Wednesday, June 07, 2006

America's War on Science

There is an unseen war going on in America. It's part of the war on drugs, part of the war on terror, and part of consumer safety. As an emergent side effect of these, and some additional foolishness, America is waging war on science. While the government targets terrorists, drug makers and illegal fireworks, it's the arm chair chemists and curious youngsters that get caught in the crossfire. The government has enabled legislation that makes DIY chemistry impossible without violating laws. And in so doing, we are sowing salt into the soil of our own future. Years ago, chemistry sets geared toward children and model rockets were simply part of growing up as a youngster in middle America. Some of my fondest childhood memories involve standing over the metal cabinet of my Chemcraft chemistry set, wearing over sized adult safety goggles and scrawling notes on my latest bubbling concoction, or launching an Estes rocket in the park.

But many of the youth of today will never get that chance. The Consumer Product Saftey Division has made it a point to outlaw chemicals that can be used to make illegal fireworks. Chemicals like sulfur and potassium perchlorate, that would have been standard issue in any lab experiment of yesteryear are now contraband. The CPSD, best known for its issuing of recalls for consumer goods, claims that this ban is in effect to reduce injuries from home made fireworks. The fact of the matter is that 98% of all firework related injuries are caused by off the shelf fireworks. All of this CPSD nonsense is to cut down on the other 2%.

The modern CPSD does more than just alert consumers to dangerous toasters. They have the power to mobilize law enforcement, and sponsor raids on citizens and businesses. One such raid was directed at the amazing online store United Nuclear. United Nuclear sells super powerful magnets, aerogel, lasers, chemicals, lab ware, and all sorts of other geeky goodness. The founders of United Nuclear were held at gun point, handcuffed, and had all of their computers and records confiscated. Why? Because some of the chemicals they sell could be used to make fireworks. United Nuclear is now involved in a long legal battle to avoid fines and prison sentences thanks to the CPSD.

And the fun doesn't stop there. In an attempt to curb the production of crystal meth, more than 30 states have now outlawed or require registration for common lab equipment. In Texas, you need to register the purchase of Erlenmeyer flasks or three-necked beakers. The same state where I do not have to register a handgun, forces me to register a glass beaker. In Portland, Oregon, even pH strips are suspect. Modern off the shelf "chemistry" sets are sold without any of the questionable chemicals or equipment. For example, when a current company tried re releasing a kit based on the one marketed by Mr. Wizard himself back in the 1950s, they found that they could only include five of the original chemicals in the set. The rest of the items were replaced with inane things like super balls and balloons. Even a non neutered modern chemistry set like the C3000 from Thames and Kosmos is forced to ship without many key chemicals, suggesting to their customers that they acquire the missing ingredients elsewhere.

Forget about model rocketry. Since the beginnings of the war on terror, the government has ridiculously claimed that model rockets could be used to shoot down commercial aircraft. Now all rocket engines above a certain size and thrust limit require fingerprinting, background checks and waving of your search and seizure rights! Said engines often require a Low Explosive Usage Permit to launch or take them across state lines. And all of these paranoid laws and regulations on chemistry, rocketry, and lab ware are not being done in ignorance. The powers that be are aware of the effect legislation is having on budding scientists and hobby enthusiasts. Pentagon and Justice Department consultant, professor James Tour said, “The fact that there are amateurs and retired professors out there who need access to these chemicals is a valid problem, but there aren’t many of those guys weighed against the possible dangers.” So because we still fear the terrorist boogieman, our kids are not allowed the same access to science that we had growing up. And hobbyists are forced to collect their chemicals and do their work in secret.

But there are some lights shinning in the darkness of this situation. Companies like United Nuclear, which continue to sell chemicals and lab equipment despite legal problems, and websites that support chemistry hobbyists. Like Readily Available Chemicals, which maintains a list of places where one can make an end run around the restrictions and purchase chemicals or lab ware. Or The Nitrogen Order, who provides a how to on building your own chemistry set, and provides lessons and experiments. And Science Madness who's forums give hobbyists a place to meet, compare notes, and exchange secrets of the trade anonymously. One of my favorites is the Society for Amateur Scientists, which just began a LABRats program, to match up youngsters that are interested in science with mentors that are practicing scientists.

I propose a Web 2.0 weapon in the fight to protect good chemistry from bad government. Perhaps a combination of the above websites, along with a strong membership of successful scientists. You could invite any and all hobbyists to participate, recommending and rating various experiments for others to try. Rolling lists of where to buy chemicals and supplies in local areas could be constantly updated with pricing and availability. Arm chair scientists could hold meet ups, collaborate on projects, and even "publish" their findings on the sites electronic periodical. It would be a great jumping off point for youngsters looking to start the beakers bubbling, and an excellent haven for amateur chemists of all ages. You could get a high profile spokes person, like Bill Nye or the Myth Busters, and subsidize the site via marketing deals with companies like Thames and Kosmos, United Nuclear, and Estes. I'd be happy to pay a small fee to join something like that, and they could even funnel a chunk of the profits into lobbying to put an end to the war on science.

While this continues, and children's exposure to real chemistry is stifled, our national science scores are plummeting. People are getting out of high school without ever having fired up a Bunsen burner. Now more than ever, innovation is needed for the United States to compete in the global economy. Visionaries like Gordon Moore, Vint Cerf, and David Packard all acquired their love of science and technology by enjoying real hands on chemistry as children. By legislating away amateur chemistry and rocketry, we are depriving an entire generation of potential innovators that same chance. All in the name of a little extra false security. “People who want to make meth will find ways to do it that don’t require an Erlenmeyer flask. But raising a generation of people who are technically incompetent is a recipe for disaster.” says Bill Nye.

Take a look at the picture I included with this post. It came from Stacina's Creative Commons licensed flickr stream. It's a picture of a home chemistry lab in Fort Myers, Florida. A lab full of unlicensed glassware and chemicals that would break all sorts of rules, and arouse untold suspicion and maybe even be shutdown by the powers that be. It's a good thing the war on science is a relatively new phenomenon... Because that's the home chemistry lab of Thomas Alva Edison. [via Wired]


I am among those who think that science has great beauty. A scientist in his laboratory is not only a technician: he is also a child placed before natural phenomena which impress him like a fairy tale. - Marie Curie

44 comments:

  1. I totally agree. The repealing of schedule i licenses has been a total blow to the neurochemistry field.

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  2. We live in dark times, where we were already lagging behind in all areas of science, Bush has pushed us back even further in an effort to rally the right wing christian coalition and strike false fear into Americans. Everything Bush has done in office has been to keep Americans down, to keep the poor poorer, the middle class poorer, and the rich richer. Now I fear that with the push for electronic voting machines in most major areas and the opportunity for vote fraud so easily on the republican side, we will never retake this country for the true patriots, those of us who believe that freedom, above all else, is what makes this country worth fighting for. This administration works overtime to dismantle our rights as Americans, and they disguise it with anti-gay marriage speeches. How bad will it have to get before those that support Bush realize how much every single policy he's created and/or destroyed under his administration has injured this country, and will it be too late at that point? I honestly believe George W. Bush and his administration have almost made it impossible to keep true to our values as Americans.

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  3. I read that Wired article too ... just another nail in the coffin of America. A huge disappointment is what we're making of future generations.

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  4. whatever your view on the 'war on terror', giving in like this and requiring registration for basic equipment / chemicals is losing that war.
    if people are willing to die for their cause, making something harder to purchase isn't really going to inhibit them to a great degree.
    it's not as if these guys suddenly decided one day to kill people, you can't brand and dehumanize people (its not democratic for one thing . . . remember democracy?)
    this is the same line of thinking as banning tv programs on how terrorists might attack a city because it will teach them some method they hadn't thought of.
    these people aren't idiots, if they want to learn something, or obtain something, they will

    . . . and dont even get me started on the war on drugs. . .

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  5. >> "Now I fear that with the push for electronic voting machines in most major areas and the opportunity for vote fraud so easily on the republican side"

    yea, that would never happen on the democrat side, because we all know only replublicans can fix elections right?

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  6. I am sick of the liberals making future excuses for losing elections..

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  7. As an engineering student, Bill Nye's quote is especially poingnant to me. Having been denied a scholarship at the university of utah with a 3.9 gpa (not to blame the University, but the cuts in federal funding) I'm convinced that W's spending in iraq and etcetera will spell the doom for our sciences. Dictators prefer senseless masses.

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  8. The only trouble with "meet-ups" is it brings everyone law enforcement wants to collar to one place. And don't think for a minute they won't label the chemical underground a 'terrorist group"

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  9. I completely agree with the sentiments of this article. However, Edison was a coke fiend, a plagiarist, a blowhard, a snake, and not a particularly good chemist, and I also heartily applaud anything that would keep more kids from growing up to be like him. :-)

    Surely you've got an old picture of the lab of Marie Curie or Francis Crick or Linus Pauling around somewhere that could be used instead?

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  10. Thank you all for your comments. This is a very important issue, and it is good to see that the word is getting out.

    FYI His credentials aside, the reason we went with Edison's lab is that there was a Creative Commons image available.

    And as for meet ups being a government target, well that's a catch 22. If the governemnt isn't going to target you, then feel free to meet up. But if they ARE going to target you, then doesn't that mean that meet ups are more needed than ever?

    GWB and the rest areworking overtime to turn this country into something terrible. But perhaps it is always darkest before the dawn. So long as we all do our part.

    Thank you again for taking the time to comment. And thanks for reading Memepunks!

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  11. Technologist, entrepreneur, and social critic Paul Graham wrote an essay that provides some additional compelling evidence as to why we need to protect our tinkerers.

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  12. Most of the banned chemicals can be found at your local vegetable/garden nursery.

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  13. Hey, look on the bright side. Once the American Empire falls apart due to the war on science, the corruption of our election system, the gutting of our economy for the benefit of the plutocracy, and the bleeding out of our military into the sands of the middle east, the rest of the world will be able to dismiss us as yet another irrelevant failed experiment in world domination and get on with their lives.

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  14. One Bullet, One Vote.
    Annoni Mouse

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  15. Obviously you do not understand! The ongoing war is totally necessary in order to condition you to surrender your freedom and rights and pledge complete obedience to the government.

    Searching the flight crew and pilots and forcing them to go through the TSA checkpoints while simultaneously allowing foreign speaking cleaning crews to bypass any security checks at all, should make it clear that security and stopping terrorists is most definitely NOT a concern.

    The real concern is control and conditioning of the herds or masses who continue to fly while they get groped, squeezed and fondled by TSA and their valuables get ripped off. It's an experiment to see how far the human labs rats can be pushed. It seems that there is no limit.

    Banning chemicals, or anything else, and requiring licensing and fingerprinting are all part of the control and conditioning agenda. Naturally a drug dealer and crystal meth maker is not going to register and will indeed find another way to get or make any needed equipment. That is understood. The alleged concern about drugs is mere a guise, a cloak to cover the real intent which is control and conditioning.

    Control and conditioning is best started very early and that is why there are more arrests of children, the younger the better. Five and six year olds are now arrested for bringing a little plastic toy solider to school, or having a plastic fork and knife in their lunch box. Zero tolerance for weapons means that outline of a pistol molded on the toy soldier's waist gets the kid arrested!

    It's not about the chemicals, not about fireworks, or model rockets. It's about you. About owning you, controlling you, conditioning you to obey. Now be a good little slave and obey!

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  16. These at gunpoint badgering tactics have been in use by various government agencies, at least since the 1980s (and probably even earlier). When pressure comes from a certain place, that's basically what it seems like the various agencies are told to do to handle the 'problem'.

    And while I must say that I admire, and applaud, your apparent enthusiasm even under fire, I predict that it is only going to get more restrictive, regardless of what is done or said here.

    As long as multi-billion dollar corporations, etc. are allowed to lobby our leaders in the way that they are now, there can be no end to [what I would consider to be] corruption.

    If you really want to do something about this, that is the first thing that really needs to be regulated more

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  17. These are indeed trying times. Thanks to all of you for you insightful comments. And thanks for reading Memepunks!

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  18. Christian conservatives are conducting their own war on science. Good Americans need to stand up for their values and stop voting for these crazy people.


    Howard

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  19. In Texas, you need to register the purchase of Erlenmeyer flasks or three-necked beakers. The same state where I do not have to register a handgun, forces me to register a glass beaker.

    This is probably the most powerful statement in this post, and shows the complete idiocy of the system that we have put up in our country. Since when did glass breakers become more dangerous than handguns.

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  20. Before you get into too big of a hurry bashing conservatives, keep in mind that home schoolers (often conservative) are going to be one of your natural allies in this push.

    Get over your prejudice, and realize that getting anything done in this country often means forming coalitions among people that do not see eye to eye on all things.

    MH in SATX
    B.S. Biological Sciences
    Conservative
    Home Schooler

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  21. With the enactment of the Patriot Act, the illegal warrantless wiretapping of Ameiricans, a pre-emptive war based on falsified intelligence, rampant election fraud and now kids not being able to play with the same chemistry kits and model rockets that I myself played with as a child it should be apparent to anyone with half a brain in this country (about 16% of the population) that the terrorists have already won. We handed them their victory out of a knee-jerk reaction and fear after 9/11 by destroying our own cherished freedoms.
    Fear for your future.

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  22. This movement to oulaw amature science and chemistry also implies that all drugs labeled "illegal" have no legitimate place in our society. That is to say that these laws make no distinction between "use" and "abuse" of recreational drugs.

    I know for a fact, that there are some people out there, who believe that currently illegal drugs can in fact be used responsibly, but who are not prepared to enter the black market to purchase them. These people instead, choose to make small amounts of these substances themselves for personal use, but are unfortunately caught by the same irrational laws and substance regulations.

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  23. "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." - Benjamin Franklin

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  24. Great article. Thanks for pointing out the dawning of the new dark-age.

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  25. I don't understand the point of implementing laws like this....

    If terrorists place no value on innocent lives, how can we then expect them to place value on the law?

    If they are dead set on harming someone they will probably obtain what they need through illegal means anyway (regardless if they can obtain it legally) so there is no paper trail (i.e. records of a purchase).

    This only stops good well meaning people with a passion for learning about science and the world we live in. It does nothing for protecting us from acts of terrorism.

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  26. It doesn't help the situation to pretend that Republicans are going to take your lab away but that the Democrats are going to save us all. Every part of the war on amateur science you rightfully decry was happening long before Bush took office - the war on drugs (esp. crystal meth) and the general public ignorance and fear of chemistry are the chief culprits.

    Politicians on both sides get away with what they can, and unpopular groups like amateur scientists will be the first to suffer. So punish the Republicans come election day, sure, but don't think for a moment that the next guy's going to be any better.

    Or better still - try to build a coalition around this issue without burdening it with a lot of unrelated politics liable to drive potential allies away. That's directed at the guy talking about "lobbying by multi-billion dollar corporations", which has absolutely nothing to do with limiting our access to chemicals and scientific equipment. Also tread carefully when it comes to the comparison with handguns - some of us who think freedom extends to chemistry think it extends to firearms as well.

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  27. It is apparent now that liberal/conservative mudslinging is pointless. After all, those in power (both democrat and republican) are directed by the same interests. These interests are not representative of the common people in America. The current trend seems to indicate that the American people are being systematically stripped of their freedoms. Those who are willing to give up essential liberties for temporary security deserve neither. I am sorry to say, voting will not help to curb this trend. Sadly, most people are unaware of what is happening because many of us have been blinded by the numerous distractions that exist in our society. Many Americans simply could not care less about their constitutional rights. If it gets much worse, we (Democrats, Republicans, Whites, Blacks, Latinos, the average American) will have to make some very tough decisions regarding which course of action to take. If the middle and lower classes are pushed further into a corner, I see no reason why the masses should not revolt. I believe the current trend will be reversed if corrupt politicians' blood begins to run in the streets. Governments should fear their people, those who are truly free should not fear their government.

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  28. The people we have in power, be they Republican, Democrat, liberal, or conservative are not the ones who should have the influence we gave them. These people have an agenda, they want power. There's no more to it. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 presented the opportunity to dole out new laws and increase the subservience of the general populace to the government.

    Those who deserve the positions are those who do not want it. These people have perfect personalities in the simple fact that they choose courses of action according to their belief in liberty, equality, and those standards on which our country was founded.

    Its the sad fact that many Americans today, however intelligent or scholarly, still react in panic at every small, insignificant threat. What they need to do is start thinking long term about their life and country. This current state of mind has no future in store for us. If we minority, who see where things go wrong do not speak out against such oppression, liberty will die before anything can be done to stop it.

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  29. 'I am sick of the liberals making future excuses for losing elections..'

    The point being made was that a voting machine, without any audit trail, produced by companies with ties to one of the parties in the election - even if run totally honestly - will never be above suspicion.

    It's in the interest of republicans, democrats and independents alike to have that verifiable audit trail. To object to it is to tacitly admit that the possibility of electoral tampering is one that might be considered.

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  30. I am a Canadian and an academic. I fully support what the US is doing. It is great! I go to conference and American attendance is dwindling. Their old funding methods have decayed, the academic are running on empty. This is bad for them but great for anyone else, finally these conferences are more hospitable for the rest of the world, no more xenophobia in paper refereeing, no more huge studies I could never imagine to get funding for. It is great, America has let the rest of the world catchup. How noble! Pretty soon we'll do even better and frankly Canada is doing better per capita already.

    Have fun being irrelevant and destroying research in America. I for one support it fully.

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  31. MH in SATX
    B.S. Biological Sciences
    Conservative
    Home Schooler

    Is on the side of Science? With what? A bachelors degree? What are you teaching your kids? Evolution is wrong?

    Get out. Chemistry completely invalidates your creationist bullshit but you're too dense to understand this. You think you can cherry pick science like you cherry pick your ugly religion.
    You can't cherry pick and expect to be consistent, if you can't see why this is important to science then you have failed already.

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  32. Wow, quite an impassioned response here, especially on the political front. I am a scientist (synthetic chemist) by training and have voted on both sides of the ticket, so I consider myself one that goes with what makes the most sense. having said that, America is a curious conglomeration of brilliant innovation and mind-boggling stupidity and ignorance. It scares the daylights out of me when we restrict cold medicines because would-be crystal meth producers may painstakingly extract the pseudoephedrine from the pills, or when we can't fund stem-cell research because some religious zealots think every embryo (or sperm, a la Monty Python) is sacred, or when politicians have to object to the concept of evolution in order to be acceptable to a portion of ignorant constituents in their party. America did not become great by allowing idealists to call the shots back during it's development. Of course, like one responder pointed out, the same state that fights for the rights of handgun owners does everything to restrict chemicals and scientific equipment, those hideous instruments of terrorists. I think the whole intent is to keep the population as ignorant as possible, because an educated electorate will hasten the demise of these individuals (read:Rednecks and Christian Fundamentalists).
    I'm sure that many of you can remember back after 9/11/2001 how G.W. Bush told all of us that we should not allow the terrorists to take away our freedoms. Today, I have little fear of those "terrorists". The people that really anger me are the ones that used 9/11 as an excuse to take away those freedoms and liberties that they didn't want Americans to have.

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  33. News bulletin: George Bush is not to blame for every evil on earth. Yes, it's true.

    Risk averseness characterizes American society now, fueled by organized neurotics (cf. the powerlines/cancer crowd) and rational fear of rapacious personal injury lawyers. And let's face it, "chemicals", like "radiation", is a bad word from which ordinary citizens (jurors!) recoil. Nothing to do with politics. So let's dispense with the puerile political posturing. It was exactly the same in the Clinton era, and will be the same in any future Democratic Administration.

    Sad to say, but restricting access to some reagents is now a sensible precaution. As a former boy chemist, now professional chemist, I regret this, but shudder to think what someone of evil intent could do with the reagents I had as a boy.

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  34. I don't understand the harsh reaction to "MH in SATX
    B.S. Biological Sciences
    Conservative
    Home Schooler". He made no statements regarding creationism or religion. There are many people who home school their children not because they are religious separatists, but because they don't wish to subject them to the nonsense that goes on in the "educational system", e.g. zero-tolerance policies, watered-down math & science programs, revisionist history and propaganda of various stripes, just to name a few. I have friends who home school and they aren't even close to being right-wing or Christian. They simply want to see that their kids actually get an education. M.H. is correct; if you wish to combat this evil trend bickering and mudslinging is counterproductive. Ben Franklin said it best: "If we do not hang together, we shall most assuredly hang separately."

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  35. I saw the movie "Idiocracy" recently, and thought it was really funny, but then I realized it was nonfiction and I'm not laughing anymore.

    So in the near future, it appears that the only people in the US who will know the metric system and chemistry (and who aren't corporate or university researchers) will be drug lab operators.

    Fear not, my curious and innovative brethren! For verily I say unto you: The rigid imposition of Order always leads to an escalation of Chaos; it is The Law!

    To those in other countries who may think America's plight is funny, I suggest they contemplate a world wherein the population of the USA is even more ignorant than it is right now. It's not so funny after all, is it?

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  36. Ugh.

    Okay, that's it, I'm moving. Who's with me? More importantly, where do we go and with whom can we crash?

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  37. i am a mad scientist and i need a few of the following, but i am not sure where to find these ingredients amongst my people:

    *a source of positvity

    *a certain container to store my sense of overcoming adversity (you know the little cute ones that look a little bit like winnie the pooh)

    *looking for new or used responsibility for my country, in the form of taking democracy back for and by ourselves

    i am working with chaos here in my lab. the complaints are raising and i am afraid it's gonna blow! and the whole darn town is gonna get smothered by the gas of negativity and then we'll have even less positivity and they've taken it off the shelf and i can't find it!

    (don't think i don't feel the pain.) i just want to remind us all that we can do something about it. it's that we didn't want to have to adapt in the ways we are being forced to adapt! fighting for a good life! or for positivity, or a damn chemistry set!

    we are sacrificial lambs riding out a storm. every generation has a storm, and they all suck. let's not let it be in vain!

    www.ecobydesign.net

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  38. George Washington once said that bipartisanism will destroy democracy. I think he was right. Listen to how people bicker over who is to blaim for the absolute decay occuring in this nation!

    I propose, rather than pointing the finger at Republicans or the Bush administration, we step up and take responsibility for ourselves. This is our country, after all. Shouldn't we have enough pride in this nation to take care of it?

    I think that Memepunks is right. If you honestly feel that there is an injustice (which there is) in the treatment of amature scientists, then you need to stop sitting around at the computer and whining on the internet about it; we need to rally together and solve the problem on our own.

    Science is a particularly perfect environment for this to occur. We can easily identify our needs without hurling politics into the mix because science itself is an objective and realist activity.

    I personally think that LABrats is a wonderful program. If all of us in institutional settings just took a few hours a week to open our labs to interested youth, we can actually give them better experiences than the ones Memepunks had by exposing them to equipment like Glove Boxes, Digital scales, sensative indicators, and so much more.

    As a matter of fact, I found this website while on a hunt for DIY projects to make quality grade lab equippment for next to nothing for use in high school and middleschool science classrooms.

    My point is that we should not taint this problem with stupid bickering over a political system that is far from broken.

    To the Canadian, I feel you are grossly mis-informed. The United States generally leads the world in scientific advancements and if we suffer, the rest of the world will not "catch up", as you put it. The rest of the world will suffer equally if not more. The United States is the greatest country on Earth. If it weren't, we wouldn't have people literally crawling under barbed wire fences to get here. Canada doesn't see even a fraction of a percent of the immigration demands that the US sees, so I will ask you to keep your jealousy and sore loser attitude to yourself. Your comments do not reflect that you have any interest whatsoever in the progression of science.

    AS
    M.Sc in Physics
    Proud American

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  39. Let's not be to negative here. Before all you guys start moving, why don't you all get together and make an open source science box?

    You know, list some cool experiments and list the way to get the items from the grocery store/pharmacist.

    List those things on a wordpress blog, and tags and your done. Would love to chip in but don't know anything about chemistry.

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  40. While I do agree, the line has to be drawn somewhere. Remember the story of the boy scout who put his whole neighborhood in danger by trying to build a breeder reactor?

    http://www.hps.org/publicinformation/ate/q3501.html

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  41. http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/12/25/hints-for-beginners-in-amateur-chemistry/?Qwd=./PopularScience/6-1939/beginner_chemistry&Qif=beginner_chemistry_0.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=XL#qdig

    oh why, must we live in the present day?

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  42. A great article indeed and a very detailed, realistic and superb Keep posting..!

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