As you know, I credit the AFIP’s finding that silica was detected.
But I also credit the report by Dr. Alibek and Dr.Meselson that silica was not seen on the SEMS that two professionals were shown. They certainly would not lie —as it is a criminal investigation and then when they were contradicted by other scientists (like Patrick) consulting for the FBI, they’d be in a predicament.
Moreover, beyond the face of that report, I find the backstory about the interviews conducted of the EDX operator (by a investigative/science reporter for major outlets) very compelling. In short, I believe he was highly qualified at detecting silica using an EDX. The AFIP has never taken back the claim.
But, I would ask again that you go on record, as a trained chemist, as to your view as to whether the patents are consistent with a finding of silica by EDX and the high concentration evidenced by the Daschle product.
I’m not asking you agree with me. I’m just looking to establish for the record your view so as to advance discussion.
The same-old “there was coating”/”there was not” debate that has been repeated endlesslyl for 5 years is not interesting. Let’s move forward.
Moreover your ad hominem attack on Ed was really lame. Let him continue with drawing a Sponge Bob figure with the Goldman Sachs letters and instead I want one or both of you to get me an expert opinion on the patents by someone qualified to render one.
Ideally, Ken himself.
I agree that the microdroplet patent is dual use. However, I don’t agree that removing the silica afterwards is useful for creating an aerosol. Silica is needed to make spores that will aerosolize. All that is needed is a single monolayer of highly dispersed silica. By highly dispersed I mean the silica itself is not clumped up as it is in some of the simulants we have seem. No doubt that’s what Alibek and Mesleson were looking for - and it’s obvious when the silica is not well dispersed. However, with state-of-the-art processing the single monolayer is difficult to see at lower SEM magnifications. But it’s easy to see under high resolution and easy to see with a combination of EDX spectra and EDX images of Si and O2 combined with regular SEM images.
I trust AFIP. They are experts at SEM images and the aforementioned EDX images.