Baltic Dry Index. 1391 -24 Brent Crude 86.87
Spot Gold 1842
Coronavirus Cases 02/04/20 World 1,000,000
Deaths 53,100
Coronavirus Cases 25/01/22 World 355,632,096
Deaths 5,623,218
“Never
let the truth get in the way of a good story.”
In the stock casinos, whipsaw Monday as Margin Call Monday turned into Dead Cat Bounce Monday, when high risk gamblers thought they saw their “Gamestock” opportunity in car crash wrecked technology stocks.
With the Fed meeting today and tomorrow, facing their Arthur Burns choice of letting inflation rip through the economy to protect stock market gambling, or tackling inflation to protect the US economy, but trashing stock speculation. It’s a 50:50 call.
Add in a USA v Russia military standoff over the Ukraine, an existential threat to Russia if they let the Ukraine join NATO, and the world is facing its worst geo-political crisis since the Cuban missile crisis of 1962.
Not to worry though, everyone in the west expects Russia to back down and succumb to its western fate of death by one thousand cuts. So that’s alright then, 1914 optimism. Why would anyone go to war?
To this old dinosaur market watcher, I think it’s time to follow the old stock market adage “to expect the unexpected” in dire times. A Russian attack during the Lunar New Year and Olympics?
But are President Biden and Prime Minister Johnson really war time leaders? Would you be willing to die over the totally corrupt Ukraine for either “leader?”
Hong Kong, Japan stocks fall as Asia-Pacific markets tumble following volatility on Wall Street
- Japan and Hong Kong stocks dropped as Asia-Pacific markets tumbled on Tuesday after a volatile session overnight on Wall Street.
- U.S. markets were volatile on Monday. Stocks sold off earlier in the session but mounted a dramatic comeback as investors stepped in to buy beaten-up tech shares.
- Geopolitical tensions were in focus as well, with fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine growing.
- Bitcoin returned to positive territory after crashing to a new low on Monday.
SINGAPORE — Japan stocks dropped more than 2% as Asia-Pacific markets tumbled on Tuesday after a volatile session overnight on Wall Street.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 2.13% as auto and tech stocks were largely down, and the Topix fell 2.13%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index lost 2% before recovering slightly to decline 1.65%.
The ASX 200 pared some losses after falling nearly 3% as banks, miners and oil stocks all tumbled across the board. Bank stocks such as ANZ lost nearly 4%, while Commonwealth Bank of Australia and National Australia Bank fell 2% and 2.9% respectively. Oil stocks dropped as Santos fell 4.82%, Beach Energy dived 7.77% and Woodwide Petroleum slid 3.98%.
Inflation in Australia rose 1.3% in the fourth quarter, and 3.5% for the year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Prices increased at its fastest annual pace since 2014, Reuters reported.
In South Korea, the Kospi also declined around 2.81%.
South Korea’s economy grew 1.1% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared to the previous quarter, the Bank of Korea said in a press release on Tuesday. For the full year, the country’s GDP expanded by 4% in 2021, the fastest in 11 years, according to Reuters.
Mainland Chinese stocks were lower as well. The Shanghai Composite lost 1.12%, and the Shenzhen Component was down 1.59%. Meanwhile, Singapore’s central bank tightened monetary policy on Tuesday in response to rising prices as global demand recovers and supply-side disruptions persist.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore uses the exchange rate to manage policy and said it would raise the rate of appreciation of its policy band slightly.
The Singapore dollar strengthened against the U.S. dollar to trade at 1.3432, while the Straits Times Index was down 1.3%.
----U.S. markets were volatile on Monday. Stocks sold off earlier in the session but mounted a dramatic comeback as investors stepped in to buy beaten-up tech shares.
The Dow rallied after being down 1,115 points at one point, closing up 99.13 points, or 0.3%, at 34,364.50, gaining for the first day in seven. The S&P 500 closed in the green after briefly hitting correction territory earlier in the session, falling more than 10% from its Jan. 3 record close. It finished 0.3% higher at 4,410.13.
The Nasdaq Composite Index turned positive after being down as much as 4.9% earlier in the session, gaining 0.6% at 13,855.13.
“The recent sell-off in stocks reflects concern about the Fed tightening at a time when the economic momentum is slowing. However after eight straight days of selling and 10% drop year to date, more attractive valuations especially in technology stocks attracted bargain hunters,” Kathy Lien of 60 Second Investor wrote in a Tuesday note.
Oil prices also fell around 2% overnight on those expectations of Fed tightening. The Federal Open Market Committee is due to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to decide on the next steps for U.S. monetary policy.
More
S&P 500 Tumbles in Worst-Ever Start Through 16 Days
Mon, 24 January 2022, 6:44 pm
(Bloomberg) -- The stock market has never been down this much 16 trading days into a year.
The S&P 500 has dropped 11% -- heading toward what would count as a correction -- so far this year. That’s the most on record at this juncture, according to Bloomberg data that goes back over nine decades, though drawdowns have been faster in prior years before quick rebounds, most notably in 2009.
The downturn comes as traders brace for the Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy and a surge in U.S. Treasury yields weighs on the outlook for stocks. A host of technical signals also suggest that more volatility may be coming up ahead.
“The Fed pulled the punchbowl, liquidity has evaporated, and the S&P and NDX broke below their 200dma for the first time since the Covid outbreak,” said Rich Ross, technical strategist at Evercore ISI.
A bear market down to the 3,800 level is likely for the S&P 500, Ross said, given “the dramatic erosion of the technical backdrop, in conjunction with the highest inflation, tightest policy, and most uncertain political and geopolitical condition in years” -- not to mention its historic rally since 2020.
The benchmark index fell as much as 4% to 4,223 on Monday, its lowest since June.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/market-never-plunged-10-fast-173607529.html
‘Double down’ on defense because stocks will plunge another 10%, Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson warns
Investors may be playing with fire.
According to Morgan Stanley’s Mike Wilson, the S&P 500 is vulnerable to a 10% plunge despite Monday’s late buying binge. He warns investors are dangerously downplaying a collision between a tightening Federal Reserve and slowing growth.
“This type of action is just not comforting. I don’t think anybody is going home feeling like they’ve got this thing nailed even if they bought the lows,” the firm’s chief U.S. equity strategist and chief investment officer told CNBC’s “Fast Money.”
Wall Street hasn’t seen an intraday reversal this large since the 2008 financial crisis. During Monday’s session, the Nasdaq bounced back from a 4% drop while the Dow was off 3.25% at its low. At one point, the blue chip index was down 1,015 points. But by the close, the Nasdaq, Dow and S&P 500 were all in positive territory.
Wilson, the market’s biggest bear, expects the painful drop will happen within the next three to four weeks. He anticipates challenging earnings reports and guidance will give investors a wake-up call regarding slowing growth.
“I need something below 4,000 to get really constructive,” said Wilson. “I do think that’ll happen.”
More
In Federal Reserve news, will the Fed nuke stocks or nuke inflation? Neither probably, but nuke unrepayable global debt?
Fed rate hikes will intensify a global debt crisis, research warns
Published Mon, Jan 24 2022 5:54 AM EST
Interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks are likely to worsen a global debt crisis, particularly for developing countries, according to a new report from U.K. non-profit the Jubilee Debt Campaign.
The Federal Open Market Committee meets this week to decide the path for its tightening of monetary policy as it looks to contain soaring inflation. Some analysts are expecting the central bank to hike rates four times from their pandemic-era lows in 2022.
In a report published Sunday, the Jubilee Debt Campaign highlighted that developing countries’ debt payments rose 120% between 2010 and 2021, and are currently at their highest since 2001. The average portion of government revenues channeled toward external debt payments increased from 6.8% in 2010 to 14.3% in 2021, with payments shooting up in 2020.
The sharp increase in debt payments is hindering countries’ economic recovery from the pandemic, the report suggested, and rising U.S. and global interest rates in 2022 could exacerbate the problem for many lower income countries.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said last week that Fed rate hikes could “throw cold water” on already weak recoveries in certain countries. Higher U.S. interest rates, and thus a rise in the greenback, could make it more expensive for countries to meet their dollar-denominated debt obligations.
“The debt crisis continues to engulf lower income countries, with no end in sight unless there is urgent action on debt relief,” said Heidi Chow, executive director of the Jubilee Debt Campaign.
“The debt crisis has already stripped countries of the resources needed to tackle the climate emergency and the continued disruption from Covid, while rising interest rates threaten to sink countries in even more debt.”
Chow called on G-20 leaders to stop “burying their heads in the sand” and argued that the global economy urgently needs a “comprehensive debt cancellation scheme which compels private lenders to take part in debt relief.”
The organization’s debt data portal indicated that 54 countries around the world are currently facing debt crises, insofar as debt payments are hampering governments’ ability to preserve citizens’ economic and social rights.
A further 14 countries are at risk of both public and private debt crisis, while 22 are in danger of a solely private sector debt crisis and 21 a public sector crisis.
More
Finally, in rush to nuclear war news, does this sound like President Putin about to kowtow to aging President Biden or vice versa?
Ukraine crisis: Hundreds of military trains with Russian troops deployed as war fears grow
The Mirror has learned as many as 30 train loads of Moscow’s troops have entered Belarus in the past week - with a staggering 200 scheduled for the next few days
Chris Hughes Defence and Security Editor 17:12, 24 Jan 2022 Updated18:25, 24 Jan 2022
Hundreds of military trains packed with Russian troops are being deployed to Ukraine's neighbour Belarus, it emerged last night, as PM Boris Johnson warned of a bloody “new Chechnya” if Moscow invades.
The Mirror has learned as many as 30 train loads of Moscow’s troops have entered Belarus in the past week - with a staggering 200 scheduled for the next few days.
Russia’s Belarus troop build-up by far exceeds its claims of a “military exercise” as a recent similar wargaming project dubbed Zapad amounted to 25 trains over a month.
Sources told the Mirror of the Belarus build-up as Russia continued to increase its troop presence in the neighbouring country, in Crimea and along the contested Donbas frontier.
Moscow’s warships are also off Ukraine, many of them with an amphibious attack capability.
Latest news of Russia’s pressuring Ukraine amid fears of a full-scale invasion sparked alarm in Westminster with PM Boris Johnson branding it “gloomy intelligence.”
More
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hundreds-trains-packed-russian-troops-26036065
NATO sends reinforcements and U.S. puts troops on alert as Ukraine tensions rise
January 25, 2022 1:05 AM GMT
MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, Jan 24 (Reuters) - NATO said on Monday it was putting forces on standby and reinforcing eastern Europe with more ships and fighter jets, in what Russia denounced as Western "hysteria" in response to its build-up of troops on the Ukraine border.
The U.S. Department of Defense in Washington said about 8,500 American troops were put on heightened alert and were awaiting orders to deploy to the region, should Russia invade Ukraine.
Tensions are high after Russia massed an estimated 100,000 troops in reach of its neighbour's border, surrounding Ukraine with forces from the north, east and south.
Russia denies planning an invasion and Moscow is citing the Western response as evidence that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of aggression.
President Joe Biden, pushing for transatlantic unity, held an 80-minute secure video call with a number of European leaders on Monday from the White House Situation Room to discuss the Ukraine crisis.
Biden told reporters "I had a very, very, very good meeting" with the Europeans, which included the leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Britain and Poland. He said there was "total unanimity."
A White House statement said the leaders "discussed their joint efforts to deter further Russian aggression against Ukraine, including preparations to impose massive consequences and severe economic costs on Russia for such actions as well as to reinforce security on NATO's eastern flank."
Welcoming a series of deployments announced by alliance members in recent days, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg earlier said NATO would take "all necessary measures."
"We will always respond to any deterioration of our security environment, including through strengthening our collective defence," Stoltenberg said in a statement.
He told a news conference that the enhanced presence on NATO's eastern flank could also include the deployment of battlegroups in the southeast of the alliance.
So far, NATO has about 4,000 troops in multinational battalions in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, backed by tanks, air defences and intelligence and surveillance units.
U.S. officials said the Pentagon was finalising efforts to identify specific units that it could deploy to NATO's eastern flank.
One of the officials said up to 5,000 could be deployed, while a NATO diplomat said Washington was considering gradually transferring some troops stationed in western Europe to eastern Europe in the coming weeks. read more
Denmark, Spain, France and the Netherlands were all planning or considering sending troops, planes or ships to eastern Europe, NATO said. Ukraine shares borders with four NATO countries: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania.
A Polish official said Warsaw would draw the line at sending troops to Ukraine.
---- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the West of "hysteria" and putting out information "laced with lies".
"As for specific actions, we see statements by the North Atlantic Alliance about reinforcement, pulling forces and resources to the eastern flank. All this leads to the fact that tensions are growing," he said.
"This is not happening because of what we, Russia, are doing. This is all happening because of what NATO and the U.S. are doing and due to the information they are spreading."
More
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/nato-sends-ships-jets-eastern-europe-ukraine-crisis-2022-01-24/
Global Inflation/Stagflation Watch.
Given our Magic Money Tree central banksters and our spendthrift politicians, inflation now needs an entire section of its own.
Goldman Says Russia Conflict Could Curb Gas Flows Indefinitely
Mon, January 24, 2022, 9:16 AM
Russian natural gas flows to Europe could be curtailed for “an indefinite period” if the nation’s new pipeline project to Germany is hit by sanctions as a result of escalating tensions over Ukraine, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
The bank still assumes that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will begin service in the second quarter, but delays in the approval process might push it to later in the year or even longer amid escalating Russia-Ukraine tensions, it said in a note. Gas prices could also briefly revisit record levels seen in the middle of December, or even shoot higher.
“Should tensions between Russia and the Ukraine escalate, the initial uncertainty around its impact on gas flows would likely lead the market to once again add a significant risk premium to European gas prices,” said the bank’s analysts, led by Samantha Dart.
Lower Russian gas flows -- already the case since the second half of last year --could extend into the summer months. But as the region is battling an energy crunch, the European Union is unlikely to block any existing gas flows from Russia, the bank said.
Even if gas flows from Russia return to normal this summer, the market in northwest Europe is set to be tighter than the five-year average until at least 2025, after several gas-liquefaction projects currently under construction begin service.
“We expect the tightness in European gas markets to linger for another three years,” Goldman’s analysts said.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/goldman-says-russia-conflict-could-091635534.html
One of the largest trucking companies in the US is giving raises of up to 33%, allowing drivers to make up to $150,000 in their first year, amid worker shortage
Sat, January 22, 2022, 9:22 PM
A major US trucking company is implementing its biggest raises in its 60-year history to attract and retain workers amid a national shortage of truck drivers.
Trucking firm KLLM Transport Services announced this week it is raising pay and compensation by as much as 33% for some workers, including students just out of training.
"KLLM drivers have been nothing short of remarkable over the last few years through some challenging times in the transportation industry," said Jim Richards, the company's president and CEO, in a press release. "They've stepped up to the plate every time they've been asked to keep food on the shelves and stores stocked."
The raises will take effect in February. Over-the-road drivers will see the greatest increase in their cents-per-mile rate, with a nearly 33% bump. Regional company drivers and independent contractors will see a 10-16% boost to their pay and compensation.
Regional company drivers will also have the option for a guaranteed weekly minimum pay to help with "keeping their wages more predictable," Richards added in the release. Truck drivers are generally paid by the mile, meaning they don't get money for the time they spend waiting for cargo to be processed, which can take hours at a time.
-----Richards told FOX Business that the raises mean drivers trained by the company will be able to make around $70,000 when they start, up from $48,000 before. New drivers could rake in anywhere from $120,000 to $150,000 in their first year, he added.
"Historically, it's always been hard finding good, qualified drivers, and as of the last year or so, it's become increasingly more difficult," he told FOX Business.
The US has been struggling with a national truck driver shortage for months. In October, American Trucking Associations CEO Chris Spear estimated the industry was short roughly 80,000 drivers.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/one-largest-trucking-companies-us-212236279.html
Covid-19 Corner
This section will continue until it becomes unneeded.
Beijing district orders mass virus testing ahead of Olympics
January 23, 2022
BEIJING (AP) — People in a Beijing district with some 2 million residents were ordered Sunday to undergo mass coronavirus testing following a series of infections as China tightened anti-disease controls ahead of the Winter Olympics.
The government told people in areas of the Chinese capital deemed at high risk for infection not to leave the city after 25 cases were found in the Fengtai district and 14 elsewhere.
The ruling Communist Party is stepping up enforcement of its “zero tolerance” strategy aimed at isolating every infected person as Beijing prepares to open the Winter Games on Feb. 4 under intensive anti-virus controls.
On Sunday, Fengtai residents lined up on snow-covered sidewalks in freezing weather for testing.
The Chinese capital must “take the most resolute, decisive and strict measures to block the transmission chain of the epidemic,” a city government spokesman, Xu Hejian, told a news conference.
More
Covid pandemic at a ‘critical juncture’ and we still have a long road ahead, WHO’s Tedros says
Published Mon, Jan 24 2022 5:09 AM EST
The Covid-19 pandemic is at a “critical juncture” as it enters its third year, the WHO’s top official said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference during a meeting with Svenja Schulze, Germany’s minister for economic cooperation and development, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised Germany — the biggest donor to the WHO — for approaching global public health with “solidarity and multilateralism.”
“These qualities are more important than ever, because the Covid-19 pandemic is now entering its third year and we are at a critical juncture,” Tedros told reporters.
“We have the tools to end the acute phase of this pandemic. But we must use them equitably and wisely.”
Noting Germany’s commitment to international cooperation and tackling the pandemic under its newly adopted G-7 presidency, Tedros praised the country’s efforts as “an example for all” but warned that “we still have a long road ahead.”
Globally, more than 71 million new cases of Covid were recorded over the past four weeks, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. While the U.S. and France recorded the highest number of cases during that period, with 18.3 million and 7.6 million respectively, Yemen and Vanuatu have suffered the highest case fatality rates in the world throughout the crisis, JHU data shows.
In Yemen, where a civil war is raging and less than 2% of the population has been vaccinated, almost one in five people who have contracted Covid-19 died, according to JHU. Meanwhile, in Vanuatu — where cases have remained low throughout the pandemic but just a third of the population is immunized against the virus — the case fatality rate is 14%.
More
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/24/covid-pandemic-at-a-critical-juncture-whos-tedros-says.html
Post-COVID brain fog linked to immune abnormalities in spinal fluid
Rich Haridy January 23, 2022
A small study has built on a growing body of evidence indicating long COVID symptoms may be linked to abnormal immune system activity. The new research found unexpected markers of inflammation in the cerebrospinal fluid of several patients experiencing persistent brain fog in the months following a mild case of COVID-19.
Led by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, LIINC (Long-term Impact of Infection with Novel Coronavirus) is an ongoing project studying the impact of COVID-19 on patients in the months and years following an acute infection. The latest study to emerge from this project is an investigation into abnormal cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers in long COVID patients experiencing brain fog.
The small but thorough study took cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 17 subjects. All of the cohort were around 10 months past a mild case of COVID-19. Thirteen subjects were experiencing persistent signs of brain fog, while the remaining four served as controls with no post-COVID cognitive problems.
While no CSF abnormalities were detected in the control group, 77 percent (10 out of 13) of those experiencing persistent brain fog showed a number of unexpected anomalies. These abnormalities included elevated levels of proteins indicating the presence of neuroinflammation and unusual volumes of immune antibodies.
Joanna Hellmuth, senior author on the new study, said the sign of elevated immune activity months after the virus has presumably been cleared is an indication the cognitive problems that have been associated with long COVID may be linked to lingering inflammation.
“It’s possible that the immune system, stimulated by the virus, may be functioning in an unintended pathological way,” said Hellmuth. “This would be the case even though the individuals did not have the virus in their bodies.”
Interestingly, nearly half of those who reported persistent cognitive problems following a COVID infection indicated a delayed onset of their cognitive symptoms. This reported brain fog did not arise until a month after the first COVID symptom in 43 percent of subjects and 29 percent reported their cognitive problems didn’t appear until two months after initial symptoms.
“The large proportion of participants reporting a delayed onset of cognitive PASC [post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 ] implies that events occurring after the acute period of SARS-CoV-2 infection may contribute to pathogenesis and respond to early intervention,” the authors wrote in the study. “Mechanisms that may have a delayed onset include microvascular injury, persistent immune activation, and a post-infectious autoimmune response.”
Several recent studies have pointed to immune dysfunction in long COVID patients. Most recently a study in the journal Nature Immunology comprehensively described blood-based patterns of immune biomarkers characterizing the majority of long COVID patients up to eight months after their acute illness. Another robust recent study, led by researchers from Yale University, demonstrated how SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect brain cells.
The new study was published in the journal Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology.
Source: UCSF
More
Omicron Cases Appear to Peak in U.S., but Deaths Continue to Rise
Sun, January 23, 2022, 4:08 PM
CHICAGO — New coronavirus cases have started to fall nationally, signaling that the omicron-fueled spike that has infected tens of millions of Americans, packed hospitals and shattered records has finally begun to relent.
More and more states have passed a peak in new cases in recent days, as glimmers of progress have spread from a handful of eastern cities to much of the country. Through Friday, the country was averaging about 720,000 new cases a day, down from about 807,000 last week. New coronavirus hospital admissions have leveled off.
Even as hopeful data points emerge, the threat has by no means passed. The United States continues to identify far more infections a day than in any prior surge, and some states in the West, South and Great Plains are still seeing sharp increases. Many hospitals are full. And deaths continue to mount, with more than 2,100 announced most days.
But after a month of extraordinary rates of case growth, blocklong lines at testing centers and military deployments to bolster understaffed intensive care units, the declining new case tallies offered a sense of relief to virus-weary Americans, especially in the Northeast and parts of the Upper Midwest, where the trends were most encouraging. After another round of masking up or hunkering down, some were considering what life might look like if conditions continued to improve.
---In states where new cases have started to fall, the declines have so far been swift and steep, largely mirroring the rapid ascents that began in late December. Those patterns have resembled the ones seen in South Africa, the country whose scientists warned the world about omicron, and the first place to document a major surge of the variant. New cases in South Africa have fallen 85% from their mid-December peak, to about 3,500 cases a day from a high of 23,400, although they remain above the levels seen in the weeks before omicron took hold.
More
https://www.yahoo.com/news/omicron-cases-appear-peak-u-160853728.html
Next, some vaccine links kindly sent along from a LIR reader in Canada. The links come from a most informative update from Stanford Hospital in California.
World Health Organization - Landscape of COVID-19 candidate vaccines. https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/draft-landscape-of-covid-19-candidate-vaccines
NY Times Coronavirus Vaccine Tracker. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html
Regulatory Focus COVID-19 vaccine tracker. https://www.raps.org/news-and-articles/news-articles/2020/3/covid-19-vaccine-tracker
Some other useful Covid links.
Johns Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre
https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html
Rt Covid-19
Centers for Disease Control Coronavirus
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
The Spectator Covid-19 data tracker (UK)
https://data.spectator.co.uk/city/national
Technology Update.
With events happening fast in the development of solar power and graphene, I’ve added this section. Updates as they get reported.
When graphene speaks, scientists can now listen
Brothers in Rice lab find audio from graphene production contains valuable data
Date: January 19, 2022
Source: Rice University
Summary: Brothers working in a lab discover that sound can be used to analyze the properties of laser-induced graphene in real time.
It may be true that seeing is believing, but sometimes hearing can be better.
Case in point: Two brothers in a Rice University laboratory heard something unusual while making graphene. Ultimately, they determined the sound itself could give them valuable data about the product.
The brothers, John Li, a Rice alumnus now studying at Stanford University, and Victor Li, then a high school student in New York and now a freshman at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are co-lead authors of a paper that describes the real-time analysis of laser-induced graphene (LIG) production through sound.
The brothers were working in the lab of Rice chemist James Tour when they came up with their hypothesis and presented it at a group meeting.
"Professor Tour said, 'It is interesting,' and told us to pursue it as a potential project," John Li recalled.
The results, which appear in Advanced Functional Materials, describe a simple acoustic signal processing scheme that analyzes LIG in real time to determine its form and quality.
LIG, introduced by the Tour lab in 2014, makes layers of interconnected graphene sheets by heating the top of a thin polymer sheet to 2,500 degrees Celsius (4,532 degrees Fahrenheit), leaving only carbon atoms behind. The technique has since been applied to making graphene from other feedstock, even food.
"Under different conditions, we hear different sounds because different processes are occurring," John said. "So if we hear variations during the synthesis, we'd be able to detect different materials being formed."
He said audio analysis allows for "far greater quality control capabilities that are orders of magnitude faster than characterization of laser-induced graphene by microscopy techniques.
"In materials analysis, there are often tradeoffs between cost, speed, scalability, accuracy and precision, especially in terms of how much material you can systematically process," John said. "What we have here allows us to efficiently scale the throughput of our analytical capabilities to the entire amount of material we're trying to synthesize in a robust manner."
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“When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.”
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