Enterra Insights

The Future of Building Materials

In brief post about the amount of infrastructure that needs to be built over the next couple of decades [Chart of the day: Buddy, got $40T to spare?], my colleague, Tom Barnett, wrote:

"Of the $40T to be spent by 2030, $6.5 in North America, $9.2T in Europe writ large, $7.5T in LATAM, $1.1T in Africa, $0.9T in Mideast, and $15.9T in Asia. Per the Core Gap map, light in the middle and thicker along the edges. Breaking it down by category, it's $22.6T in water, $9T in electricity, $7.8T in road and raid, and $1.6T in air & sea. A lot will be internal improvements, but plenty will be external improvements, i.e., improving linkages between states and regions."

Forty trillion dollars of infrastructure is a lot. If countries cannot find that amount of money, desperately needed infrastructure will remain unbuilt and the benefits that could have resulted from that infrastructure will remain unrealized. With austerity measures being implemented in many places, the likelihood grows each day that the money won't be found (at least from government sources). One thing that could help get more infrastructure built is finding more affordable building materials that reduce initial and/or lifecycle costs of infrastructure. Researchers are constantly looking for breakthroughs in materials and often look to nature for new ideas (for more on this subject, see my posts entitled Turning to Nature to Save Energy and Learning from Nature. Researchers in England are now exploring how the basic materials found in seashells can be used to make life on land better for people ["Sea shells inspire better building materials," by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 13 March 2010]. Coxworth reports:

"Seashells have done an exemplary job of protecting their inhabitants for around a hundred million years, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that scientists and chemists have now replicated their unique structure in a manmade material. Taking inspiration from shells, researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds have successfully reinforced calcium carbonate, or chalk, with polystyrene particles such as those used in disposable drinking cups. Their achievement could lead to stronger building and bone replacement materials, or other practical applications. By combining calcite crystals with polystyrene particles, the scientists created a ceramic polymer that is less brittle than chalk, and thus less prone to cracking. When the material did crack, they noticed that the polymer lengthened within the cracks, instead of simply snapping – this is a known mechanism for absorbing energy and enhancing durability. By selecting particles of different shapes, sizes and composition, the scientists said the properties of the material could be tweaked for different purposes."

Although the polystyrene particles lengthen to fill in cracks, the new material isn't self-healing. Other researchers are exploring a number of materials that do have self-healing qualities. One is a self-healing cement ["Student creates cost-effective self-healing concrete?" by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 27 May 2010]. Coxworth explains why his headline contains a question mark:

"Self-healing 'smart building materials' have the potential to reduce structure repair costs, lower cement-production carbon emissions and even save lives. One barrier that has kept these materials from being commercialized, however, is their potentially labor-intensive and thus expensive production process. Recently, an engineering student from the University of Rhode Island (URI) announced that she has developed a self-healing concrete that would be inexpensive to produce. Michelle Pelletier, collaborating with URI Chemical Engineering Professor Arijit Bose, created a concrete matrix that was embedded with a micro-encapsulated sodium silicate healing agent. When cracks formed in the concrete, the capsules ruptured and released the agent into the adjacent area. The sodium silicate reacted with the calcium hydroxide already present in the concrete, and formed a calcium-silica-hydrate gel that healed the cracks and blocked the concrete’s pores. The gel hardened in about one week. When Pelletier’s concrete was stress-tested to the point of almost breaking, it proceeded to recover 26% of its original strength. By contrast, conventional concrete only recovers 10%. Pelletier believes that she could boost the strength of her mix even higher, by increasing the quantity of the healing agent. Other researchers have tried using bacteria spores that secrete calcium carbonate, or glass capillaries filled with a healing agent. According to Pelletier, her mix would be more cost-effective because it would be simpler to produce, and function more efficiently. 'Smart materials usually have an environmental trigger that causes the healing to occur,' she said. 'What’s special about our material is that it can have a localized and targeted release of the healing agent only in the areas that really need it.' Pelletier is now researching how well the healing agent would work for minimizing the corrosion of steel rebar within concrete structures."

As a side note, in a post entitled Go Green, Save Lives, I discuss some varieties of cement that possess characteristics that can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although self-healing materials may have higher initial costs, their lifecycle costs could be dramatically lower than traditional materials. Cement isn't the only material being experimented with. The Economist reports that "researchers have devised an ingenious way for the damaged surfaces of metals to repair themselves when they come to harm" ["Metal, heal thyself," 10 June 2010]. The article reports:

"Sadly for engineers, inanimate objects cannot yet repair themselves. But work by Claudia dos Santos at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, and Christian Mayer at Duisburg-Essen University in Stuttgart, has brought the day when they will be able to do so a little nearer. They and their colleagues have invented a way for damaged metals to heal themselves."

Repairing damaged "surfaces" can help maintain a structure in good repair and prevent further damage; but, repairing surfaces is a far cry from correcting deeper structural flaws. Nevertheless, it is a start and the article explains how it is done:

"The surfaces of many metal objects are coated with other metals for protection. Iron, for instance, is frequently galvanised with zinc. The basic idea of the new technology is to infiltrate this coating with tiny, fluid-filled capsules. When the metal coating is punctured or scratched, the capsules in the damaged area burst and ooze restorative liquids, in the form of compounds called trivalent chromates. These react with nearby metal atoms and form tough, protective films a few molecules thick to ameliorate the damage. The idea of doing this has been around for years, but it has proved difficult in practice because the capsules used were too big. Surface coatings tend to be about 20 microns (millionths of a metre) thick. The capsules were 10-15 microns across—large enough to disrupt the coatings, and thus do more harm than good. The trick worked out by Dr dos Santos and Dr Mayer is how to create capsules a few hundredths of this size. The capsules the researchers have come up with are made by mixing butylcyanoacrylate, a chemical found in superglue, with an oil carrying the healing compounds. This mixture is then mixed with dilute hydrochloric acid. The result is an emulsion of droplets between 100 and 300 nanometres (billionths of a metre) across. Each droplet has an oil core surrounded by a thin layer of butylcyanoacrylate. To make the droplets stable, phosphate is added to the emulsion. This triggers the polymerisation of the butylcyanoacrylate into a tough plastic, which forms the outside of the capsule."

The article notes that "the greatest challenge for the team ... was not making the capsules in the first place, but stabilising them during the plating process." Having overcome that challenge, however, the team believes "that self-repairing metals should commonly be available in the years ahead." Like self-healing cement, the initial cost of self-healing metals will be greater than traditional metals, but long-term maintenance costs of structures built with the material could be dramatically lower.

If you are looking for a material with lower initial costs, you might want to look in the nearest trash bin ["Medical waste no longer being wasted," by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 1 May 2010]. Coxworth reports:

"Back in the 70’s, Mad Magazine ran a satirical article proposing crazy new methods of dealing with garbage. One of them involved taking the trash, compressing it into cubes, then building things out of those. Flash forward to 2010, and a Houston company is doing almost that very thing, and with medical waste, no less. Sharps Compliance takes items like needles, syringes and lancets, and presses them into a pelletized building material called PELLA-DRX. Sharps specializes in the disposal of injecting supplies from individuals and clinics. The waste is already being sent into them by the users, so no transportation is required solely for the production of PELLA-DRX. To make the product, the waste is first sent through an autoclave, which kills any pathogens. Next, it goes through a shredder, which reduces its volume by over 90%. Finally, it gets compressed into pellets, which bear no visual clues as to their origins. Sharps claims it utilizes 100% of the waste it receives, so absolutely none of it ends up in an incinerator or a landfill. PELLA-DRX is currently being used to make cement, although Sharps foresees it also finding its way into the production of lime and steel. Because it reportedly has a BTU content equal to coal, they also see it being used in the production of power - if they’re suggesting it be burned, however, you have to wonder about all that plastic going up in flames."

A couple of years ago, a University of Utah professor applied for a patent for a process that turns trash into building material ["Invention: Recycled trash construction materials," by Justin Mullins, New Scientist, 8 January 2009]. Mullins reports:

"Lawrence Reaveley, a civil engineer at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, has come up with a scheme that could reuse some of this excess trash. His new patent application claims that a blend of waste plastic and cellulose from plant material can make a good building material, once appropriately sanitised. The mixture could either be held together using a bonding substance, or treated with heat and pressure to let the plastic already in the mix hold things together, the application says. Panels produced in this way could be used for sound or heat insulation, or they could be reinforced – for example with metal or fibreglass – to be used structurally for walls and other building features. The plastic/cellulose mix could even be burned for fuel, the patent application claims."

Environmentalists continue to ask: "Who really needs a brand-spanking-new house framework constructed out of harvested lumber or chemically-saturated, spun fiberglass insulation when in many cases, eco-friendly options will work just as effectively with minimal or no negative impact on our planet?" ["Recy-Blocks: Eco-Building Material Made Out Of 100% Plastic Trash!" by Kieran K., GreenWala, 10 February 2010]. Kieran writes:

"Alternative building materials that make good use of recycled, reclaimed and sustainable (rather than virgin) resources are cropping up more frequently than ever before thanks to the innovative approach of forward-thinking product designers. ... We've seen evidence of this before with the creation of cow-dung-composed EcoFaeBricks which are said to reduce 1,693 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a yearly basis. Another eco-building product, UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation, converts recycled, shredded denim into batts that can be fitted between joists, studs and beams and generally releases no volatile organic compounds or air pollutants. One of the most outstanding innovations in recent years is Greensulate's line of rigid panel home insulation composed entirely out of agricultural by-products and fungal mycelium. While all of the aforementioned are notable in their own right, they may have some serious competition now that Gert de Mulder's ‘Recy-Blocks' have burst onto the scene. The rectangular 100% plastic waste construction components are created by pressing reclaimed packaging material - which far too often ends up being a landfill casualty - into pillow shaped forms that achieve a solid state due to their exposure to high heat."

Creating new materials and getting people to use them are two very different challenges. Colorado architect, Doug Eichelberger, is one designer who would like to see trash used as a building material ["Trash House," by Glenn Meyers, Green Building Elements, 17 February 2009]. Meyers reports that Eichelberger would like to see trash bundled into bales for use in rebuilding third world communities devastated by natural disasters. Eichelberger admits that such bales are not the strongest of materials and that they don't offer a long-term solution for mitigating the effects of future disasters. A better alternative would be the kind of "ecological brick" that has been developed in Argentina ["Ecological Bricks," by Keith R., The Temas Blog, 24 December 2006]. Keith writes:

"Bricks developed by Argentina’s Experimental Center for Economical Housing (Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica – CEVE). The Córdoba-based CEVE was created in 1967 as an R&D, technology transfer and training center in experimental, low-cost housing. CEVE is managed by the Association of Economical Housing (AVE) under contract with the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET). In a project funded in part by Germany’s technical cooperation agency, GTZ, CEVE developed a brick made of used food (primarily candy) wrappers and plastic (primarily PET) soda and water bottles. Used beverage containers are provided by the city’s selective collection plant, collection points in schools and government agencies, plus rejects from the local bottling plant. The PE film is provided by the Converflex company (Arcor) in Córdoba province, which recycles PVC film but not other plastics. The plastics are ground up and then mixed with Portland cement and chemical additives to make the bricks and something CEVE calls 'brick plates.' ... CEVE says that the resulting bricks are lighter (about 1.1 kg vs. an average 2 kg for a regular brick) and cheaper (by about half) than traditional bricks, but comparable in terms of durability, water and fire resistance, with good heat and sound insulation properties. In outdoor exposure tests undertaken by CEVE over the course of two years, the materials stood up well to both weather and ultraviolet radiation."

With many of the developed world's landfills reaching capacity, turning trash into bricks could offer a way to reduce building costs, create jobs, and help the planet along the way. Unfortunately, I suspect that until the current recession can be seen fading in the rearview mirror people won't be looking for new sources of building material. If and when infrastructure development heats up, the search for new for building materials will heat up as well.

The Decade of Emerging Markets?

The Great Recession has brought to light how important emerging market nations are for the global economy. Many analysts believe that it will be emerging market nations that pull developed nations out of the current financial morass. What makes emerging market countries so important are their growing middle classes. These new consumers provide the stimulus that will bolster most future global economic growth. Luis Alberto Moreno, who earlier this month was re-elected president of the Inter-American Development Bank, believes that Latin America is poised to rise in importance in world affairs ["Welcome to the Latin American Decade," Financial Times, 7 July 2010]. He writes:

"Financial analysts point to a ... set of indicators that should capture the world’s attention. Economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean is forecast to average 4.5 per cent this year, twice the estimated US rate and four times faster than the eurozone. Fiscal deficits in Latin America are expected to average 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010, compared with 6.8 per cent in the euro area and 10.6 per cent in the US. The region’s total public debt is roughly only half the level of Europe and the US. This economic role-reversal is no accident."

Moreno doesn't deny that problems remain in the area ("such as drug-trafficking"). He's correct. The drug war in Mexico, for example, produces new casualties every day. He also notes that another issue -- emigration --"still dominate[s] and distort[s] public perceptions of Latin America." Arizona's controversial immigration law, which is being challenged by the Obama administration, will ensure that immigration remains in U.S. headlines in the months ahead. But where many people see challenges, Moreno sees hope. He continues:

"Over the past 20 years the region has undergone a quiet but profound transformation. Brazil is the most visible example: it has emerged as an industrial and agricultural powerhouse while lifting some 30m of its citizens out of poverty, and is on track to grow more than 7 per cent this year. But Brazil’s progress is echoed, to varying degrees, by most of its neighbours. The foundations for sustained development – particularly in the area of political stability and fiscal reform – have been laid in much of the region. Having weathered the financial crisis, Latin America now has the opportunity to join Asia in leading a global economic recovery."

Despite his obvious optimism, Moreno encourages leaders of Latin American countries to continue transforming their economies and to address persistent problems. "[Latin American] governments," he writes, "will have to tackle several long-neglected problems. One is education." He continues:

"Latin America can take pride in having achieved near-universal primary school enrolment. Illiteracy has been essentially eliminated, and a growing percentage of children complete high school and have a chance to attend university. However, the region still scores near the bottom of international standardised tests. To finish the job, Latin America must revolutionise teacher training, adopt world-class curricula and make school administrators accountable for student performance."

Another challenge Moreno identifies as requiring attention is building the necessary infrastructure to provide clean water and sanitation facilities. As I noted in a post entitled, The Future of Building Materials, some $7.5 trillion worth of infrastructure is expected to be built in Latin America over the next couple of decades. I suspect that water and sanitation infrastructure is included in that amount. Moreno continues:

"Almost every Latin American and Caribbean country is on track to meet the Millennium Development Goals for improving access to safe drinking water. But millions of people with faucets in their homes only get water for a few hours a day, and some 80 per cent of all sewage is still dumped raw into rivers and lakes. Governments must ensure that 100 per cent of their populations have reliable water 24 hours a day and that all wastewater is properly treated."

Communication and transportation infrastructure are certainly included in the infrastructure figure mentioned above. Moreno notes that such infrastructure is critical for ensuring that Latin American economies continue to grow.

"Mobile phone penetration is nearly 90 per cent across Latin America and the Caribbean, while internet access is among the highest in the developing world. Many large cities have state-of-the-art Bus Rapid Transit systems that provide safe, efficient mobility to millions of low-income commuters. But crumbling ports, railways and highways hobble exporters with needless costs and delays."

Moreno next turns to two other subjects about which I've often written: foreign direct investment and energy. FDI is much more important than aid in pushing economies to the next level. An unreliable electricity supply not only creates hardships for citizens but it discourages companies from investing in the economy. Moreno notes that FDI is necessary if the infrastructure discussed above as well as reliable electrical grids are going to be built. "Clear incentives and legal safeguards are needed," he writes, "if Latin America is to attract the private capital that could overhaul its infrastructure." He notes that "Latin America’s energy system is among the world’s cleanest" since "more than 65 per cent of the region’s electricity comes from hydroelectric sources." He also notes that Latin America "is a leading producer of sustainable biofuels." That's the good news. But not all of Latin America's cards have come up aces. He continues:

"In recent years severe droughts have left key reservoirs without water, while fossil fuel production is flat or declining in Mexico and Venezuela. The region needs to develop new sources of energy and fully embrace the regional energy integration that would allow natural gas, for example, to flow freely from countries that have it abundantly to those that do not."

Finally, Moreno discusses Latin America politics, crime, and poverty.

"Finally, regular and credible elections are one of Latin America’s greatest recent achievements, given its history of military coups. However, violence and organised crime have become so pervasive in some cities that they threaten hard-won political and economic progress. To address this, governments must reform law enforcement and judicial systems. More fundamentally, they need to confront the staggering inequality and lack of economic opportunity that drive so many into lives of crime. As in marathons or football championships, the final stretch is often the hardest."

Moreno believes "each of the objectives [he] described is within reach"; which is why he asserts that the world stands "poised to see the 2010s become the decade of Latin America." Even some Asian leaders agree that, along with Asia, Latin America is a good place to invest ["China invests heavily in Brazil, elsewhere in pursuit of political heft," by John Pomfret, Washington Post, 26 Jul 2010]. Pomfret reports from Porto Do Acu, Brazil:

"Here along the golden sands that grace the Atlantic coastline 175 miles north of Rio de Janeiro, China is forging a new economic reality. Just past a port where workers are building a two-mile-long pier to accommodate huge vessels known as Chinamaxes that will transport iron ore for China's ravenous steel industry, past berths for tankers to lug oil to Beijing, a city of factories is sprouting on an island almost twice the size of Manhattan. Many of the structures will be built with Chinese investment: a steel mill, a shipyard, an automobile plant, a factory to manufacture oil and gas equipment. The port project recalls the China of the past decade: a worldwide effort to extract resources for use in the country's vast manufacturing sector. But the factory city represents something new: an aggressive push to invest in industries overseas to bolster the country's image and political influence. Call it 'dollar diplomacy,' Chinese-style. The investments in Brazil reflect China's 'going out' strategy, which seeks to guarantee natural resources for development purposes and to shield the country's state-owned enterprises from slower growth at home. Flush with more than $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, China has directed its state firms to scour the globe for opportunities."

Japanese leaders are also keen to invest in emerging markets ["Japan's Exporters Eye Every Rupee," by Eric Bellman, Wall Street Journal, 7 July 2010]. Bellman reports:

"Japanese companies from Toyota Motor Corp. to Canon Inc. are looking at poor people in emerging markets as potential consumers for the first time in a bid to find new, high-growth markets to offset the slump at home and in traditional markets in the U.S. and Europe. 'This represents a new frontier for the Japanese economy and industries,' Japan's powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a February report which puts the market at 4 billion people and $5 trillion in sales last year. 'Innovations for conquering the frontier are expected to revitalize the Japanese economy as a whole.' An 81-page report from the ministry and many of Japan's leading exporters about the opportunities in countries like China, Brazil, India and Vietnam is being passed around board rooms across Tokyo. It says Japanese companies can't just focus on rich countries and rich consumers. They have to start making more products that a consumer who makes less than $3,000 a year can afford."

Bellman reports that "Yoshinori Noritake, chief engineer at Toyota shuttled between India and Japan more than 30 times over the last three years to figure out how to build a Toyota aimed squarely at the emerging market driver." It's no surprise that Japanese officials are looking to emerging markets since "emerging markets make up a growing share of Japanese exports." Bellman continues:

"The U.S.'s share of Japan's global exports slid to around 16% from 20% over the last three years while the percentage of Japan's exports that went to emerging markets including China, Brazil and India each rose by more than a quarter. The big effort by the government and industry is aimed at helping Japan play catch-up. Unilever PLC has been pushing its products into rural India for years while General Electric Co. of the U.S. has developed new medical equipment specifically for emerging market conditions and budgets."

Japanese leaders are encouraging their multinational companies to look at emerging markets because they "are often beaten by brands from Korea and China, which have been more aggressive at wooing less affluent consumers." Bellman explains:

"In India, ... Korean brands now dominate the consumer appliance and electronics markets. The LG Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. have grabbed as much as half of the television, refrigerator and air conditioner markets while Japanese brands such as Hitachi and Sony rarely get more than a 5% market share, according to data from researcher Euromonitor International."

Bellman reports that "some Japanese companies have stumbled on the opportunity" because they didn't understand the local market.

"Canon didn't understand why it was getting a surge in orders for its $50 home photo-printers in India. It discovered many were going to rural India. Village entrepreneurs were using the printers to start photo businesses, serving farmers who were willing to pay 50 cents to print the photos they had taken from their cell phones. Canon is now reaching out to its potential new customers with a truck fleet that goes from town to town setting up mobile show rooms for Canon products. It gives wedding photography workshops to small town photographers. Canon's sales and staff in India have doubled in the last three years and it expects sales to hit $1 billion by 2015."

Bellman concludes that it has been difficult for Japanese companies to change mindsets and envision customers at the bottom of the pyramid. That, however, seems to be changing:

"Sumitomo Chemical Co., for instance, designed mosquito-repellant infused screens to protect factories when it realized there was a mass market using the technology for inexpensive mosquito nets. It now sells more than 40 million a year in Africa, Vietnam and elsewhere. Sanyo Electric Co. has launched its solar-charged LED lights in Uganda. Sony Corp. is working on an affordable power generator for the developing world. Nissin Corp. doubled its noodle-making capacity in India last year and cut the size of its packages of noodles so more Indians can afford its Top Raman brand for less than 10 cents apiece. It tripled the size of its staff over the last three years and created a flavor for eastern India. The company is developing more regional flavors and expects overall sales to climb 50% this year, said Yuji Tabeta, president of Indo Nissin Foods Ltd., which is based in Bangalore."

Despite these positive signs, Bellman reports that "many Japanese companies have a long way to go." He writes that "Indian consumers are familiar with Nokia or Samsung," but they seem to know little about Japanese products or companies.

Although I'm not sure that next decade will be the decade of emerging market countries, it will surely see emerging market countries brought to the doorstep of prosperity. As I noted in the post on infrastructure, trillions of dollars worth of infrastructure needs to be built before real prosperity can be discussed. That will take some time and effort and the current recession will delay some of those efforts. My advice to multinational companies is to get in early (or at least as quickly as they can) or risk being shut out of emerging markets. That's what the Japanese fear and are hoping to avoid.

Grains -- Past, Present, and Future

One of America's most patriotic songs praises the "amber waves of grain" that make the United States one the world's breadbasket countries. Humans and their ancestors have probably always depended on grains as a food source. According to Wikipedia, "Cereal grains are grown in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other type of crop." In fact, the world's three largest crops are all grains: rice, wheat, and maize. An article in the New York Times traces the ancestry of maize back at least 9000 years ["Tracking the Ancestry of Corn Back 9,000 Years," by Sean B. Carroll, 24 May 2010]. Carroll writes:

"Corn is much more than great summer picnic food, however. Civilization owes much to this plant, and to the early people who first cultivated it. For most of human history, our ancestors relied entirely on hunting animals and gathering seeds, fruits, nuts, tubers and other plant parts from the wild for food. It was only about 10,000 years ago that humans in many parts of the world began raising livestock and growing food through deliberate planting. These advances provided more reliable sources of food and allowed for larger, more permanent settlements. Native Americans alone domesticated nine of the most important food crops in the world, including corn, more properly called maize (Zea mays), which now provides about 21 percent of human nutrition across the globe. But despite its abundance and importance, the biological origin of maize has been a long-running mystery. The bright yellow, mouth-watering treat we know so well does not grow in the wild anywhere on the planet, so its ancestry was not at all obvious. Recently, however, the combined detective work of botanists, geneticists and archeologists has been able to identify the wild ancestor of maize, to pinpoint where the plant originated, and to determine when early people were cultivating it and using it in their diets."

It might have been as big of a surprise for you as it was for me to learn that maize "does not grow in the wild anywhere on the planet," but Carroll asserts that "the greatest surprise, and the source of much past controversy in corn archaeology, was the identification of the ancestor of maize." He continues his tale of botanical mystery:

"Many botanists did not see any connection between maize and other living plants. Some concluded that the crop plant arose through the domestication by early agriculturalists of a wild maize that was now extinct, or at least undiscovered. However, a few scientists working during the first part of the 20th century uncovered evidence that they believed linked maize to what, at first glance, would seem to be a very unlikely parent, a Mexican grass called teosinte. Looking at the skinny ears of teosinte, with just a dozen kernels wrapped inside a stone-hard casing, it is hard to see how they could be the forerunners of corn cobs with their many rows of juicy, naked kernels. Indeed, teosinte was at first classified as a closer relative of rice than of maize. But George W. Beadle, while a graduate student at Cornell University in the early 1930s, found that maize and teosinte had very similar chromosomes. Moreover, he made fertile hybrids between maize and teosinte that looked like intermediates between the two plants. He even reported that he could get teosinte kernels to pop. Dr. Beadle concluded that the two plants were members of the same species, with maize being the domesticated form of teosinte. Dr. Beadle went on to make other, more fundamental discoveries in genetics for which he shared the Nobel Prize in 1958. He later became chancellor and president of the University of Chicago."

So if the puzzle was solved back in the early 1930s, what's all the fuss about? Why, you might ask, is Carroll making such a big deal about maize's origins now? He explains:

"Despite Dr. Beadle’s illustrious reputation, his theory still remained in doubt three decades after he proposed it. The differences between the two plants appeared to many scientists to be too great to have evolved in just a few thousand years of domestication. So, after he formally retired, Dr. Beadle returned to the issue and sought ways to gather more evidence. As a great geneticist, he knew that one way to examine the parentage of two individuals was to cross them and then to cross their offspring and see how often the parental forms appeared. He crossed maize and teosinte, then crossed the hybrids, and grew 50,000 plants. He obtained plants that resembled teosinte and maize at a frequency that indicated that just four or five genes controlled the major differences between the two plants. Dr. Beadle’s results showed that maize and teosinte were without any doubt remarkably and closely related. But to pinpoint the geographic origins of maize, more definitive forensic techniques were needed. This was DNA typing, exactly the same technology used by the courts to determine paternity."

Just as old criminal cases didn't have DNA evidence available several decades back, neither did Dr. Beadle. It took science time to catch up with his theories so they could be explored more completely. Carroll continues:

"In order to trace maize’s paternity, botanists led by my colleague John Doebley of the University of Wisconsin rounded up more than 60 samples of teosinte from across its entire geographic range in the Western Hemisphere and compared their DNA profile with all varieties of maize. They discovered that all maize was genetically most similar to a teosinte type from the tropical Central Balsas River Valley of southern Mexico, suggesting that this region was the 'cradle' of maize evolution. Furthermore, by calculating the genetic distance between modern maize and Balsas teosinte, they estimated that domestication occurred about 9,000 years ago. These genetic discoveries inspired recent archeological excavations of the Balsas region that sought evidence of maize use and to better understand the lifestyles of the people who were planting and harvesting it. Researchers led by Anthony Ranere of Temple University and Dolores Piperno of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History excavated caves and rock shelters in the region, searching for tools used by their inhabitants, maize starch grains and other microscopic evidence of maize."

Carroll goes on to report that archaeological evidence coincided nicely with the DNA evidence. He says that researchers found stone milling tools with traces of maize on them and evidence that early Mesoamericans were quite adept at agriculture. He concludes:

"The most impressive aspect of the maize story is what it tells us about the capabilities of agriculturalists 9,000 years ago. These people were living in small groups and shifting their settlements seasonally. Yet they were able to transform a grass with many inconvenient, unwanted features into a high-yielding, easily harvested food crop. The domestication process must have occurred in many stages over a considerable length of time as many different, independent characteristics of the plant were modified. The most crucial step was freeing the teosinte kernels from their stony cases. Another step was developing plants where the kernels remained intact on the cobs, unlike the teosinte ears, which shatter into individual kernels. Early cultivators had to notice among their stands of plants variants in which the nutritious kernels were at least partially exposed, or whose ears held together better, or that had more rows of kernels, and they had to selectively breed them. It is estimated that the initial domestication process that produced the basic maize form required at least several hundred to perhaps a few thousand years. Every August, I thank these pioneer geneticists for their skill and patience."

As Carroll notes, one of the challenges that farmers have always faced is the need to replant grain crops each season. That may be changing, however, as scientists work to create perennial plants to replace the annual plants that have historically been used ["Perennial grains could be biggest agricultural innovation in eons," by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 29 June 2010]. Coxworth reports:

"It has pretty much become a given that grain crops, such as wheat and barley, need to be started from scratch every spring. This means farmers must buy seeds, use seeding equipment to get those seeds into the soil, then apply a lot of fertilizer and hope for weather conditions that won’t be too hot, cold, wet or dry for germination. There are such things as perennial grains, however - plants that, like the grass in your lawn, simply pick up in the spring where they left off in the fall. While perennial versions of common annual grains have seen little in the way of development, a new research paper says it’s about time they did. The advantages of cultivating perennial grains, the paper’s authors submit, could be one of the biggest advances in the 10,000-year history of agriculture."

The only question that immediately comes to my mind is what would the introduction of perennial grain crops do to the concept of crop rotation? Coxworth continues:

"The paper, 'Increased Food and Ecosystem Security via Perennial Grains,' points out that perennials have longer growing seasons and longer, denser roots than annuals. Those longer roots, which can reach down 10 to 12 feet, allow the crops to reach and hold more water and nutrients, reduce erosion, and condition the soil. [see image] Because the plants grow for a greater length of time, they also sequester more carbon from the atmosphere. Annual crops, by contrast, are said to lose five times as much water as perennials, and 35 times as much nitrate - a plant nutrient that regularly leaches out of fields and pollutes waterways. Needless to say, annual crops also involve the rearing, transportation, purchase and sowing of seeds every year, which leaves definite carbon, chemical and financial footprints."

Don't expect to see perennial grain crops anytime soon, Coxworth reports that it may take as long as 20 years for scientists to perfect the plants. In the meantime, scientists have other more pressing challenges concerning grain crops that need to be addressed. Perhaps the most immediate is the challenge of wheat rust ["Rust in the bread basket," The Economist, 1 July 2010]. According to the article, "a crop-killing fungus is spreading out of Africa towards the world’s great wheat-growing areas." The article concludes:

"Scientists ... say they know how to attack stem rust. The question is how fast and how completely they can do it, and at what cost. ... The new approach uses four or five weaker defences, for example reducing the area of the wheat plant that Ug99 [the new strain of rust] destroys, or slowing down the spread of the fungus. Each would be inadequate on its own. But put together, they achieve something close to full resistance. Multiple barriers also make it harder for Ug99 to overcome them all. A single gene will eventually be defeated—as Sr31 was. Knocking down a series of obstacles is much harder. So far, researchers have developed about 60 experimental wheat varieties with multiple low-resistance genes. ... Scientists are also investigating how rust secretes the substances that enable it to break into the plant’s cells. If the wheat can learn to recognise this as it is happening, it might also be engineered to generate its own Ug99- resistant proteins. Separately, researchers have cracked the mystery of how stripe rust is able to overcome resistance in wheat so quickly. Until recently it was thought that stripe rust reproduces asexually. But new research found that, like stem rust, stripe rust increases its genetic variability by reproducing sexually on the leaves of another host plant (the barberry), making itself more adaptable—and more deadly. Advances like these suggest the march of wheat rust can be halted, though at a cost. That is not just money, but a trade-off of lower yields for more resistance. ... But if the signs in the laboratory look propitious, out in the fields the distribution problems are formidable. Over 47,000 hectares have been planted with the new seeds. But that is only 0.1% of the total area planted to wheat in the countries on the FAO’s danger list. The astonishing spread of wheat rust makes quick containment impossible. In some places stem rust may become endemic before the outside world even spots it."

We obviously owe a debt of gratitude to our ancestors for helping domesticate grasses that now provide us with cereal grains. But, with grain crops providing so much of the staple food needed to feed the globe, we also owe a debt of gratitude to scientists working to secure the present and future of such crops as well.

Making Yourself More Valuable at Work

Sam Parker from BNET.com sent out a short email primer to subscribers on seven things he believes an employee can do make himself or herself more valuable at work. A friend passed it along thinking that Parker's ideas might be interesting to readers of this blog; especially since the first topic he discusses is resiliency. Parker writes:

"On being resilient...

"The truth is, everything that has happened in my life... that I thought was a crushing event at the time, has turned out for the better."
Warren Buffett (1930– )
American businessman and philanthropist

resilient: (adj.): capable of bouncing back from or adjusting to challenges and change

We all fail from time-to-time (our doing, someone else's doing, something else's doing, a combination of each). It's life.

To be resilient...

1. Focus on results. Embrace the fact that results are what we're all really after. Effort and attempts are great first steps, but we need to act with commitment to delivering (just like we want people to do for us).
2. Make lessons of failures. Minimize the tendency to make a mistake anything more than a lesson on how not to do something. We need to learn from our experiences and accept them as tuition for future success. And yes... Our mistakes might put us in a bind at times and have some uncomfortable consequences but again, that's real life.
3. Continue on. Smarter.
4. Reinforce. Support each other (and ourselves) by continually reminding and encouraging one another to deliver on the first three points.

That's it. Let's practice it more."

I would have labeled this advice "perseverance" rather than "resilience." Although I agree that bouncing back up when one finds himself/herself on the ground is important, I believe that perseverance better describes the trait that characterizes most successful people. For more on that topic, read my post entitled Dealing with Failure often Precedes Achieving Success. Number two on Parker's list of traits you should foster is service. He writes:

"On service ...

It's about attitude and action. It's about being positive and having a sense of urgency. Being pleased to serve. Having effect. Mattering to the world, all with a smile.

Not a smile with unchanged eyes ... a forced smile. But a smile because of a dramatic, heartfelt understanding that the opportunity to move, to act, to serve someone else in some way is the most wonderful giving-life-meaning chance (yes, chance) that all of us have (although not all of us use).

You're at my service and I'm at yours. If we want to matter and to be happy, if we want more freedom, more flexibility, more responsibility or more money, we need to give more to those we're supposed to be serving. We need to get over ourselves. We need to Smile & Move."

I agree that we need to serve one another more often and more cheerfully. I'm a big fan of optimism; especially, in the workplace. For more on that topic, read my post entitled In Praise of Optimism. Number three on Parker's list of important traits is exerting extra effort. He writes:

"On extra effort ...

At 211 degrees, water is hot.
At 212 degrees, it boils.
And with boiling water, comes steam. And with steam, you can power a train.
Just one degree more can make all the difference. Where can you turn up the heat?

• 2 extra acts of kindness weekly plant 104 more seeds of generosity each year.

• 15 extra minutes a day creates over 90 hours each year for what's most important to you.

• 1 extra contact daily sparks 180 more personal connections every 6 months.

• 1 extra risk each week leads to 52 more opportunities every year for excitement and possibility.

It's your life. You are responsible for your results. Be Two-Twelve."

I agree that a lot of things can be achieved by hard work regardless of your abilities or talents. Some people believe that you can even raise your IQ through hard work (see my post entitled The Amazing Mind). Next on Parker's list of valuable traits is humility (or least the ability to shed your big ego). He writes:

"On getting rid of big egos ...

Imagine a world without ego. No toes to step on. No feelings to hurt. No territory to defend. Just pure care.

ego: noun: 1. the self 2. an inflated sense of self-significance

To be no ego...

1. Be humble. Understand you are a (small) part of the world. Service and patience should be your top priorities.

2. Be teachable. Focus on what you can learn, rather than what you know. Remember that almost everything you learn comes from the work of someone else.

3. Listen more. Make every effort to truly understand what others are saying (beyond just words). Allow a gap of silence before responding. Ask questions (and listen, again).

4. Appreciate people. Enjoy others' contributions. Don't squelch ideas or defend territory. Encourage more.

5. Relax. Let go of the need to be right or win every time."

If you're a business executive, getting rid of a big ego could be a challenge. There is a fine line between being prideful and being confident. In business, one needs to be confident without being pompous. I've found that truly great leaders know how to listen and they appreciate the people who work with them. Anyone who believes that he/she is the font of all wisdom is setting himself/herself up for a mighty fall. Great leaders look for and embrace good ideas regardless of their source. Next on Parker's list is a trait that might surprise some people: luck. He writes:

"On being lucky ...

'Diligence is the mother of good luck.'
- Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
American statesman, scientist, and printer

luck: noun: a force that makes things happen

You want more luck? Be the force that makes it happen...

1. Prepare. Work hard to be ready for the opportunities that are important to you. Research. Practice. Perfect.

2. Be awake. Pay attention to the people, events, and things around you. Evaluate logically and trust your gut instinct.

3. Take action. Put yourself out there. Explore. Be vulnerable. Make contact with people. Take risks.

4. Expect positive results. Optimism improves your chances. If (when) you fail, embrace the lesson and continue on, smarter.

That's it. Now go be lucky (and do something)."

There's a lot of truth to the saying, "I believe in making my own luck." Still, some people do get better breaks than others. What's really important is being able to recognize and then take advantage of opportunities when they arise. For more on that subject, read my post entitled Is That Unemployment or Opportunity Knocking? Next on Parker's list of important traits is complaining less. He writes:

"On complaining less ...

'This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
Irish playwright and critic

complainless: (adj.) 1. to be free of complaints 2. a pleasure to be around

Remember... Your words move others. Your words move you. Let yours send everyone in the right direction. Be the spark. To be ComplainLess...

1. Be aware. Recognize your typical paths to complaining - what (who) sparks your tendency to gripe. Minimize your exposure to them (eliminating those 'sparks' altogether may not always be realistic or the best thing). Know that your grumbling is a complete waste of energy.

2. Be thankful. Regularly reflect on all the good in your life (people, opportunities, things). Understand and enjoy how lucky you really are. Be entitled to nothing.

3. Pause before you begin. Clip a complaint as you feel it coming. Put a smile or thoughtful statement in its path. Blame no one. Blame nothing.

4. Be accountable. Focus on solving problems rather than having them (especially with customers). Set the example for others and recommit when you slip. Care for yourself and create a positive habit.

Simple. More enjoyable for everyone."

To really be a pleasure around, you need to do more than stop whining -- but ceasing to whine is a good start! The final trait that Parker recommends you develop is commitment. He writes:

"On commitment ...

cross: (verb) 1. to move from one side to another 2. to pass over mediocrity

With everything, there's a line. On one side of the line is a greater chance to give more, enjoy more, realize more. On the other side, there's less of a chance. And with each line, there's a choice. You want to cross the line or you don't. You want the better chance at meaningful - opportunity - impact - or you settle with the lesser chance. Your choice.

It seems simple but...

Then there'll be those times - those times when in the short run it'll seem like you can't cross the line (no matter what you do). But then, those misses (those hurdles) in the short run will sometimes help you over the line in the long run (in a way you couldn't have seen). They'll serve as lessons, giving you more depth to your experience. But you won't know that at the time. At the time, you'll just see that line. And it might seem like a wall. But it really is just a line (a line you want to cross). And it's yours to cross but you have to decide (make that choice).

It seems simple but...

Then there'll be those people - those people who've decided they'd rather not cross the line and would prefer you didn't either - sprinkle in a little doubt, withhold a little encouragement, step in the way. Then there'll be that inner voice - that inner voice that'll remind you you're not that special and things like that are for other people. (What are you thinking?) Then there'll be the work - the work that'll be the real challenge that some people never face because of the false challenges from those times, those people, or that inner voice that keep us from trying (and bouncing back). But there's the line. And it needs to be crossed. And you can cross it. It's up to you. (Which side will you choose?)

How to Cross the Line...

1. Choose to commit. Make the choice to improve your chances to go beyond mediocrity. Approach the things you do with the intent to deliver / succeed / serve.

2. Work hard. Good things are rarely easy (cheap). Real effort and attention are the fundamentals behind everything. (There are no quick fixes.) Earn your results.

3. Focus. Eliminate distractions. Minimize exposure to negative people, thoughts, and things that don't serve your intent.

4. Bounce back. Learn from your mistakes and challenges and remember your choice to cross the line.

Not easy, but simple. (And it needs to be done.)"

This last section reads more like the kind of advice heard at a corporate pep rally rather than the kind of advice I'd expect to hear during a session with a personal life coach; nevertheless, the message is important: establish goals and then do what's necessary to achieve them ethically. If you set a goal to graduate from college but never apply to any universities, you're simply a dreamer. As the old saw goes, actions speak louder than words. The world needs movers and shakers; but, Parker is saying that you can move and shake in ethical ways. In ways that make others want to be around and follow you. Just ask yourself a simple question: Am I the kind of person that I would want to be around and work with? If your answer is "no," you have some work to do and Parker's recommendations may be a good place to start. If your answer is "yes," good on you. Stay the course and change the world.

More on the Innovation Gap

I first wrote about the so-called "innovation gap" back in September 2008 in a post entitled: Another Slowdown to Worry About -- Innovation? In that post, I wrote: "Using the word 'gap' to generate fear or concern, began when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik and the U.S. declared there was a 'space gap.' Since then, anytime someone spots a challenge that they think needs addressing, they declare that some kind of 'gap' exists. By declaring something a 'gap,' a person is emphasizing that it is more than a challenge, more than a problem, it's a crisis -- a wound that desperately needs closing. The 'innovation gap,' if it exists, is just beginning to open." The article that prompted that post was the review of a book entitled "Closing the Innovation Gap" which was written by Judy Estrin, the former chief technology officer of Cisco Systems. John C. Lechleiter, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Eli Lilly and Company, has now joined Estrin in calling for measures to close the innovation gap ["America's Growing Innovation Gap," Wall Street Journal, 9 July 2010]. He writes:

"America is the inventing nation. A stream of inventions helped make the 20th century the American century. We've always welcomed a diverse group of dreamers from across the globe and offered them opportunities to advance by virtue of their hard work. We believe in the free flow of ideas and built a public education system that was once the envy of the world. We have also steadfastly maintained a strong business climate that promotes the value of innovation and reinforces Americans' frontier spirit that sees obstacles as challenges to be overcome. Unfortunately, America's economy is in danger of losing what has always been our greatest competitive advantage: our genius for innovation."

That's a pretty bold assertion, but Lechleiter offers some evidence to back it up. He continues:

"A recent study ranked the U.S. sixth among the top 40 industrialized nations in innovative competitiveness, but 40th out of 40 in 'the rate of change in innovation capacity' over the past decade. The ranking, published last year by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, measured what countries are doing—in higher education, investment in research and development, corporate tax rates, and more—to become more innovative in the future. The U.S. ranked dead last. In other words, we're at serious risk of falling behind."

Whereas Estrin's background was in information technology, Lechleiter's background is in biopharmaceuticals. As one would expect from someone with that background, Lechleiter talks about what he sees in his particular area of expertise. He writes:

"The evidence is certainly mounting that we are facing today nothing short of an innovation crisis in America's life sciences. The industry I know best, biopharmaceuticals, is facing unprecedented pressure. R&D costs continue to rise, fewer potential new medicines gain regulatory approval, and key products lose patent protection. In fact, the number of new molecular entities approved by the FDA over the past five years—92—is lower than in any other five-year period since I entered the industry in the late 1970s. Meanwhile, the rest of the world is not standing still. The U.S. is not the only country looking to the life sciences to drive economic growth, and the very qualities that brought much of the world's research capacity to our shores could just as easily attract that work to Asia or elsewhere."

Although Lechleiter's op-ed piece is about innovation, it's clear from that paragraph that profitability is a topic lurking just below the surface. Lechleiter has reason to be concerned considering the anger and frustration currently being directed at those involved in the field of healthcare. Costs, especially costs of medicines, continue to rise, and those being served feel more like victims than patients. It's clear that Lechleiter, too, is frustrated. He continues:

"Let me be clear: When it comes to sustaining innovation, the burden remains on enterprising businesses. The one thing that industry has a right to ask of public policy is to help preserve the environment in which innovation is possible. The pursuit of innovation in any field is a difficult, high-risk venture. If innovation is to take root and grow, it requires a combination of elements I would describe as an 'ecosystem.' The first element of this ecosystem is an atmosphere in which innovation can thrive, a society that understands and appreciates scientific inquiry, and free markets where innovators can expect to be rewarded for the risks they take and the value they create. This has always been an American strength. Yet today you'll hear some people say that we have all the innovation we need—or that, in this difficult economic climate, we just can't afford it. But innovation is not the problem. It's the solution."

Personally, I haven't heard anyone saying "that we have all the innovation we need." Quite the contrary; I've heard a lot of people say that we need to innovate our way out the current recession (see my post entitled An Innovation Agenda). I certainly agree with Lechleiter that innovation is at least part of the solution to our current economic woes. Having indicated that a favorable business environment is the first element of his innovation ecosystem, Lechleiter identifies the second element of the ecosystem -- nutrients -- that must be fostered in order to "preserve our lead in innovation." He writes:

"The second element of the ecosystem—nutrients—come in the form of monetary investments. For investors to take the risks associated with innovation, they must have a fair chance at earning a return for successful work. That requires solid protection of intellectual property; a fair, rigorous and transparent system of regulation; and a tax system that provides companies the ability and incentives to invest in innovation. The Senate continues to debate tax legislation already passed by the House that could prove pivotal for America's innovative companies. While the legislation would extend the R&D tax credit, the bill also includes international tax revenue raisers that will hurt the U.S. economy and deplete American jobs. These taxes further exacerbate the problems with our corporate tax system, which is already out of step with the rest of the world. We need a system that provides the 'nutrients' for investment in the United States."

Although Lechleiter borders on whining, I agree with him that taxing corporations makes them less not more competitive. With unemployment remaining unacceptably high in the United States, only a perverted logic would lead one to the conclusion that making companies less competitive is good for what ails America. Competitive and profitable companies are more likely to hire than fire employees. Employees -- i.e., human capital -- is the final element of Lechleiter's innovation ecosystem. He writes:

"The final and most important elements are the seeds of innovation, which equate to talented people and their ideas. Human beings—with their talent and energy, creativity and insights—are a priceless resource, but one that is woefully underdeveloped in this country."

I agree with him that creative people are the most important element of his innovation ecosystem, but I would have liked to have read more about why he thinks they are being "woefully underdeveloped in this country." Could we do more? Of course. But, I see creative people all around me. In my first post on the innovation gap, I wrote: "My experience is that creative people come up with ideas all the time -- they can't help themselves. True entrepreneurs are risk takers, but the best entrepreneurs also have good business sense. It was the lack of business sense that caused the dom.com failures. I do agree that governments should be generating friendly business environments. It should be businesses that create jobs not governments." Lechleiter offers his suggestions about what can be done to foster the development of creative people:

"There are three policies necessary to cultivate these seeds of innovation. First, with our kids falling further behind on international comparisons in education, we've got to get serious about broad improvement in science and math instruction in our grade schools and high schools. Second, we need immigration laws that allow and encourage top scientists from other countries to choose to work in the United States. This does not entail drastic changes, but a sensible increase in visas for highly skilled immigrants and a shorter, simpler green-card application process. Third, we need a well-funded basic research infrastructure within academic and government labs. What's required is not some new 'Manhattan Project,' but a long-term funding commitment necessary to attract more outstanding scientists to basic research and keep them engaged in productive work throughout their careers."

Those are all sensible suggestions. I have written posts on every one of them in the past. Lechleiter's comments, however, seem misdirected to me. He's obviously aiming his comments at members of Congress, but problems with our educational system and immigration concerns are most deeply rooted at the state rather than national level. I fear that the current political climate, which is characterized more by anger than forethought, does not provide the fertile soil necessary for the elements of Lechleiter's ecosystem to flourish. Nevertheless, he concludes:

"Such policies can unleash America's true capacity for innovation. With the right choices, we can preserve and enhance America's priceless legacy of creativity in the life sciences and high-tech fields. The stakes couldn't be higher. Innovation is the key to ensuring that when people look back at the 21st century, they will say that it was the second American century."

Others see the same challenges identified by Lechleiter. For a very similar discussion, read Thomas Friedman's op-ed piece entitled "A Word From the Wise." [New York Times, 2 March 2010] Like Lechleiter, Friedman concludes: "While America still has the quality work force, political stability and natural resources [that multinational companies need], ... the U.S. is badly lagging in developing the next generation of scientific talent and incentives to induce big multinationals to create lots more jobs here." There is certainly more to write about on this subject and I suspect this won't be the last post in which I address it. I'm just hoping that those voicing concerns about America's future aren't shouting loudly in a forest of policymakers, who like trees, stand stiffly at attention but hear nothing.

Have You Heard the One About the Chickens?

A recent article in the Los Angeles Times discussed efforts to convince veterans to consider vocations in farming and other food-related businesses ["From swords to plowshares: Introducing military veterans to farming," by Mary MacVean, 8 July 2010]. The article begins the story of a veteran who slipped into a career in agriculture because the home he bought came with 200 avocado trees which he started taking care of "just because they were there." He was interviewed at a Santa Monica, CA, job fair held earlier this month that was the subject of MacVean's article. Organizers hoped that it would inspire some veterans to get into agriculture and "help preserve small family farms." I'm afraid that first image that came to my mind when I read the story was that of Oliver Wendell Douglas and his wife Lisa (the bumbling main characters on the TV sitcom Green Acres). The Douglas' set about running a farm with little or no experience and the sitcom produced most of its laughs from the predicaments into which their ignorance and inexperience got them. It also reminded me of an old joke about another city dweller who wanted to enjoy the farming life. It goes like this:

A life-long city man, tired of the rat race, decided he was going to give up the city life, move to the country, and become a chicken farmer. He found a nice, used chicken farm and bought it. As luck would have it, his next door neighbor was also a chicken farmer. The neighbor, after upon seeing the moving van in neighboring yard, came over for a welcoming visit and offered his help saying, "Chicken farming isn’t easy. Tell you what. To help you get started, I’ll give you 100 chickens." The new chicken farmer was both thrilled and grateful. Two weeks later the new neighbor stopped by to see how things were going. The new farmer said, "Not too good. All 100 chickens died." The neighbor, both embarrassed and dismayed, said, "Oh, I can’t believe that. I’ve never had any trouble with my chickens. I’ll give you 100 more." Another two weeks went by, and the neighbor stops in again. The new farmer says, "You’re not going to believe this, but the second 100 chickens died too." Astounded, the neighbor exclaimed, “I can't imagine what went wrong. What did you do to them?" "Well," says the new farmer, "I'm sure it's my fault. I’m not sure whether I’m planting them too deep or not far apart enough."

All joking aside, chickens seem to have become popular with the non-farming crowd ["Fowl Fans See Golden Eggs in Catering to Pet-Chicken Market," by Sarah E. Needleman, Wall Street Journal, 8 July 2010]. Needleman reports:

"Hobbies often hatch small-business ideas. Chickens are no exception. Ruth Haldeman began adopting pet chickens in 2002. 'I wanted fresh eggs, but I found that chickens are like peanuts, you can't have just one,' she says. Before long, Ms. Haldeman had founded ChickenDiapers.com in Hot Springs, Ark. 'Everyone was talking about how there was a need for diapers,' she says, given that chickens typically can't be potty trained. 'Oh, lord, what a mess they make.'"

Right about now you are asking yourself, "Why do chickens need diapers?" Good question. The answer is that many owners of "pet" chickens keep them indoors! Needleman continues:

"Ms. Haldeman, who is also a full-time chemist, designed a chicken diaper with a replaceable liner. She says it takes her about an hour to stitch one together, and her diapers are available in a variety of colors and patterns, such as rainbow and camouflage. She usually charges between $9 to $14 depending on a bird's size. Buyers hail from cities such as New York and Tacoma, Wash., and as far away as New Zealand. 'People like to have their chicks inside the house roaming free,' says Ms. Haldeman, who declined to share how many diapers she sells a week because she's seeing more competition lately. More urban and suburban dwellers are keeping chickens, a trend that stems from both the recession and the local-food movement. Entrepreneurs, meanwhile—many chicken keepers themselves—have begun flocking to the aid of pet-chicken enthusiasts, dispensing starter kits, accessories and advice to go with the birds."

Who would have thought that in the midst of one of the worst economic crises in the past hundred years someone could make a living selling pet chickens and accessories to go along with them? Apparently, a lot of people. Needleman explains:

"Derek Sasaki and Traci Torres of Norwalk, Conn., launched My Pet Chicken LLC in 2005 while juggling full-time jobs they've since quit. They now sell roughly 2,500 baby chicks a week through a partnership with a hatchery in Ohio. The company, whose catalog includes layers of chocolate, white, brown and green eggs, says it sells birds weeks in advance. 'We are literally counting our chickens before they hatch,' Mr. Sasaki says. Beyond birds, the company also sells accessories such as $25 chicken diapers and $8 saddles, which are protective aprons for the hen, to keep her feathers from getting pulled out by a frisky rooster. They sell coops, heat lamps and decor for chicken lovers, such as a $10 black hen tape dispenser. The couple, who invested around $10,000 in savings to launch the small enterprise, expect revenues to top $1 million this year."

So who are these people buying pet chickens and keeping them inside their homes? Needleman introduces us to one such couple:

"Kevin Tschida ... and his wife, Paula, live with [four chickens] in their rented single-floor home in Bakersfield, Calif. '[The diapers] have made a huge difference,' he says. 'There is less smell in the house, less bending over.' Mr. Tschida says the birds, plus two ducks who wear diapers ..., spend most of their time frolicking and sleeping indoors. 'It is like the diaper removes them from the farmyard and gives them the status of pets,' says Mr. Tschida, who also owns a dog, two cats, two parrots, a rabbit and some fish. There are no firm statistics on the number of pet-chicken owners in the U.S. BackYardChickens.com's growing membership is one indicator it's more than a flash in the pan. The information and networking site says it has more than 60,000 members today, up from 35,000 a year ago and 12,000 in June 2008."

That's a lot of chicken lovers. The founder of BackYardChickens.com, Rob Ludlow, "attributes the rising ranks of chicken enthusiasts in part to the birds' ability to produce fresh eggs and fertilizer, as well as act as natural pesticides by eating bugs and worms." Sounds to me like Ludlow is talking about your basic outdoor chicken. At least in my home, we don't have a significant "bug and worm" problem indoors. Needleman concludes:

"First-time chicken owners tend to have lots of questions. ... Among the most common: 'Do you need a rooster to get eggs?' says Judy Morris, owner of Coop D'État LLC, a pet-chicken consulting and retail company that she runs out of two farmers' markets in her hometown of Weston, Conn. (The answer is no.) Ms. Morris, who is also a part-time producer for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc., sells package deals of four baby chicks, coops she assembles by hand with the help of her three sons, and a starter kit for $1,200. Since launching her business in May, she's sold four sets. Andy G. Schneider of Alpharetta, Ga., who calls himself the Chicken Whisperer, hosts a daily hour-long Internet radio show on raising backyard chickens that attracts around 15,000 listeners nationwide a month, according to BlogTalkRadio. He sells Chicken Whisperer gear off his website, including T-shirts, watches, mugs, mouse pads and bumper stickers. ... Some chicken fans see more opportunities. Linda Celez, a nonprofit worker in Michigan, has made holiday-themed costumes for her pet hen Suzie and pet rooster Phillip. For July 4th, she put them in patriotic garb and for Halloween, has dressed them as Prince Charming and Cinderella. She's given away some of her poultry apparel to friends who have pet chickens, and is now thinking about it as a money-making prospect. 'It's an area of business that's untouched,' says Ms. Celez."

Now that I've exposed you to the wonderful world of pet chickens, those of you who are inclined to become entrepreneurs should hear opportunity knocking (or at least scratching) at your door. Imagine training chickens as guards (who wouldn't flee from an enraged chicken?). With a small leash and proper training, chickens could be guide chickens. If they could be trained to find (but not eat) worms, you could use them to open a bait shop. The possibilities are endless. If you want to be your own boss, now is the time to start -- don't be chicken!

Stormy Seas Seem to Be Calming for Shipping Lines

Last year about this time, I was reporting on the financial hit that the shipping industry had taken as a result of the Great Recession [see Shipping Woes]. The blow was especially painful because it was unexpected. Only two years earlier, analysts had predicted a rosy future for the shipping industry. As I noted in the post just mentioned, "Demand for new ships seemed strong [in 2007], container throughput at ports was increasing, and the number of Ultra Large Container Ships, that is, those with a capacity of 10,000 containers (TEUs) or greater, was expected to grow from four to 152 ships in four years." By December of 2009, shipping lines, including Maersk, were beginning to assess the damage ["Group seeks to clear the decks," by Robert Wright, Financial Times, 2 December 2009]. Wright reported:

"When traffic in the world container shipping industry started to collapse late last year [2008], AP Møller-Maersk found itself in an unusual position. While other lines had been expanding aggressively in the last years of the sector’s seven-year boom, Maersk Line was already retrenching as it struggled to overcome the problems created by its botched integration of P&O Nedlloyd, the world’s one-time number three line, in 2005. ... The key problem is that ... areas likely to produce profitable future growth will be overshadowed for years by the bill for the expansion of Maersk’s container ship and tanker fleets. Most of container shipping is in the same or a worse position."

In March of this year, Maersk was still reporting stormy weather ["Maersk battles to contain losses," by Robert Wright, Financial Times, 5 March 2010].

"Maersk’s container shipping division recorded a $2.09bn loss for 2009. ... In a year in which every large container line haemorrhaged cash, Maersk Line emerged as the biggest loser. The group saw a similar effect in its tanker division, where it is now the world’s largest operator of oil product tankers. The question remains how strongly the industry heavyweight can emerge from a crisis that Maersk itself argues has handed significant advantages to some rivals in the form of state support and cuts in costs for chartered ships."

Despite the losses, Wright reports that Maersk's rivals were crying foul because the "line saw volumes carried drop only 1 per cent against a market decline of 13 per cent but average revenue per container fall 28 per cent." Rivals were charging that to keep volume up Maersk "used its unique financial stability to gain market share by cutting prices." Wright continues:

"While Nils Andersen, chief executive, accepts that the company decided at the start of 2009 it could not afford to lose market share, he insists it has taken business for other reasons. The company had long neglected the 'back-haul' trades – traffic moving in the other direction from the main traffic flow – but won far more such business in 2009. The company has also improved its share of business within Asia, which accounts for more container movements than any other trade. It enjoyed significant advantages through being close to immune to the risk of collapse that threatened many rivals during the year, it appears."

In spite of the dark clouds hovering over the shipping industry, Andersen indicated last March that there was "more room for optimism" than the numbers might suggest. He also stated that he believed "the key to recovery is likely to lie in containers." Two months later, Andersen's predictions proved prophetic as Maersk returned to profitability ["Maersk hints at container revival," by Robert Wright, Financial Times, 13 May 2010. Wright reported:

"Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk, owner of the world’s largest container shipping line, announced ... a sharp swing back into profit in the first quarter and predicted full-year results would be better than expected. Maersk’s figures provided the latest evidence of the sector’s revival and came as Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd, one of the container lines worst hit by the slump, also claimed it had returned to profitability. ... Maersk’s container shipping and related activities division – dominated by the Maersk Line container shipping operation – carried 20 per cent more containers in the first quarter of 2010 than in 2009. It produced net profits of $168m, compared with a $581m loss last year, on revenue up 23 per cent to $5.75bn."

Wright went on to note that "the main risk for the company was still that large scheduled deliveries of new ships – particularly in container shipping – or reactivation of the hundreds of ships still laid up out of use could bring on a fresh collapse in rates. However, Mr Andersen insisted that operators understood the dangers. 'It doesn’t serve a purpose to bring in a lot of capacity when the market is the way it is,' he said." In June 2010 the situation continued to look rosy. As I noted in a recent post entitled Trouble Predicted for U.S. and Global Transportation Systems, Robert Wright reported that "container shipping demand is rebounding so fast that there might be too few containers available for Asia’s exporters during the coming busy season" ["Shippers facing container shortage," Financial Times, 18 June 2010]. Wright continued:

"Denmark’s Maersk Line, the market leader, Hong Kong’s OOCL, one of the most admired operators, and another significant line have all said soaring growth – running at about 23 per cent year-on-year in Asia-Europe trade – has wrong-footed them. Partly because they had expected only single-digit growth, none has ordered enough containers to cope with this year’s peak season, which traditionally runs from June to October."

The latest word from Maersk is that "it now expects to make a bigger profit than it did two years ago" ["Maersk Lifts Profit View Amid Signs of Shipping Revival," by Ian Edmondson, Wall Street Journal, 9 July 2010]. In another sign that the container industry is recovering, Edmondson reports that "Taiwan's Evergreen Group said it had placed an order for 10 ships capable of carrying 8,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, its first orders for new vessels since 2003." He continues:

"The order from the parent of Taiwan's largest container shipper by revenue, Evergreen Marine Corp., is another indication the container-shipping industry is recovering. Rebounding global demand and aggressive measures to reduce supply in the industry, including slow-steaming and idling of ships, have helped container lines hike freight rates and recover some of the losses they have incurred since late 2008."

Other sectors of the shipping industry in addition to the container sector are also poised to recover this year. That is good news for at least portion of the troubled Greek economy ["Greek Shippers Weather Storm," by John W. Miller, Wall Street Journal, 13 May 2010]. Miller reports:

"The top tier of the Greek shipping industry seems poised for a strong year thanks to its focus on tankers that transport oil and chemicals, and dry-bulk ships that carry commodities such as wheat and coal. The industry, second only to tourism in economic importance to Greece, aims to cash in on the boom in shipping commodities to China. ... Ironically, Greece's current financial mess could help shipping companies by deflating wage and real estate costs at home. Other Greeks will have to pay up as the government better enforces the tax code, but Greek shipping companies are exempt from paying corporate taxes, under so-called Law 89. ... Greek shipping companies now own roughly 4,800 vessels and control 15% to 20% of the world's shipping fleet by tonnage, according to analysts. Only Japan has a larger merchant fleet. Since the mid-1980s, over 20 Greek shipping concerns have become public-traded companies. Despite the fact Greek ship owners avoid taxes they comprise a big portion of the nation's economy. The industry says it contributes about 5% of gross domestic product by employing 250,000 Greeks and using Greek ship-maintenance firms, lawyers, contractors and other service providers. ... Greek shipping companies recovered better than others in 2009, primarily because they have relatively little presence in the container market, the market that suffered the most, said Anthony Zolotas of Eurofin Group, an Athens-based firm that advises companies on ship financing. Only 5.6% of the world's container ships are Greek-owned, compared to about 21% of oil tankers and 18% of dry-bulk vessels, according to Eurofin."

The global maritime shipping industry is like a canary in a mine when it comes to determining the relative health of the global economy. Fortunately, the once sick canary looks to be on the mend.

Entrepreneurs and Business Clusters

In a number of past posts about Enterra Solutions' Development-in-a-Box™ approach, I've noted the importance of business clusters. In one of those posts, I discussed a concept called "geographical stickiness" in relation to technological development and innovation. The concept supports Michael Porter's theory that competitive clusters built around natural advantages are essential for competing in a globalized world. In another post, I noted that "creative people like being around other creative people and when smart people from one discipline get together with smart people from another discipline great things generally happen. That is probably the best argument for clusters. But clusters need not be big to be effective. Universities have effectively established campus clusters that have inspired great ideas and entrepreneurial enterprises, even if they are not located in large metropolitan areas." An article in the Financial Times claims that "clusters of companies in similar sectors can enable more start-ups and higher productivity" ["The added value of a group," by Paul Tyrrell, 6 July 2010]. Tyrell reports:

"Babel Media is a company that could, in theory, be based anywhere. It provides the video games industry with outsourced services such as localisation and quality assurance. Most of its 1,000 staff need only computers and reliable internet connections to do their jobs. Yet they are concentrated in just a handful of places worldwide to take advantage of specific local conditions. The company was founded in 1999 in Brighton, on the south coast of England, partly because the city has one of the highest concentrations of young foreign workers and students in the UK. Its latest production office was opened in 2005 in Montreal, Canada – again a source of young, multilingual talent but also, critically, home to one of the world’s fastest-growing 'business clusters' for video games production."

Tyrell acknowledges that the idea of clusters was first examined by Michael Porter. He continues:

"The concept of the business cluster has become an increasingly important part of regional development and corporate strategies since 1990, when Michael Porter of Harvard Business School published The Competitive Advantage of Nations. In the book and subsequent research, Prof Porter found that as more companies of the same type cluster together in the same place, so they derive more benefits from their 'colocation'. Companies have long recognised that siting themselves near to rivals could make life easier for customers, cut supply chain costs, and – most important – make it easier to recruit specialists. However, Prof Porter identified other benefits such as increased productivity, innovation and start-up activity."

Tyrell's article begs the question, "Why is someone writing about a 20-year-old idea?" Tyrell explains that the reason he wrote about the importance of clusters is that Porter is releasing another paper on the subject.

"In his latest paper on the subject, written with Mercedes Delgado and Scott Stern and due to be published this month, he finds that strong clusters produce 'higher growth in new business formation and start-up employment' and 'contribute to start-up firm survival'."

As headlines in the United States continue to remind readers, current efforts to reduce unemployment have been woefully inadequate. As a result, the Great Recession is lingering and full recovery continues to remain just over the horizon. I have consistently stated that the best way to create jobs is to foster conditions in which entrepreneurs can flourish. If Porter is correct, finding ways to strengthen clusters is one way to promote start-ups that survive and thrive. Tyrell describes why Babel Media decided to join the tech cluster in Montreal:

"For Babel Media, the benefits of being part of the Montreal cluster are numerous, says Steve Kingswell, the company’s chief financial officer. 'It provides an enhanced labour pool, so recruiting is easier,' he says. 'The colleges and universities here are encouraged to offer courses in the creative media and technology, and research in the universities gets tailored to our industry. Also, the companies in the cluster can lobby together for changes in the locality.' The decision to open an office in Montreal, however, was largely influenced by generous incentives from the Quebec government. Software producers in Montreal can, for example, claim tax relief on up to 30 per cent of the salaries of their production staff, or up to 37.5 per cent if their work is published in French."

Tyrell notes that the Quebec government is not alone in trying to strengthen local clusters. "Other governments," he reports, "are employing similar tactics to help create jobs and lure businesses." Tyrell reports that Porter thinks they are doing the right thing.

"'There is a growing realisation that just working on the framework conditions for growth (say, good infrastructure and education) is insufficient,' explains Prof Porter. In the past, he argues, national governments have either tended to think too broadly, focusing only on general business environment conditions, or too narrowly, cherry-picking 'winners' in specific sectors by giving them special treatment. For companies, a cluster can offer a raft of benefits, provided its members start talking to each other."

In looking forward, sometimes it helps to remember the past. Tyrell provides a short history lesson of how Porter learned about the power of clusters:

"Prof Porter learnt this in Massachusetts in the mid-1990s, he says, while chairman of the state’s Governor’s Council on Economic Growth and Technology. 'We discovered that we had about 400 medical device companies in the state, but these firms didn’t see themselves as part of a cluster,” he recalls. All were benefiting in various ways from their colocation – for example, the cluster had drawn a high number of parts suppliers to the region – but there was no co-ordination. Prof Porter organised a networking event for the chief executives of the top 25 companies in the cluster, at the headquarters of a leading defibrillator manufacturer. 'All these CEOs – some of whom were rivals – came only because the governor invited them,' he says. 'For the first hour, they were all looking at their watches and dying to leave. But then we asked them to identify the most important challenges they were facing.' All were concerned about how to plug certain skills gaps and about the inefficiency of the regulator, the Food and Drug Administration. 'Suddenly, they began to see how they could help each other.' The meeting led to the establishment of the Massachusetts Medical Device Industry Council, an organisation that now collaborates with local colleges on curriculum and skills development, and provides cluster companies with export assistance – all with minimal government intervention."

Porter goes to explain that even though governments can help foster conditions for clusters it's only when people involved in a cluster come to "own it" that the cluster becomes a viable entity.

"'The less the companies feel responsible [for cluster development], the more these things tend to peter out,' says Prof Porter. Michel Guay agrees. He is the CEO of Group Techna, a developer of software for the law enforcement sector, and the chairman of Techno-Montréal, the official steering group for Montreal’s information and communications technology cluster. The board of his cluster includes representatives from municipal, provincial and federal governments, 'but only as observers'. Official cluster activities are financed by 15 corporate members, which represent a cross-section of the sector and a variety of company sizes. Their combined contributions are then matched by each of the three levels of government, quadrupling the amount of money available. Each year, the government members of the board approve the cluster’s three-year strategy, based on success criteria such as job creation, but that is as far as their intervention goes. 'The government observers actually appreciate it when we ask for, say, better high-speed internet infrastructure, because they know they will get a good return on their investment. We are speaking on behalf of about 3,000 job-creators,' says Mr Guay."

As I noted in one of my earlier posts mentioned above, not every cluster is created equal. Clusters are, first and foremost, geographically based (i.e., they occupy real estate) and the first rule when valuating real estate is location, location, location. Tyrell continues:

"Other cities and regions – notably in the US and elsewhere in Canada – have adopted or are adopting similar financial incentives in order to attract video gaming talent. However, research by Richard Florida, an urban studies theorist based at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto, suggests their success will depend on other factors. Montreal is 'a key centre for emerging musical acts', he points out. It is a great place to live, with a healthy stock of affordable housing. Overall, the city helps its clusters by 'being open to creativity, mixing it with history and facilitating what we called "spill-acrosses" from technology to art and entertainment'. Governments can help clusters become the 'go to' destinations for particular industries, he concludes. 'But it takes time. And it takes sustained investment in great universities and in people and, of course, in the physical fabric of the place.'"

I like the concept of "spill-acrosses." I think it is a complementary idea to Frans Johanssen's "Medici effect." You can't get "spill-acrosses" if people don't connect. A graphic that accompanied Tyrell's article (shown below) demonstrates the central role that cluster organizations play in holding clusters together.

Sometimes, like in Maryland, two "cluster organizations" merge to form a single association. In 2006, MdBio merged with the Tech Council of Maryland (TCM). According to its web site, TCM is the largest technology trade association representing over 500 tech and biotech companies, along with government, academia and service providers, who employ more than 250,000 people in Maryland and the region. Creative people and innovative companies thrive on stimulation. They appreciate good architecture, good food, great art and music, good education, and associating with other creative people/organizations. Fill a space with a balance of education, arts, technology, and good governance and you've got the makings of a great cluster. It may, like in Boston, take government intervention to get a group talking; but, smart people understand the value of connections and will generally keep them going.

The Future of Building Materials

In brief post about the amount of infrastructure that needs to be built over the next couple of decades [Chart of the day: Buddy, got $40T to spare?], my colleague, Tom Barnett, wrote:

"Of the $40T to be spent by 2030, $6.5 in North America, $9.2T in Europe writ large, $7.5T in LATAM, $1.1T in Africa, $0.9T in Mideast, and $15.9T in Asia. Per the Core Gap map, light in the middle and thicker along the edges. Breaking it down by category, it's $22.6T in water, $9T in electricity, $7.8T in road and raid, and $1.6T in air & sea. A lot will be internal improvements, but plenty will be external improvements, i.e., improving linkages between states and regions."

Forty trillion dollars of infrastructure is a lot. If countries cannot find that amount of money, desperately needed infrastructure will remain unbuilt and the benefits that could have resulted from that infrastructure will remain unrealized. With austerity measures being implemented in many places, the likelihood grows each day that the money won't be found (at least from government sources). One thing that could help get more infrastructure built is finding more affordable building materials that reduce initial and/or lifecycle costs of infrastructure. Researchers are constantly looking for breakthroughs in materials and often look to nature for new ideas (for more on this subject, see my posts entitled Turning to Nature to Save Energy and Learning from Nature. Researchers in England are now exploring how the basic materials found in seashells can be used to make life on land better for people ["Sea shells inspire better building materials," by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 13 March 2010]. Coxworth reports:

"Seashells have done an exemplary job of protecting their inhabitants for around a hundred million years, so perhaps it isn’t surprising that scientists and chemists have now replicated their unique structure in a manmade material. Taking inspiration from shells, researchers from the University of Manchester and the University of Leeds have successfully reinforced calcium carbonate, or chalk, with polystyrene particles such as those used in disposable drinking cups. Their achievement could lead to stronger building and bone replacement materials, or other practical applications. By combining calcite crystals with polystyrene particles, the scientists created a ceramic polymer that is less brittle than chalk, and thus less prone to cracking. When the material did crack, they noticed that the polymer lengthened within the cracks, instead of simply snapping – this is a known mechanism for absorbing energy and enhancing durability. By selecting particles of different shapes, sizes and composition, the scientists said the properties of the material could be tweaked for different purposes."

Although the polystyrene particles lengthen to fill in cracks, the new material isn't self-healing. Other researchers are exploring a number of materials that do have self-healing qualities. One is a self-healing cement ["Student creates cost-effective self-healing concrete?" by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 27 May 2010]. Coxworth explains why his headline contains a question mark:

"Self-healing 'smart building materials' have the potential to reduce structure repair costs, lower cement-production carbon emissions and even save lives. One barrier that has kept these materials from being commercialized, however, is their potentially labor-intensive and thus expensive production process. Recently, an engineering student from the University of Rhode Island (URI) announced that she has developed a self-healing concrete that would be inexpensive to produce. Michelle Pelletier, collaborating with URI Chemical Engineering Professor Arijit Bose, created a concrete matrix that was embedded with a micro-encapsulated sodium silicate healing agent. When cracks formed in the concrete, the capsules ruptured and released the agent into the adjacent area. The sodium silicate reacted with the calcium hydroxide already present in the concrete, and formed a calcium-silica-hydrate gel that healed the cracks and blocked the concrete’s pores. The gel hardened in about one week. When Pelletier’s concrete was stress-tested to the point of almost breaking, it proceeded to recover 26% of its original strength. By contrast, conventional concrete only recovers 10%. Pelletier believes that she could boost the strength of her mix even higher, by increasing the quantity of the healing agent. Other researchers have tried using bacteria spores that secrete calcium carbonate, or glass capillaries filled with a healing agent. According to Pelletier, her mix would be more cost-effective because it would be simpler to produce, and function more efficiently. 'Smart materials usually have an environmental trigger that causes the healing to occur,' she said. 'What’s special about our material is that it can have a localized and targeted release of the healing agent only in the areas that really need it.' Pelletier is now researching how well the healing agent would work for minimizing the corrosion of steel rebar within concrete structures."

As a side note, in a post entitled Go Green, Save Lives, I discuss some varieties of cement that possess characteristics that can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Although self-healing materials may have higher initial costs, their lifecycle costs could be dramatically lower than traditional materials. The Economist reports that "researchers have devised an ingenious way for the damaged surfaces of metals to repair themselves when they come to harm" ["Metal, heal thyself," 10 June 2010]. The article reports:

"Sadly for engineers, inanimate objects cannot yet repair themselves. But work by Claudia dos Santos at the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation, and Christian Mayer at Duisburg-Essen University in Stuttgart, has brought the day when they will be able to do so a little nearer. They and their colleagues have invented a way for damaged metals to heal themselves."

Repairing damaged "surfaces" can help maintain a structure in good repair and prevent further damage; but, repairing surfaces is a far cry from correcting deeper structural flaws. Nevertheless, it is a start and the article explains how it is done:

"The surfaces of many metal objects are coated with other metals for protection. Iron, for instance, is frequently galvanised with zinc. The basic idea of the new technology is to infiltrate this coating with tiny, fluid-filled capsules. When the metal coating is punctured or scratched, the capsules in the damaged area burst and ooze restorative liquids, in the form of compounds called trivalent chromates. These react with nearby metal atoms and form tough, protective films a few molecules thick to ameliorate the damage. The idea of doing this has been around for years, but it has proved difficult in practice because the capsules used were too big. Surface coatings tend to be about 20 microns (millionths of a metre) thick. The capsules were 10-15 microns across—large enough to disrupt the coatings, and thus do more harm than good. The trick worked out by Dr dos Santos and Dr Mayer is how to create capsules a few hundredths of this size. The capsules the researchers have come up with are made by mixing butylcyanoacrylate, a chemical found in superglue, with an oil carrying the healing compounds. This mixture is then mixed with dilute hydrochloric acid. The result is an emulsion of droplets between 100 and 300 nanometres (billionths of a metre) across. Each droplet has an oil core surrounded by a thin layer of butylcyanoacrylate. To make the droplets stable, phosphate is added to the emulsion. This triggers the polymerisation of the butylcyanoacrylate into a tough plastic, which forms the outside of the capsule."

The article notes that "the greatest challenge for the team ... was not making the capsules in the first place, but stabilising them during the plating process." Having overcome that challenge, however, the team believes "that self-repairing metals should commonly be available in the years ahead." Like self-healing cement, the initial cost of self-healing metals will be greater than traditional metals, but long-term maintenance costs of structures built with the material could be dramatically lower.

If you are looking for a material with lower initial costs, you might want to look in the nearest trash bin ["Medical waste no longer being wasted," by Ben Coxworth, Gizmag, 1 May 2010]. Coxworth reports:

"Back in the 70’s, Mad Magazine ran a satirical article proposing crazy new methods of dealing with garbage. One of them involved taking the trash, compressing it into cubes, then building things out of those. Flash forward to 2010, and a Houston company is doing almost that very thing, and with medical waste, no less. Sharps Compliance takes items like needles, syringes and lancets, and presses them into a pelletized building material called PELLA-DRX. Sharps specializes in the disposal of injecting supplies from individuals and clinics. The waste is already being sent into them by the users, so no transportation is required solely for the production of PELLA-DRX. To make the product, the waste is first sent through an autoclave, which kills any pathogens. Next, it goes through a shredder, which reduces its volume by over 90%. Finally, it gets compressed into pellets, which bear no visual clues as to their origins. Sharps claims it utilizes 100% of the waste it receives, so absolutely none of it ends up in an incinerator or a landfill. PELLA-DRX is currently being used to make cement, although Sharps foresees it also finding its way into the production of lime and steel. Because it reportedly has a BTU content equal to coal, they also see it being used in the production of power - if they’re suggesting it be burned, however, you have to wonder about all that plastic going up in flames."

A couple of years ago, a University of Utah professor applied for a patent for a process that turns trash into building material ["Invention: Recycled trash construction materials," by Justin Mullins, New Scientist, 8 January 2009]. Mullins reports:

"Lawrence Reaveley, a civil engineer at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, has come up with a scheme that could reuse some of this excess trash. His new patent application claims that a blend of waste plastic and cellulose from plant material can make a good building material, once appropriately sanitised. The mixture could either be held together using a bonding substance, or treated with heat and pressure to let the plastic already in the mix hold things together, the application says. Panels produced in this way could be used for sound or heat insulation, or they could be reinforced – for example with metal or fibreglass – to be used structurally for walls and other building features. The plastic/cellulose mix could even be burned for fuel, the patent application claims."

Environmentalists continue to ask: "Who really needs a brand-spanking-new house framework constructed out of harvested lumber or chemically-saturated, spun fiberglass insulation when in many cases, eco-friendly options will work just as effectively with minimal or no negative impact on our planet?" ["Recy-Blocks: Eco-Building Material Made Out Of 100% Plastic Trash!" by Kieran K., GreenWala, 10 February 2010]. Kieran writes:

"Alternative building materials that make good use of recycled, reclaimed and sustainable (rather than virgin) resources are cropping up more frequently than ever before thanks to the innovative approach of forward-thinking product designers. ... We've seen evidence of this before with the creation of cow-dung-composed EcoFaeBricks which are said to reduce 1,693 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere on a yearly basis. Another eco-building product, UltraTouch Natural Cotton Fiber Insulation, converts recycled, shredded denim into batts that can be fitted between joists, studs and beams and generally releases no volatile organic compounds or air pollutants. One of the most outstanding innovations in recent years is Greensulate's line of rigid panel home insulation composed entirely out of agricultural by-products and fungal mycelium. While all of the aforementioned are notable in their own right, they may have some serious competition now that Gert de Mulder's ‘Recy-Blocks' have burst onto the scene. The rectangular 100% plastic waste construction components are created by pressing reclaimed packaging material - which far too often ends up being a landfill casualty - into pillow shaped forms that achieve a solid state due to their exposure to high heat."

Creating new materials and getting people to use them are two very different challenges. Colorado architect, Doug Eichelberger, is one designer who would like to see trash used as a building material ["Trash House," by Glenn Meyers, Green Building Elements, 17 February 2009]. Meyers reports that Eichelberger would like to see trash bundled into bales for use in rebuilding third world communities devastated by natural disasters. Eichelberger admits, however, that such bales are not the strongest of materials and don't offer a long-term solution for mitigating the effects of future disasters. A better alternative would be the kind of "ecological brick" that has been developed in Argentina ["Ecological Bricks," by Keith R., The Temas Blog, 24 December 2006]. Keith writes:

"Bricks developed by Argentina’s Experimental Center for Economical Housing (Centro Experimental de la Vivienda Económica – CEVE). The Córdoba-based CEVE was created in 1967 as an R&D, technology transfer and training center in experimental, low-cost housing. CEVE is managed by the Association of Economical Housing (AVE) under contract with the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET). In a project funded in part by Germany’s technical cooperation agency, GTZ, CEVE developed a brick made of used food (primarily candy) wrappers and plastic (primarily PET) soda and water bottles. Used beverage containers are provided by the city’s selective collection plant, collection points in schools and government agencies, plus rejects from the local bottling plant. The PE film is provided by the Converflex company (Arcor) in Córdoba province, which recycles PVC film but not other plastics. The plastics are ground up and then mixed with Portland cement and chemical additives to make the bricks and something CEVE calls 'brick plates.' ... CEVE says that the resulting bricks are lighter (about 1.1 kg vs. an average 2 kg for a regular brick) and cheaper (by about half) than traditional bricks, but comparable in terms of durability, water and fire resistance, with good heat and sound insulation properties. In outdoor exposure tests undertaken by CEVE over the course of two years, the materials stood up well to both weather and ultraviolet radiation."

With many of the developed world's landfills reaching capacity, turning trash into bricks could offer a way to reduce building costs, create jobs, and help the planet along the way. I suspect that until the current recession can be seen fading in the rearview mirror people won't be looking for new sources of building material. If and when infrastructure development heats up, the search for new for building materials will heat up as well.

Women Entrepreneurs

As this year's college graduates desperately search for jobs, New York Times' op-ed columnist Thomas Friedman asserts that that the best gift they could be given is a position with a start-up company ["A Gift for Grads: Start-Ups," 8 June 2010]. He writes:

"Good jobs — in bulk — don’t come from government. They come from risk-takers starting businesses — businesses that make people’s lives healthier, more productive, more comfortable or more entertained, with services and products that can be sold around the world. You can’t be for jobs and against business. ... I’m talking about people who actually make stuff and sell it. I am talking about entrepreneurs and innovators."

Friedman laments that current government efforts to foster a better business climate for entrepreneurs "are not well coordinated or a top priority or championed by knowledgeable leadership." He asserts, "Innovation and competitiveness don’t seem to float Obama’s boat. He could use a buoyant growth strategy." He goes on to discuss some of the things that such a strategy might include.

"I asked two of the best people on this subject, Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation, which specializes in innovation, and Curtis Carlson, the chief executive of SRI International, the Silicon Valley-based innovation specialists. Carlson said he would begin by creating a cabinet position exclusively for promoting innovation and competitiveness to ensure that America remains 'the world’s new company formation leader.' 'Secretary Newco' would be focused on pushing through initiatives — including lower corporate taxes for start-ups, reducing costly regulations (like Sarbanes-Oxley reporting for new companies), and expanding tax breaks for research and development to make it cheaper and faster to start new firms. We need to unleash millions of entrepreneurs. Litan said he’d staple a green card to the diploma of every foreign student who graduates from a U.S. university and push for a new meaningful entrepreneurs visa (the current one, the EB-5, requires $1 million of capital that few foreign entrepreneurs have). It would grant temporary residence to any foreigner who comes here to establish a company and permanent residency if that company generates a certain level of new full-time jobs and revenues. One of the best moves we could make, adds Litan, would be a long-term budget deal that would address the looming Social Security/Medicare payouts for baby boomers. Proving to the bond market that we have our long-term fiscal house in order would keep long-term interest rates low and thereby 'encourage private investment more than any tax cut.' Nevertheless, I’d also cut the capital gains tax for any profit-making venture start-up from 15 percent to 1 percent. I want our best minds to be able to make a killing from starting new companies rather than going to Wall Street and making a killing by betting against existing companies. I’d also impose a carbon tax and balance that with a cut in payroll taxes and corporate taxes. Let’s tax what we don’t want and encourage what we do."

With jobs so scarce, undoubtedly a number of college graduates would like to be their own bosses. With more women than men now graduating from college, more women than men should have that ambition. Historically, however, there have been many more male entrepreneurs than female entrepreneurs. The glass ceiling that challenges women business executives has been even lower when it comes to women attracting support for their business ideas. Fortunately that seems to be changing. Gaebler.com notes, "Women entrepreneurs barely merit special treatment these days. There are 9.1 million women-owned businesses in the United States, and they employ 27.5 million people. Together, women-owned business contribute over $3.6 trillion to the economy each and every year." The gaebler.com site provides links to other sites offering entrepreneurial resources for women.

Despite the statistics quoted above, Vivek Wadhwa, a senior research associate at the Labor & Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and executive in residence at Duke University, asserts that "there are too few women running high-tech companies; that's too bad, considering evidence shows female-led businesses outperform those run by men" ["Addressing the Dearth of Female Entrepreneurs," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 4 February 2010]. In a study of 549 successful entrepreneurs, Wadhwa discovered that only 8 percent of them were women. He and his research team came to the following conclusions:

"Female and male entrepreneurs differ in some subtle ways, we learned. Women were more motivated by a business partner who encouraged them. Women also relied on business partners as a main source of funds more often than men. And the average female entrepreneur rated prior experiences as more important than the average man rated his, with regard to the success of their current startups. Women put a higher value on their professional/business networks. Finally, women were more cautious and expressed more concern about protecting their company's intellectual capital. On the other hand, financial pressure to keep a steady job was more acutely felt by men than women. That's understandable considering that men still make a lot more than women on average and are still more likely to be the primary breadwinner. Yet, men and women entrepreneurs are similar in many respects, the results show. They had equivalent levels of education, the same early interest in starting their own business, and similar other advantages, including work experience, access to financing, and lessons learned from prior successes and failures. ... Men and women also had similar motivations to launch a business. They shared the desire to build wealth and capitalize on business ideas. Both were drawn by the appeal of the startup culture and always wanted their own company. Neither wanted to work for someone else."

Wadhwa claims that the fact that there are many fewer women entrepreneurs in the U.S. than men reflects "a societal failure." He notes that in India, "a country that is in many respects more conservative than the U.S.," women are rising much more rapidly through the top ranks of business leadership." Wadhwa, however, believes there is reason for optimism even though "much more needs to be done to encourage talented women to pursue tech entrepreneurship." Sharon Vosmek, CEO of Astia, a nonprofit that helps startups headed by women, claims that nearly half of all start-ups in the U.S. are now begun by women ["Closing the Venture Capital Gender Gap," Bloomberg BusinessWeek, 24 June 2010]. The problem, she sees, however, is that "only 7 percent of [those] companies [are] backed by equity financing." She writes:

"To address this problem, former Cisco Systems marketing executive Catherine Muther in 1999 founded the Women's Technology Cluster (later rechristened Astia, a name derived from the Greek word for star). The group was created to help companies run by women that need outside capital. At the time, less than 2 percent of the businesses funded by venture capital firms were headed by women. While that percentage jumped for a few years, it had fallen back to just 3 percent when I took over as Astia's chief executive in 2007. Since 2003, Astia has connected [with 226] startups founded by women with investors and other entrepreneurs, who offer contacts and coaching. Within a year of joining our program more than 60 percent of them have gotten financing, had an initial public offering, or were sold. I'm proud of that record, but I have to admit Astia has had less success in bringing about deeper change. We have focused on solving problems for one company at a time as opposed to generating broader venture support for companies founded by women. We have failed to develop a common strategy with other organizations pursuing similar goals. In short, we have failed to create a movement."

Vosmek, like Wadhwa, notes that "successful entrepreneurs running high-growth businesses are similar in almost every respect. Male or female, entrepreneurs have largely the same education, economic background, needs, and challenges. Women, though, are better at building relationships and place greater importance on the moral support, expertise, and financial backing of business partners, while men need far less encouragement from others." She concludes with an assertion that supports Thomas Friedman's claim that what graduates need are more start-ups. She writes:

"There is a robust body of research demonstrating women's impact on job creation and economic growth. One Babson College study I find particularly compelling in today's recessionary climate shows that if female entrepreneurs started with the same capital as their male counterparts, they would add 6 million jobs to the economy in five years—2 million in the first year alone. How's that for an economic recovery?"

As a side note on financing, some entrepreneurs are using individual development accounts (IDAs) to capitalize their businesses ["IDAs Offer Small Boost To Aspiring Entrepreneurs," by Jonnelle Marte, Wall Street Journal, 2 June 2010]. Marte reports:

"At a time when many people short on income are calling on their inner entrepreneurs, some start-ups are finding relief in a little-known resource—individual development accounts. These accounts, which have grown in popularity since their inception more than 10 years ago, aim to help low-income individuals purchase homes, pay for higher education or develop a small business. IDAs are typically offered by nonprofits, state or local agencies and low-income credit unions, which raise private funds and combine them with federal funds to match an account-holder's savings. While IDAs are most popular with aspiring homeowners, program coordinators say they're seeing aspiring entrepreneurs – some of whom have lost jobs or taken big pay cuts – use the accounts to start enterprises with low upfront costs, such as catering, cleaning, landscaping and children's day-care businesses."

Such businesses, however, don't have the potential of creating a large number of jobs. Start-ups with that kind of potential normally require the backing of venture capital groups. An article in Bloomberg BusinessWeek provides a case study about how one woman is proceeding to get financing for her company ["An Entrepreneur Prepares to Pass the Torch," by Nick Lieber, 29 September 2009]. Lieber writes:

"It's a classic dilemma. A first-time entrepreneur creates a thriving company from scratch with the potential to be The Next Big Thing, but her investors thinks she needs an experienced CEO and management team to take it there. They also bet future investors will want to see seasoned leaders in place. To make this happen, the first step, traditionally, is to forge a succession plan that keeps the company's momentum going and doesn't disrupt the culture the founder labored to create. This is one big challenge facing Michelle White, the founder of Leland, Mich.-based Michele's Miracle, which makes a dietary supplement from tart cherries. White thinks her $800,000, four-person company, with its 2,200-plus regular customers who enthuse about the cherry concentrate's health properties, relieving arthritis and providing better sleep, could quickly become a $100 million company (think POM Wonderful) if it landed the capital necessary to hire a dream team to complement her existing team."

Lieber tells his tale by: introducing the entrepreneur; discussing the challenge she faces; describing the help she is receiving; and detailing the way ahead.

"The entrepreneur: Michelle White, 44, is the founder and president of Michelle's Miracle. She stumbled onto the idea of building a business to commercialize the health properties of tart cherry concentrate while working at a fruit processing plant as an office assistant. After doing research about the health properties of the fruit, she launched the company in 2001. Three of her four employees have been with her since its inception. The team has managed to create a market, get national distribution, and now sells in over 300 stores. A year and a half ago, White decided to look for equity capital. She landed an investment from an angel group earlier this year and is preparing to secure another by yearend. She's also seeking venture capital.

"Her challenge: White wants to put together an experienced management team of individuals who have been successful in the consumer packaged-goods industry. She wants to raise venture money to hire a controller/vice-president of operations, a CEO, a vice-president of marketing, a vice-president of sales, and more sales people. Her challenge is to communicate this succession and management expansion to potential investors. ... [She says,] 'I was surprised at how investors really thought I would resist that changeover, and I don't have that resistance at all. I guess I can't say it enough: I know how successful it can be. I also know it takes people who are far more experienced than me. I've created something out of nothing—out of a byproduct—and taken it this far.'

"Her coach: Lauren Flanagan, the managing director of Madison (Wisc.)-based Phenomenelle Angels Fund is one of White's five coaches. She's also the primary investor in White's business and wants others to invest. Flanagan has been an entrepreneur as well as an investor. ...

"The plan: The hiring will take place over time, with White serving on the search team and the interviewing team—and weighing in on the pros and cons of each potential hire. When pitching to investors, White will refer to herself as the founder and current president. When she gets to the management slide of her presentation, she will explain that one of the uses for the requested funds is to expand the management team and find a packaged-goods veteran to help lead as CEO."

I tried to find out how the plan is going, but couldn't find any follow-up articles. Although the original plan was to hire a controller/vice-president of operations, a CEO, a vice-president of marketing, a vice-president of sales, and more sales people, the company's web site indicates that only a vice president of finance and operations has been hired.

Let me conclude with an upbeat story that touches on many of the subjects discussed above: college students, a female entrepreneur, Babson College, jobs, and hope for the future ["Student’s winning approach to entrepreneurship," by Rebecca Knight, Financial Times, 28 June 2010]. Knight reports:

"It was already one of the best days of her life. Waed al Taweel, a 20-year-old Palestinian college student and budding businesswoman, travelled to Washington, DC, shook hands with Barack Obama and spoke at his Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, an event aimed at deepening economic ties between the US and the Muslim world. But for Ms Taweel, who grew up on the West Bank, the real excitement came after her speech. On hearing Ms Taweel’s presentation about a company she started aged 17, the president of Babson College, Wellesley, offered her admission to the school’s graduate business programme and a full scholarship to boot."

The West Bank might seem to be unlikely place to find a female entrepreneur; but, Thomas Friedman notes that the West Bank's economy is beginning to heat up ["The Real Palestinian Revolution," New York Times, 29 June 2010]. One of many things the West Bank is missing, however, is a good educational system. Knight continues:

"'In Ramallah [West Bank], if you want to get your MBA you’ve got to go abroad,' says Ms Taweel. 'It’s something I’ve always wanted to do.' As a high school student, Ms Taweel started Teen Touch, an event management business that employed fellow students to organise and staff events for customers. The company had 72 investors – mainly relatives, friends and community leaders – who contributed seed money equivalent to about $800. Over several months, the company earned its 'shareholders' a profit of 200 per cent. Teen Touch was named 'best company' in the Injaz student entrepreneurship competition, launched by Jordan’s Queen Rania in 1999 to help nurture young entrepreneurs. Ms Taweel was subsequently named best student chief executive officer of the Arab World. The contest, she says, left a deep impression on her. 'It made me realise I can do something.' After discussing the success of her business on the panel, she was asked about her future plans. Ms Taweel, a student at Birzeit University in Ramallah, said she would like to secure a scholarship to help her study her MBA in the US. That was when Leonard Schlesinger of Babson, made his move. Babson played an advisory role to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the State Department and the White House, laying the groundwork for the summit and is involved in other projects to teach entrepreneurship round the world."

Professor Schlesinger told Knight what it was that prompted him to offer Ms. Taweel a scholarship:

"'When she described the event planning business, it was the sort of thing where normally, you’d say, "Oh that’s interesting. That’s cute",' says Prof Schlesinger. 'But the level of insight and the level of sophistication she described, the way she structured the start-up and the basic operating model that she executed when she was only 17, led me to conclude that here was a rather extraordinary young woman.' Prof Schlesinger does not make a habit of offering scholarships on the spot. 'You can’t programme stuff like this. It was a private act of philanthropy on behalf of Babson,' he says. ... 'We’ve never had someone from Palestine and we’ve never had someone who’s won a competition on this scale this early in life,' says Prof Schlesinger. 'It’s a logical opportunity to expand our reach to another part of the world.'"

Knight goes on to point out that over a third of Babson's MBA class is made up of non-U.S. students. Many of them, like Ms. Taweel, are (or are likely to become) entrepreneurs. That is why Friedman, in the article at the beginning of this post, writes about stapling "a green card to the diploma of every foreign student who graduates from a U.S. university." Don't look for Ms. Taweel to remain in the United States, however. She "plans to open a recreation centre for Palestinian youth in the West Bank" after she graduates. Knight explains:

"Poverty and unemployment continue to be big problems in the region, and lack of security and checkpoints that restrict freedom of movement have had a devastating impact on the economy. 'I want to help other people in my community and give them job opportunities,' says Ms Taweel."

I have repeatedly asserted that the U.S. needs to do more to foster a climate favorable for new businesses. New businesses create jobs and America desperately needs jobs. Women represent a reservoir of entrepreneurial talent that has yet to be fully tapped. There couldn't be a better time to figure out how to open the spigot and let women help innovate our way out of the recession.