Smart Economy

Watching atoms in actions Part 1 Atomic-level snapshot catches protein motor in action

Atomic-level snapshot catches protein motor in action

The atomic-level action of a remarkable class of ring-shaped protein motors has been uncovered by researchers with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using a state-of-the-art protein crystallography beamline at the Advanced Light Source. These protein motors play pivotal roles in gene expression and replication, and are vital to the survival of all biological cells, as well as infectious agents, such as the human papillomavirus, which has been linked to cervical cancer.

http://newscenter.lbl.gov/feature-stories/2009/11/19/rho-protein-motor/

 

Walter  Derzko

African pollution spreads to Americas in dust storms

Source: Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 2009 conference

We know that African dust affects weather and hurricane severity in America...now we have one more thing to worry about---If only pollution would stay where it originates..it doesn't--Walter Derzko

 

It’s an ill wind that blows: African dust making it across the ocean:

Increasing quantities of African dust have blown across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean and Americas over the past few decades. During that time, the dust’s composition has changed. In this study, African dust air masses in Africa and the Caribbeanwere analyzed for persistent organic contaminants and metals.  These potentially toxic contaminants can originate from the burning of plastics, biomass and waste; widespread use of pesticides, plastics, and pharmaceuticals; and increased industrialization. Multiple pesticides and other contaminants, including carcinogens, suppressors of immune systems, disruptors of endocrine systems, and nervous system or liver toxins were identified from all sample sites.  All are known to persist in the environment, accumulate in organisms, and are toxic at very low concentrations.

This study, Chasing clouds of dust: transoceanic transport of synthetic organic pollutants and trace metals with African dust, will be presented on Nov. 22 at 11 a.m. in Ballroom D. For more information, contact Ginger Garrison at ginger_garrison@usgs.gov or at         727-803-8747     , ext. 3061.

This could be both a threat ( a health concern) and an opportunity ( an engineering or nanotech designer surface chemistry solution waiting to be born) A researcher I once met 6-7 years ago at the Lviv Polytechnic University in Ukraine was developing "smart" designer surfaces and filters that would attract and trap specific volatile organic compounds (VOC's). This seems like a perfect extension. As well, meta-genomics can be used to map the genetics of clusters of the hundreds of microbes that can "eat" or digest heavy metals in the soil. If governments around the world instituted a cradle-to-grave policy on cleanup, then all manufacturers would contribute to collaborative R&D efforts shared by the industry,but we are a long way away frm this type of international enlightenment--Walter Derzko

Walter Derzko

Designer nanomaterials fly into space

Nanotech in Space: Rensselaer Experiment To Weather the Trials of Orbit

Novel nanomaterials developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in the USA are scheduled to blast off into orbit on November 16 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. The project, funded by the U.S. Air Force Multi University Research Initiative (MURI), seeks to test the performance of the new nanocomposites in orbit. Space Shuttle Atlantis will carry the samples to the International Space Station (ISS). The materials will then be mounted to the station’s outer hull in a Passive Experiment Carrier (PEC), and exposed to the rigors of space.

 

[...] 

 

The first new material is a wear-resistant, low-friction nanocomposite, created by mixing nanoscale alumina particles with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which is known commercially as Teflon. Schadler and her research group introduced different fluorine-coated nanoparticles into conventional PTFE. The small amount of additive caused the wear rate of the PTFE to drop by four orders of magnitude, without affecting the PTFE’s coefficient of friction. The end result is a stronger, more durable PTFE that is almost as nonstick and slippery as untreated PTFE.

 

[...]

 

The second set of nanomaterials to be launched into space are conductive polymer nanocomposites. During the loading of the tribometers into the PEC for space travel, an opportunity arose to also test the conductivity of carbon nanotube-filled polyamideimide and liquid crystalline polymers as a function of space exposure. The conductive composites, developed by Schadler and former Rensselaer postdoctoral researcher Justin Bult – who is now a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory — had to be developed in less than a week.

 

Full press release see here

 

Walter Derzko

Nanostructured Integrated Circuit Detects Type and Severity of Cancer

A team of investigators from the University of Toronto have used nanomaterials to develop an inexpensive microchip sensitive enough to quickly determine the type and severity of a patient's cancer so that the disease can be detected earlier for more effective treatment. Their work, reported in two papers published in the journals ACS Nano and Nature Nanotechnology, could herald an era when inexpensive yet sophisticated molecular diagnostics will become commonplace.

The researchers' new device can readily detect the signature biomarkers that indicate the presence of cancer at the cellular level, even though these biomolecules - genes that indicate aggressive or benign forms of the disease and differentiate subtypes of the cancer - are generally present only at low levels in biological samples. Analysis can be completed in 90 minutes, a significant improvement over the existing diagnostic procedures that generally take days.

"Today, it takes a room filled with computers to evaluate a clinically relevant sample of cancer biomarkers and the results aren't quickly available," said team co-leader Shana Kelley. "Our team was able to measure biomolecules on an electronic chip the size of your fingertip and analyse the sample within half an hour. The instrumentation required for this analysis can be contained within a unit the size of a BlackBerry."

The nanoelectrode device that Kelley, collaborator Edward Sargent, and their students created is able to detect disease-related genes without the use of PCR to amplify low-level DNA. The electrodes, which are the key component of the device, have a novel highly-branched nanostructured shape that can detect attomolar concentrations of DNA. Using arrays of electrodes, each differing in the degree of nanostructured branching, the investigators were able to construct a device capable of sensing DNA molecules over six orders of magnitude, overcoming the dynamic range issue - the ability to detect both common and rare molecules - that has plagued other devices

Using their device, the investigators analyzed messenger RNA samples from prostate cancer biopsies. Their analysis showed that the device can detect gene fusions characteristic of prostate cancer. More importantly, the device was able to distinguish between gene fusions associated with either fast- or slow-growing forms of prostate cancer.

The paper describing the construction of this nanobiosensor is titled, "Programming the detection limits of biosensors through controlled nanostructuring." An abstract of this paper is available at the journal's Web site.

The paper detailing the use of the nanobiosensor to detect and characterize cancers is titled, "Direct Profiling of Cancer Biomarkers in Tumor Tissue Using a Multiplexed Nanostructured Microelectrode Integrated Circuit." An abstract of this paper is available at the journal's Web site

 

Walter Derzko

 

Why vaccines, antibiotics and antivirals are now obsolete- surpassed by hydrated fullerenes (C60 HYFN)

When Buckyballs or Fullerenes (Carbon 60, which is a form of carbon, just like coal, activated charcoal, soot, diamonds or the lead in your pencil,) were first discovered several decades ago, they were lauded as a “silver bullet” in medicine. The hype quickly subsided when most researchers realized that both natural and synthetic fullerenes were not very water soluble, hence they only saw weak medical effects. But a team of Ukrainian researchers persisted and a decade ago, they discovered a way to make fullerenes water soluble without making them more toxic. Now, after undergoing clinical trials, they are launching a fullerene-based  water solution (FWS) drink shortly on the Ukrainian market as a natural food supplement, Fullerenes are found naturally in lightening discharges, in nano-quantities in molasses or in some natural spring. spa waters and in shungite rocks.

Governments around the world should fast-track the approval of hydrated fullerenes (C60 HyFNs) or Fullerene Water Solution (FWS) drinks, which are anti-microbial (both anti viral and anti bacterial) and can protect people from all colds and flu. WFS is about to be launched by Ukrainian scientists on the Ukrainian market as a natural food supplement

So why the Ukrainians and not another country-you might ask yourself? Well they all tried (UK, Americans, Germans, China, Japan, South Korea, etc)  to make safe nontoxic watersoluble fullernes but failed except for Ukrainian researchers.

So here are the benefits of FWS over conventional approaches

1) FWS are not viral specific like vaccines -they don't need several months lead time to be manufactured  for each new viral season. The turnaround for FWS is 2-3 days. FWS work on all viruses and bacteria year round, by suppressing the viral or bacterial spread from cell to cell. FWS don't kill microbes but block mobility from cell to cell, due to water clusters formed around the fullerene molecule. Your  immune system then decides which  microbes are invaders and which microbes  are beneficial for the body.

2) People and especially teenagers who have died due to swine flu (due to cytokine cascades or secondary bacterial infections) could have been saved if FWS was on the market today.

3) High risk groups -like Canadian aboriginal Indians, could be saved from flu death by taking a combination of Vitamin D (to tune up the immune system in the winter) and FWS

4) With FWS you don't need annual immunization campaigns and 6 hour long lineups, like we have seen in Toronto this past week. Public health money could be used for other priorities.

5) With FWS, you don't need to distinguish between high and low risk groups like you do in rollouts for vaccines. If  FWS were available from Walmart to corner health food stores as a health drink , you'd have equal access

6) FWS are cheaper to produce then antibiotics and vaccines

7) FWS are safer then vaccines and antibiotics (see http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/and type in "fullerene" under Hazardous Substance Data Bank). FWS don' t build up resistance in bacteria the way antibiotics do.

8)FWS would reduce the work load on hospital ICU's and protect front line staff

9) Feeding fullerne laced water to animals would eliminate the need for conventional antibiotics

10) Dipping plant seeds in fullerene water solutions increases growth, health  and resilience of growing plants

For more information contact me from your corporate email

Walter Derzko

Other medical/biological effects of HyFN's see http://www.fullwater.com.ua/page6.html )

Water-soluble fullerenes (also known as buckyballs) or hydrated fullerenes (HyFN's) appear to possess an impressive list of in vivo and in vitro effects which have been researched by Ukrainian scientists and are summarized below:

The following table was reproduced with the permission of the authors:

Basic biological properties of aqueous solutions of the hydrated C60 fullerene (HyFn) detected to the present time (May 2005)

In vitro experiments revealed that HyFn with C60 concentrations up to 100mM/l:

1. Are non-toxic for cells including hepatocytes;

2. Do not suppress, but promote the growth of isolated micro-organisms (microbes, fungi, etc.) and improve the survival rate and viability of cells (e.g., spermatozoa) and of frozen-thawed cells;

3. Do not inhibit cell respiration;

4. Do not suppress membrane-bonded ATP-ase activity;

5. Possess greater anti-oxidant properties then vitamin E, b-carotene and BHT (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-kresol);

6. Stabilize cellular membranes and enhance their resistance under adverse conditions;

7. Do not affect blood coagulation;

8. Increase by 5-10 degrees C the temperature of biomolecules denaturation (DNA, albumin, collagen and etc.);

9. Increase catalytic activity of isolated enzymes (e.g., serine proteases).

In vivo experiments revealed that HyFn with C60 total doses up to 25mg/kg of b.w.:

1. Are non-toxic, not immunogenic, none allergenic;

2. Increase resistance of plasma membranes to damaging factors;

3. Positively influence anti-oxidant and energetic systems of organisms;

4. Possess radioprotective properties due to suppression of excess level of free radicals;

5. Possess antihistaminic and allergy-suppressing abilities, i.e., act as anti-inflammatory agents,

6. Positively influence activity of adrenergic, GABA-, hystaminic- and, especially, serotoninergic systems and, as a consequence, enhance adaptogenic functions of organisms; adaptive homeostasis

7. Show positive neuroprotecting effects (e.g., in Alzheimer's disease) and non-specific analgesic effects;

8. Do not kill tumor cells, inhibition of development of cancer pathologies, cancer metastasis,

9. Possess anti-atherosclerotic (anti-atherogenic) properties;

10. Are able to protect against viral infection (e.g., influenza, etc.): (HyFn do not kill viruses and microbes, but do not allow them to incorporate into cells)....(HYFNs plus Vitamin D supplements  could make antibiotics and vaccines obsolete in the future)

Source: Fullerenes, Nanotubes, and Carbon Nanostructures, 13: 363-376, 2005;Is the C60 Fullerene Molecule Toxic?!

Carbon nanotubes affect lining of the lungs

Study shows how carbon nanotubes (CNT)  can affect lining of the lungs (the CNT dose makes the posion)

Carbon nanotubes are being considered for use in everything from sports equipment to medical applications, but a great deal remains unknown about whether these materials cause respiratory or other health problems. Now a collaborative study from North Carolina State University, The Hamner Institutes for Health Sciences, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences shows that inhaling these nanotubes can affect the outer lining of the lung, though the effects of long-term exposure remain unclear.

Using mice in an animal model study, the researchers set out to determine what happens when multi-walled carbon nanotubes are inhaled. Specifically, researchers wanted to determine whether the nanotubes would be able to reach the pleura, which is the tissue that lines the outside of the lungs and is affected by exposure to certain types of asbestos fibers which cause the cancer mesothelioma. The researchers used inhalation exposure and found that inhaled nanotubes do reach the pleura and cause health effects.

Short-term studies described in the paper do not allow conclusions about long-term responses such as cancer. However, the inhaled nanotubes "clearly reach the target tissue for mesothelioma and cause a unique pathologic reaction on the surface of the pleura, and caused fibrosis," says Dr. James Bonner, associate professor of environmental and molecular toxicology at NC State and senior author of the study. The "unique reaction" began within one day of inhalation of the nanotubes, when clusters of immune cells (lymphocytes and monocytes) began collecting on the surface of the pleura. Localized fibrosis, or scarring on parts of the pleural surface that is also found with asbestos exposure, began two weeks after inhalation.

The study showed the immune response and fibrosis disappeared within three months of exposure. However, this study used only a single exposure to the nanotubes. "It remains unclear whether the pleura could recover from chronic, or repeated, exposures," Bonner says. "More work needs to be done in that area and it is completely unknown at this point whether inhaled carbon nanotubes will prove to be carcinogenic in the lungs or in the pleural lining."

The mice received a single inhalation exposure of six hours as part of the study, and the effects on the pleura were only evident at the highest dose used by the researchers – 30 milligrams per cubic meter (mg/m3). The researchers found no health effects in the mice exposed to the lower dose of one mg/m3.

Source: The study, "Inhaled Carbon Nanotubes Reach the Sub-Pleural Tissue in Mice,"   is published in the Oct. 25 issue of Nature Nanotechnology

Walter Derzko

Fusion of nano-circuits and bio-membranes creates new hybrid technology

A hybrid of silicon nanocircuits and biological components that mimics some of the processes that control the passage of molecules into and out of cells has been created by a team of scientists from UC Davis, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC Berkeley.

The lipid-coated nanocircuits could lead to the development of new classes of bio-sensing tools and biological applications, such as comprehensive blood-chemistry tests that fit on the point of a needle or screening tools for the development of new drugs.

"This is an example of a marriage between integrated circuit technology and biotechnology,"  said Pieter Stroeve, a professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis and one of three lead scientists on the project. "The technology of both can be mass produced, so in theory, their integration can also be mass produced."

While modern communications devices rely on electric fields and currents to carry the flow of information, biological systems are much more complex. Their use of membrane receptors, channels and pumps to control chemical signals within and between cells is unmatched by even the most powerful computers. Because these complex operations have the potential for enhancing technological systems, scientists have been trying to develop techniques to blend the systems together.

An added advantage of such a fusion is its potential for miniaturization. "If you want to go to the nanoscale of circuit technology, some of the components need to be so small that they are either very difficult to produce, or they may fail," Stroeve said. "On the other hand, many biological components have the tendency to self-assemble. And that's what we built our work on."

To create their hybrid system, Stroeve and lead scientist Aleksandr Noy, a chemist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and Costas Grigoropoulos, a professor of mechanical engineering at UC Berkeley, turned to lipid bilayer membranes: the thin films that surround cells, acting as gatekeepers for molecules passing into and out of the cell.

Using a technique they had previously developed, the team immersed nano-scale transistors made of silicon wire into a suspension of lipid molecules in water. Attracted to the negatively charged nanowire surfaces, the lipids accumulated onto them, forming a double layer that served to insulate the wires' electrical properties as well as shield them from the surrounding water.

The team fused proteins from bacteria called Gramicidin A and Alemethicin into the lipid bilayers. In living cells these proteins serve as channels for molecules crossing the membrane.

By creating a voltage difference across the membrane, the researchers found that they could open and close the protein channels.

"This is much the same thing that happens in a cell," Stroeve explained. "Now that we can open and close these channels, we can, in effect, regulate our system's ability to sense chemicals in its environment."

A paper describing the research was posted Aug. 10, 2009  in the early online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and published in the journal's Aug. 18 issue.

Walter Derzko,

Smart Economy, Toronto

Author of the soon-to-be-released book: Opportunities.. about opportunity recognition in a recession/ depression featuring 45 opportunity scenarios by J. Wiley and Sons

 

Live recordings of cell to cell communication

Look at any science discovery/ breakthrough and behind it you will usually find a previous breakthrough in instrumentation or visualization.

 

A new advanced method developed at the

University

of

Copenhagen

for nano-scale imaging of vesicle-fusion – vesicles that are biological nano-sized containers inside cells - could add to our understanding of diseases of the nervous system and viral infections. In the long term, this could be useful in developing a cure for neurological diseases and mental disorders (e.g. schizophrenia, depression, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease).

 

Neurons communicate with each other with the help of nano-sized vesicles. Disruption of this communication process is responsible for many diseases and mental disorders like e.g. depression. Nerve signals travel from one neuron to another through vesicles - a nano-sized container loaded with neurotransmitter molecules. A vesicle fuses with the membrane surrounding a neuron, releases neurotransmitters into the surroundings that are detected by the next neuron in line. However, we still lack a more detailed understanding of how the fusion of vesicles occurs on the nano-scale. We just don't know what happens in the exact pathway(s)...which this method could unravel

 

see story here Live recordings of cell communication

 

Walter Derzko

Smart Economy

Toronto

Smart Bottom-up assembly through molecular nanoweaving

 Traditionally, chemical reactions can be initiated by targeting individual molecules using sophisticated tools such as lasers, atomic force microscopes, and scanning tunneling microscopes. However, such bottom-up molecular reactions are typically limited to lab experiments rather than the creation of a commercially viable macroscopic material.

 

This novel University of Chicago patent offers a commercial "free space method" based on field gradients in order to weave macromolecular films.

 

Claim 1 reads:

1. A method of constructing macroscopic films with tailored assemblies of molecules, comprising:

providing starting molecules; and

applying a force selected from the group of a gravitational force, a centrifugal force, a magnetic field force, and an electric field force to the starting molecules causing them to move in space and then chemically react to form tailored assemblies of molecules in a particular pattern in a nanoscale size macroscopic film for removal and subsequent use.

 

see  Molecular nanoweaver- US Patent 7501483

Walter Derzko

Why sustainable power is unsustainable?- advanced "renewable" technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources

Recessions and depressions are great periods in history because paradoxes and contradictions seem to stand out even more. The big one facing society in the next two decades is the obvious economic one-everything in our conventional economic paradigm is based on annual, year-over-year growth, yet we appear to be entering a period of "peak resources" ranging from peak water, to peak oil, peak gas and most importantly for business, peak minerals-facts that the green eco-movement often ignores, or is hiding in the closet-the dirty green secret.

A story earlier this month in New Scientist, covered a Financial Times conference on energy and sustainability in London England and it concludes:

"Renewable energy needs to become a lot more renewable...[..]... Although scientists are agreed that we must cut carbon emissions from transport and electricity generation to prevent the globe's climate becoming hotter, and more unpredictable, the most advanced "renewable" technologies are too often based upon non-renewable resources, attendees heard. Supratik Guha of IBM told the conference that sales of silicon solar cells are booming, with 2008 being the first year that the silicon wafers for solar cells outstripped those used for microelectronic devices. But although silicon is the most abundant element in the Earth's crust after oxygen, it makes relatively inefficient cells that struggle to compete with electricity generated from fossil fuels. And the most advanced solar-cell technologies rely on much rarer materials than silicon [-that being indium.]"

[..]...Peak Indium? 10 year of global supply left?

"The efficiency of solar cells is measured as a percentage of light energy they convert to electricity. Silicon solar cells finally reached 25% in late December. But multi-junction solar cells can achieve efficiencies greater than 40%.

 

Although touted as the future of solar power, those and most other multiple-junction cells owe their performance to the rare metal indium, which is far from abundant. There are fewer than 10 indium-containing minerals, and none present in significant deposits – in total the metal accounts for a paltry 0.25 parts per million of the Earth's crust.

 

Most of the rare and expensive element is used to manufacture LCD screens, an industry that has driven indium prices to $1000 per kilogram in recent years. Estimates that did not factor in an explosion in indium-containing solar panels reckon we have only a 10 year supply of it left.

If power from the Sun is to become a major source of electricity, solar panels would have to cover huge areas, making an alternative to indium essential."

Could we see resource wars, {which the US military has extensive plans for}, material rationing or outright prohibition like we saw with alcohol in the 1930's? Will we have to select between indium for our cell phones, flat screen TV's or solar cells? Will nanotech breakthroughs come to the rescue? -will an exotic combination of fullerenes, graphenes and carbon nanotubes be the substitution answer? The nanotech race for an alternative is on.--Walter Derzko

 

They also cover peak Platinum

"The dream of the hydrogen economy faces similar challenges, said Paul Adcock of UK firm Intelligent Energy. A cheap way to generate hydrogen has so far proved elusive. New approaches, such as using bacterial enzymes to "split" water, have a long way to go before they are commercially viable. So far, fuel cells are still the most effective way to turn the gas into electricity. But these mostly rely on expensive platinum to catalyse the reaction.

The trouble is, platinum makes indium appear super-abundant. It is present in the Earth's crust at just 0.003 parts per billion and is priced in $ per gram, not per kilogram. Estimates say that, if the 500 million vehicles in use today were fitted with fuel cells, all the world's platinum would be exhausted within 15 years. Unfortunately platinum-free fuel cells are still a long way from the test track. A nickel-catalysed fuel cell developed at  Wuhan University, China, has a maximum output only around 10% of that a platinum catalyst can offer.

A new approach announced yesterday demonstrates that carbon nanotubes could be more effective, as well as cheaper, than platinum. But again it will be many years before platinum-free fuel cells become  a commercial prospect."

Also , could Lithium shortages in 10-15 years  impede future electric car deployment?

 

Let’s look at the  metal gallium, which along with indium is used to make the next generation of semiconductor materials-indium gallium arsenide for a new generation of solar cells that promise to be up to twice as efficient as conventional designs. Reserves of both metals are disputed, but in a 2007 report Renï  Kleijn, from LeidenUniversity in the Netherlands, concludes that current reserves "would not allow a substantial contribution of these cells" to the future supply of solar electricity. He estimates gallium and indium will probably contribute to less than 1 per cent of all future solar cells - a limitation imposed purely by a lack of raw material."

Other projections I've seen-antimony could run out in 10 years; Silver in 10 years, hafnium in 10-15 years and tribium by 2012 or 4-5 years. Looking for the next geopolitical flash point? The US imports 90% of its rare metals and materials from China.

(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol 103, p 1209), "Virgin stocks of several metals appear inadequate to sustain the modern 'developed world' quality of life for all of Earth's people under contemporary technology."

 

I've always wondered what minerals are hidden in the mountains of Afghanistan.... "It is widely acknowledged that one of the key motives for civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo between 1998 and 2002 was the riches to be had from the country's mineral resources, including tantalum mines - the biggest in Africa. The war coincided with a surge in the price of the metal caused by the increasing popularity of mobile phones." (New Scientist, 7 April 2001, p 46).

 

 

Ever wonder why China is hoarding every gram of our high tech electronic garbage?  It's buying up high-tech scrap to extract metals that are key to its developing industries.

 

One good thing about this recession / depression shakeout-there will be far fewer firms fighting and scrambling over those increasingly precious resources-buying us a few extra years of transition time.

 

The lessons here?...Digging minerals out of the ground will no longer automatically confer economic advantage {Canada, Africa, Brazil and China Listen Up}, instead structuring "smart materials" in novel ways will.--Walter Derzko 

 

 

See full story here and image  

 

© 2005-2009

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page