Batter up

A newly developed baseball bat may help even the scrawniest of players become Sultans of Swat. Thanks to clever engineering and new composite materials, the new F2 aluminum softball bat from DeMarini Sports greatly increases a batter's hitting power. "It's like putting on 30 pounds of muscle," claims Mike Eggiman, researcher and co-founder of the company, which is now a division of Wilson Sporting Goods Co.

DeMarini first revolutionized bats about a decade ago when Eggiman, an engineer, developed aluminum bats with a double wall construction that gave them more spring, as well as increased durability. The F2 uses a carbon fiber composite in the handle.

That allows the bat's weight to be more evenly distributed, instead of being top heave. By reducing the amount of weight in the barrel, a batter can swing with more power. "If you hold a bat by the barrel and swing it, you can swing much faster and harder," Eggiman explains.

Moreover, the carbon fiber is more flexible and can be adapted to more easily accommodate the natural vibration frequency that occurs when a bat hits a ball. Versions of the bat for Little League baseball and adult fast-pitch are in the offing. While technology may help batters hit balls harder and farther, it can only do so much to improve hitting skills. Even the most technologically advanced bats can't stop a bad hitter from whiffing.

Genetically modified fish certainly offer myriad benefits. They grow up to six times faster than their cousins in the wild and are 20 percent more effective at bulking up after eating. They can also grow up to 11 times larger than wild fish. Farming these transgenic fish could be less polluting and more economical, which is especially beneficial in third-world countries. But what if the slippery devils escape?

A recent report by the National Research Council determined that the greatest potential risk posed by bioengineered animals is the likelihood they'll be freed into the wild. And GM fish and shellfish top the list of animals causing the most worry. That's because they can become feral easily and are highly mobile. The report states that it is "a case of immediate concern." That's because commercial farming of transgenic fish is expected to win approval soon, if not in the U.S., then elsewhere in the world.

Scientists worry that transgenic fish could reproduce with wild fish of the same species. The big unknown is whether the modified fish are fit enough to thrive and successfully reproduce in the wild. That's up to natural selection. If they prove less fit than wild fish, they'll simply die out. If they prove more fit, they'll eventually replace their wild brethren. If they're of similar fitness to wild fish, both species are doomed and a mixed breed exhibiting the traits of both would emerge. Their fitness in the wild can only be guessed at for now. But given the growth potential of transgenes, the suspicion is they 11 might show increased fitness." Then what? Well, the worst-case scenario is that supersalmon will upset the stable predator-prey environment. But scientific understanding of what could happen is so limited, according to the report, that a conclusive assessment is not possible. That's about as comforting as it is worrying.

William Muir, a Purdue University geneticist, helped develop a model that theorizes that as GM and wild fish mated, both their populations would shrink, eventually to oblivion. But other researchers say the model is unreliable. Commercial developers say the hoo-haw is overbaked because the GM fish will be sterilized while still eggs. But Muir and others worry that at the industrial level the sterilization process will be less than 100 percent effective.

About the only known in this controversy is that farmed fish don't always stay down on the farm. Cautions the NRC report: "Clear containment of these aquatic organisms will be difficult, and they are likely to escape."

Copyright American Society for Engineering Education Feb 2003
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