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| Illustration by Florence Cartozo |
Ninth song: Airpocalypse
Whenever I have
To wear a breathing mask
In Beijing,
I try to remember this.
Sulfate is a big contributor
To the fog in Beijing,
Sulfuric acid particles are formed
From sulfur dioxide,
Released by coal burning
For residential use and power plants.
Sulfur dioxide is turned
Into sulfuric acid.
This deadly process
Is facilitated by nitrogen dioxide,
Another co-product of coal burning,
And occurs initially on natural fog.
Sulfur dioxide turning into sulfate
Produces acidic particles.
The sulfate formation process
Is only possible
With ammonia to neutralize the particles.
Natural fog contains larger particles
Of several tens of micrometers in size,
(In Beijing the haze starts
From much smaller nanoparticles)
And the acid formed is sufficiently diluted.
Evaporation of those fog particles
Then leave smaller acidic haze particles
That cover the city.
In China, sulfur dioxide
Is mainly emitted by power plants,
Nitrogen dioxide is from power plants
And automobiles,
And ammonia comes
From fertilizer use and automobiles.
The right chemical processes
Have to interplay for the deadly haze
To occur in China.
Chinese haze is basically neutral
But it is not neutral to my health.
So whenever I have
To wear a breathing mask
In Beijing,
I try to remember this.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Arpocalypse
Persistent poor air quality
Often requires people
To wear breathing masks
During much of the day.
How about solutions?
Reduction in emissions
For nitrogen oxides and ammonia
Is likely effective in disrupting
This sulfate formation process.
How about solutions?
My health was left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
Reduction in emissions
For nitrogen oxides and ammonia
Is likely effective in disrupting
This sulfate formation process.
So here’s my new
Super duper
Scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
And please don’t forget
Small particles between 2.5 and 10 microns
When measuring air quality,
Are just as deadly
As particles above 10 microns.
I know it’s a dream,
But just imagine.
Want a microorganism that eats
Carbon dioxide
And makes fuel?
Someday you might be able
To point and click
And get one delivered.
Engineering biofuels
With the help of bacteria
In the lab,
This will replace oil and coal.
Tata India and Jack Ma China
Combining biofuels and solar energy
For the first zero carbon-emission plane flight.
I know it’s a dream,
But just imagine.
Here’s my new
Super duper
Scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
Biofuels using
Synthetic biology.
Optimizing the microbes for high-yield,
Efficient production through
Genome engineering,
Matching the microbe
With appropriate feedstock molecules
Or micronutrients,
And then fine-tuning the entire production process
For generating clean fuels
That are drop-in ready for use
In the gas tank at costs
That are competitive with those
Of natural petroleum products.
And now we did not think
We were able to produce
A flammable liquid
In such a simple way,
From electricity.
Ethanol in place of oil.
In an engine, ethanol is burned.
This gives carbon dioxide and energy.
In the factory, the carbon dioxide
Is captured again
In order to re-cycle.
This way of storing electricity
In liquid form
Is very interesting.
So here’s my new
Super duper
Scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
And now we did not think
We were able to produce
A flammable liquid
In such a simple way,
From electricity.
Ethanol in place of oil.
Oil is the result
Of photosynthesis
Millions of years ago.
Trees have grown,
Captured carbon dioxide
Through photosynthesis.
Plants retain carbon and release oxygen.
Photosynthesis
Means that plants keep the sun,
Which is the energy that breaks CO2
Or carbon dioxide
Into carbon on one side
And oxygen on the other.
CO2 is a very strong molecule,
C and O2 are bonded very strongly.
It takes a lot of energy
To break this molecule.
Burning carbon makes it possible
to associate again
C and O2,
Carbon and oxygen,
And releases energy,
That was previously
stored in C and O2.
Energy is not lost
And is not created.
It can only be stored or free.
When separating C and O2,
Energy must be provided
To separate them.
When we associate them again,
This energy is released.
Think about magnets.
They are glued to one another
And it takes energy to separate them.
Once they are separated,
It is as if they were storing
A lot of energy.
If we bring them closer,
They will jump over
Each other and stick together.
Energy is not lost
And is not created.
It can only be stored or free.
The same applies to carbon and oxygen.
If we have succeeded
In separating them and then
Bringing them together,
There is energy
That will be released.
The problem with oil
Is that photosynthesis
Took place millions of years ago,
So it removed a lot of carbon dioxide
From the atmosphere,
Which is rich in oxygen.
Other forms of life
Have therefore appeared,
And require oxygen.
When burning oil,
Carbon dioxide and energy
Are produced.
The released carbon dioxide
Is not consumed,
Because it is released
Massively.
The problem?
we can see it right away.
We do not make oxygen.
And we have a big excess of CO2.
That's what happens when the trees were burned
Millions of years ago:
We do not make enough oxygen
And we have a large excess of CO2.
So here’s my new
super duper
scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
The effect of this carbon dioxide
is to isolate the atmosphere
and create a greenhouse effect.
And to acidify the oceans.
Instead of burning oil
That can not be duplicated,
We can burn ethanol,
Which we can reproduce.
As a result, oxygen is re-circulated
In the air and CO2 is captured
Again.
Bye bye, big excess of CO2.
The storage of energy
Called photosynthesis
Can be done with ethanol.
Then we do not produce carbon and oxygen,
But ethanol. This can return
To making carbon
And oxygen, C + O2.
C is coal, carbon, wood.
The pollution in Beijing
Is linked to chemical reactions
With the atmosphere
Under certain conditions,
When combustion of coal happens.
The reaction between carbon and oxygen
Releases plenty of polluting compounds.
A diesel engine produces solid
(and non-liquid)
Microparticles.
Solid Microparticles
Have far more health effects
Than the gases themselves.
This micro-dust,
When it enters the lungs,
Remains there.
This is also the case for asbestos,
Which is also a micro-dust.
In the case of asbestos and diesel,
It is the accumulation
That is bad for your health.
Alcohol is even more refined than petroleum,
So there are even less odors and soot.
In the case of diesel, combustion particles
Produce even more soot than in the case of oil.
So here’s my new
Super duper
Scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
So just imagine
Microbial factories for everyday products
Biosensors for food pathogens
Marijuana without the plant
Fixing your genes to cure diseases
The end of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers
And please remember:
Y cancer =f(X pollution lifestyle)
And even fancier:
Know the super-power
Of urine.
From the urine,
We can reconstruct
Stem cells of neurons
(Folks, this means the death of brain death!)
And other undifferentiated stem cells.
The urine also serves
For the production
Of hydrogen
For the cars of tomorrow.
That was my new
Super duper
Scientific song
To pitch the UN
With brilliant ideas
To solve OMG
The air pollution
The air…
-pocalypse.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
I know it’s a dream,
But just imagine.
Want a microorganism that eats
Carbon dioxide
And makes fuel?
Someday you might be able
To point and click
And get one delivered.
My health is left
Hanging in the air
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse.Tenth song: Forget Yesterday Remember Tomorrow
Beijing’s sick beating heart
Witnessing pollution
And organ trafficking.
Beijing’s vibrant scientific scene,
Engineering, editing, making and hacking,
Trying to forget yesterday,
Remember Tomorrow.
Engineering biofuels
With the help of bacteria
In the lab. Making new drugs
With the help of gene
Editing tools.
Forget Yesterday
Remember Tomorrow.
Beijing’s recovering beating heart,
But…
Science is hype is money
I am a buzz word trader
The biggest Ponzi scheme ever
Nothing is forever
Going global, spinning faster
Burnout’s the new pot o’honey
People have started dating their innernet:
« - Dear pitch-perfect A.I., will you be my Scarlett? »
Science happens by accident
A fungus remote-controlling the insect brain
leads to . . . cyclosporine,
The drug allowing physicians to transplant organs.
If the patient’s got an accident,
Doctors will look for the necrosis in his brain
Then another patient gets a new heart.
Medicine also happens by accident.
Is this incremental? Is this exponential?
Wait. I’ll ask the blockchain.
Women’s breasts and organs
Are political objects
In the database of Business Abject.
Digital locks and Rights Management
Are the new stethoscope of madicament,
I mean medicament.
I work in life science
I’m a buzz word trader
Accident is the new blockchain,
Making big data’s head spin.
Human on-a-chip
Hope-hip
I work in life science
I’m a buzz word trader
Accident is the new blockchain
Making big data’s head spin.
I am a buzz word trader
I deal emotions
One keynote at a time
Human on a chip
Hope-hip
Beijing’s anonymous heartbeat,
Hacking into the Operating System
Of Humanity
Writing snippets of code
Encoding more equity
Into the language of evolution
Yeah, revolution, evolution, devolution, religion
You decide.
They call me Anonymous
But that’s just what I write
When asked for my identity
While downloading a file
From some FTP server.
I’m a geek I’m a hacker
And maybe some day
Some anonymous organ donor.
I guess this is the reason
Why they call me Anonymous.
Free and anonymous
I am,
Just like organ donation.
We don’t need more anonymous
Prisoners executed,
Slaughtered
For their hearts kidneys lungs
Sold for medical transplants.
Bloody Harvest
Bloody Harvest
Beijing’s beating heart
Is bleeding.
We need more gene editing science.
The science of vital organ replacement
Is paved with accidents and crisis.
Now we need to edit that crisis out
And make amendments thanks to a cool
Crisis editing tool,
Sorry I meant,
Gene editing tool.
Yeah, revolution, evolution, devolution, religion
You decide.
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow.
Hey, rest of the world,
Listen to what China has to say.
Listen to what China has to say.
Just like the low-cost flight company:
« If you are late, we won’t wait ».
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow.
Beijing’s beating heart,
Telling me what Anonymous means.
It means anyone.
ANYONE
Can go from concept to execution
Of coded proteins
Virtually overnight,
Through cloudlabs,
Robot lab assistants,
And rapid prototyping software.
Cost is dropping fast.
Direct-build-and-deploy your personal
– Medicine Farm
– Nanofactory
– Liquid biocomputer
– Nanofactory
– Liquid biocomputer
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow.
How about a nice, graphical,
Web-accessible SaaS
For compiling genomes,
With direct printing of DNA
Via your cloud lab of choice?
'Shapeways for genes' has arrived.
Have fun with the 'mutate random amino acid' function!
Here is gene therapy’s Secret Recipe
(yes I love their raspberry cheesecake too):
Take an adeno-associated virus
Devoid of toxicity
(typically AAV9)
In 20% of cases, when you have a sore throat
It is this type of virus, therefore no sorcery
And introduce corrective action
Using Crispr / Cas9
Such that if the virus is swallowed / injected
It will 'infect' cells
With the consequence
That if there is a DNA sequence
AATCGCGGCGAGCGAG
(I just made up that one)
It will be replaced with AATCGCAACGAGCGAG
Where the central GG
Is replaced by AA,
And trust me
This should be
No ‘mutate random amino acid' function.
Beijing’s lungs are struggling to breathe
Airpocalypse
Airpocalypse
Lung cancer represents
Two deaths every minute
Worldwide.
So please Airpocalypse xiānsheng,
Don’t tell me bioengineering
Cannot help.
Beijing’s ailing lungs on-chips,
Engineering biofuels
With the help of bacteria
In the lab.
Want a microorganism that eats
Carbon dioxide
And makes fuel?
Someday you might be able
To point and click
And get one delivered.
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow.
I work in life science
I’m a maker
Evidence is the new blockchain,
Big data crunching
Snippets of Computer Code
For Human Organs-on-Chips,
Clinical trials going digital
And exponential.
Big data means
Prices are dropping.
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow
This is Beijing’s beating heart
Sole credo
I can hear it now.
Forget yesterday,
Remember tomorrow
This is Beijing’s beating heart
Sole credo
I can hear it now.
Lyrics of all songs by Catherine Coste, for medical thriller "Airpocalypse". Copyrighted material.
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