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Sunday, September 29, 2013

The NOT IPCC Report

Or the pseudo-scientific, Heartburn Institute's propaganda NIPCC report is discussed.

Climate Data Slide Show

From the latest IPCC report is within this link.

And Now For Something Completely Different

Relative to the last two posts. It's called science, and this aspect deals with understanding cancer.

Jeebsus, KS!

Stupid is everywhere!

Jeebsus, TX!

Creationists on panel to review biology textbooks. Maybe they should have some alchemists review chemistry textbooks.

I Would Have Gotten That One Wrong

In the event of a nuclear power plant accident, I had thought that the Price-Anderson Act provided funds for environmental cleanup. It looks like I would have gotten that wrong. Though it's really tough to say because the need to cleanup would become political.

Anti-Nuke Group Behaving Stupidily

Aren't there more important things to protest about?

Friday, September 27, 2013

Pseudo-scientific Propaganda Outfit Isn't Happy

Because science marches on.

I'll Bet Victor Stenger Didn't Watch It

He's a physicist and author of the op-ed, "The Rising AntiScience" that I posted on earlier today. The "It" is "Unstoppable".

No Thanks, I'm Busy

And too intelligent for that designed propaganda!

The Rising AntiScience

Hey, what about health physics?

The Insurance Industry Gets GW

Because it has consequences. Dire consequences, if something isn't done.

Some Problems At Susquehanna

Health physics issues over the last couple of years.

Monday, September 23, 2013

Tumor Heterogeniety

Thanks Nature! I haven't had time to read the link, but thought I'd provide it for those interested. I'll try to catch up when I can.

GW Hiatus Puts Scientists On The Spot

Not really. It is heat that is causing the ice to melt and heat that is causing sea level rise. There have been short periods in the past in which surface temperatures have taken a hiatus, due to the complexity and variability of the inputs to climate.

Consulting This Week

Posts may range from scant to non-existent, but I'll do what I can.

Radioactive Contamination At NY Park

Seems to mostly be radium, not sure what else.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Climate Change: Why You Should Be Angry & Why Anger Isn't Enough

I can't embed, but here's a link.

The Earth's Radiation Climate

We have the two Van Allen belts, but found a third belt last year composed of ultra-relativistic electrons. Using modeling we better understand the overall "climate".

The Pope Is A Comedian

"The world has become an idolator of this god called money," he said. Now that's funny!

More Heartburn

From the Heartburn Institute in Forbes (that's a warning for those who don't want heartburn or the loss of brain cells).

Radiation - "The Elephant In The Room"

Prevents us from ethically sending astronauts to Mars.

Small Fire At INL

No biggie.

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Japan Is Nuclear Free

For the moment.

Japan To Boost Radiological Ocean Surveys

The government needs to be more active in site management too.

Science Is Determined By Markets

That's what a Forbes staffer thinks.


The God Debate

Called To Consult

I've been pulled out of retirement to consult on a small project.  I'll be traveling the next couple of days, so there won't be any new posts on Monday or Tuesday.

Contamination Found At Old Biggs Airfield Bunker

It seems to be uranium at 7x the Reg. Guide 1.86 limit.

What is the limit?  That's the limit below which something with surface contamination is released from any regulatory controls.   For uranium the limit is 5,000 dpm/100 cm2 alpha average, with hotspots up to 3x the average.

Japan's Nuclear Migraine

Fukushima.

Friday, September 13, 2013

Fukushima Leaks Not A Major Concern

That should drive the anti-nukes crazy:


Steam At Fukushima

Which means there's a heat source.  Stand Back!

Music please, Maestro:


The U.S.'s Bloated Nuclear Spending

Improvements needed.

SRS Layoffs

465 people.

Fukushima Cleanup Complicated

Duh!


Canadians To Become More Aware Of Radon

Thanks to the passage of new legislation.

U.K. Nuke Plants Don't Increase Leukemia Risk In Children

If one does a case-control study and compares the leukemia rate with distance from the plant.

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Heartburn Institute Doesn't Understand Variability

Or maybe they don't understand English, since the very first link they provide explains variability.


IDiots Having A Ball

Trying to pressure Ball University, who had earlier rejected the notion of teaching ID in biology.

The IDiots don't understand the difference between an honors philosophy seminar and an honors science seminar.

That's why they're IDiots.



P.S. I don't see a Dangerous Ideas honors seminar at Ball, though the IDiots claim it is Honors 390, so maybe it is wrapped within that open seminar.  The IDiots were previously upset about the Boundaries of Science seminar which was a science class, and which doesn't appear in the current catalog, though their letter refers to Hedin's Honors 296 class of Inquiries in Physical Sciences which is in the catalog.

A bit confusing.


Why Talking About Risk Is About More Than Just The Evidence


DeNiAr Group Calls For More Rad Instrumentation

It's the whacko Doctors For Disaster Preparedness calling for more radiation monitoring equipment for emergency first responders.

Hey, I'm all for that.  I like this sentence, too:

""Emergency responders need instruments with a broad enough range, and an understanding of radiation effects at different levels," she states."

How well does the DfDP understand radiation effects at different levels?

Not so well.


Wade Allison Babbles On

He has more (new Sept. 10 link) of his same old stuff on his website.

Essentially his babble amounts to, "someone has to stand up to the experts".

Which is a sign of stupidity.  Right, Doc?


Monday, September 9, 2013

The News On Radiation Hormesis

I mentioned awhile back that I was contacted by a reporter to discuss radiation hormesis.  No article appeared for quite some time.

Until yesterday.

P.S. I sent an email to Fox Chase Cancer Center to inquire about the unethical conduct of their employee.  I doubt I'll get a response, but perhaps.

Radiation Treatment Lawsuit Settled For $15M

Due to some sort of software programming error.

Ouch!

Teaching Climate Change To Skeptics

The Havard Business School has a piece in Forbes from which I stole the title.

The problem isn't teaching climate change to skeptics (those who are objective and want to learn), that's easy.

The problem is dealing with science deniers (those who "know" the answer based on their confirmation biases and motivated reasoning).


Bad Biomedical Research Rising

According to those at the 7th International Congress On Peer Review And Biomedical Publication.

This subject was also one of RealClearScience's genuine science controversies.  Apparently it isn't a genuine controversy either (see my early post of today).

Docs Spanking Quacks

Surgeon Orac spanks cancer quack Stanley Burzynski.

Geneticist Steve Salzberg spanks T.V. host Dr. Oz.


When One Of Science's Genuine Controversies Isn't

The webpage RealClearScience has a list of what they claim are science's genuine controversies (as opposed to manufactured controversies like global warming).

Let me be real clear!   This is not a genuine controversy.

It is a manufactured controversy courtesy of merchant Edward Calabrese.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

Tokyo To Host 2020 Olympic Games

Overcoming Fukushima fears.

Pseudo-Historian David Barton Is A Douche

Fear of the lord required to be a good scientist.


Beta Radiation Is Not Always Low Energy

Well some beta radiation is, like that emitted by tritium (18 keV), but some isn't low energy like that emitted by Cs-137 (512 keV (95%) and 1,174 keV (5%)).

Note that these are maximum energies, since beta radiation is emitted with an accompanying electron anti-neutrino.  Average energies are about 1/3 of maximum.

I don't know what the predominant isotopes are associated with the Fukushima water problem.

But I saw this sentence in this article:

"And the kind of radiation being emitted is very low energy, which means it is not able to penetrate the body easily."

It isn't the beta energy which prevents beta's from penetrating the body, though it obviously plays a role. It's the fact that beta particles have mass and an electric charge.  So they interact very readily with atoms and molecules in your body and have short track lengths as compared to photons (no mass, no charge).

CO2 & Fe

One is a greenhouse gas on Earth, trapping infrared radiation.

The other is a "greenhouse gas" on the Sun, trapping x-ray radiation.

ANS Still Lying To Kids

From my original post.  I tried to contact the ANS President a couple of times and I received no response.  Then I contacted the VP (through a test email without mentioning the subject) who said she would discuss the issue with the President over the phone Thursday before last.

I never heard back from her, so I sent her an email yesterday, noting the ANS website was unchanged.

I still haven't heard back and the website remains unchanged.

Friday, September 6, 2013

Cigarettes - Environmental Hazard

Butt, butt, butt.....


Fukushima Is "Exaggerated"

According to Japan's NRA chief.

He is correct that the media has portrayed a doomsdayish scenario, largely based on what TEPCO said.

Part of the problem is that the unit of "mSv" is used to describe dose (energy deposited per mass of tissue), effective dose (dose multiplied by a radiation weighting factor to account for low and high LET radiations), and effective dose equivalent (effective dose multiplied by a tissue weighting factor to account for heterogeneity in tissue sensitivity to cancer).

With gamma radiation, these three metrics are all the same, but not with beta radiation.  With beta radiation the first two metrics are the same.  But since external beta radiation only affects the skin and eye the risk of cancer is much less by a factor of 100.  And since the skin and eye are easily shielded, the actual risk may be much lower.

Scientific Consensus & Plate Tectonics

Naomi Oreskes draws parallels between the theory of plate tectonics which coalesced in the early 20th century and the theory of anthropogenic climate change.

The point being to understand the significance of the scientific consensus view on any scientific matter.


S. Korea Bans Fish From NE Japan

Due to Fukushima contamination concerns.

Do You Believe In Science?

NO.  A bit of word play here, obviously.


Thursday, September 5, 2013

This Seems Self-Evident

Global warming increases the risk of record heat.

Attack Of The CA Chihuahuas

Here's an update to an earlier post on the subject.

Slowdown In Global Warming?

No.


Polling Climate In CO

Not too terribly bad, but could be better.

60% realized that global warming is caused by humans or humans and nature.

TEPCO Clarifies High Dose Rate H2O

Mostly beta radiation.  The claims of lethality were exaggerated in the press, though it's an easy mistake to make.  Kind of like a math error leading to not labeling containers (see first of today's posts).

Hanford Waste Hauled Without Correct Marking

A simple mistake makes the news.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Cosmic Rays' Role In Cloud Formation

Has been proven experimentally.

Radiation & Soft Tissue Sarcomas

Radiation increases the risk of soft tissue sarcomas (cancer of connective tissue).

HI Scientists Seek To Calm Fears

Regarding Fukushima radioactivity reaching U.S. waters.

Cell Phone Use Not Linked To Brain Cancers

With the exception of acoustic neuroma (slow growing tumor of the nerve which connects the ear to the brain), which may be due to chance.

There hasn't been an associated increase in acoustic neuroma in the general public.

Finnish Power Group Likes Nuclear

It's buying an expensive Russian-designed reactor.

2,200 mSv/hr!

Breaks the previous record of 1,800 mSv/hr.

Where?  Where else, but Fukushima!

If this dose rate is due primarily to beta radiation, it isn't as bad for workers, since beta radiation is easily shielded. That also makes it harder to detect, so if the contamination is consumed by fish, it will be hard to detect in those fish which humans consume.

Are the Japanese in denial?