rushes into it to unfold it. When the air is so rarified at that attitude, one can hardly breath. The parachutist will be knocked unconscious within 30 seconds before he could even open his parachute.
So what I am attempting here is to construct a scenario using intelligent guesses based on existing knowledge, and observations in physics, medicine and physiology. Some indirect experiments may already been conducted by NASA scientists but some of the results are kept in very tight wrap, and the rest of the scientific world is kept in the dark.
The Scenario :
Now, let us imagine a picture of a human passenger falling off a jet liner flying at 35,000 feet. That’s 10,668 metres or 10.67 km up in a hostile environment where the temperatures are down to the tune of – 55 0 C. The atmospheric pressure there registers only 8.89 inches of mercury, whereas the normal atmospheric pressure at sea level is 29.9 inch of mercury. What happens then? Thanks to Capt KH Lim who assures us that, that will never happen as the aircraft doors are shut tight by air pressures within the cabin, and it can never be opened unless the pressure is released by the Captain on landing. That’s assuring enough ! But let us examine a hypothetical situation where the plane burst open due to an onboard explosion. Hopefully this will not be another Satanic act by another madman onboard. Let us assume the passengers are all thrown out. What happens ?
Let us look at the haemodynamics first. This means its effects on the physics and dynamic of blood circulation. We assume the passengers were not killed or injured by the explosion, but were merely falling down, and begins to accelerate downwards. It will continue to accelerate until air resistance, and drag brake it to a maximum velocity. This is called the terminal velocity. Once the terminal velocity is reached, no matter how fast that speed is, it will have no effect on the haemodynamics. The danger lies not because of the maximum (terminal) velocity, but from the acceleration as the body plunges faster and faster towards the ground. As I said, I have not seen or studied the effects of a human body plunging downwards to earth before, let alone from such great height, so the scenario I construct here are only based on theoretical scientific principles on to expect.
Circulatory Dynamics :
First of all, I do not anticipate much changes to the haemodynamics since the acceleration is only 1 G (one unit of gravitation force). This is from the natural pull of the Earth’s gravity. During the fall, the casualty if conscious, will only experience the feeling of weightlessness and free floating, and this may not have a very profound effect on the circulatory system. This feeling of weightlessness will soon disappear the moment the terminal speed is reached, and there is no more acceleration. The victim will feel as if he was riding on a very fast roller coaster, or in a very fast car.
But suppose now we imagine a situation where the passenger didn’t fall out of the plane, but was actually diving downwards together with the plane at a tremendous acceleration of let’s say 4-5 G (4-5 times greater than the pull of natural Earth’s gravity). This probably is achievable by a very fast plane accelerating downwards at a rate greater than the natural gravity of Earth. What happen then? Ah ! that make a great difference. Suppose now he plunges downwards head first, and legs up. The acceleration that mimics tremendous gravitation pull downwards will act like a centrifugal force, similar to the water being spun outwards from wet clothes against the drum in a washing machine. This will cause all the blood to pool towards the legs, leaving no or little blood going to the head (brain). The casualty will immediately suffer a syncopal event (faints) or a ‘black out’ due to low cerebral perfusion of blood and oxygen. This gives rise to an event called transient cerebral ischaemia leading to a “black out”. The black out is similar to one caused by hypoxia (lack of oxygen), but not exactly the same as the cabin partial oxygen pressure is still maintained. But both are due to lack of sufficient oxygen perfusion into the brain, although the mechanism causing it is different.
Of course a number of other factors can also cause faints (syncope). It is not just from falling off a plane into a hostile environment where the oxygen tension is very low. In fact anything that causes the blood flow to the brain to be compromised, will result in a faint. For instance, if the vagus nerve (the 10th cranial nerve – the longest and the principal component of the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system) is over-stimulated, it will cause the heart to slow down, thus reducing the blood flow to the brain. In medicine, we call this phenomenon “(vaso) vagal attack” brought about by factors such as fear, pain, stress, and shock as Capt Lim pointed out. This event result in vaso- dilation, and a corresponding drop in blood pressure. This event temporary de-stabilizes blood pressure, affect circulatory dynamics, and the blood supply to the brain. I have quite a number of patients (predominantly females) who came to me complaining about their frequent ‘blackouts’ Most of these are young patients who are tall, and have low haemoglobin (Hb) levels, a feature among young menstruating women. Their frequent momentary faints were due to sudden change in their positions from lying down to standing up. That sudden change in the position, coupled with their low Hb which carries vital oxygen to the tissues, causes a sudden drop in blood pressure as the heart pumping ability (cardiac efficiency and output) is unable to cope with the sudden change in position against gravity. This phenomena is called postural hypotension. This affects sufficient blood going to the brain. On a number of other occasions I have elderly patients with the same problem. But they were normotensive (normal blood pressures), meaning they were also not hypotensive (low blood pressure). On further investigations, I found they were diabetic, a disease that damages the nerves (neuropathy), which in turn controls blood pressure among other functions. Some of them with frequent faints were also taking antihypertensive, or vasodilator drugs, all of which may affect blood flow to the brain (cerebral insufficiency).
Syncopes & Heart Disease :
Other cases though I have not come across, were those with vertebrobasilar insufficiency or those with Stokes-Adams Syndrome. They affect cerebral perfusion because of cardiac arrhythmia (irregularities in the heartbeat), which in turn is caused by heart block (interruption to electrical impulses to the heart muscles to contract rhythmically). Heart block or auriculoventricular block, is a medical term to mean an interruption to the transmission of electrical impulses from the sinoatrial nodes (SA node or “pacemaker”) onwards to the atrioventricular (AV) nodes. Ultimately, the electrical impulses enters the muscles of ventricles to contact rhythmically (alternately) with the auricles via specialized conducting systems (AV bundle, or the Bundle of His) before distribution to a network of fibres in the ventricles. If there is any interruption to this electrical transmission it will cause the heart to beat irregularly (arrhythmia). The P-R interval in the ECG tracing is prolonged. There are many types of ‘heart block - branch bundle block, etc, and the severity (degrees) of heart block, but we will not go into that.
Heart block here does not mean that the coronary vessels were blocked by cholesterol e.g. atherosclerosis, although heart block may be an indirect result of “hardening” (sclerosis) of the Bundle of His caused by interference of blood supply to the heart. This affects subsequent electrical transmission through the network of ventricular fibres (Purkinje fibres) through the damaged myocardium (heart muscles). The Bundle of His is a sheath of insulating connective tissues, also called the atrioventricular bundle, which extends from the atrioventricular node from the atrium across the fibrous skeleton of the heart to the ventricles. It acts as the main transmission wire to conduct electrical impulse across the heart from the atrium to the ventricles.
However, these are separate pathologies, and have no relationships to ‘faints’ caused by hypoxia in an environment where the oxygen tension is very low. We are not discussing a subject on medicine or physiology here, although it is good to know that there are many other factors that can cause a person to faint, and not just the fright of falling off a plane. But Capt KH Lim has correctly pointed out that a person can be unconscious from sudden (nervous / emotional ) shock of falling.
But as I said earlier, the likelihood of a casualty fainting due to a mechanical cause (not emotional shock) such as blood being pulled away from the head (if he accelerates head first) is unlikely as the acceleration is only 1 G. This is just not great enough to destabilize haemodynamics or induce any profound physiological changes. In fact a person falling from a great height merely feels the sensation of weightlessness (I guess) during the initial stages of acceleration, but once the terminal velocity is reached, he probably feels he is riding on a fast vehicle. This is my guess, as I have not experienced it myself.
Acceleration & Shifting Parameters :
In the event of a tremendous acceleration experienced by a falling (human) body such as a pilot in a plane nose diving down at a fantastic speeds with the victim inside, and if the position the body is such, that the legs go first and head last towards the direction of the dive. A lot of blood will start to pull towards the head causing tremendous cerebral congestion due to pooling of blood towards the brain This also results in lesser venous return from the brain. The result can be even more disastrous than a mere faint. The casualty instead, may run the very heavy risk of suffering a hemorrhage in the brain – a CVA (Cerebral Vascular Accident) or stroke. One of the vessels may burst open due to increased intracranial / intravascular pressures. In the actual situation of a body falling off a plane, it is very unlikely that he will black out (head downward first) due to this particular mechanical reason, or run a risk of a CVA event (legs downward first) as the acceleration is too small, and the time too short to elicit an effect. He would by then achieved a terminal velocity. In fact with the air drag and air resistance, the acceleration due to earth’s gravity is even less than the standard 9.81 metres per second per second. The rate of acceleration is less at very high altitudes since the force of attraction between the body and the Earth’s gravitational pull falls off inversely as the square of their distance. As the body falls nearer and nearer towards Earth, the pull (force) becomes greater and greater , and thus the acceleration will no longer be constant at 9.81 m / sec /sec. Acceleration (a) is directly proportion to pull or force (F). . F = ma, where m (mass) is constant. In truth this is not so. Remember air is always there. It will slow down all the acceleration until a terminal velocity is reached. The very slightly greater acceleration achieved nearer Earth will be cancelled out by the vastly increased in air drag due to higher air density at lower heights. In fact (I guess) the air resistance will be a much greater factor in slowing down the speed of fall than the mild increase in speed due to a change in acceleration as the body plunges down towards Earth.
Capt Lim mentioned about terminal velocity of 130 mph (11440 feet / min = 190.67 feet / sec = 58.1 metres per second). The question I like to address now is, how far the drop would have to be before the body reaches this terminal velocity of 58.1 m / sec ? I made an assumption that this will be reached after the body has dropped 565 feet (172.2 metre) to terminal velocity I calculated this out from Newton’s equations on motion. But this is only true had the body fallen through a vacuum without any resistance. It is also correct if the acceleration had been constant. This is not true in practice. There is air up there, albeit thin to offer considerable resistance and drag. As the body falls, the air density gets higher and higher. The density of the air affects the drag. But density will also depend on the humidity and the temperature. Hence the drag will depend on all these factors. To add to the difficulty of calculating acceleration, drag and final speed these parameters keep on changing at varying altitudes, in fact every second, and a fraction of a second. The denser air at lower heights may even have a mild braking effect on the terminal velocity, and the braking effect is even greater if the body drops into the sea where the density of salt water is even higher than fresh water. It is very hard to determine what these changes would be, as the parameters are continuously shifting. With variables changing all the time, it is almost impossible to apply standard equations to come with some final conclusion. It is of course possible to apply calculus to evaluate small increments over time, but how are we to know what the values would be to enable them to be substituted into the equations.
Then again, the drag will also depend on the shape and size of the falling body. If a passenger stretch out his legs and arms the drag will be greater against the air resistance. He will take a longer time, and also greater distance to fall before he arrives at the terminal velocity. But if the passenger /victim curls up like a ball, or put his arms and legs by his sides and drop vertically down, the effect is the other way round – faster. All these parameters are very difficult to determine and calculate. I suppose one way is to use a super-computer to simulate these changes in order for us to arrive at the correct distance traveled before the body arrives at the terminal velocity of 130 mph (58.1 metres per second). So I have assumed the air up at 35,000 feet (10.668 km) is almost ‘vacuum’ and then applying Newton equations to arrive a drop of 565 feet before reaching terminal velocity of 130 mph. I guess it should not differ very much from the actual figure since the air density up there is near “vacuum”. This means the drop is from 35,000 - 565 feet = 34,435 feet (10,495.8 metres) before terminal velocity.
Hypoxia & Oxygen Saturation :
Then as Capt Lim correctly said, the passenger will be unconscious after 30 seconds. In other words, at 10,700 metres (about 35,000 feet) where the air pressure is only 260 hPa (normal at sea-level = 1013 hPa), and a density of only 0.41 kg / m3, the oxygen partial pressure will drop to 21/100 X 260 = 54.6 hPa. At that partial pressure of oxygen, the oxygehaemoglobin dissociation curve showed that the haemoglobin is only about 82 % saturated with oxygen. This is well below the safe level of at least 95 % saturation recommended by the American College of Chest Physicians and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute for a person to stay conscious. Oxygen saturation (SaO2) level below 90 % will result in hypoxaemia (hypoxia), and unconsciousness. A SaO2 level of 82 % at that height feet (35,000 feet), the “useful consciousness” last only 30 seconds from severe hypoxia as rightly pointed out by Capt Lim. If he is a parachutist at that height (God-forbids), he better get his parachute opened before 30 seconds, or else…….? He will remain unconscious until he reaches 10,000 feet when there is sufficient air. The time taken at 130 mph or 11440 feet / min = 190.67 feet / sec will be 128.15 seconds (2 minutes 8 sec) before he reaches that height. He will probably have another 52.5 seconds more to go before he crashes into the ground towards a certain death, provided there is no updraft of air currents to delay the death. All in, he will take 180 seconds – exactly 3 minutes since achieving a terminal velocity of 130 mph at a height of 34,435 feet.
This SARS Virus is An Alien from Another World
Thank you so much for all your letters. To Tan Sri Khoon, Simon Chow, Professor Dr SH Goh, Dr MT Cheng, Ms June Lai, Mr Ismail, Dr May Wei, Dr Amir Farik Ishak, Mr Vellu (or was it Vadoo), and many more who have written in. Thank you so much. I have read your versions about SARS and its connection with Sadam Hussein’s biological weapons, about God, about epidemics, about pigs and eating pork, about Jesus Christ, about Bush and Tony Blair, about future predictions, about astrology, about the Bible and the animals, about fasting, about Tan Sr Khoo’s cinema release on his new movies which he directed himself in Chow Kit, and Old Klang Roads, and all your various thinking and associations with this outbreak of SARS. I am really quite confused by all your ideas. Your mails are too plenty, and very amusing, but it is not possible to reply, except to thank you for your great and funny ideas.
Current Theory:
I am taking a further step away from my original thinking that the suspect atypical pneumonia coronavirus which currently affects humans was a zoonotic disease, had jumped the species barrier from animals to humans. That original thought was based on the fact that most strains of coronavirus (CoV) affect mainly animals damaging their respiratory and alimentary systems, including the liver (hepatitis). In pigs, according to the literature, coronavirus affects only their digestive system causing gastroenteritis, but not their respiratory system as seen in birds. We think that a new strain of CoV is now affecting the respiratory system in humans.
First isolated in 1937, the coronaviruses have always been an avian (bird) virus, affecting chicken causing infectious bronchitis. Since then, it started to infect other systems in a lot of other animals – cattle, horses, pigs, turkey, dogs, cats, rats, and mice. A few strains responsible for most of the common colds in humans were isolated in the 1960’s from the nasal cavities of patients with common colds. In fact they were responsible for about 30 % of the common colds in humans after the rhinoviruses. Currently it is beli! eved that some members of this CoV which previously affected mainly animals, could have mutated in such a way that it could now jump the animal-human barrier to present an entirely new feature in human respiratory disease.
Lessons Taught in RNA-based Virology :
In my original letter as a reply to Ms Tan Cheng Sim’s letter, I thought this hypothesis could be the most probable aetiological (causative) explanation. Since it originated in the Guangdong Province of South China and Hong Kong where living conditions were crowded in flats, and where the Chinese keep their ducks, hens, goose, rabbits, birds, snakes, goats, pigs, cats and dogs as part of their ‘family members’. This closely knitted ‘nucleated family’ structure between animals and humans could have made a break in the species barrier pathogenesis. After all, scientists have all! along believed it need only some structural changes in the RNA configuration on the virus during the mutation process to lock onto the receptor cells of humans. The structure of the coronavirus genome is a single strand, unlike the double helix DNA strand in higher organisms. Its genome has over 30,000 nucleotides (about 32 kilobases long on a single strand of RNA), and is probably the largest RNA virus genome. We know this using an analytical technique in molecular genetics called Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to determine short sequence of RNA / DNA without the need to clo! ne it. It was one technique I remember learning during my post-doctoral training in medical biotechnology a few years ago. I remember using Restriction Enzymes (DNA-cutting enzymes) to cut off the DNA at particular sequence of the nucleotides, making templates for copying, and joining them again using DNA ligases to produce different sorts of Recombinant DNA (rDNA) later. It was one heck of biotechnology and microbiology some 15 of us, doctors and medical research scientists selected from ASEAN countries for their Regional ASEAN training to learn from a team of French experts at the Institute for Medical Research (IMR). It was our 3 month-long Regional In-Service Postdoctoral Training some years ago. Virology was again taught to some 60 doctors and medical scientists from ASEAN countries during another part of our postgraduate training in Epidemiology and Tropical Diseases some years later, also held at the IMR This was chicken feed compared with what we already had during our PhD training programmes years earlier . The MD programme that included microbiology was comparatively at a much far lower level compared to a PhD standard.
PCR analytical procedures have much applications in our understanding in genome sequencing, including those of SARS viruses. Anyway, these group of viruses are unusual in the sense they have the highest frequency of recombination of any positive strand RNA virus, meaning that it has the highest ability of combining genetic information from other sources. This makes them capable of mutating into other forms,. So far so good, so the virologists believe.
But how does viruses attack in general? The mechanisms varies from virus to virus. In HIV for instance, the RNA of HIV attacks the immune bodies such as the lymphocytes, monocytes etc, and gain entry into the body through receptor sites. Once the virus enters the human cell, it duplicates itself by a mechanism called reverse transcription through the help of reverse transcription enzyme (nucleoside reverse transcription). This changes the viral RNA into DNA to mimic the DNA profile of the host cells. This coy cheats the body cells into integration and acceptance by the virus. By a process called translation (reading) of messenger RNA (mRNA), the end result is a cascade of intracellular events that cause the virus to multiply rapidly inside the cell until it dies.
In SARS case, the coronavirus probably (I believe, but I am uncertain), attack the cells in the lung parenchyma – lung tissues that are responsible for gases exchange and respiratory functions. Lungs cells involved could probably be the CD8+ve cells, the poorly-differentiated cells, ciliated cells, mucous cells, Clara-like cells, and the typical basal cells. Probably the tracheal tissues may also be involved ? The mechanism of attack and multiplication is probably similar to most other viral infection ? This sequence of events in vi! ral infection and transmission is not something new to most of us although the mechanisms in viral pathogenesis may not be an exact mirror image for every viral infection.
Viral Transmission and Pathogenesis :
Given our current understanding on the dynamics of transmission, any route of invasion is possible, at least theoretically. It is a matter how the virus transcribes itself directionally to find its way from host-to-host, viz. animals-to-animals, animals-to-humans, and humans-to-humans. Transgenic mutation is real, and it can occurs naturally as the result of environment changes, radiation, and exposure to mutagenic chemicals., including being challenged by the immunoglobulins (antibodies) of the host.! It can even be manipulated artificially. In fact genetic engineering is the basis of biotechnology for better hybrids of plants and animals.
Given the possibility that SARS coronavirus is mutant of a previously existing family of coronaviruses, one very crucial question remains unanswered. That is, where did the first coronavirus on Earth came into existence? Scientists have so far not bothered about this question about finding out where did the first virus origuinated. Were these group of coronavirsus merely mutant forms of one another, or were they actually new separate viruses as separate entities coming from somewhere else outside this planet? In short, do all the existing viruses mutate into new ones, or were the new ones actually brought here from another world? It is either this, or they were actually some mutant CoV that managed to cross the animals barrier to infect humans? Did it actually jumped the species barrier, or could it already exist in humans in a less variant form, considering that this atypical pneumonia virus exhibits pathogenic features quite differently from the rest of the C! oV family? In as far as we know, the common cold coronavirus strain, and other rhinoviruses underwent mutation periodically, so virologists believe. Because of these rapid variation in mutagenic directions, no specific vaccine, or even poly-vaccines against all viruses can be formulated ?
Mutation and Immunological Defences:
The next question we need to address is why did these viruses undergo mutation? Virologists will tell us they need to change in order to survive because of harsher environmental changes, mimicking a small-scale evolution perhaps ? But is this entirely true? Couldn’t they have survive happily without undergoing RNA structural transformations since there are hundreds of billions of hosts (animals and man) on earth upon which their RNA can be transcribed and copied again and again in the unlimited supply of hosts? Are they suddenly so defenseless against us when we have not had even an iota of chance acquiring any specific antibodies against them ? If not, why then did they change or evolved into a new strain or species as scientists have until now believe. Wouldn’t an alternative explanation be more probable, in that the new virus did not actually evolved from an older strain, but was actually an entirely new form of life that came down on us from outside this planet? In short, the current SARS virus has absolutely no ‘blood relationship’ with the rest of the family of CoV already in existence? This is the question I want to challenge my learned and elite scientific and medical colleagues to answer. Identifying a new virus is already a very daunting scientific task, but is not impossible. One method I have already explained is to study its genome sequencing, and the length of its bases (A,T,G, C nucleotide) chain through PCR analysis. But attempting to prove with certainty that it evolved from some existing known strain is even more intimidating.
My original thought that SARS may be zoonotic in origin could be dead wrong, and this letter will give me a chance to retrieve that hypothesis. After all, I was only picking up the bits and pieces here and there from our current understanding in virology. I merely followed the belief of the rest of the scientific community. Initially, I went along with them. Current hypothesis of virologists that a similar large base CoV virus underwent some structural changes in their RNA (ribonucleic acid), perhaps in the sequencing and the translocation of their nucleotides to generate this new strain may be quite wrong. But now I strongly believe I was wrong too if I follow their trend of thinking. .
So we think that new strains from existing ones are evolved because of unfavorable environmental changes that threatens their existence? We also think that these changes put new challenges and surprises on our immunological surveillance. When our immunological status becomes compromised, they attack. Once suitable and specific antibodies – immunoglobulins like IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG and IgM are produced naturally by the body to combat the an! tigen (the virus), the virus no longer have a hold. They just go away, or they may mutate into another form. They may reestablish their invasion in the body in another form to survive. In short, this would be a logical sequence in evolution. This scenario explained here in the simplest way I could possibly illustrate, is a theory that is quite well accepted by the scientific / medical community. But…. is this true? It was something that we, as students years ago, were once taught in the elite schools of immunology, virology, medicine and biomedical sciences.
Genesis and Creation:
Looking back, that was what medical and biomedical students were taught in classical microbiology. That was history. But now we need not follow the teachings of our learned university professors, but to have a mind of our own to think analytically and independently. Three very haunting questions therefore I would like to ask members of the scientific community. First, where did the first RNA fragment on&nbs! p; Earth come from? The second, how terribly sure are we that this new virus was actually an extension (evolved) from another virus through the process of mutation (to generate a new creature). Third, what evidence have we that SARS viruses were transmitted from animals to generate this new disease ? Can anyone of us out there able to answer with the! appropriate findings in the literature ?
Does this line of thought conform with evidence-based virology or evidence-based medicine? Could we challenge the scientific community who may come out with the hypothesis that a member of the CoV self-orchestrated its own genetic engineering to confront the animal- human hosts with this new threat? On hind thought, I am more inclined to believe that this new viral emergence had never originated from this Earth before. They probably came from another world to this Planet Earth as An Alien
The Oort Cloud:
Dark clouds of comets from outer space periodically bathe the Earth with cosmic dust as they pass by in the neighbourhood of the Sun and Earth. These gigantic ‘dirty snowballs’ as comets are described, have been seeding Earth with complex life-giving organic compounds each time Earth intercepts the trails of dusts left behind by a passing comet. Both execute an orbit round the Sun, and at some ! point, Earth would intersect the path left by a passing comet. Sometimes, comets would plunged straight into the Sun, never to come up anymore. Most would pass round and round the Sun, and each time it comes near the Sun, the heat and radiation from the Sun would ‘boil off’ the ‘dirty snow ball’ to leave a trial of comet’s debris in its wake. Even without the comets, astronomers already know that hundreds of millions and micrometeorites (about 300 million of them) pepper the Earth’s atmosphere everyday. Dozens of larger meteorites&nbs! p; fall directly onto the Earth’s surface daily. All told, some 1000 metric tons of cosmic debris rained down on Earth everyday even without a single comet seen in Earth’s neighbourhood. This figure rises tens of hundreds of times when the Earth orbits (passes) through the tail of a passing comet.
In ancient times, all civilizations view Comets as a harbinger of bad omen, plagues, disease and black death. Where did all the ancient civilizations get all that information and wisdom from? They seemed to know better. May I request doctors and scientists to look upwards above them towards heavens. New alien life forms have been falling on our heads without us realizing them. ! They fall not only on our heads, but on our roof-tops, over our gardens, on our neighbour’s fences and door steps, our sheep, cows, ducks, goats, pgs, chicken, goose, dogs and cats. We have all along been looking sideways with myopic eyes, and an introvert mind, blaming on our poor animals, and on one another, including our neighbour’s unkempt gardens, the food we eat or don’t eat, etc. Like a gardener or a farmer who scatters numerous seeds on the ground, some will take root and b! ear fruits, others will just lie there barren forever. Some of these alien RNA, viruses, infectious prion (half life, half inanimate atypical proteinaceous virus-like particles) have been raining all over us daily without us being aware of it. We didn’t look up, but always sideways at our ducks and geese, and suspiciously at another human fellow, or downwards at our soil for the origin of these new ‘mutant strains of viruses’. These viruses may have been mutating very fast as virologists claimed, but they mutate only once they reach earth. They may have remained deeply frozen in the frigid and darkness of outer space, perhaps for hundreds of thousand, or millions of years before they arrive on Earth to mutate and multiply.
An Alien Invasion:
We blame air-crafts and rapid air travels for spreading infectious diseases from one country to another, like someone scattering those seeds on the soil as they travel along. Would it be more reasonable, applying the same scientific logic, that a much, much bigger, and much more efficient space-craft, called a Comet has been doing exactly the same job? These natural space-crafts carry thousands of millions of tons of hibernating ‘biological passengers’ - these new biological fragments of life and viruses from another world to pepper down on our Earth, over our heads everyday. Look upwards, and not sideways or down your feet where the mud is, my dear doctors and research scientists ! It’s coming from up there, not sideways from our neighbour’s fences, or from our poultry’s pens. Natur! ally, once they infect a person, the viruses will quickly spread on to the next nearest person in contact. But none of the patient simply got it out of nothing. Nothing begets nothing. Did our dear and learned virologists think of this mode of transmission? There is absolutely no point studying these viruses in detail under an electron microscope, or sequencing their genome using PCR analysis or Southern Block technique (to separate the DNA fragments by Gel Electrophoresis). We know all those stuff by heart, and there is no need to repeat them like an old gramophone record. It all published in the scientific literatures, tons of them. None of these information will help us prevent the infection from spreading.
Virologists and health authorities waste a lot of their time doing this. It is exactly and precisely like a motorist getting out of his car to open his car bonnet and study how his car engine works in a massive traffic jam in his futile attempt to explain what causes that massive jam, or in his attempt to prevent that massive jam. What relationship has his car engine got to do with that jam? That motorist would have done a lot, lot better had he taken a helicopter up and have a bird’s eye view of the whole situation, and to study where that bottle-neck is instead of looking at his car engine for the cause or a solution. How idiotic!&! nbsp;
My dear colleagues in science and medicine, should we not look at the whole problem with a bird’s eye view (holistically), and not using our electron microscope to study the problem even much smaller until all we see are just clusters or strands of molecules. Shouldn’t we look at them on a much larger mega-scale? The heavens are bizarrely huge, and this tiny, tiny Earth is like an sub-atomic particle lost in a mighty, mighty, mighty cosmic ocean. Wouldn’t that be in a right direction? As ! it is, virologists are trying to solve a problem by looking at the nucleotides of the virus. The problem with us in the scientific community is that we tend to specialize far too much, such that we lose sight of the surrounding environment, specializing looking just at the molecules and atoms. With narrower and narrower specialization, our views become more and more clouded, and our eyes becomes more and more myopic (short-sighted). We begin to lose touch with reality of the entire whole picture. How does examining the molecular deta! ils of the SARS virus help us in prevention and treatment when the dusts are all falling all over on our heads from above? I am very aware and prepared by what the virologists will reply me. They will sharply reply by saying that by looking at the molecular configurations, and identifying the virus, it will help clinicians diagnose SARS and separate it from other pneumonia-like respiratory disease. Diagnose, yes. In medicine this is called ‘differential diagnosis’ Next they will reply by claiming that they will be able to develop a vaccine for SARS. A treatment (cure) or a prophylaxis (prevention) perhaps? Yes, no ? I am not too sure. I am very aware that theo! retically, by studying the structure of the viral RNA, and the mechanisms by which they invade the body, we can design a drug that can block that mechanism, the receptor site of the cells perhaps? Alternatively, we may try identifying the viral E protein (gene) that may be responsible for viral RNA/DNA transcription and replication, and pharmacological ways of damaging / blocking that synthesis ? So far so good, at least from our theoretical classical knowledge. But what happens if the virus starts to mutate and change their molecular configurations? In that case, neither an (antiviral) drug, nor any vaccine will work, as it took the blocking (locking) mechanisms of! f gear. So our treatment protocol and our vaccination will still come to naught – wasted efforts, I may add.
Myopic Sight and Vaccination :
Microbiologists (virologists, bacteriologists mycologists, protozoa parasitologists) and pharmacologists have been explaining the pharmacodynamics and mode of action of drugs against microbial invasions to us all these years. Despite all those pharmacology and microbiology lectures, did we manage to stop HIV, hepatitis, or even just the simple common cold, and now SARS from spreading? We credit the eradication of smallpox and poliomyelitis to t! he vaccines, but many quarters have already questioned the validity of this claim. They believe that both smallpox. and poliomyelitis died a natural death after some time, with or without vaccines. In some measure we might have some successes with Diptheria, Tetanus and Pertusis (whooping cough), H. Influenza, Polio (with Salk injectable or Sabin oral), Rotavirus in children’s diarrhoea and gastroenteritis. Against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (German measles) and aginst Varicella (chicken pox). Yes / no ? This issue is very debatable even among health providers, and we shall not go into that.
Smallpox vaccination is perhaps the most successful campaign against the variola (smallpox) virus and WHO declared smallpox eradicated in 1980 after intensive vaccination started in 1961 with the last case recorded in Somalia in 1977. It broke out again in 1978 after a small laboratory accident in Birmingham. Some medical opponents are against vaccinations, and they have even spoken out against the value of vaccination. They publish data, findings and opinion in the Lancet and medical journals questioning the value of such pro! phylactic measures. They also question the safety of these vaccinations, quoting the authorative CDC ( Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta) study in 1977 that 11,365 vaccine adverse effects were recoded, compared to 7,535 cases of benefits from vaccine-preventable-disease (documented by CDC). It is rumored that because of safety and questionable benefits, even the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair did not allowed his children to be vaccinated? Because of some of these findings and publications, there is now a growing group in the medical circle against unnecessary vaccination, supported by a number of law suits by members of the public in American, Britain&nbs! p; and Europe caught up in this controversy. The Spanish flu and great influenza which swept across Europe and America killing two million people in 1918 as an example, died a natural death without the help of vaccines. A lot of people are now questioning the benefits of vaccination, when other modalities such as good nutrition, proper housing, clean water supply, clean air, and clean environment and other measures would have done the same job? Without these realities of proper and healthy living, giving vaccination to solve a health problem is like sweeping dirt under a carpet to cover up reality (so that it! looks ‘healthy’ on the front). But we shall not go into all these debates as we can write chapters without end on this issue. This is not the tropic of our discussion.
The Biological Cosmic Warheads and Logic :
Am I not scientifically logical enough to challenge the rational of looking at genomes of this SARS to solve the problem instead of looking at ity holistically like the view seen by a bird soaring high into the air to examine the causes of a traffic jam, the bottle neck, and the extent the jam was spreading, and in which direction, while that p! oor myopic motorist down there on the ground was still trying to sort the problem of the jam by looking at his car engine (the RNA) under the bonnet (the viral coating) ? Poor chap, I must say. He will never be able to solve that traffic jam problem by looking under his car bonnet.. Looking under the bonnet and RNA, to my mind is the most idiotic way of understanding and solving this problem. We will land up like trying to solve the hepatitis, HIV and the common cold problems. These jams still persist.
Wouldn’t it be reasonable if I were now to tell you that your nostrils were pointing downwards, and not upwards to minimize your risk of inhaling cosmic particles that float downwards? Yes or no? After all, do we need to question the Wisdom of God who designed and created us? He ensured that our nostrils need be pointed downwards during His Masterpiece Blueprint, and not upwards to prevent us f! rom directly receiving those infective and hostile prion (virus-like) particles floating down on us to protect us from harm’s way? Isn’t He (God) such a wonderful, wonderful and brilliant Designer and Protector of Life. He is not a destructor of life unlike some extremists humans on this world do in His name. Think about this wonderful design my dear scientists. Open up our eyes and minds heavenwards. Unto Him we must praise. You, me, and all living things on Earth originated from out there, made from star dusts that He created , along with the viruses.
Hibernation in Deep Freeze :
Cosmic dusts containing complex mixtures of organic molecules, probably containing DNA fragments as well, not to say single-stranded RNA, are precursors and signatures of all life. They are being released out there by passing comets. These passing comets released hundreds of thousands of tons of these ‘biological passengers’ each time they come near the ‘space-port’ of our Sun. The heat, light and radiation of our Sun merely melt their icy load! s of ‘biological passengers’ (truly biological weapons) into our ‘port of call’ (Earth), and seed them onto our earthly abode. This is like water vapour, carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons being discharged into our atmosphere by passing aircrafts that constantly pollute and damage the atmosphere, and rain them on the surface.
If this hypothesis on the mechanism I proposed here is correct, then life is actually seeded into Earth and allowed to germinate (created) here. God created it from (star) dusts. Life does not spring up spontaneously out of nothing. Nothing begets nothing. It has to come from somewhere, and this needs to be created. An extremely hot Earth in the very beginning was completely sterile and void of all life. Life was brought in like seeds being scattered on cooled, sterile ground. When watered, some will germinate right here, others will just lie barren. Life, including the nucleotides (RNA and DNA) can never suddenly made their appearance out of nothing. Nothing bear out nothing. It makes no scientific sense to me to say that a new virus called the atypical pneumonia virus came out from nowhere. Even if we got it from our family duck, where did that poor pet duck got it from in the first place? Why blame the poor duck, or the “Chinese in Guandong Province” They blamed the Chinese who eats anything. They blamed it on Chinese food, so the Canadians believe? They blamed it on anything – the e-mails I received contained all those ‘aetiologies’ . Neither did the SARS virus originate from our neighbour’s house, or from a hospital patient, or someone who did not wash their hands or wear a face mask? The most reckless thing I have come across is to put the blame on innocent ducks, chickens, pig, goats or on the Chinese from South China. The Chinese has been eating their food for over 9,000 years, and yet their nutritious foods have enabled them to work so hard, produce so prolifically, and thrive so healthily by the tens of billions over the generations of the tens of centuries. Did the Chinese get SARS before March 2003 AD ? Why only from Guandong Province, and not all the Chinese in the world got it simultaneously?
I am convinced that the present atypical pneumonia SARS virus is an entirely life forms brought here to Earth by cosmic dusts. Organic molecules carried by the periodically passing comets may have been responsible. These inert life form must have taken a very, long journey from another w! orld, from another ‘country’ you may say, to spread their seedlings to another world – our Earth, as a ‘foreign country’ (new ground) you may say. This analogy and reasoning is exactly like what the health authorities are talking about all the time - spreading the disease from one country to another country via fast jet airliners. They are right in many sense. Many infectious diseases are imported by rapid travels. But we never look at it beyond the shores of this very, very tiny Earth. Unfortunately, we have become so myopic (short-! sighted) because of our narrower, and narrower specialization. We merely look at the ravine below, and jumped downwards at the deep blue sea, not realizing that the seeding have all the while been raining down on us over our heads (from above).
About a 1,000 metric tons of microscopic cosmic debris rain down on Earth everyday, even if there is no comet passing by. The discharge load could be another 100,000 times more massive when a comet is around. How much cosmic debris they rain down, depends on their mass, size, distance and the constituency of these cosmic dirty snow-balls. I want to specially target this piece of information to the health authorities, especially to the virologists, the epidemiologists and other medical scientists, including the clinicians. I thinks it is high time doctors learn some astronomy t! o realize that infectious agents, especially the new ones could come from outer space, and not just from our neighbour’s house, or the next village. It may originate and start from there. Once down, they tend to spread out, and invade from the ground like those paramilitary invaders who came parachuting down from the air and planes Don’t be myopic dear colleagues, scientists and doctors. Look above our heads, and understand that you, I and every living creature on Earth first came from out there too.
Think about this. Only the simplest like form – the organic molecules, and at best, only the RNA of viruses could survive this terribly, terribly long, long journey through the cold, cold, frigid chasm of deep, deep space. These biological load of ‘passengers’ would need to be hibernated at almost zero Kelvin (near absolute temperature of - 273 degrees Celsius) to stabilize their molecular structures after they were assembled somewhere out there in interstellar space. We are very much les! s than a drop of water in a colossally huge ocean. We are all surrounded by unknown things – cosmic dusts, interstellar dark matter. Some will have complex organic molecules, and simple life form in them, others none. They must have been assembled (individual component parts) and packed into ‘container ships’ - that chuck of icy, dirty snowball of the comet’s head, before they were shipped out from their ‘factory’ for ‘export’ into a foreign land. They were shipped out by those exceeding fast ‘space containers’ called comets to another foreign world, just like we do here with factory component and spare parts to be reassembled in another country of import. These ‘biological goods’ (as I coin them) need to be encapsulated in deep freezing temperatures near absolute temperature in order to ‘survive’ that horrendously long, frigid and dark journey. They will also need an extremely fast space-craft (the comet) to hurtle them through that bizarre long, long, interstellar (between the stars) journey, from the Oort Cloud.
The Cosmic Patrol : A Trillion Hydrogen Bombs
The Oort Cloud is a huge mass of looming and dark gathering of comets (‘natural container space ships’ with nuclear warheads) surrounding our entire Solar System menacingly. Each of them contains warheads and biological weapons of true magnitude of mass destructions. It is estimated that in the Oort Cloud there are about a trillion of these comets surrounding not just us, but the entire Solar System – all ready to be sent out as war-heads. Even! if they are all sterile, each of them is so huge and massive, that if just one of them were to crash onto Earth, their destruction by mere physical punch alone, is to the tune of 140,000 times more than the entire nuclear arsenal in the world fired simultaneously. This magnitude from just a single comet, far, far exceeds all the nuclear weapons of President George Bush, Tony Blair, China, France, and Russia, Pakistan, India, perhaps Israel as well, put together. Is this just wild guess? Of course not. I have already calculated this out for you before I put the figure down. Imagine a typical comet 10 km wide (radius 5000 metres). It will have a volume 4/3. Pi. R 3 = 5.23 X 10 11 cubic metres. A typical density of a comet is 3,000 kg per cubic metre. Thus the total mass is in the order of 1.5708 X 10 15 kg. Its velocity near in the vicinity of the Sun’s pull (accelerating as it comes nearer and nearer) is in the region of 60 km (60,000 metres) per second. The Kinetic Energy developed would be ½ mv 2 = 2.8 X 10 24 Joules (where m = mass,m v = final velocity). Most of the hydrogen bombs on Earth are only a megaton (1 million tons of TNT) each in power. At one megaton, each nuclear bomb delivers 4 X 10 15 Joules of energy. It is estimated the current stock-pile of all the nuclear arsenals in the world is about 5,000 one megaton. This means if all the nuclear devices were to put together, and exploded at the same time, the total energy released is 2 X 10 19 Joules. The impact of a typical comet just calculated out for you is in the order of 2.8 X 10 24 Joules. This means that a single impact of just a single comet on Earth is equivalent to 140,000 time more than all the thermonuclear devices in this entire world. Isn’t this fascinating? . And, what’s more. There are 1 trillion of these comets hiding and waiting out there, all ready in the Oort Cloud, all docked some 075 light years away. Not fairy tales I am relating here. It pure, clean Science. The power of their single physical punches is only just one thing. We do not even know how many of them carry biological weapons of untold latency, and ready-to-call-up for war and destructions, not just for this tiny Earth, but to the entire Solar System perhaps? The Bible speaks of a great star called Wormwood which fell into the sea and men and creatures were destroyed (Revelation 8:8-11). Clusters of these comets periodically come to our neighbourhood, make a circuit to patrol around us, making periodic checks in groups as if to see what are we doing. Fighting with Saddam Hussein, Osama fighting with George Bush, Israel with the Palestine perhaps ? Each of them with their infinitesimal and crude man-made weapons that pale in comparison.? While all these things are going on, virologists and scientists are still looking at molecules. But we don’t realize clouds of weapons are surrounding us from all sides, making frequent patrolling rounds, and watching us over the centuries. !
The Dinosaurs, Human Civilization and Our Alien Guests :
I personally believe it was a comet or an asteroid chunk that came crashing down on Earth with a viral load that wiped out the entire population of dinosaurs 70 million years. I personally theorize that it was a epidemic of diseases brought in by a comet that killed off these giant lizards, and not dusts generated by the impact that generated an artificial ‘winter’ to cut off photosynthesis, causing the vegetation on which the dinosaurs fed to die as other scientists believe. We all have independent scientific thinking don’t we?
This titanic dark Cloud enveloping us all round was named after the Dutch astronomer Jan Hendrik Oort. This intimidating Cloud is believed to surround the entire Solar System. These ‘war-ships’ of unimaginable magnitude and masses are all docked and ready at a distance of 50,000 AU or about 0.75 light year away. 1 AU or Astronomical Unit is the mean distance between the Sun and the Earth, or approximately 150,000,000 km away. If you need the exact figure, it is 149,597,870.691 km, and one light-year which is the distance light travels in a year at a near velocity of 300,000 km per second. A light year is approximately 1! 0 million, million km or 1 followed by 13 zeros km This Cloud contains swarms of comets some one trillion (one million, million, 1 followed by 12 zeros) in numbers. Most of these extraterrestrial missiles may be armed with a variety of biological warheads to sweep round and round our territorial (cosmic) space. It must have been God-sent warning of gigantic magnitude to us fragile humans if we do not behave, but our friend, Simon Choow don’t agree.
Once this huge cometary’s ‘space-ships ’ approache their next ‘port of call’ (planet Earth) where the radiant light and heat of our life-giving Sun is, and in the neighbourhood of a ‘garden’ (the Earth), they will shed some of their passenger load of ‘biological weapons’, like seeds being thrown on ! soft moist ground. After all, Earth has plenty of water, an ambient temperature, a friendly and conducive environment, and billions of generous hosts like you and me, our ducks, hens, and birds, and cattle all around to receive them. Such hospitality, why not?
The heat and light from our friendly Sun will thaw these icy load of ‘ foreign visitors’. These comets unpack and to unload their ‘biological guests’ into our homes, and into our bodies. After all, with all these hospitable human hosts, plus our ducks, hens, and birds ‘they’ can live comfortably here! for a few months before leaving us. Wouldn’t this biological hospitality we give them, exactly like turning on our home and car porch lights (the Sun) on to invite strange visitors in the night after they came from such a long, long, dark, lonely and frigidly cold and lonely journey ? When they come a-calling, we would! provide them with water, lodging, shelter and food (lodging, shelter and food being yours and my bodies). Our family members, the ducks and chicken all living together also share their hospitality, their shelter and their food (their blood and cells) with them. What’s more, these alien ‘guests’ are also free to move about from host to host. They are not very choosy, so long as someone can provide them with the appropria! te food and warmth after arriving from a terribly long, cold, and hazardous journey. They have been hibernating without food throughout that incredibly unforgiving journey. Don’t we welcome them, and they take the pleasure of our hospitality? After they have fed on yours, mine, and our avian family kindness, our ‘guests’ will go away, exactly like all those past epidemics of flu, and influenza did in the past with or without our vaccines.
The All or None Law : The Blind Sheep
This current SARS isolated ‘pandemic’ is absolutely nothing compared to the Spanish flu pandemic that wiped out 2,000,000 (2 million) people in 1918. What ever the past history of influenza, they all went away only after we realized they were invaders. Our body sounds the alarm with high temperatures, generates all the appropriate classes and sub-classes of antibodies, the various types of antibody-producing B-lymphocytes, perhaps even the T-lymphocytes (for rejection), monocytes (to ingest debris and foreign particles), and activated all other immunological defenses against them. They come and go periodically depending on our immunological status against them, and the frequency, passage and visits of these ‘black biological clouds’. For thousands of millions of years these ‘biological container ships’ have been hurtling at 50-60 km per second above our heads - their earthy port of call.
Once the spark of life is ignited (created) to fit into Simon Chow’s belief, it could then be evolved through multiple transgenic mutations into many other life forms (to satisfy Tan Sri Khoon conviction on Evolution). Would this be inconformity with the Theory of Creation first, followed by the Theory of Evolution later ? So we are back to square one agai! n to the original heated arguments of Simon and Khoon. I believe this SARS issue has opened up an old wound once again.
Like a flock of idiotic sheep that follows its leaders blindly to jump from the cliff top into the sea, I think the entire scientific community is also doing the same by following each other’s blind spot. Unfortunately I was no different as a member of this community. If we merely look downwards, with myopic eyes and an introvert earth straddled mind, we would continue to blame the ducks, birds, poultry, and farm animals, our neighbours, hospital patients and medical staff who did not don face masks We blame ourselves last. We will blame it as a zoonotic disease, because we refuse to look heaven-wards to accept that the elementary spark of life, could have arrived like an Olympic Torch from a very distant world to start off this race of epidemics. I know most of my scientific-medical friends and colleagues still believe that it was the ducks and the cats, or the Southern Chinese (who ate everything) who started all this ? Why blame all these emerging new infectious diseases on animals, or on specific ethnic groups ? Was this new strain of coronavirus truly factory made in China, or was it unfortunately rained down on China by statistically random selection from another planet?
After I wrote my first letter that was my original hypothesis, I gave it a second thought, and realized how wrong I was like any other member of the scientific community. Suddenly, I found myself as idiotic as the rest of a flock of blind sheep. We merely follow our leader, and each other to jump over the high cliff down into the sea below. The rest of the herd will follow the suicidal jump down into the deep blue sea. They merely looked down, never upwards. In many ways, I am very happy I took up astronomy to look at the distant worlds as a hobby, and saw a great difference. Else, we will only be peering downwards short-sighted through a microscope. I am afraid this is&! nbsp; exactly what scientists and doctors are doing currently, running hither and thither trying to identify the SARS virus. Did we examine where it come from in the first place? We are just not brave enough to put our foot down to speak a mind of our own and say something different, lest we make a laughing-stock of ourselves among our learned and elite scientific and academic colleagues?
Perhaps I may have made myself a black sheep among this flock of normal white sheep. I speak my own mind, because I believe this new virus was never a mutant form from those family of CoVs. I have a feeling that all previously unknown viruses also did not originate from this Earth. Why should they be when the supply from the Dark Oort Cloud is almost enormously unlimited. Neither did they come from pigs, cats,&nb! sp; goats and the cows. Neither did it sprout out from a Chinese body somewhere in China nor was it from the Chinese food they eat. These aliens came directly from outer space. And I mean it. I am not crazy or a scientific outcast – so you may think so.
My Passion in Astronomy and Astrobiology :
I think a lot of you out there knows my passion for astronomy. This debate about diseases and life coming from the Comets is not new. The distinguished Cambridge Astronomer and Mathematician Sir Fred Hoyle (1915-2001), who later worked at the world famous California Institute of Techmnology (CIT), together with the celebrated Professor Dr Chandra Wickramasinghe have published a long list of technical papers on their hypothesis and findings in prestigious scientific journals about the appearance of comets and plagues. The Black Death in the 1300s and several major pandemics of ! the Bubonic Plagues were linked to the appearances of great comets. Their studies have shown this. So were ancient Chinese records listing a chain of comets and plagues incidences Were these just coincidences. Were Fred Holye, Chandra Wickramasinhe, and all the ancient civilizations over the centuries who connected the appearance of comets and diseases on Earth all coincidental or were they also black sheep among white-coat modern scientists and doctors? If they are, count me in as well. I would rather be dubbed as one wearing a black coat but with ancient wisdom, rather than one in white coat with modern arrogance. Hoyle and Chrandra! has shown that many sudden pandemics and epidemics of new infectious diseases in the past were closely correlated to the passage of comets. They came out with this proposition called ‘The Panspermia Theory’ Their publications are far too long for me to list here. Later their theories were joined by other scientific minds and researchers who thought the same, as the evidences kept rolling in. They are so compelling to believe. One of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe papers was “Does Epidemic Disease Come from Space” which was published in “New Scientist, 76:402, 1977”. Among one of Hoyle’s best works was “The Black Cloud” It speaks about an intelligent an! d very much alive cloud which was approaching the Solar System. Professor Chris Kinsley of Cambridge calculated its proximity between the Sun and Earth which would lead to global disaster…..and so the story went (it was only a story then). Hoyle did show the epidemiology (incidence) of influenza increased with altitude and was linked with the presence of a comet in the region of earth a few months earlier. He demonstrated this correlation many times over, but the medical community chose to ignore his findings, and blamed it on something else earth-bound. Yet these medical researchers could not show an iota of evidence where all those seasonal influenza bugs came from, or what triggered them. They all keep saying it’s ‘mutation, its mutation’ . I am just presenting scientific truth to you. In Science, if the result is zero we will ethically say it is zero, and if it is positive and quantifiable, we will show the exact data to the entire world through our technical publications. We don’t claim what is not there. Scientific and medical training, their education and discipline are very strict and regimented . Academic honesty, ethics, and professionalism are their hallmark, and are used as ethical guidelines. The scientist / doctor moral code is like that. If there are strong reasons for us to argue logically based on previous observations and findings, or even based on a logical hypothesis, we will stand up to provide all the background evidences. There is nothing to hide, or twist around.
Recent Visits :
It is just not possible for me to discuss this complex and lengthy subject here any further. It will cover another 50-60 more pages. And what about all the recent comets that came in the early part of 2003? I have a long list of them, but it is just possible to me to write and name them – Wirtanen, Swift-Neat, Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Wild 2, Shoemaker-Levy, Shoemaker 3, Neat-Linear and so on, down the list all night long I could list and describe. This e-mail forum is already too long. It suffice to summarize all those literatures in just one or two sentences.
That, those comets originating from the titanic dark organic Clouds out there in interstellar space could harbour life-giving compounds. That, their debris pepper the Earth whenever they vapourise in the vicinity of the Sun. That, these compounds in the presence of heat, light and energy from the Sun could trigger off synthesis (reassemble) from component parts into! neurotropic viruses, and infectious prion particles. Prion particles are atypical viruses, proteinaceous in nature that could explain the emergence of strange diseases like Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker disease, bovine spongiform encephalopathy and fatal familial insomia, as examples among many others. Now this thing called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, our current visitor, is your guess and guest, and mine too ?
I have lots and lots of other ideas and hypothesis which I could type and type through the pages ….. through one o’clock, two o’clock, three o’clock… all night long, till drawn breaks. However this is definitely one thing I am not going to do for the moment (as I am now quite tired by now). I shall discuss no more.
My Former Thought Cast Into Eternal Jail:
That stupid old theory of mine - that SARS was a zoonotic disease originating from animals living together with the Chinese in crowded flats in Southern China, and Hong Kong, along with the even more bizarre Canadian theory that SARS is caused by the Chinese eating th! eir own pets as part of their family food should be cast into eternal jail, okay ! My old theory should be locked up in the East Wing, and the Canadian’s in the West Wing, so that we don’t see each other faces anymore - forever. Other scientific minds are free to have their own theories ! After all, ‘mutations’ is their business, but it is none of my business. But none has told me where did the first virus come from to start off this mutation business okay ?????
“Just An After Thought Too Late into The Night”
Lim Ju Boo
BSc (Physiol & Chem), PG Dip Nutr, MSc
MD, PhD (Med), FRSH, FRSMed, DSc (Int Med)
NOSE BLEED AT HIGH ALTITUDES
Lim Ju Boo BSc
(Physiolo & Chemistry), MSc (Food QC) UK,
MD (Cal), PhD, FRSH (Lond), FRSM (Lond)
Brief CV of Dr JB Lim
Formerly,
1. Nuffield Scholar, Dept Expt, Medicine, Cambridge
2. Research Medical Toxicologist
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA
3. Senior Researcher, Institute for Medical Research, Kuala Lumpur
Currently,
1. Special Medical and Science Adviser &
Head of Technical Advisory Board
The Dynapharm Pharmaceutical Group
Malaysia
2. Member of Panel of Experts
Guthrie Post-doctoral Scholar Foundation
Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd
3. Member of Technical Supervisory Committee
Guthrie Post-doctoral Scholar Award
Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd
4. Member of Expert Panel
The Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce & Industry of Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur
Dear Capt KH Lim,
Nose Bleed or Epistaxis
Thanks for your reply. This letter is not meant for your website. It is too long for it I know. It is just a casual personal letter from me to you just for the fun of writing and reading. This letter is just similar to kopi-O talk between friends to exchange views, except these days we don’t go to a coffee-shop anymore. We just do this from the comfort of our home or “chat-room” and talk over the Internet. Actually I should use “ICQ” chat facilities instead of e-mail. But never mind, e-mail is just as good if there are only two persons. ICQ is good for multi-people group discussion. This mail is just to give you some of my ideas, and is not for inserting into your website. .
Nose Bleed at High Altitude
I thought you wouldn’t want to reply or accept my comment about the causes of nose bleed or epistaxis as it is called medically, as it might jeopardize the trust your website visitors rest on you to give them all the answers for all their flying problems. I didn’t mean to interfere as that was your site, and you can write anything you like inside it.
On second thought, yours has been a very dynamic site, and this should serve as a interactive electronic platform for visitors to interact also. Just look at our ASM website for comparison It is uninteresting because it is just a one-way traffic website with no chance for visitors to ask questions, comment or criticize at all. No fault of mine. I have no idea how to create and manage a website, so I have no control.
Of course making the ASM website dull as Jack was never my idea. As you know I am not the webmaster who can control the ASM site This job was given to Ir Tan Seng Khoon I depend on him totally. I have reminded him several times to put a guest section there so that people can ask questions, give their comments, air their views, and even disagree with us. They can even criticize us if they think we write rubbish. I would like to make ASM website an interactive e-forum where people can throw in all sorts of ideas – right or wrong. Anyone can read the view points of any person - whether their ideas are crazy or brilliant.
After all, ours is a democratic country where anyone should be allowed to exchange ideas and view points. I like it to be like that. But the ASM website is just a one-way traffic, and others who enter into it, may think I dominate all the stories, and don’t allow others to throw mine out. I am sure many may like to replace my ideas and stories with theirs. Dominating the ASM site with just my stories is the last thing I like to do. Unfortunately there are no other contributors despite my many requests to the ASM members to contribute. I am one chap who likes to get new ideas from others also. It makes a website interesting and dynamic with people throwing in all sorts of ideas. After all, they have their own stories to tell too. You learn a lot reading other people’s stories.
Furthermore, in an academic world like ours where we practice our respective professions, we allow academic freedom to allow others to air their intellectual thinking. This will allow professionals like yourself; scientists, researchers, doctors, engineers, and technocrats to express and to interact and air their views, ideas, innovation, hypothesis, theories, thesis, findings, and their visions without fear or favor. This is where we accept and learn from others.
Knowledge is a very dynamic on-going process. We find it changing all the time. That is why we do research to update not only ourselves, but also to educate the public with the right information. Knowledge and correct information are very vital to learning. We divorce ourselves from some old theories based on some shaky findings done some quarter of a century ago. Some of which can now be thrown into the drain. People do this all the time without hesitation if new ideas and newer findings are forthcoming. Some ideas are more logical than some old practices.
Medicine and medical sciences are very dynamic. They change all the time. It is like aeronautical research coming out with better and better planes and their designs every few years. If not for these new ideas and innovation of flight engineers we will still be flying in Otto Lilienthal hang gliders and the Wright’s brother planes of the 1800’s. Probably you may have to pilot them instead of Boeing 777. It is okay if you pilot them, but where are we poor passengers going to sit in these devices ?
Medicine is like that. Look at the GPs in town. They don’t read anymore after graduation. So they only treat coughs, colds, chills, fever, migraine, and vomiting. Sometimes they manage high blood pressures or extra high sugars levels in the blood of their patients. The rest of the time, they learn nothing. The only “new knowledge” they learn are those sales talks from drug salesmen who come a-calling once a month to stock-up their medicine cabinets. Sorry, I work for a group of drug manufacturing companies, after my retirement, so I know exactly what’s going on in the commercial world What boring practice that is ! It is a world of difference from medical research in my younger years with the Ministry of Health.
These days there are so many newer knowledge been added to the scientific world. That includes all the sciences, include aeronautical and flight sciences of course. Just a few days ago I read in the newspapers NASA has tested out a jet scram plane that can soar at 10 times the speed of sound. And that they say is going to be a passenger plane for the future.
In an area I know best, the avalanche of new knowledge and new technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of disease is so overwhelming that we too cannot follow. Physicians have to decide now which approach to accept, and which to throw out. This decision is very crucial in patients care. Scientists may have found out a number of causes or treatment for a number of disease, and their findings all are valid. It is very confusing even for us. Which path to take we sometimes ask.
Take for instance, the causes of nose bled. Dry air may be one of the many causes, albeit rarely. That’s why I listed it as “rarely” and put its causes among blood clotting disorders (the second category), against the more common causes like a blow on the nose or a face trauma (in the first category). Frankly I have no experience with patients suffering from epistaxis (nose bleed) because of dry air. Most of the cases seen in Malaysia have nothing to do with climate where the humidity is well over 80 %. Yet they bleed in the nose. When I was in England and also in India and Pakistan where the climate was very dry and cold in winter, I hardly meet a case of epistaxis due to the weather (or climate). But if there are cases of epistaxis due to low humidity, then that becomes a new knowledge, and it can be documented in the literature.
But as with current knowledge, the most common complaints due to dry air are chapped lips, and cracked skin which ‘bleeds’ just a little. In fact the association between nose bleed and dry air was not even mentioned in reputable reference textbooks of medicine. Nevertheless, very dry air or oxygen if breathed in for a very long time, can dry out the lungs and respiratory tract. But this will not happen for short periods of just a few hours or a day. Over short periods the airways and lungs will respond by increasing secretion of fluid and mucous.
To illustrate this, you may have seen critically ill patients on life support and ventilated with supplementary oxygen in intensive care units (ICU) in hospitals. What you may have observed was the supplemental oxygen was bubbled through water a jar in which a flowmeter is attached. The reason why the O2 need to pass through a jar of water is because the O2 is very, very dry. In an unconscious patient the ventilation with pure O2 has to be sustained for days, weeks and months on end.
If the O2 is not humidified through water in the flowmeter container, the O2 will dry up the entire respiratory system after prolonged inhalation. The alveoli of the lungs must be kept slightly moist to facilitate oxygen-carbon dioxide exchange. But they should not be flooded with fluid either as in plural effusion. Gases cannot exchange either if the alveoli are “drowned” The oxygen need to be humidified first only if the patient is on ventilatory support for an extended period. But if it is only for a short period where oxygen is given as in an ambulance on the way to hospital, or in an aircraft during an emergency the oxygen need not be humidified The body’s feedback mucous secretions will taker care of that. That’s why you see oxygen bubbling inside a flow meter jar besides a critically-ill patient’s bed, but you don’t see it inside the cabin of an aircraft or inside an ambulance.
The reason why the supplemental oxygen inside an oxygen cylinder is so dry is because during the manufacture of oxygen, air has to be cooled down until the oxygen in the air is liquefied (boiling point is 182.962 º C). This is well below the freezing point of water at 0 o C The air temperature has to pass through the freezing point of water, before it go down, and down to reach the temperature where oxygen begins to liquefy. By then all the water will turn into stone-hard ice, and removed. Even if this is not removed, the water ice will still be left behind when the temperature of liquid oxygen is raised to turn it back to gas to be compressed into the cylinder. There you are, the oxygen from the cylinder has a humidity of 0 %. That need to be humidified if the patient is going to breath it for days and weeks. By then, the homeostatic feedback mechanism can no longer work.
But I know some websites mention this as the cause, as if it was the only cause. Some of these websites are just pure unqualified rubbish. Actually when I need to get any medical or health information, I just log into the Medical Library of prestigious 300 year old The Royal Society of Medicine in London using my password. That Medical Library is the biggest and the oldest in Europe documenting original medical information dating back 500 years old. Alternatively, I can also access the Library of equally old - The Royal Society of Health, also in London. Both these royal societies I belong as their Life Fellow. So it is very easy for me to access their libraries with my Fellow’s password, and within seconds I retrieve the information within seconds all the way from London
But of course this does not mean it can never happen. It does not mean just because it is not in the reference books, so it can never happen? We meet all sorts of funny things once in a while. Some of them are beyond our understanding and makes no scientific sense. They defy all laws of nature, scientific logic, and our best of scientific understanding. We just don’t know how to account for them. I have seen patients whom we know can never live long after a definitive diagnosis, but somehow down the road 15 years later we accidentally bumped into them somewhere in a shop or a supermarket. They will then warmly greet you, smile broadly, shake your hands as if we saw and met a ghost? It is just beyond our understanding if medical statistics is anything to go by, or to be relied on for the majority of the population. So a nose bleed in very low humidity maybe just one of those things. I don’t know for sure?
So I am not saying what I commented is right all the time. There are so many things we do not know. There are many cases in medicine that does not make any scientific sense at all. We just have to accept them against all our reasonable understanding, knowledge and experience. That’s where scientific research comes in – to discover new things, and to learn new things. If there are sufficient scientific evidences to support a new finding, we will just throw away the old understanding without hesitation. Some of these old concepts are found in old reference textbooks. If we don’t want to accept new advances in science and medicine will never make any headway. So life just goes on in our profession.
For instance, I am more than sure many doctors may not even agree with me if their experiences showed otherwise. It is their professional right if their experiences or research showed the contrary to my own experiences and my own findings. Everyone have the right to practice what they believe. All can be right at the same time.
In medicine, there may be so many causes, and not just one, to a disorder. All are valid. So we need to take them all in as a whole (holistically). In scientific conferences where we present research papers, we get all sorts of views and questions from the audience – most of them are highly trained and highly qualified doctors and scientists who are also there to attend the conference. But actually they know next to nothing on that subject you are presenting. Because they did not conduct the research or the study, so how is it possible they know better than you when only you who did the study or the research should know much better. It is only the paper presenter knows best, and not only that, but a very intimate and very deep knowledge in that area. Because you were the person who did that study, and nobody from the floor can have a better understanding on that subject than you do. After all, you are equally qualified, and sometimes much more qualified than all these jokers from the floor. If you are not qualified, you will not be capable of doing research and write scientific papers for presentation in scientific and professional conferences. These jokers who just sit conveniently on the floor, but are incapable of presenting papers just want to discredit and corner you with their stupid questions until you cannot answer. Normally I managed to field all of them with counter-questions and additional knowledge and references they are not familiar with. So we corner them instead.
So life in an academic world goes on with us. After all, that’s how we learn from each other whether we are pilots, practicing doctors, research doctors or highly academic scientists. Having said all that, I was glad you weren’t angry with me when I gave my view in your fantastic website.
Do you know I visit your website far more than the ASM and “Dr JB Lim Scientific Corner” websites? There are a lot of new things I learn from your site, whereas the ASM and the JBLim Corner ones are absolutely boring to me, as both these websites contained nothing but mainly my articles only. How boring! I hope Seng Khoon the webmaster for the ASM website will do something about this to make it interesting and interactive from other contributors There is not much I can do to insert a column or a guest book for people who wants to ask questions or give a critical opinion. As you know I know next-to-nothing about creating a website. So I depend on people like you, and Seng Khoon to do this job.
Actually I want to ask you two simple questions about pilots, and the wings of a plane. The first question has something to do with pilots and cabin crew going through the immigration and customs checkpoints and the other question is about the wings of a plane breaking off in flight. This question of the aircraft wings get torn off in flight sounds very silly even though I have some hazy idea on aeronautics, air flow, aerodynamics, how the wings and engine work together to give the plane the lift, thrust, and the inevitable drag. Maybe it is just my psychological fear knowing that the wings breaking apart can hardly happen
But I shall ask these two questions in more detail and more specifically a bit later as I have so many things to do at the moment.
In fact even this (personal) letter is long enough. It is not meant for your website, as it is just to tell you my side of the story for casual reading.
Sorry for any mistakes in this mail.
Cheers!
JB Lim
Making Nescafe from Jet Plane Exhaust
By Lim Ju Boo
BSc (Chemistry & Physiology), MSc (Food Tech & Food QC) (University of Reading, England), Postgrad Dip Nutrition (University of London)
Doctor of Medicine (Cal), PhD (London), FRSH (London), FRSM (Lond)
Warning !
Straight away from this beginning before you read the letter below, I must warn you that it is not possible to make Nescafe or Decaffeinated coffee from the exhaust gases of a jet plane. One may think this is possible after reading this letter. In theory - Yes, in practice - No.
If you really need a cup of coffee without the caffeine in it, please go out to the shop or supermarket and buy it, and not take a plane to suck out its exhaust into your traditional Chinese coffee to decaffeinate it.
This is a letter to Capt KH Lim (lkkc@pc.jaring.my) a Senior Pilot of a well-known airline. I write to Capt KH Lim because I love reading his very interesting website. I like exciting professions like being a pilot, but at last ! the best I can do about flying is jump down from a reasonable height and flap my arms as I come crashing down. That’s all the flying I do. Just key in “Boeing 777” using Google search engine, and you are there – I recommend Capt Lim’s fantastic website.
Dear Captain KH Lim,
Wow ! you are such an expert on fuel chemistry besides being a pilot. I shall try to check out the octane rating and energy values of kerosene and diesel independently as well. This may require some time as it involves a bit of literature search in fuel and energy technology from an appropriate journal. At the moment I have no idea about the difference except that their energy densities are about the same. Surely, a little common sense will tell any layman like myself that, in the aviation industry, they will look for the lightest fuel with the highest energy values. It is just the question of cost-effectiveness and economics.
Have I lost My Memory ?
No, Captain, I hope not. I have not made a mistake about that figure on fuel consumption I gave you for a B 707 unless I am beginning to suffer from Alzheimer’s or one of those senile or pre-senile dementia ? Or have I? You see I know next to nothing about planes, and yet I was able to describe it in terms of “consumption per engine per minutes” in my last letter to you. That shows I actually saw it printed on the brochure in the plane, else how could I use the correct sentence when I have no inkling about jet engines. If I was unable to recall, or I just made it up, I would have said ‘so many miles per gallon’….for the whole plane for all the 4 engines like as if I was describing it for a car with 4 pistons / cylinders ? Although it was many, many years ago when I saw it in the brochure at the back of the seat of a plane in front of me, that figure or some phases printed on it impressed me very much, and I don’t think I will forget that. I cannot remember on which flight it was, on which airline, or where I was going then. Those years I used to travel here and there mainly in the B 707, until in later years I flew in other series of Boeing. When I first saw it, I was comparing it with a car, and wondered the tremendous power and thrust a jet engine must have generated to make it consumed so much fuel ?
Energy Dissipated in Jet Engines
It is either I am loosing memory on that figure (hopefully not), or that the engine technology by now must have improved so tremendously, that engines are currently becoming more and more fuel efficient. I would not be a surprised that with better and better technology, more effective engines are being developed over the years. Even then, I do admit that the disparity between a B 707 and the current B 777 in terms of fuel consumption as pointed by you is so enormous. What’s more, the load is now almost doubled for the B 777. I do not know what engines were used to power the B 707 in the plane I was in, although I faintly remember they were RR engines. I faintly remember the name of this engine (Rolls Royce) that was mentioned in the brochure. It may not be fair to compare the current powerful Rolls Royce Trent 892 with an older version of the same engine made years ago, let alone compare it with another type of engine such as Whitney-Pratt. I do not know anything about planes as I said, but I do believe the name of the plane does not mean much. It is the engines, the powerhouse of the plane, whatever the name we like to call it, that matters in terms of power and reliability. The only thing about the body of the plane that matters perhaps is the aerodynamic shape that is going to affect fuel consumption due to air-resistance and drag. Am I not right Captain? But are the B 707 and B 777 aerodynamically the same or about the same between two eras? But I know through common sense, with a tiny bit of guesswork and logic, a lot of energy is dissipated and lost by just the need to heat up the extremely cold and huge volumes of air from outside into the intake point of the engines, besides the energy required to compress the air, and to bring up the temperatures to firing / flash points to ignite the fuel inside the turbines, not to say significant energy loss through friction by the blades. That’s not all, a lot of heat would also be wasted in the exhaust. A great deal of energy are lost due to all these factors, and perhaps only a tiny amount are converted into useful work. All these demand a lot of fuel. The older engines and the aerodynamic shape of the B 707 may not be as efficient as the latest Boeing 777 you are flying. Whatever that is left would be reserved for lifting those tons of load, 336,000 lbs (152.4 metric tons) for B 707 and 632,500 lbs (286.9 metric tons) for B 777 up to 35,000 feet (10.67 km) into the air. It will have to go against gravity, besides hurtling (the thrust) the plane at near 1000 km per hour against tremendous air resistance, and turbulence from the air flow generated. I believe no matter how aerodynamic the shape, tremendous amount of energy would be required to overcome all these, unless the plane flies higher where the air densities are lower. But I am unsure if this will affect complete combustion of the fuel since the oxygen concentration is also lower at higher altitudes? You know best on this point. In fact as far as my elementary knowledge of physics is concerned, the more efficient the engines, the more it is going to violate the Second Law of Thermodynamics, and the adiabatic sequence of the Carnot Cycle in an ideal engine. Just as I typed the last sentence, a thought ran up my mind, how does Bernoulli’s Theorem due to various viscosity and air densities, streamlining of air flow and kinetic energy, fit into this fluid dynamics of flight? I am just pondering over this right now. Perhaps I should write a small essay on this later.
The Designer of Reversible Cycles :
Strangely in medicine and physiology, an area and discipline where I am more familiar and conversant than on aviation, there is also a energy conversion cycle called Kreb’s Cycle, sometimes called citric acid, tricarboxylic acid cycle (after Hans Adolf Kreb, an Oxford Nobel Laureate) where food (fuel) in its metabolic breakdown are also similarly converted into energy. But this a slow combustion involving ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and FAD (flavin adenine dinucleotide) metabolic dynamics. In the Kreb’s Cycle, the energy conversion efficiency for a biological machine like our human body, is around 30 % , and this is far more efficient than any jet or propulsion engines or any mechanical machines. No man-made machine of any design, of any kind, whether made yesterday, today or tomorrow, whether for applications in medicine, science or in technology, can be better or more efficient than what is already naturally designed and programmed for us billions of years ago. It was programmed by God, the Designer and Creator Himself. We can never beat nature, no matter what technological, scientific or medical advances we have frog-leaped over the centuries. Carnot Cycle for an ideal heat engine is Physics, and Kreb’s Cycle is Biochemistry, Medicine and Physiology, but none of these energy utilization systems is as ideal and reversible as the Natural Cycle of Mother Nature – the Energy Balance in the Equations of Ecosystem - the Wind, the Rain, the Sun, and the Water Cycles, the Plants, and the Animals, the Food Chain, the Day and the Night, and the precision circuits of the Earth and other planets round the Sun. These natural and reversible cycles has kept us all alive for a 100 million years on this good planet. It is the Designer’s flawless programme, a retrievable and renewable Cycle for all living things on Earth, and they are not something that could be designed, made or mimic by a physicist or a mechanical / aeronautical engineer, even in their wildest dreams. Let us cherish this Good Earth. Let us be thankful for this life-sustaining Cycles already programmed and given to us. Let’s not break them with our stupid technology. We can never fight Nature.
Now, How to Make Instant Decaffeinated Coffee from Jet Engine Exhaust :
The Super Critical Liquids Poser ?
Many thanks for your information that anti-icing agent(s) were added to the aviation fuel to prevent the fuel from freezing at high altitudes where I believe the temperature outside could be down to – 50 0 Celsius or less. Facts and figures like these fascinate me tremendously. I only know that anti-caking agents are added to manufactured food products for similar reasons. But I never thought this problem applies for fuel as well. With this ignorance, I wonder whether they will ever give me a job in the fuel industry ?
However, we know that the boiling point of any liquid, including fuels, becomes lower and lower with decreasing gas pressures. Conversely, the boiling point of liquid increases with increasing pressures. At very low atmospheric pressures volatile fuels like alcohol may just boil off at ordinary room temperatures, but definitely not with kerosene. No fuel except liquid hydrazine and liquid hydrogen I believe, could boil-off even under very low atmospheric pressures. After all, even an air-breathing jet liner can manage only up to 35,000 ft (10.66 km) into the mid to upper region of the troposphere. At that altitude, the temperature is in the region of – 50 to –55 o Celsius, and it should register an atmospheric pressure of only about 260 hPa (26 kilo Pascal), equivalent to 195 mm of Mercury (atmospheric pressure at sea level = 760 mm Hg = 101.325 kPa = 1.01325 bar) from a rough calculation I just made. The air density 10 km up there is about 0.41 kg / m3 This means at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet (10,668 metres) the pressure outside, bearing variations in humidity and temperatures, showed it ought to be only (26/101.325) X 100 = 25.66 % compared with that registered at sea level. The approximate calculation is based on a linear-curve table. Am I right Captain ? It’s an area you can tell me and all of us better.
Given this horrendously frigid temperatures – well below the freezing points of most solvents, organic liquids and almost all fuels, no fuel (except liquid hydrogen) could just boil off. They will all be frozen solid hard if not for the anti-icing agents being added, as pointed out by you - thanks to you for this beautiful information I just have just learnt from you.
Even in the intensely frigid environment of outer space, well above the mesosphere and thermosphere, into the exosphere where the condition is near vacuum, exposed fuel could never boil off even at almost zero pressure. All normal liquid fuels will be frozen rock hard at temperatures from – 200o C downwards to almost absolute temperature (near zero Kelvin). But what I wanted to write here is not about the possibility of kerosene getting all iced up, but an extension of a thought of what you said about anti-icing agent being added. It’s another thought that just ran up my mind a few seconds ago. Suppose in a theoretical situation where we have the intensely high pressures generated within the turbines of a jet-engine acting on the extremely cold air drawn into the engine’s intake point, we should get a situation where at some point in the compression, the carbon dioxide from combustion is produced at the right amount, and at the right pressure, and at the right temperature (the hot gases mixed with the very cold air). What happens at that point ? Well to save us all the problem of guessing over this riddle, let me tell you what will happen. The carbon dioxide (CO2) from the exhaust will turn into something called a Supercritical Liqud. Its temperature is neither cold enough to turn the CO2 into solid dry ice, or liquid CO2 (under pressure), nor is it warm enough to remain perfectly gaseous under normal pressure. It becomes a phase which is “half liquid half gas”. It will achieve this at a certain critical pressure, and at a certain critical temperature. Technically, we call this a “Supercritical Liquid” When that happens, the gas, especially carbon dioxide becomes a super efficient solvent. This criteria varies from gas to gas. For carbon dioxide it is a very efficient solvent that could dissolve out the caffeine out of coffee at about 45o C at a pressure of 300 atmospheric pressures. It could act as a very clean and non-toxic solvent to extract fats from foods, and also aromatic compounds from herbal extracts for making perfumes.
In short, if we were to bubble the exhaust gas taken at that particular point in the air compression into our cup of coffee (not practical or possible please – just in theory) it will instantly turn the aroma of traditional and natural coffee into tasteless decaffeinated coffee. The caffeine will simply dissolve out into the carbon dioxide and throw out the caffeine along with the exhaust gases of the air-craft into the land below to whoever wants it. Isn’t this thought fascinating ? Sounds like a page from Science Fiction doesn’t it?
I am actually asking myself this possibility as a spin off thought of a food scientist (besides being a nutritionist). My imagination can really run wild in all directions at times. Frankly I am not sure of the answer myself. I am just using scientific logic gleaned from first principles in science and technology to churn and brew up this cup of strange concoction. Why not ? Why can’t we change our ordinary cup of traditional Chinese coffee into Nescafe if we were pass a tiny, tiny bit of jet exhaust through it at the right pressure and temperature? I know it is very ticklish idea to conjure up. I know everybody will laugh at me at my nonsensical imagination. But I have to affirm to you Captain, this Supercritical Fluid Principle is very real. It is not a science fiction or some non-existing principle I conjure up myself. It is a real technological procedure that has already been applied in the food, pharmaceutical, medical and cosmetic industry. It’s genuine, very real indeed. If you need to know, that’s how they make Nescafe (decaffeinated coffee) in Germany . Of course they did not use the exhaust from a jet engine to do this. But the principle still stands, and it is still the same. It is also a procedure being used to extract organic substances such as expensive and rare drugs, herbal medicines, and other high-tech pharmaceutical preparations. In the high tech pharmaceutical industry, we use super-cooled gas at very high pressures to act as a solvent for the isolation of heat-sensitive drugs. This is called Supercritical Liquids Extraction. In food technology, that’s how they make Instant Coffee and Nescafe. It is also used to purify a substance, such as removing fat or a toxin from food, or to make concentrates of food products. I am combing whatever I know in food engineering, pharmaceutical and drug extraction, in medicine, in applied chemistry, and in cosmetic manufacturing to boldly tell you this.
So why not make instant Nescafe from jet exhaust?
So we may have a situation where the air steward(ess) serves hot, natural, aromatic, traditional Chinese coffee inside the cabin, but unwittingly only be able to serve frozen Western decaffeinated coffee outside the cabin made from the exhaust gases of the jet engines. I suppose it serves its purpose for those who refuse to pay air-fare, and be warm and comfortable inside the pressurized cabin. They may sit outside on the wings to be served another type of coffee ! At a God-forbidden temperature of – 55o C outside, even their tongues and their taste-buds will turn brittle, and instantly crumble into powder even when lightly beaten with a spoon, let alone feel any taste or pain from intense frostbites They will blown off the wings by a 1,000 km per hour wind, let alone taste any type of coffee ? Just fancy that for imaginary science stories ? Maybe it is possible in space travels where we can just float about in a vacuum, and drink coffee at leisure. Maybe I should write some thoughts about traveling in space later, but right now I have so many other letters to reply.
Caution: Just a note of care. It is just not possible to extract even a tiny bit of the combustion gases from the turbines. How are we going to get it out without damaging the blades ? Although it may be possible to divert a little of it through an inlet tube, but how are we going to maintain it at 300 atmospheric pressure (30,398 hPa), and kept it at 318 Kelvin (45o C) exactly in the conditions that is needed to turn carbon dioxide into a Super Critical Liquid even though I believe it may be generated somewhere inside the turbines? The CO2 will act as a Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Solvent no doubt if we can pass it through our cup of coffee to remove the caffeine. I do not know the velocity of the jet blast inside the turbines, but it has to be much faster than the entire plane. The plane itself is already traveling at near 1,000 kph, and the velocity of ejection of the hot gases from the exhaust must be far, far, higher than that, albeit the discharged is divided equally among all the 4 engines. This is just the principles of physics and fluid flow mechanics (Bernoulli’s Theorem).
I am only writing this for fun to tease our brains for imagination sake only. Don’t take me seriously. Theoretically the principle is okay, but in practice – No ! But the extraction of caffeine from natural, traditional coffee to produce decaffeinated coffee, or drugs and natural medicines using the Supercritical Fluid Principles as I have described IS REAL – VERY REAL INDEED. This part of the story remains valid forever. The rest are just my wild imagination found only in Science Fiction.
What Rubbish Stuff Am I Writing?
A close friend came into my room a short while ago and asked me what was I typing on my computer the whole of this afternoon in between seeing patients. He reminded me that some of them were still waiting outside. I told him they can wait. He remarked that it looks like I enjoy playing with my computer (sometimes on my violin) more than doing my serious job. He was very right. I restrict the appointments to a maximum of only 5 patients a day, so that I can have time for other more enjoyable things. I told him I was writing to a pilot of a Boeing 777 jetliner telling him how to make instant coffee from the exhaust of his jet engines. He was taken aback, and remarked that I was a cuckoo. He asked me why don’t I write more articles about health, nutrition, disease, and medical issues - something more relevant, practical, and more interesting to people so that they can benefit from them. Why should I. ? I have already written hundreds of articles about health, nutrition, biomedical and other health-related subjects, and all those sissy stuff. All these have already been published here and there, in bulletins, newsletters, company brochures, pamphlets, health magazines, besides notes I write for my regular public lectures I give almost once a month. These things are very boring to me by now. A lot of people forget I am also formally trained in other areas of sciences - chemistry, zoology, physiology, nutrition, food quality control, and food engineering too.
In fact I have Bachelor and Master’s degrees in them. But I wish could I have just one single Bachelor’s degree, or even a diploma on aviation, aeronautics, astronomy or even on music. That would be fantastic, but at last I have not a single qualification in this pet area. How sad, but I am more than willing to exchange all what I have, including exchanging all my current 3 doctorates degrees for a single Bachelor’s degree in astronomy, astronautics, or even on how to pilot a plane. That would be fantastic. I am more crazy about physical sciences than on girlish subjects like biomedical sciences. I landed up on the wrong runaway you can loudly say that. If I am an astronaut today, how nice would it be to be able to see the fantastic stars and galaxies from the depth of space. It will give me inspirations to write outrageous hypothesis on astronomy, cosmic and particle physics, space medicine, space travel, and space technology, and even on religion Even writing on music makes learning more fun, and life less boring. After all, we all need to live a balanced life which would be far richer, more holistic, spiritually and materially. Life would be more fulfilling than merely doing the same old routine job everyday. Unfortunately, we are all caught up in this commercial world, and have no where to go but eke out a living day-to-day to feed our families. But there are also “weird hobbies” I have never had a chance of doing all these years. Making Nescafe from a jet engine exhaust is just one. Some say I am mad – perhaps I am.
Captain, Can you please join our Senior Scientists Consultative Group :
Lastly Capt Lim, as a Senior Pilot, I think you should be a member of our newly established organization called “Senior Scientists Consultative Group” (SSCG). It is an establishment initiated by the Government through Academician Tan Sri Professor Datuk Dr Ong Soon Hock, PhD (Lond), FMASc. This is a group of academicians and professionals headed by Academician Tan Sri Professor Datuk Dr Augustine SH Ong who is also a Senior Fellow of The Malaysian Academy of Sciences. Academician Tan Sri Ong is also the President of COSTAM (Confederation of Scientific and Technological Associations of Malaysia). The SSCG consists of very senior and high caliber scientists, engineers, doctors, clinicians, and cutting edge technologists in the country. The country is very short of these “highly wanted” people, and the Government has asked Academician Tan Sri to set up this special group of people so that their skills, matured experiences, and expertise may be harvested for nation building after their retirement. Currently, we have specialist scientists, medical specialists, and engineers from varied disciplines in the group, but not a single pilot has landed. Piloting and aviation are highly skilled sciences, so why not join us ? We will love to have people like yourself to help the SSCG to grow into a huge pool of expertise in all areas of sciences – science, medicine, engineering and technology. I hope you can fly in and land at the “Malaysian SSCG Airport”. Can I recommend you in if you have already reached senior status. We will turn on the guiding lights for your safe landing I assure you. The application form is in COSTAM website. Just key in “COSTAM” (Google Engine) and contact Ms JoAnn, the Executive Secretary. Else contact me. I shall propose you in.
Warmest Regards
- JB Lim
Someone suggested that I should sign my name as JB -007 (James Bond Lim – 007). After all “JB” is truly my legal initial, and my Membership No in the Nutrition Society of Malaysia is also : 007, so I think it is not wrong if I call myself as “ James Bond 007.” Joking only lah ! I am not that crazy.
Dear Ir. Cheong,
Thanks for your letter.
I do not know how you knew I was trying to calculate and do some measurements on the plane on my way from Malaysia to China? I never told you this. In fact I never told anyone.
The only place I mentioned about this was in one of the many articles I wrote in Senior Pilot Captain KH Lim website about flying. My articles are scattered here and there in other people’s website as I don’t have a website of my own. But I do have a blog and a U-tube, but I put nothing inside my own site. Most of my articles go into other people’s website as a link to theirs. Some of them are found here – please click below:
1. Airline pilot - a very responsible and noble profession - a medical scientist's insight.
2. Home > Profession > Airline pilot - a very responsible and noble profession - a medical scientist's insight.
http://askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=683:airline-pilot-a-very-responsible-and-noble-profession-a-medical-scientists-insight&catid=26:profession&Itemid=52
3. Dr JB Lim’s Corner
http://askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=74&Itemid=89
4. What is the fuel consumption of a Boeing 777 as compared to a Boeing 707?
5. Can we actually see a city from a plane flying at 10,000 metres?
http://www.askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=191:can-we-actually-see-a-city-from-a-plane-flying-at-10000-metres&catid=23:air-travel&Itemid=49
6. What is the fuel consumption of a Boeing 777 as compared to a Boeing 707?
http://www.askcaptainlim.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=438:what-is-the-fuel-consumption-of-a-boeing-777-as-compared-to-a-boeing-707&catid=75:flying-on-the-boeing-777&Itemid=91
7. Dr JB Lim also wrote dozens of articles on various disciplines of sciences – medical research, medicine, health issues, biology, physiology, pharmacology, aviation, physics, mathematics, scientific discoveries, music, literature, etc, etc. he put them all under the Astronomical Society of Malaysia website address:
8. http://www.geocities.com/astronomicalsocietyofmalaysia/asm_homepage.html
Unfortunately this website has remained inactive for some time, and Yahoo search engine has removed the above site. There is a time limit for free websites to remain active. Else they will remove the website. Try to use Yahoo Search Engine instead of Google.
9. There are also numerous other health and nutrition articles written by Dr JB Lim for his pharmaceutical group of companies (Dynapharm & Diamond Interest, etc).
10. Additionally below is also another article which I wrote to Captain Lim 2 years ago but left it half-way. But since you mention about my flight to China, I decided to complete this article today. But I did not send it to Captain Lim as he is far too busy flying here and there. It is below the dotted line here:
For more of Dr Lim's articles, use Google search engine and type in 'Dr JB Lim's Corner'. Also type in seperately (Google Search): 'Lim Ju Boo'
Post a Comment