gregladen | March 22, 2011With 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 close cousins, why not for us?
gregladen | March 22, 2011And 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 Tsunami.
On Wednesday, March 23rd at Thanh Do and on Thursday, March 24th at Wondrous Azian Kitchen 100% of the sales proceeds for the entire day will be donated to the American Red Cross in support of its disaster relief efforts to help those affected by the earthquake in Japan and Tsunami throughout…
gregladen | March 22, 2011In 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 population are illiterate, the French nuclear giant AREVA extracts precious--and deadly--natural resources, earning billions for its Fortune 5002 corporation, and leaving little behind but centuries of environmental pollution and health risks for the citizens of Niger.
From this (PDF) report.
gregladen | March 22, 2011Risk, 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 these are developing industries, without decades of safety standards behind them. (Including development numbers for nuclear would drastically change the picture there, given that it was a technology born out of war.) None of these numbers include the costs of destruction of ecosystems, displacement,…
gregladen | March 22, 2011From 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--and I've just come across a great video profiling a pioneering example of cooperative, community-based renewable energy. If only there were more like it.
Source.
And here's the video:
gregladen | March 22, 2011With 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
The event itself killed dozens of workers and rescue personnel, but the number of people killed in nuclear power plant accidents in total, including Chernobyl and all the other active plant accidents ever, is still far lower in terms of energy produced by that method than the number of people killed…
gregladen | March 22, 2011Ana'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
Gov't orders 4 prefectures to suspend some food shipments
Tidbits from NHK's morning broadcast:
Spraying of reactor buildings and restoration of power remain suspended - all workers remain evacuated form the area
Grey smoke from reactor no.3 and white vapor from no.2 are being investigated - both…
gregladen | March 22, 2011It 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.
gregladen | March 22, 2011Huh?
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!
gregladen | March 21, 2011The 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 any other river on this planet has ever carried. This was the Warren River, which emptied Lake Agassiz (the largest fresh water lake ever) via the Red River Valley, then on to the Minnesota River Valley, then to the Mighty Mississippi. Much mightier then.
Now, the Red River flows north into Lake…
gregladen | March 21, 2011I 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, blues, jazz, hip-hop, and oh yeah, cell culture. You're thinking: "I know all about gospel music, blues, jazz, and hip-hop; but what's cell culture?"
Cell culture is the scientific procedure of growing living animal cells outside of the body, in test tubes and petri dishes....
Read the rest here.…
gregladen | March 21, 2011The 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 evolution--explaining, defending, and expanding the scientific account of the history of life--for over 40 years.
A breakthrough researcher who formulated the idea of punctuated equilibria with Stephen Jay Gould, Eldredge has been an evolution advocate and communicator without peer. Eldredge has…
gregladen | March 21, 2011Former 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:
Obviously Jim Berkland is a kook. Probably.
Unless, of course, his prediction comes true. Then, I'll look at his tide - magnetic field - homing pigeon connection more closely.
gregladen | March 21, 2011Live and unplugged version. Send this to your governor and state reps wherever you live.
gregladen | March 21, 2011There 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 out (on its own) something like steam or smoke (said by TEPCO to be most likely steam but not from the fuel storage pool) started coming out of the building housing Reactor 2. There is no explanation at this time for either incident.
Both reactor buildings were damaged by the same hydrogen…
gregladen | March 21, 2011Continued 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 broadcast
Saturday:
Those in the 20-30km evacuation zone have been advised that if they need to move, they should do so in vehicles, rather than on foot, they should cover their mouths, cover their bodies, and stay out of the rain. This new advisory was issued when it was learned that people thought…
gregladen | March 20, 2011So 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 ... "At first glance, the cartoon does an exemplary job explaining the situation to Japanese schoolchildren too young to understand half-lives and the role of water as a coolant and moderator in boiling-water reactors. But there's a gaping omission right at the beginning...."
Hat Tip Ana and The…
gregladen | March 20, 2011See 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 audience ... reaction. Trust me on this.
gregladen | March 20, 2011This 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 the insurance company. It was a car that had been transported from East Grand Forks, Minnesota to Lakeville. It was owned by a married couple with two kids, people evacuated when the Red River crested nearly five feet higher than estimated and swamped the entire city of East Grand Forks. People…