Dr Zhu hopes to map changes in the distribution of these chemicals across time and space.
The index also completely ignores the effects of changes in the distribution of income.
"We've already seen increased temperatures, on average by nearly one degree throughout the 20th century, and we've seen changes in the distribution of extreme weather events," he said.
Besides, the prospect of future tax increases that are contingent on changes in the distribution of wealth may not be as politically unlikely as it seems.
Spending time in space causes dramatic shifts in body fluid, but potential changes in the distribution of brain fluid are a new concern.
These changes in sea level cause great changes in the distribution of marine environments such as coral reefs.
"We have always been very clear about the fact that we study changes in the distribution of market income.
"Persistent effects from debt de-leveraging, demographic shifts and changes in the distribution of income have created an environment where a given level of growth might be consistent with substantially lower interest rates than in the past.
It has a dominant position in the magazine publishing industry -- selling 15percentt of all single copies, according to industry executives -- and has already been able to force changes in the distribution system for magazines.
Yet, as will become apparent later, there have been major changes in the distribution of wealth, and there has been a general improvement in living standards, so that the poor are much fewer today than they were in 1939.
By this logic, creators, producers, artists and journalists should attend only to producing great work and leave the current changes in the distribution and display of information to nerds in suits.
