O
CANADIAN
SCIENCE
Executive
Editor:
Lydia
Dotto
Managing
Editor:
John
Holt
ISSN
0712-488
Published
by:
Canadian
Science
News
Service.
Room
45.
University
College.
of
University
Toronto".
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Ont.
M5S
1A1
(416)
595-7153
Canadian
Science
News
Service
acknowledges
a
grant
from
the
Science
Culture
Canada
Program
New
gas
turbine
could
By
llueh
WeslruD
A
Toronto
inventor
has
developed
a
high-powered,
high-speed
turbine
engine
that
runs
on
solid
fuel
such
as
food
wastes
and
other
biodegradable
household
garbage.
Dali
Bar,
president
of
Canadian
Solidfuels
Inc.
of
Scarborough,
also
suggests
his
system
could
provide
a
substantial
portion
of
Ontario's
electrical
energy
needs
by
burning
wood
from
hybrid
willow
trees
especially
grown
on
large
plantations
that
could
themselves
generate
a
billion-dollar
industry
in
the
province.
Bar
believes
his
invention
could
help
Canada
reduce
its
reliance
on
fossil
fuels.
Canadians
dump
millions
of
tonnes
of
carbon
dioxide
(C02)
into
the
atmosphere
every
year
through
the
burning
of
coal
and
oil
and
this
C02
contributes
to
the
greenhouse
effect,
which
has
already
begun
to
heat
up
the
earth's
atmosphere
and
could
do
catastrophic
damage
to
the
global
environment
Until
now,
high-speed
turbine
engines
have
run
on
kerosene
or
Nation-wide
project
faces
stormy
weather
B)
John
I
bcrlce
Lnvironincnt
Canada
is
sctnng
up
i
computer
database
that
will
help
mctcrologists
keep
one
slep
ahead
of
tornadoes
and
other
forms
ol
severe
weather
The
database
will
store
information
on
the
frequency,
sic,
power
and
duration
of
twislcrs,
windstorms,
hailstorms
and
bhzards.
It
will
describe
the
sorts
of
weather
conditions
that
often
precede
these
disturbances
In
addition,
it
will
note
the
human
and
economic
costs
of
previous
storms
This
information
will
help
mctcrologists
recognize
when
violcnl
storms
are
imminent,
so
they
can
issue
public
weather
warnings
as
soon
as
possible.
It
will
also
assist
people
whose
business
involves
estimating
nsks,
including
emergency
planners,
building
designers,
and
insurance
and
utility
companies
Coordinating
the
data-encoding
process
is
Michael
Ncwaik,
a
severe
weather
meteorologist
with
the
depar
I
incut's
Atmosphuic
I
iiMronmcnt
Service
(AI
S)
Ihc
actual
data
conic
from
a
vancly
ol
soutccs
includmu
wcalhci
ladais,
a
ciosscounliv
nclwoik
ol
voluntcci
wc.ilhcr
uatchcis
and
iicvvspapci
clippings
Newark
savs
iadar
alone
can't
distinguish
tornadoes
Iroin
ollm
damaging
winds,
let
alone
dctccl
most
ol
them
Moie
than
7
twisters
touch
down
on
populated
areas
in
Canada
during
loinado
season
April
to
October
Bui
the
maionly
only
occur
on
a
scale
ol
luetics
of
hundreds
ol
metres
Lvcn
small
twisters
can
do
pit
m
of
damage,
however.
Just
about
everything
directly
in
their
path
including
people,
buildings,
livestock
and
power
lines
is
in
danger.
Newark
credits
I
iiMronmcnt
Canada's
12
year
old
network
ol
weather
watchers
with
bunging
most
tornadoes
lo
the
attention
ol
meteorologists.
ALS
asks
nctwoik
volunteers,
who
numbei
in
the
thousands,
to
call
a
hotline
and
alert
officials
whcncvci
"something
natural
gas
These
are
clean-
burning
fuels
thai
produce
a
hot,
expanding
gas
with
enough
energy
to
turn
the
big
fan-like
blades
inside
a
turbine
engine.
Turbine
fans
can
spin
at
rates
of
up
to
50,000
revolutions
a
minute,
and
produce
large
amounts
of
electricity
if
connected
to
a
generator.
Burning
solid
fuels,
such
as
wood
and
garbage,
in
turbine
engines
to
generate
electricity
is
an
idea
that
engineers
have
tossed
around
for
some
time.
But
wood
and
garbage
produce
smoke
l
hat's
loaded
with
carbon
particles
When
this
smoke
rushes
through
a
turbine,
the
gritty
particles
chip
away
at
the
delicate
turbine
blades
and
wreck
them
in
a
matter
of
minutes,
or
even
seconds
Bar's
brainchild
is
a
system
thai
eliminates
ihc
gril
from
the
hot
gas
that
rises
from
bunting
wood
and
garbage.
His
invention,
a
high
tech
combuslor,
requires
that
Ihc
garbage
fuel
lirst
be
ground
down
to
Ihc
sie
ol
shicdded
wheal
cereal
The
shredded
fuel
is
Ihcn
svvnlcd
nastv
happens"
Although
n's
usually
loo
late
then
lor
cflcctive
warnings
mosl
twisters
onlv
last
a
lew
minutes
the
tornado
icports
aren't
going
to
waslc
"liv
recording
the
Ircqueney
of
tornadoes
and
I
heir
physical
appeaiancc,
we
will
cvcnluallv
reach
the
stage
where
we
can
statistically
gauge
the
probability
that
another
tornado
will
occur,
given
ail)
set
of
weather
conditions,"
Newark
says
Similar
plans
apply
to
data
on
ithcr
short
lived
weather
phenomena,
including
lashing
i.iiii
and
hailstorms
The
At
S
database
will
also
help
industries
which,
foi
one
icason
or
another,
must
take
the
possibility
of
severe
weather
into
account
1
oi
example,
data
on
ihc
sie
and
duration
of
tornadoes
could
help
electric
utilities
teduee
costly
power
milages
Power
lines
stretching
lioni
lames
Hay
lo
Montreal
aic
obviousl)
more
at
risk
Irom
Ireak
tornadoes
than
lines
opc
tenth
the
extent
I
he
challenge
is
lo
space
backup
lines
lai
enough
awav
lioni
main
lines
that
thev
won't
bin
li
he
dam
igcd
bv
the
same
Iwisici
while
kccpinu
lo
a
illinium
n
I
lie
amount
ol
I
mil
clcaicd
loi
the
pin
pose
I
nicigciicv
planncis
and
insiiiauct
companies
both
need
to
know
whcie
loinadoes,
hailsloims
anil
hhauls
mav
sliike,
so
as
lo
adnist
coiilingincv
pi,
ins
suisihlv
anil
piemiums
lanlv
Southwestern
Onlaiio.
sonlheaslein
Manitoba
and
uoi
Ihwcslciu
Onlaiio
aic
all
loin
ido
pione
legions,
loi
example,
bill
not
eveivonc
living
theie
is
cqu
illv
at
lisk
because
the
tendency
loi
loinadoes
le
stnkc
ma)
depend
on
local
gcogiaphie
and
chmatologieal
phenomena
Tinall),
seveie
weal
he
i
data
may
help
areluteets
design
sliueluics
which
ean
withstand
peiiplieial
sioim
damage,
it
not
the
hi
nut
ol
a
Ivwstci
ALS
will
have
the
database
ready
lor
the
1990
tornado
season,
says
Newark.
(Canadian
.Science
AV
h
s)
burn
wood
inside
a
special
chamber
for
about
70
milliseconds
ten
times
longer
than
such
fuels
are
held
in
an
average
combustor.
This
extra
time
allows
the
fuel
to
burn
more
thoroughly,
leaving
only
a
small
amount
of
ash
behind.
It
also
enables
the
combustor
to
remove
that
ash
completely,
so
that
none
Hies
off
in
the
gas
and
destroys
the
turbine
blades.
Because
the
fuel
is
given
a
longer
time
to
burn
in
Bar's
combustor,
less
pollution
is
produced,
loo.
Bar
says
smokestack
emissions
from
his
invention
arc
far
below
the
pollution
standards
now
enforced
in
Ontario.
T
he
potential
for
'garbage
power'
could
be
enormous,
says
Bar.
the
Turner
Power
company
in
Manhattan
is
mulling
over
the
idea
of
installing
his
turbines
at
several
industrial
sites
in
ihc
U.S.
I
his
would
allow
big
companies
lo
produce
power
for
(heir
own
use
and
sell
the
rest
lo
stale
power
gilds.
In
the
meantime.
Bar
is
thinking
ol
setting
up
a
turbine
as
a
demonstration
unit
in
the
hopes
of
peisuading
Canadian
municipalities
lo
purchase
the
invention
as
one
solution
lo
the
giowmg
problem
ol
excess
garbage
Using
bacteria
in
testing
for
gold
Bv
lliic.li
i'slrup
A
Bnlisli
Columbia
company
has
invented
a
new
method
of
panning
loi
gold
that
works
in
Ihc
same
way
that
animals
fight
disease
Called
the
Gold
Piobc,
the
new
invention
uses
'antibodies'
to
I
mil
gold
m
the
ground
Antibodies
arc
warriors
in
the
battle
against
many
forms
ol
disease
When
an
animal's
body
is
invaded
by
baetcna
or
viruses,
a
set
of
antibodies
are
specially
designed
and
manufactured
by
the
immune
system
to
destroy
thai
particular
germ.
Lxploiling
this
biological
mechanism,
a
team
ol
rcscaichcrs
.it
C
BR
International,
a
biotechnology
company
in
Sydney,
B
C
,
has
developed
a
method
foi
producing
antibodies
sensitive
lo
particular
baetcna
thai
live
in
the
ground
Ihc
baetcna,
called
II
terens.
are
found
in
large
amounts
around
mineral
deposits,
including
gold,
li
icwiis
is
a
peculiar
microbe
in
that
it
coals
itscll
with
a
special
layer
ol
piotcin
whcncvci
il
comes
close
lo
gold
in
the
soil
It
transitu
ins
itscll
liom
a
bacliiium
into
a
baelciial
spoie
It's
as
though
the
bacterium
develops
"Ms
own
pioleetive
shell,"
says
Di
Shawn
Severn,
vice
picsident
of
research
and
development
at
CSR
Inter
national
Ihc
bacterium
is
somehow
leading
cither
lo
ihc
golil
or
to
sonic
effcel
Ihc
gold
produces
m
Ihc
soil,
the
researchers
aien'l
sine
winch,
he
says
Al
the
sites
the
C
BR
icsearcheis
tested,
Ihcic
was
a
sliong
coirelalion
between
the
number
ol
II
icieus
spores
and
ihe
amount
of
gold
in
the
soil,
he
adds.
But
lather
than
having
lo
look
loi
II
ii'icus
spoies
in
the
soil
anil
count
them,
oi
cairv
aiound
cull
in
cs
ol
the
baeleni
lo
sec
il
llies
spondaic
when
'plantid',
the
C
BR
icseaichers
came
up
with
a
simple
twist
Severn
and
his
colleagues,
Drs.
Bryan
Imbcr
and
William
Kay,
exposed
laboratory
animals
to
B.
and
organic
garbage
Bar
also
has
his
eye
on
the
2
S
million
acres
of
abandoned
farmland
in
eastern
Ontario.
Conceivably,
he
says,
this
land
could
be
used
to
support
fast-growing
trees
that
would
supply
the
fuel
for
several
large
wood
burning
energy
plants
in
the
area
Bar
knows
just
the
tree
to
raise
on
these
giant
plantations
a
hybrid
willow
developed
by
University
of
Toronto
forestry
professor
Dr.
I
ouis
.suffa
Outdoor
experiments
with
the
hybrid
willow
have
shown
that
it
can
grow
to
a
height
ol
about
20-25
feet
in
only
three
vcars,
at
which
time
it
is
ready
for
harvest.
Up
lo
40,000
trees
ean
be
supported
b)
one
acre
of
ground
"A
willow
plantation
looks
like
a
field
ol
giant,
20-foot
com,"
Bar
sa)s
Bar
says
willow
burning
could
actually
be
bcnclicial
lo
the
environment.
Insicad
of
adding
mote
CC)2
to
the
atmosphere,
it
will
have
Ihc
net
clleel
ol
taking
C
02
away
Iroin
il
liecs
Manually
sponge
up
C()2
and
give
olf
oxygen
However,
when
they're
burned,
the
carbon
is
put
light
back
into
the
air
Bui
only
the
above
ground
portion
of
the
hybrid
willow
would
be
burned
Meanwhile,
the
root
icrcus
spores
and
collected
I
he
antibodies
which
ihc
animals
produced
naturally
lo
fight
oil
the
spores
They
wcic
then
able
lo
duplicate
these
antibodies
and
set
up
a
system
vvhcrebv
they
could
maniilaeliirc
them
independently
in
the
lab
Next,
thev
attached
ihc
antibodies
lo
nylon
backed
strips
ol
plastic,
which
they
call
Gold
Probes
When
a
Gold
Probe
is
inserted
into
a
sample
of
soil,
the
antibodies
will
react
tq
any
bacterial
spores
in
the
soil
and
cause
the
probe
to
change
colour.
A
marked
change
in
colour
indicates
a
large
number
of
spores
in
the
soil,
which
in
lurn
may
point
lo
the
presence
of
a
substantial
deposit
of
gold
in
the
ground,
savs
Severn
(I
urthcr
Gold
Probe
tests
arc
done
in
the
same
and
nearby
locations
lo
conlirm
the
icsulls
ol
the
lest
and
speedy
Ihc
exact
High
technology
system
has
captured
laigc
amounts
of
carbon
and
locked
it
up
under
the
soil,
Zsuffa
says.
The
roots
represent
about
10
per
cent
of
the
total
bulk
of
the
tree,
he
adds
Eventually,
the
roots
decompose,
releasing
Ihc
carbon
But
even
if
it
all
went
back
lo
the
air
as
C()2,
the
net
amount
has
not
been
increased,
he
adds
Zsuffa
says
ihc
C02
problem
stems
largely
from
lossil
lucls
Burning
these
releases
C02
thai
has
been
locked
away
for
millennia,
and
the
fuel
sources,
unlike
trees,
arc
not
still
absorbing
any.
"When
fossil
fuels
such
as
coal
and
oil
arc
burned,
one
kilowatt
year
of
power
dumps
5.5
tonnes
of
C02
into
the
atmosphere
One
kilowatt
vcar
of
energy
from
a
willow
tree
plantation
would
absorb
5
net
lonnis
ol
(
)2
Iroin
Ihc
atmosphere,"
save
Bai
Bar
estimates
thai
il
all
2
"
million
acres
of
abandoned
Onlaiio
farmland
wcic
turned
into
willow
plant
itions.
Ontano
could
gel
one
Ihud
of
lis
eleiliieilv
needs
Irom
binning
ihc
wood
Bai
estimates
thai
lice
plantations
have
the
potential
lo
pump
SI
billion
into
the
eastern
Ontario
economy
(Canadian
Si
leme
emj
position
ot
the
gold
dipo.n
)
lo
gold
piospcetois,
the
beauty
of
the
Gold
Probe
is
the
time
it
saves
ihcm
Conventional
soil
testing
icehniqucs
require
that
soil
samples
be
sent
lo
a
laboratory
lot
analysis,
a
pioccss
lli.il
can
lake
several
weeks
The
Gold
Probe,
on
the
other
hand,
vields
icsulls
in
only
a
few
hours
"The
probe
is
vciy
useful
in
the
race
for
land
claims
It
gives
vou
a
competitive
edge
in
the
field
thai
can
amount
lo
Ihc
difference
between
a
million
dollars
and
nothing,"
says
Severn
The
idea
of
using
baetcna
lo
lind
minerals
is
not
a
new
one,
savs
Severn
II
originated
with
lohn
Waltcrson,
a
chemist
al
the
U
S
Geological
Survey
in
Denver,
Colorado
It
was
Severn
and
his
lollcagucs,
however,
who
developed
Ihc
new
anlibodv
lost
(C
anadian
Si
ieme
Aftt
)
aids
paleontology
(ESHHBHBHBbbBIiBHptIIHb
ilflEHHIHIklllMHHHI
Not
ahstrait
computer
art,
hut
a
(A
I
sum
of
a
iroioihle
skull.
Siuh
mediml
high
liihnologv
is
being
used
more
and
more
In
paltonlologisls,
biologists
and
others
studying
animal
physiology.
Royal
Ontario
Museum.
(Canadian
Si
nine
"Sen)