Elaine has explained that the initial energy is a total energy and not a free energy. Understood. I want to verify that a negative energy is "better" than a positive energy, and a more negative energy is "better" still. This is what I assume now, but I had an angst that the energy value is somehow based on absolute value, so the "best" minimized energy is zero. Humor my question, because I have to be 100% certain. No need to go into caveats about the ability of Chimera minimization to make models worse, and how difficult the energy parameter is to interpret. Tom. Thomas W. Sturgill, M.D.-Ph.D. Biozentrum, University of Basel Department of Biochemistry/Hall Lab Klingelbergstrasse 70 CH4056 Basel, Switzerland TEL: (+41 61) 267 2172 FAX: (+41 61 267 2149 Visiting Professor U. of Virginia, Pharmacology Charlottesville, VA 22908 USA FAX: (434) 924-5207