Optimal Deserts

Optimal Deserts
Andre Willers
14 Dec 2012

Synopsis :
Deserts are Gaia’s open pit mines , exposing nutrients to the wind dispersal systems . There is an Optimal percentage of land surface , and the system will hunt for it . It is 33% of the land surface . Applicable at any geological era .

Discussion :
1.General Argument :
The ideal would be a bottom-up analysis , but this is horribly complicated and requires data and computational resources not available .
But we can use the general Reserve argument (See Appendix I) , which applies since we are talking about large periods of time and many possible slices of the planetary crust in an evolutionary environment .
This should agree with present split , which it does . See Appendix II . A nice little “Aha!” moment .

2. But What does this mean ?
2.1Gaia tries to optimize biomass (by definition)
2.2For that it needs nutrients , especially micro-nutrients . Rare metals and earths that form bottlenecks in localised geographical areas .
2.3 Thought Experiment :
If there were no deserts , life (especially plant life) will die off in certain areas due to lack of critical micronutrients . Desertification will ensue . Winds will pick up loose soil and spread it . In other words , the Desert Model .
2.4 Ice Deserts :
This makes easy sense with sand deserts . We know that the Amazon , Atlantic Ocean , atmosphere is fertilized by sandstorms from the Sahara.
But Ice Deserts are included in the 33% . What role do they play ?
I do not know , but suspect strongly that ice-weathering (ie splitting of rock by freezing ) and subsequent blowing away of the rock and ice spicules plays a major role .
A nice little package of water and minerals , ideal for atmospheric lifeforms .

2.5 Who benefits ?
In order of importance :
a.The Oceans . Oceanic Phytoplankton .
b.The Atmospheric lifeforms . Many photosynthetic lifeforms .
c. The Land Life . Amazon , prairies , steppes , all agricultural land .
Basically , the air you breathe and the food you eat . Water is affected as well , as these particles form the nuclei of raindrops and also effects solar isolation through cloud formation .

3.Climate Change :
Loss of Ice Deserts in the glaciers , Greenland , Arctic or Antarctic will mean an exactly calculable increase in Sand Deserts .
Gaia , needs 33% Deserts .
What Gaia wants , Gaia gets .
4.The Sulfur Balance .
See Appendix III .
Lightning strikes are constant per day .
Note that 80 % of lightning never reaches the ground . But the energy is high enough to form all sorts of fertilizing nitrogen and sulphur compounds in the clouds This is driven by the Solar Wind . The lightning equalizes charge building up in the ionosphere , but the Earth is not a bottomless sink . Charge will percolate through to the iron core , eventually erupting as volcanoes to get rid of excess charge into space . But that is another story .
5.Volcanoes , Super-Volcanoes and Earthquakes .
All eject massive amounts of nutrients into the atmosphere , leading to decrease in deserts . There will usually be lag , allowing things to percolate through .
6. Manna .
Combined with other materials in suspension and finely divided , this is actually a very benign environment for life . And the atmosphere is full of bacteria , yeasts , fungi , etc .
A CHON food (Manna) is possible if there is also a lot of loose carbon around (like after a large volcanic eruption burnt a lot of forests . (CO2 is too tightly bound) .
Volcano in Sumatra , as usual .
See Appendix IV
It sounds like an eye-witness account .
It also sounds like dew-precipitation of carbohydrates formed by atmospheric organisms , bound to some water molecules . They must have been desperately hungry . It would have been like candy-floss or popcorn . Vanishing as the temperature goes over the dew-point .

How to repeat it :
Try the heavy dew in Namibia .
Place a smoke-pot using wood and a little bit of MSM (sulphur) continuously for at least week above-stream from the dew atmosphere from the ocean . This furnishes the loosely bound carbon . We do not know at what altitude the carbohydrate synthesis takes place . It might need some UV in the upper atmosphere .
See what you get .
Interesting is the insistence that the manna was white . This indicates a snow-flake like structure . And no carbon soot . Ie , high altitude .
What did it taste like ?
Like sherbet . This is the origin of sherbet . A sweet carbohydrate. Those flat roofs were ideal for dew-like precipitation . All they needed was something burning . And their incessant warfare furnished this . Sweetness from destruction .
Can this be farmed ?
Of course . All you need is a plastic tunnel and some seed atmospheric plants . Like yeasts . Will work at any sub-zero temperatures .
Better yet , use honey bees . They love manna .

7.Trying to green the deserts is a self-defeating exercise .

Does your heart also require a desert ?
Andre
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Appendix I
How to calculate General Reserves .
Infinite Probes 2
Andre Willers
30 April 2008

http://andreswhy.blogspot.com “Infinite Probes’

From discussing this with various recipients , there seems to be a need for a simpler explanation . I thought I had explained it in the simplest fashion possible . The subject matter is inherently complex .

But , here goes .

How much must you save ?
If you save too little , a random fluctuation can wipe you out .
If you save too much , you lose opportunity costs . If you are in competition , this loss can be enough to lose the competition (ie you die)

Intuitively , you can realize there is an optimum level of saving .

Methods exist of calculating this optimum in very specific instances (ie portfolios of shares ,eg Kelly criteria , or tactics in war eg MiniMax ) .

The General Case
We need to hold a Reserve in case Something goes wrong . But we do not know what thing goes wrong .

Infinite Probes tries to answer the general case . What is really , really surprising is that a answer is possible .

The Infinite bit comes from using the mathematical expansion of the Definition of Eulers Constant e = ( 1 + 1/2! + 1/ 3! + … 1/n! + …)
Where n!= n*(n-1)*(n-2)*(n-3)*…*(1)

This approaches a constant , widely used in mathematics and physics .
(e = 2.718…) .

All we need is a system that can be subdivided indefinitely (to infinity) .

First , we divide by 1
Then 2
Then 3
Then 4

And so forth till infinity .

What is important is not that we do know what these divisions are , only that they are possible . We also do not know which one element goes wrong .

The other critical insight is that it is the relation between elements that is important . (Permutations) (The failure of an element in total isolation cannot affect the whole system by definition .)

We can count the number of relationships where there is failure of one element .
It is n! , where n is number of divisions where only one failure .

Multiple failures are handled by summing :

Our Reserve(R ) is divided by n to infinity and summed .

TotReserve= R*( 1 + 1/2! + 1/ 3! + … 1/n! + …)
TotReserve= R * e

To find the boundaries of our Reserve , we set TotReserve = Cost

Then

R = 1/e * Cost
R ~ 0.37 * Cost

What does this mean?
This method measures the upper boundary of the reserve needed to survive failures in any element of the Cost-Universe . Ie , internal fluctuations .

This is the surprising bit . Any society that keeps at least 37% reserves , can only be destroyed by something outside it’s envelope . It is internally stable , no matter what .

Empires like the Ancient Egyptians , Romans , Chinese are possible , as long as there is no climactic fluctuation , new inventions , diseases ,etc . Rare events . Hence the technological stasis of old civilizations . The two are synonymous .

This is true at any scale (except quantal , by definition.) .

Individuals too . Humans can be seen as empires of noospheres .

The upper boundary does not take any double-counting into account . It is true for any system whatsoever .

A truly remarkable precise result from such general axioms .

The Lower Boundaries .
This is where it gets interesting .
Remember , we are just counting the number of ways in which permutations of one element can fail . We then sum them to get the effect of the failures of other elements

The easiest is the business that just starts and is not selling anything . It fails on n elements on every term . It’s floor capital must then be
R=Cost/(1+e)
R=0.27*Cost

This is the initial reserve to get off the ground .
This is true in any ecosystem . This is why it is so difficult to start a new business , or why a new species cannot succeed . Or why waves of pandemics are scarcer .

For the epidemically minded , this 10% difference is responsible for the demise of the Black Death ( smallpox outcompeted bubonic plaque variants for the CR5 access site.Ironically , the reason why we have only a limited HIV plague is the high competition for this site , probably some flu vectors . As one would expect , the incidence of HIV then becomes inversely proportional to connectivity (ie flights) .

A cessation of airplane flights will then lead to a flare-up of diseases like these .
Not exactly what anybody has in mind . )

When we find that we really need the spread of infectious vectors to stay healthy , then we know we have really screwed ourselves .

These are the two main boundaries .
The literature is full of other limits the series can approach . Keep a clear head on what the physical significance is .

Fat
I cannot leave the subject without the thing closest to human hearts : appearance .
Fat and fitness .
Sadly , the present fad for leanness is just that . The period of superfluous food is coming to an end .
Rich individuals can afford to be lean because the reserves are in the monetary wealth Women have to bear children individually , so they cannot store the needed reserves externally . Hence their fat storage is close to the theoretical optimum even in Western societies (33%) . In other societies the percentage is about 37-40% .

Human males have been bred (Mk III humans) for muscle and little fat (8% in a superbly fit male) . He does not have reserves to withstand even garrison duty (even little diseases will lay him low .) Note the frequent references to diseases laying whole armies low .

Note what is left out : the camp-followers . They survived The women and babyfat children . Every army seeded the invaded area with women and children .

The bred soldier has to eat a high-carb food frequently : not meat or fat , his body cannot store it . This is the definition of a wheat-eating legionary .

Ho ! Ho! Ho!
The Atkinson diet .
No wonder it does not make sense in evolutionary terms .
Mesomorphic humans have been bred not to transform expensive proteins and fats into bodymass .

The soldier-class were kept on a carbohydrate leash , which could only be supplied by farming .


The Smell of Horses .

Horses exude pheromones that promote body-leanness in humans . This has an obvious advantage to horses . Horses are breeding jockeys .

The time-span is enough : at least 8 000 years . (400 generations)

Because pregnant women cannot ride horses , there was a selection pressure to breed horses who have a pheromone that block female dominance pheromones , especially since females have to weigh more because of fat-reserve considerations .

Outside a farming environment , horses will sculpt their riders as much as the riders are sculpting them .

Small Mongolian ponies , small Mongolians .

This is why alpha-males like horses and horse-dominated societies were able to conquer and keep matriarchies .

Note the effect of the pheromones on women riders . Androgeny .
On males it becomes extreme blockage of oestrogen . It seems like a surge of male hormones , but it is just an imbalance . (If too much male hormones , the men just kill their horses )

This is why the auto-mobile had such a big sociological effect . No horses , so the men became more effeminate .

Want to be Lean and Mean ?
Sniff Horse sweat pheromone .
Perfumiers take note .

Dogs

The other leg of the human-horse-dog triumvirate .
Dogs accept female pack-leaders and have evolutionary reasons for blocking horse inhibitions of human female pheromones .

While the males are away , the females look after and rely on the dogs .
(The reason why Mongols ride from yurt to yurt: they are too scared of the dogs.)

With dogs around , the male testosterone activity is ameliorated . This is a well known effect , especially if horses are around .

Hence the female love of lap-dogs . They are actually quite ferocious , and exude large amounts of pheromones that soothes the savage male breast .

Your attention is drawn to the Pekinese lapdog , which has had a disproportionately large effect on human history .

If this sounds convoluted , it is because this is exactly how this type of bio-system operates : by inhibitions of inhibitions of inhibitions ,etc .

Andre
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Appendix II
http://www.universetoday.com/65639/what-percentage-of-the-earths-land-surface-is-desert/

Seen from space, the majority of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans – that makes up 71% of the surface of the Earth, with the remaining 29% for land. But what percentage of the Earth’s land surface is desert? Deserts actually make up 33%, or 1/3rd of the land’s surface area.


Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/65639/what-percentage-of-the-earths-land-surface-is-desert/#ixzz2EybRKIdW


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Appendix III
Ground Lightning strikes per day to balance ionosphere.
A number of studies have been done using lightning detection networks located in some countries and using a couple of satellites that have optical detectors designed to recognize lightning flashes. The most recent data suggests that the long used statistic of around 100 flashes per second globally is close to being correct, of which 80% are in-cloud flashes and 20% are cloud-to-ground flashes.

This gives us approximately 20 flashes to the ground per second globally and therefore 1,728,000 flashes to the ground per day. This seems like a huge number, but it is necessary to maintain an electrical balance between the Earth's surface and the atmosphere.

David R. Cook
Atmospheric Physics and Chemistry Section
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory
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Appendix IV
Manna
Biblical description


Manna is described as being comparable to hoarfrost in size. Hoarfrost on grasslawn.


According to the book of Exodus, manna is white, like Coriander seed.
In the description in the Book of Exodus, manna is described as being "a fine, flake-like thing" like the frost on the ground.[1] It is described in the Book of Numbers as arriving with the dew during the night;[2] Exodus adds that manna was comparable to hoarfrost in size,[1] similarly had to be collected before it was melted by the heat of the sun,[3] and was white like coriander seed in color.[4] Numbers describes it as having the appearance ofbdellium,[5] adding that the Israelites ground it and pounded it into cakes, which were then baked, resulting in something that tasted like cakes baked with oil.[6] Exodus states that raw manna tasted like wafers that had been made with honey.[4] The Israelites were instructed to eat only the manna they had gathered for each day. Leftovers or manna stored up for the following day "bred worms and stank":[7]
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