SV: SPECTROMETER BRIEF: PAH MUTATIONS / OBSERVER: AGENT SILVERNOTE
> Device Profile — What it looks like
Custom, field-rigged **UV-Vis spectrometer** in a matte black shoebox chassis. Edges are duct-seam taped. A cracked analog dial sits beside a small OLED readout. A nest of **fiber-optic cable** fans across the lid like translucent nerves. USB link to laptop. Cyan status diode bleeds through vent slots.
On-screen visual: a live spectrum curve — steady chlorophyll bump near ~550 nm, plus jitter in the near-UV. OLED often flashes λ = 388.7 nm.
> How it works — in plain terms
- Collect: Ambient light is fed through a **diffraction grating** via fiber optic; photons spread by wavelength.
- Measure: The detector counts intensity per wavelength across UV–visible bands.
- Fingerprint: Rae compares the curve to expected backgrounds (forest ambient, indoor baseline) and flags **extra peaks** or **scatter tails** where “clean air” shouldn’t have them.
Expected rural air (simplified): 550 nm ▲ (chlorophyll reflectance) UV <420 nm ░ low, stable Observed (Mori unit): 370–410 nm ▄ anomalies (repeatable) ~388–400 nm ► persistent shoulder
> Targets — PAHs and their mutations
PAHs (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are combustion byproducts (industry, traffic, woodsmoke). Alone, some are already bad actors; the bigger problem is what they **become**:
- Nitro-PAHs & Quinones (mutagenic): Form when PAHs react with **OH radicals** (day), **NO3 radicals** (night), **ozone**, or **NO2**. These derivatives absorb/scatter in the **near-UV** and drive **oxidative stress** and **DNA adducts** once inhaled.
- Biological metabolism: Inside the body, enzymes convert PAHs to reactive epoxides that **bind DNA** (bulky adducts; depurination; point mutations).
> Field Procedure — what I saw (Agent Silvernote)
- Baseline indoors (stove cold, blinds shut) → flat UV, modest visible.
- Forest-floor ambient (dawn) → chlorophyll bump + faint UV teeth.
- Wind shift from mill corridor → **UV teeth sharpen**, shoulder at **~390 nm** grows; repeatable on two passes.
- Camera logs show **no visible haze**; the signal is in the **chemistry**, not the view.
> Findings — the “Clean Air Myth” in practice
Remoteness ≠ purity. Rural air carries **reactive drift**: aged combustion plumes and nighttime chemistry produce **nitro-PAHs/quinones** that don’t announce themselves as smoke. Rae’s rig catches the discrepancy between **breathing forest** and **breathing reactions happening in the forest**.
> Post assets — how to show this to civilians
- Look/prop shot: Shoebox unit, taped seams, cyan diode, fiber-optic “nerves,” OLED reading
λ = 388.7 nm. - Screen: Curve with labeled regions: “Chlorophyll 550 nm” + “Anomaly band 370–410 nm”.
- Caption hook: “Clean air doesn’t always mean inert air. Mori’s rig listens where lungs can’t.”
- ALT text: “DIY spectrometer with fiber-optic cable measuring near-UV spikes linked to reactive PAH derivatives in rural air.”
> Risk / Notes
- Night runs amplify **NO3-radical** chemistry → stronger UV features without visible smoke.
- Spectrometer is light-hungry; avoid lens contamination; re-zero frequently.
- Evidence standard: repeat runs, stationary log, note wind direction & temp inversions.
Observer note: the device hum rises before the UV shoulder lifts. Probably resonance from the fan. Probably.