water ways: a molecular eco-venture

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/br.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Boardroom"> "This rainforest's loaded with palm oil. The climate is perfect for it." "And more palm oil means more money. You know how people just can't get enough of the stuff." You look out from the glass across the corporate boardroom. The air of the city is hazy through the 25-floor windows. The businessman leaves the room, speaking quietly into his microcassette recorder. The CEO stays behind to sign documents, her massive shoulderpads and torso forming an open V up to amply-sprayed hair. You can practically see the aerosols still clinging to her head. Nasty fellows, aerosols. So clingy. What do you do? [[Remain in the glass]] [[Try to leave]]

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/glass.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Glass"> Water takes energy to evaporate, so in order to get out of this glass, you're going to have to simmer a bit. What should a nice clean drop of water think about to warm up? [[Think about deforestation in the Indonesian rainforest]] [[Think about your cool deep ocean home]]

It's hard to believe that they would cut down so much pristine habitat just to make stupid vegetable oil for junk food. So many beautiful and unique species will be affected by this one choice, some that humanity still hasn't discovered. <img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/orang.png" width="350" alt="Orangutan"> Rainforests only cover 2% of the area of the planet but contain 50% of all of the planet's species. Animals like the Sumatran tiger, orangutan, and the Borneo pygmy elephant would all be wiped out with this massive expansion of the palm oil industry into Indonesia. Not to mention the threat of wildfires, the danger to //human// life. Well, you're plenty fired up now. With all this extra energy, you and your molecule buddies evaporate into the air. [[Examine the room]]

<img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/2jedc38.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Beautiful"> You think about the sea, about the gentle sway of the currents, about all of the friends you left behind. This only cools you down, and water needs heat to evaporate. Try thinking about something that's frustrating to you to increase your temperature. [[Think about deforestation in the Indonesian rainforest]]

<img src="http://i67.tinypic.com/11lufc5.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Think Twice"> The CEO sits at the table, going over the deforestation documents one final time. She is deep in thought and seems hesitant to proceed. Could she be having second thoughts? She mutters something about shareholders. So much for that. [[Condense on the floor]] [[Condense on the window]] [[Go to the left side of the room]]

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/tv.png" width="500" height="300" alt="TV"> As much as you would love to watch an episode of the Golden Girls or Family Ties, you have more important things to focus on now. Any other ideas? [[Go to the left side of the room]] [[Go to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://i64.tinypic.com/2572b8i.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Antiques"> This is how telephones used to work, with a circular disk that you had to turn around for each number. Pretty interesting stuff, but the disk is heavy, and a cloud of vapor doesn't really have much mass. It doesn't look like you'd be able to call for help, and how would you explain this even if you could? [[Go to the left side of the room]] [[Go to the right side of the room]]

You notice that one of the cables is actually frayed and sparking. You haven't had a pick-me-up in a while, so you condense on this wire. An electrical current quickly jumps through your molecules. Invigorating! Also the television abruptly turns on from the surge of current. A Prince video is playing on MTV at a deafening volume. Huh. How'd that happen? <img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/m9lyef.png" width="500" height="300" alt="RIP"> [[Go to the right side of the room->Go back to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/tv.png" width="500" height="300" alt="TV"> The CEO gets up from her chair and begins to walk towards the blaring TV. Not an MTV fan, or something else on her mind? It's pretty telling that she doesn't even wonder why the TV came on in the first place. And a little disappointing. You'd think she'd at least scream about a ghost or something. [[Condense on the television->Condense on the loud television]] [[Condense on the telephone->Condense on the rotary telephone]] [[Go to the left side of the room->Go back to the left side of the room]]

<img src="http://i65.tinypic.com/2nhn3ue.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Caution"> You make a nice puddle, if you do say so yourself. But this is no time for rest! [[Go to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://i67.tinypic.com/2po4375.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Smoggy Days"> You look out onto the skyline. Thick smog fills the air. You condense easily because it's so cold outside, and the cold does a number on your internal energies. Being depressed about the smog definitely doesn't help. It's going to take a lot of energy to get back into the air. [[Use all your might to get back into the air]]

<img src="http://i67.tinypic.com/33tl85h.png" width="350" alt="Making my way downtown"> The CEO has gotten up from her seat and is making her way over to the set. She doesn't look too happy. Guess MTV isn't really her thing. You better act quickly. [[Condense onto the window]] [[Condense into a puddle]] [[Go back to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/m9lyef.png" width="500" height="300" alt="RIP"> Condensed across the screen, you're uncomfortably close to Prince. The TV glow is refracted through your droplets, and you imagine you look a little like Purple Raindrops yourself... Is this what it looks like when dew cries? The CEO, on the other hand, turns off the TV without even noticing the symbolism. Looks like you're back where you started. [[Go to the left side of the room]]

<img src="http://i64.tinypic.com/2572b8i.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Antiques"> This doesn't seem to help. In the mean time the CEO has made it to the TV and turned it off. You seem to be back where you started. [[Go to the left side of the room]]

<img src="http://i64.tinypic.com/2mwhvm.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Steamy Days"> You were successful, and are floating among the nitrogen and oxygen molecules again. Thankfully, it looks like your detour didn't waste you too much time. Back to the drawing board? [[Go to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://i63.tinypic.com/2reoak0.png" width="300" alt="Window Art"> You condense on the side of the window in a beautiful animal form with some Picasso-esque cubist touches, but the CEO walks by without even noticing. You are back where you started. [[Go to the left side of the room]]

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/fall.png" width="300" alt="Falling"> You condense into a puddle along the slick floor just in front of the CEO. She steps squarely in the middle of you and before you know it she's sliding, slipping away. She falls hard but is not too badly shaken up. Hmm...well, that's progress at least. Feeling that you might be onto something, you evaporate back into the air. What next? [[Condense onto her brow]] [[Condense on the window->Condense back on the window]] [[Condense onto the television->Condense on the loud television]] [[Condense onto the telephone->Condense on the rotary telephone]]

<img src="http://i66.tinypic.com/2m3pz84.png" width="300" alt="Rage"> The CEO is deep in thought when you condense on her forehead. This actually snaps her out of her pondering though, and she angrily swipes you onto the floor. "Argh, forget it. I thought I told those useless oafs to //clean// in here." [[You're back where you started->Go to the left side of the room]]

You condense on the window, which the businesswoman happened to looking out of. As she pondered the pollution outside, you form a vague orangutan shape with your fog, which she recognizes immediately. "That's a sign if I've ever seen one. What are we doing? This is simply not worth the cost." <img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/thought.png" width="400" alt="Thinking"> She tears up the deforestation contract and goes storming out of the room. CONGRATULATIONS!! You protected the rainforest. [[Back home]]

WELCOME TO <img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/ww2.jpg" width="500" alt="Title"> WATER WAYS A Molecular Eco-Venture by <img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/ww3.jpg" width="400" alt="Title2"> www.earthgames.org MADE FOR THE APRIL 2016 CLIMATE GAME JAM Sponsored by THE WHITE HOUSE, NOAA, and THE SMITHSONIAN [[Proceed]]

//37 years later... Or 2 years earlier??// Two hydrogens and one oxygen. People say that all water molecules are alike. But you always knew you were different. For one thing, you always have a group of buddies following you around, a few quintillion closest chums who are always at your beck and call. And then there was that one day that changed everything... [[Next]]

Yes that's right, you're a molecule that can travel back in time. The physics has to do with some molecular anatomy stuff you studied in school: Heisenberg/Einstein uncertainty and dilation-inversions. Anyway it works like this: you picture a time, gather some energy (which getting angry about something always seems to help), and poof, you're back there. The most interesting part is that you can actually change the future by doing this, correcting the mistakes of the past. With great power comes great responsibility... But what can a little molecule really do? [[Onward]]

It's Friday, October 15. Strange things are afoot. Your last few blasts into the past have failed and you're starting to lose your confidence. Your kinetic energy is down, running on empty. You need some inspiration, quickly. [[Look at the newspaper]]

//Lead outbreak in Flint, Michigan// //Thousands of children poisoned// In this day and age, an entire city being poisoned by their own faucets. When they switched water sources, the different pH of led to more leaching from the old lead pipes, causing toxic doses of lead in the water. [[Read about Flint, Michigan]] [[Read about the history of lead pollution]] [[Read about the effects of lead on children]]

Immortalized in Michael Moore's documentary //Roger and Me//, Flint was a center of manufacturing for the American auto industry. Flint has fallen on hard times, and this news about lead adds neurological injury to insult, and is perhaps the greatest injustice of them all. [[Read about the history of lead pollution]] [[Read about the effects of lead on children]]

Even the ancient Greeks knew that lead was a neurotoxin.

The newspaper goes into unflinching detail about the effects of lead on children. Children who have lead in the bloodstream are disadvantaged from the start. Before the age of six, lead poisoning can adversely affect children's physical and mental development. Initially, lead poisoning in children can be hard to detect, but at high levels, the following symptoms start manifesting: developmental delays, learning difficulties, irritability, loss of appetite, weight loss, sluggishness and fatigue, abdominal pain, constipation, vomiting and even hearing loss. Newborns who are exposed to lead are at risk of learning difficulties later in life, and lead poisoning has even been known to slow growth. At very high levels, lead poisoning can even be fatal. You continue to read on, horrified. [[Read about Flint, Michigan]] [[Read about the history of lead pollution]]

<img src="http://i68.tinypic.com/mj372h.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Goodbye"> Against all advisement, you remain in the glass. The businessman picks up the glass and takes a sip of water. You disappear into the businessman's mouth. What happens next is hardly worth mentioning... [[Start over?|Intro]]

<img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/glass.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Glass"> Although a glass is certainly an appropriate place for a group of water molecules, you feel compelled to do something about this situation. Are you sure you want to stay? [[Remain in the glass|Stay in the glass]] [[Try to leave]]

//December 1984 2 H, 1 O// <img src="http://www.atmos.washington.edu/~dargan/twine/br.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Boardroom"> "But won't the environmentalists will put up a fuss?" "They can't do anything about it. We've got the government on our side. And most people don't even know where their food is grown." [[Keep listening->Intro]]

<img src="http://i66.tinypic.com/9gkcpk.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Paper Trail"> You're now part of a little invisible cloud of vapor driting through the corporate boardroom. The CEO sits on the right side of the room, poised to condemn the rainforest to ashes with her signature. She has the papers in front of her, and could sign them at any moment now. Is there something you can do to stop her from signing those papers? [[Go to the left side of the room]] [[Go to the right side of the room]]

<img src="http://i64.tinypic.com/2aiefqq.png" width="500" height="300" alt="Obvious Productivity"> On this side of the room there is a television set, a rotary telephone, and a bunch of cables. Is there anything here that you can use? Anything at all? [[Condense on the television]] [[Condense on the telephone]] [[Condense on the cables->Condense on the frayed wire]]