March 25, 2011
Ana's Feed starting at about 2PM Thursday 24 March:
Finally found some info on that simulation mentioned earlier: "...the model showed that areas where cumulative exposure over 12 days reached 100 millisieverts--the government's maximum for infants--extended beyond the evacuation zone. A map based…
March 24, 2011
Ana's Feed starting just after midnight 24 March:
"...estimates that 57,000 pounds of salt have accumulated in Reactor No. 1 and 99,000 pounds apiece in Reactors No. 2 and 3, which are larger." (Editor's note: This is what I had independently calculated, so it looks right to me)
Ban Ki-moon and…
March 23, 2011
You know that movie that came out a few years ago about the horse that lived during the depression and everybody was happy when it won the triple crown? Well that horse, or a horse just like it (fast, famous, dead) was stuffed and on display in a racing museum I visited when I was a kid, and…
March 23, 2011
What was the greatest invention of the industrial revolution? Hans Rosling makes the case for the washing machine. With newly designed graphics from Gapminder, Rosling shows us the magic that pops up when economic growth and electricity turn a boring wash day into an intellectual day of reading.
March 23, 2011
Following an online petition and a wave of complaints, Apple has removed a so-called "gay cure" app from its App Store.
Launched last month by Exodus International, a ministry that encourages gay people to seek "cures" for their homosexuality, the app triggered a huge outcry from Two Wins Out, a…
March 23, 2011
Please do not send money (as is requested) unless this is verified. What do you know about this?
March 23, 2011
Zoos are open to the public about half of the hours on a given day (or more) and for about half the time there are easily enough people in a zoo to be observing about half the animals. (If you don't like these estimates substitute your own!)
This means that an animal on display at a zoo is under…
March 23, 2011
She was a major film (and stage) actress of my parent's generation. She was the ultimate "leading lady" and as such often played across her sometimes husband, classic "leading man" Richard Burton. She is famous for having been married and divorced more times than anyone else ever (an exaggeration…
March 23, 2011
Imma let you hear all about how Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors is a remarkable and important field guide, but first I want to mention that one of the most interesting parts of that guide is the forward by Pete Dunne, who himself has written a bird book or two. Dunne reviews…
March 22, 2011
Julia always lets me be Indy. But I have a feeling she's not going to let me be Jack.
March 22, 2011
With never-before-seen video, primatologist Isabel Behncke Izquierdo (a TED Fellow) shows how bonobo ape society learns from constantly playing -- solo, with friends, even as a prelude to sex. Indeed, play appears to be the bonobos' key to problem-solving and avoiding conflict. If it works for our…
March 22, 2011
And maybe dinner, too. This will mainly affect our local Twin Cities folk:
Thom Pham and the staffs of Wondrous Azian Kitchen and Thanh Do Restaurant with support from World Class Wines and Joto Sake will host two fundraisers to support the people affected by the Japan Earthquake and Pacific…
March 22, 2011
In one of the poorest countries in the world, ranking last in the Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), where more than 40% of children are underweight for their age, water and access to improved water sources is scarce and almost three quarters of the…
March 22, 2011
Risk, Trust, and the Arrogance of Numbers
...The coal and biofuel safety numbers don't come with a disclaimer that the greatest number of additional deaths from these fuels are due to indoor use for cooking, not from industrial energy production. Wind and solar energy numbers don't reflect that…
March 22, 2011
From communities demanding more wind turbines to a Government-backed plan to spread income from renewables to surrounding residents, we've seen a lot of stories lately about harnessing renewables not just to create clean energy, but to also build wealth in our communities. Yet the idea is not new--…
March 22, 2011
With the current nuclear power plant kerfuffle1 in Japan, people are making comparisons with a TMI-Chernobyl scale, with TMI being a nuclear accident that is not bad at all2 and Chernobyl being the worst case scenario.3 This is actually very reassuring, because Chernobyl was really no big deal.4…
March 22, 2011
Ana's Feed Starting March 21 3PM
Radioactive iodine 126.7 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant - kyodo news
Radioactive cesium 24.8 times higher detected in seawater near nuke plant - kyodo news
Too early to assess contaminated seawater's impact on fishery product: TEPCO - kyodo news…
March 22, 2011
It is not yet certain, but preliminary tests indicate no change in any of Knut's organs other than his brain. Further tests, including those for an infection, are being performed. I'll update this post when I hear more.
March 22, 2011
Huh?
Ooops, auto-correct turned my well consolidated and carefully composted text menage into crush!
NPR points out this great site called Damn You Auto Correct Dot Com.
Visor Dam You Autocrat!
March 21, 2011
The Red River in Minnesota flows backwards in its channel, in a northerly direction. Its course is backwards not because it's going north (many people in America do think that rivers flow south), but rather, because its channel is part of a larger channel that historically carried more water than…
March 21, 2011
I just wanted to let you know about two recent on line items concerning my fellow blogger DN Lee:
Henrietta Lacks Gave You Life: Black woman who died of cancer helped advance cell culture and develop drug treatments.
By: Dr. Danielle N. Lee
Black folks gave America (and the world) gospel music,…
March 21, 2011
The Friend of Darwin Award, also known as the Chucky, honors NCSE members for outstanding effort to support NCSE and its goals. Here's what it looks like.
And this year's award goes to ....
Niles Eldredge!!! Congratulations Niles.
From the NCSE:
Niles Eldredge has been making the case for…
March 21, 2011
Former USGS geologist Jim Berkland links tides, whale beaching, magnetic fields, lunar cycles, earthquakes, and stuff to predict that there will be a major earthquake on the North American west coast between March 19th and March 26th.
The following video is rather mixed up but it will amuse you…
March 21, 2011
New Web Site is Here.
And here's the video:
March 21, 2011
Live and unplugged version. Send this to your governor and state reps wherever you live.
March 21, 2011
There are new fires at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plants. There was a fire on the roof of Reactor Unit 3. It burned for several hours causing workers to pull out of the area to have radiation levels tested. The radiatoi levels did not, however, change. About 6:00 PM local time fire went…
March 21, 2011
Continued from here ...
Ana's feed starting Friday 8 PM
TEPCO has raised the occupational limit of radiation for its workers to 150mSv/hr. Some workers have already been exposed in excess the old limit of 100mSv/hr. Workers who have been exposed to the limit will not be sent back in. -NHK morning…
March 20, 2011
So that Japanese children can be traumatized by the Fukushima in a more appropriately Freudian way and never really learn to love properly:
Personally, I think this would be more accurate if Nuclear Boy was sitting next to three or four Diaper Genies on fire.
See also this post at Class:M…
March 20, 2011
See Paul. I won't tell you why, but I will tell you this: Drive out of your way if you need to in order to see the film at a theater that will be filled mainly with very Christian Christians. Then, as you watch the movie, pay attention to the audience.
You'll love the movie, and you'll love the…
March 20, 2011
This is the time of year the Red River floods (or not). This is an item that appeared on Quiche Moraine last year during flood season:
A Simple Assignment
Red River Flood
Mike Haubrich
This was a simple assignment, really. Drive to Lakeville, examine a car for flood damage and send an estimate to…
