Old Faithful

I'd like to introduce you to what for me is a kind of good luck charm. No, I'm not overly superstitious, and maybe I should have rephrased that, to stress that the good luck was all in the past. What you see at the left is perhaps better described as a "a feel-good artefact" - a more accurate, if less endearing kind of description. The story of this watch, and how it has come to acquire its talismanic status, will be the subject of today's and tomorrow's posts. It's my Citizen watch, photographed in harsh sunlight on the mezzanine stairs two days ago. But the sunlight was needed to highlight a key feature of this very unusual time-piece. Look carefully at the hands (click on the photo to enlarge if necessary). You will see that they are not continuous. There is a break that corresponds with a faint circle in the background. It's because this is no ordinary watch, with solid metal hands, and thus with moving parts to drive those hands. It's a rare form of digital watch in which the hands are simulated on the LCD display. By photographing in unflattering sunlight, you can see in shadowy form all 60 of the radial stop positions needed for a complete sweep by the second and minute hands.

The sunlight also shows up another feature, a coloured border that starts at green, in dim light, then extends further into a red zone in brighter light, and which in the picture has reached the blue zone, under the small numeric display. The book of words that came with the watch described it as a "light meter", as if it were an essential aid to survival in modern life. I suppose it could be handy for photographers, but is, I suspect, just a gimmicky feature, albeit an attractive one, that adds life and colour to the watch face. In a practical sense it also shows that the clever photocell is working - the one that keeps the battery topped up, extending its lifetime enormously.

There's another mode I hesitate to mention, but it amused the children enormously when they were small. Press a button and the watch emits a clear and quite tuneful continuous note. If one then covers or partially covers the light cell, the pitch of the note changes, depending on the reduced light. With practice, one can get a tune simply by moving one's hand !

I haven't told you how old this watch is yet. You may be surprised. It was bought in 1984, when I was briefly flush with funds, having done a little private tutoring on the side. Yes, it had its 22nd birthday this year. It's been worn almost continuously, except for 6 months with a Accurist watch - a birthday present- that was a pain, needing to be reset each time a 30 day month changed to a 31, or 28, or vice-versa, and then finally gave up the ghost. I couldn't bother putting it in for repair, being more than happy to go back to Old Faithful. The latter has had just 3 replacement batteries in its life. On the second occasion it was sent back to Citizen for a new watch face, following an intense spell of abrasive DIY,and came back with some little faults on the mode shift buttons fixed, without my having requested them, all for a fairly nominal extra charge. But I've been doing some research, and suspect that Old Faithful may have brought tears to the eyes of some old-timers in Citizen's service section. You see, it appears that I own something that now has rarity value, although I have yet to confirm that on eBay. I only discovered this recently when I did the round of the shops, looking for a replacement with a similar simulated hands display. I could not find one. So I went to the Internet, and still could not.

After diligent searching, I finally located a site, URL since mislaid, sad to say, that mentioned my watch, and gave a clue as to why it's no longer available. It's to do with the way that watches are manufactured according to a basic design and then launched in a range of styles - a bit like cars in a way. Apparently the "chassis design" so to speak of the simulated hand watch means they cannot ring the changes where other features are concerned. That would explain why there was just my Old Faithful as the sole representative of its type in the jeweller's shop window all those years ago. But I have an eye for the unusual, so did not mind shelling out the £35

back in the early 80s. What would that be at current prices ? Not a lot, certainly not into the bling category, but neither a "wear for 6 months, then throwaway" item either.

When I look at the watch, I not only see one of the best purchases of my entire life. I think of the young woman whom I tutored successfully for O-Level maths. That allowed her to clear the last obstacle that had been standing in the way of a coveted place at music college, as well as putting a little extra cash in my pocket. I also think of the reasons why I allowed the agency (Personal Tutors) to coerce me into tutoring in something that was not my main subject, but how tutoring was to be a life-saver when the cold winds of Thatcherism began to blow in the late 80s, finally ending my career as a research scientist.

Tomorrow's post will have an intimidating-looking graphic - a mathematical equation, probably one that few people have seen, outside of the mortgage industry. It's a formula I worked out for myself, in 1967, one year out of University, when wondering how they figured out the fixed monthly payment on a repayment mortgage. I did it with nothing more than, guess what, O-Level maths. Oh yes, and SBP (sheer bloody persistence).

Some might call it being "obsessed".

I was wondering when we'd hear from you, hippo.

Maybe, but here's something to think about. Yesterday's Sunday Times got it wrong on carbon monoxide - said it was denser than air, formed a layer at ground level (see my post below). Maybe they will publish a correction next Sunday, or a small letter tucked away in geeks' corner, if someone bothers to put pen to paper. Chances are they won't, and will continue on their way regardless, continuing to litter the world with their careless factual inaccuracies. I'm quite unforgiving where the Sunday's are concerned. They have had days on the Corfu story to check and re-check their facts, especially in something headed "Carbon Monoxide: the Facts".

A scientist could not get away with this kind of sloppiness. Any factual errors in their work would get picked up, sooner or later, and then be passed baton-like from one published paper to the next, which is science's way of ridding itself of unhelpful and misleading contributions. Can you blame scientists for being eagle-eyed, obsessional even, when it comes to the facts ? It's a trait that is essential to their professional survival, and that once acquired, is difficult to shake off. Is this why scientists are given such wide berth in the MSM - becuase we science bods find it hard to conceal our disdain for careless or indifferent reporting of the so-called facts.

pm: sent the following email to The Editor, Sunday Times:

Under "Carbon monoxide: the facts" (ST, October 29, Focus) it is stated that CO is "a heavy gas that builds from the floor up". Not so. CO is slightly less dense than air. Maybe there's been some confusion with carbon dioxide. Precise figures, for those that are interested, can be found on my blog (see post for Oct 29).

http://www.dreams-and-daemons.blogspot.com/

Yours faithfully

Colin Berry

The Corfu tragedy and the silent killer - carbon monoxide gas

It's my aim, ambitious and possibly unrealistic, to put something up each day, no matter how small. It gives this retiree something to do, a structure to one's day, so to speak, and in the longer term might help to raise the profile of this blog in what is now a densely populated blogosphere. A daily blog means that my D&D raison d'être will not , and cannot, be followed too slavishly. Yes, it would be nice if folk felt they could open up here about the things they are striving to achieve in life, but it may be a while before that happens. Possibly my dream of creating this particular blogging niche is an unrealistic one -but that won't stop me trying. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. So while I patiently wait for the world to beat a path to my door, in search of that better metaphorical mousetrap, I must draw on all my resources to keep things gently simmering away on this site.

It was tragic event, currently dominating the news, that made me realize there's room here for a particular slot that fits with my interests, background and training. It's the one to do with matters pertaining to human health, backed up, if I might say, with a string of degrees (including a doctorate) in biochemistry.

The event in question was the discovery by a maid at a Corfu bungalow of two dead children and two unconscious adults. The man was the children's natural father, divorced from their mother back in England. He and his new partner had taken the children away for a half-term holiday. To this retired scientist, the initial press reports were baffling. No, we were "reliably" informed , this was not carbon monoxide poisoning : the hotel, in whose grounds the bungalow was situated, did not use gas, since the heating was by electricity. (That, as we now know, was not the whole story, more on that later). It must have been something they had eaten, we were told. Possibly food-poisoning from eating out somewhere, maybe "mushrooms". Mushrooms ? The mind boggles ? Had someone, a local restaurateur perhaps, been harvesting local toadstools, and serving them up as "mushrooms". The needle on hippo's mental CDM (crap-detecting meter) shot off scale on hearing that version of events .

I was sceptical to say the least. Firstly, food poisoning comes on in stages - nausea, vomiting etc. Given there were 4 people affected, at least one of them should have been able to raise the alarm. The fact that not one of them did so pointed strongly to poisoning by that age-old hazard to human existence, namely carbon monoxide gas.

As molecules go, its chemical structure could hardly be simpler (see graphic above ). One carbon atom (shown black) bonded to a single oxygen atom (red), instead of two oxygen atoms as in carbon dioxide. CO, in other words, instead of CO2. Geekish aside: CO is really C1O1, but chemists don't waste time writing 1 if there's only one of a particular atom).

As a young teenager, I was briefy into home chemistry, and quickly tired of the tame offerings of the shop-bought chemistry sets. I gradually won the trust of my local "chemist" (pharmacist) who in those days kept laboratory type chemicals for hobbyists etc, or could order them in.

When I told my school chemistry teacher about the new, and potentially hazardous hobby, he immediately expressed concern as to precisely what I was doing. I recall the occasion when I said I was proposing to make carbon monoxide. "Well, you had better be exceedingly careful " he said, " because before you know what, your knees will just go from under you, and someone, your parents as likely as not, will find you slumped there, unconscious if you're lucky, but more likely dead".

They said some or all the 4 victims in Corfu had been sick, a symptom of CO poisoning, but there was no mention of the classic tell-tale syptom - cherry red lips and fingernail-beds . Maybe the staff missed it. But what about the paramedics and hospital ? Did they miss it too ? Does that mean that the surviving couple weren't immediately administered oxygen, which is the first line of treatment, one that might not only get them quickly conscious again, but also spare them from serious long-term consequences ?

Why then is carbon monoxide gas so deadly? Firstly: it's highly potent. A fraction of 1% in the air you breathe can incapacitate and kill in less than 20 minutes. Secondly, it's ubiquitous. It's formed in the vicinity of any appliance that burns fossil fuel. That could be natural gas (methane), or charcoal (elemental carbon). The main danger comes from poorly ventilated gas burners, or from the foolhardy burning of wood, coal or charcoal indoors without a proper flue or chimney.

Sorry hippo, was there something you wanted to say ?

Yes, just a macabre aside: burning charcoal indoors is now a common way of committing suicide in Japan, especially among cults. Seems that running a car in a closed garage doesn't work reliably anymore, now that cars have catalytic converters as standard.

Stop press: my CDM's just gone off scale again. I've just seen the following in today's Sunday Times, under the heading "Carbon Monoxide:the Facts":

"(CO is) a heavy gas: it builds from the floor up ....."

That too is crap, if you'll pardon my French. There's an awful lot of it in the MSM these days. For the record, CO has a density that is almost identical to that of nitrogen (N2) the major constituent of air (approx 78%). And it is somewhat less dense than oxygen (comprising 21% of air). One can only assume that the ST has its CO confused with its CO2.

Vapour densities of gases can be calculated by working out the molar masses, from the relative atomic masses, and then dividing by two. The figures are: 14, 14, 16 for CO, N2 and O2 respectively. CO2, in contrast, is much higher (22).

Thank you for that hippo. It's good to see you putting that hypercritical tendency of yours to good use once in a while. While on the subject of real science, instead of the dumbed-down, often inaccurate stuff we get from the MSM, let's mention in passing that carbon monoxide is a somewhat reactive molecule, especially in the body, on account of having a so-called lone pair of electrons. They are on the carbon (not oxygen) atom, which is somewhat unusual and what makes CO so dangerous where folk are concerned. . CO , with its deadly lone pair, has a powerful affinity for certain electron-deficient atoms, notably transition metals (iron, copper etc) *(see footnote)

I bet none of your audience have read that before in their newspapers. Have you Sarah ? Have you Diane ? Hope I haven't overlooked anyone important.

A prime target for CO are iron-containing proteins, of which the body has several - haemoglobin in the blood, myoglobin in the muscles, and cytochromes in the tissues.

Now, in a normal healthy individual, the job of haemoglobin is to transport oxygen from lungs to tissues. The oxygen molecule bonds to the iron at the centre of the red haem molecule.

ed : the following sentence was inadvertently omitted from the first posting , the result of relegating detail to a footnote. Apologies to early birds for an apparent non sequitur.

We are accustomed to thinking of CO purely external threat, avoidable in principle, though sadly, and tragically, not always in practice. In fact small amounts of CO are produced naturally in the body . They attach to haemoglobin at the binding sites intended for oxygen, blocking it thereafter from doing its job. As much as 5% of our haemoglobin is rendered hors de combat by our own endogenous CO.

In smokers the percentage of haemoglobin blocked (and therefore useless for carrying oxgen) is even higher -typically up 9%. And it's higher still, up to 50% and higher (!), in cases of acute exposure.

Incidentally, if you'll forgive another digression, I and my family, once had a narrow escape ourselves, way back in the 1950s. We had gas, supplied through a meter, for various purposes: for cooking, for the gas poker (used to get the coal fire going) , and for heating the upstair bedrooms, in those funny little grates with the lacy earthenware elements. And it was not natural gas (methane, CH4) in those days, but coal gas, mainly hydrogen (H2) but with a hefty amount of carbon monoxide.

Sticking one's head in an oven (unlit, I hasten to add) was an all too common means of committing suicide in those days.

Sometimes, if one was using the gas cooker, the flame would go out. Another sixpence was needed in the meter. The danger was when one did not have a coin to hand, and forgot to turn off all taps - on the cooker, or other outlets in the house. That's what must have happened once, and then someone returned late at night, probably my Dad god bless'im, who, on finding there was no gas for making a cuppa, put sixpence in the meter, and then went to bed . The house then gradually filled up with gas from an open tap. I woke next morning, feeling groggy, with a headache, and was violently sick on the bus on the way to school. It wasn't till getting home that night (no mobile phones!) that I found everyone else had suffered one way or another with these classic symptoms of CO poisoning.

To return to Corfu: sadly, there are now two children to be buried. How awful for the natural mother, to have heard the news, and then have to travel to Corfu to identify them. And how awful for the father and partner, both still very ill apparently, who , it is reported, have yet to learn about the children.

The next few days and weeks will be critical for the two survivors. There is a common misconception that once CO levels in the blood have fallen, one must be on the road to recovery. Sadly that is not always the case. Why ? Because contrary to popular belief (including, sad to say, some in the medical profession) CO poisoning is not just about temporary "internal suffocation" from the blood being unable to carry enough oxygen for the brain and other tissues. CO has more subtle and complex longer term action in the body . You can learn more if you go to Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_monoxide_poisoning

To give just one example: CO can interfere with the way another reactive small molecule, nitric oxide (NO )is handled and metabolised in the body, that can impact on brain and nerve function. That may explain why some victims of CO poisoning suffer long term or permanent neurological impairment. Thus my concern at the apparent delay in identifying CO as the culprit, and with it the delay in administering oxygen. Although the hotel said initially it was not using gas for heating, it was used in, or adjacent to, the bungalows to fire boilers for heating water. Depending on which report you read, there was also apparently another gas water heater inside the bungalow, and, just for good measure, there was air-conditioning plant that might have blown fumes from the adjacent boiler into the bungalow.

An accident waiting to happen, some might say.

And on TV last night they interviewed an English lady who had stayed in the same bungalow a few days back, and returned ill from her holiday. She needed three days in hospital to recover, and described all the classic symptoms of CO - knees giving way etc . What they didn't say was whether her hospital had identified CO poisoning or not. If not, why not ? Surely there have been enough cases of CO poisoning on holidays, foreign or otherwise, to make a a CO test advisory or mandatory even if someone returns complaining of headache, nausea, vomiting , muscle weakness etc?

It's clearly for the courts to determine culpability - but already charges of manslaughter are likely to be brought against the hotel owner, the manager and maintenance staff. Personally I find it incredible that anyone staying in a hotel can be exposed to CO, especially one that is subject to EU safety inspections. Carbon monoxide detectors are relatively cheap these days, and should be installed as standard anywhere within the vicinity of a boiler fired with gas or other carbon-based fossil fuel. Without wishing to start an EU-bashing exercise ( many of its rules in water purity, beach standards etc have forced the UK to clean up its act) I do ask where those rules and regulations are when you most need them. CO is a silent, odourless, insidious killer, as we have seen again. So why are the same mistakes made over and over again ? Two young lives, snuffed out, just like that, and the prospect of lifetime of grief and despair for the families concerned.

Without wishing to sound officious: have you had your gas boiler checked and serviced recently ? Do you know the signs of a poorly-ventilated boiler, that could be letting CO seep into the house? Look for sooty streaks on the surrounding wall. Better still, go out and buy a CO detector.

* Curiously (and not many people know this) one in 20 haem molecules in the blood of even the healthiest people is blocked by CO that is formed NATURALLY in the body. Oddly enough, it's the haem molecules being broken down at the end of their useful lives - finally to bilirubin - that produces natural CO.
I once used to work in the area of bilirubin metabolism, having done 2 years of research in a Philadelphia medical school on phototherapy of neonatal jaundice. While there, and giving reports of my research, I met scientists, doctors, biochemists even, who did not know about natural CO, and must have wondered if I was a naif who had his CO confused with his CO2. But believe me, there is some weird and wonderful chemistry going on inside our bodies, which is what attracted this 'pretty colours, stinks and bangs' home chemist to the subject in the first place.