Jared Diamond talks about oil and how high prices are good for us

The Online NewsHour: Jared Diamond Discusses Costly Crude and Oil’s Future | PBS

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New Nukes in Texas

For the first time in ~30 years an application to build two new nuclear power plants at the South Texas Project site has been submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission .  This will eventually help reduce carbon monoxide emissions, since most new electricity comes from coal fired plants.

This reactor is a proven design (ABWR) with four in operation in Japan.

Nuclear Power Reborn: Scientific American

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Tags: energy, nuclear, engineering, environment

‘Radioactive Boy Scout’ Charged in Smoke Detector Theft

Apparently he got caught collecting rad material, the different stories out there say he admitted to trying to build a reactor. On fox you can see a video, (who knows how long it will last) if you listen ignorance it the key thread- they claim he was trying to make uranium from the lithium batteries. Yeah lithium: atomic number 3, atomic weight 6.941 converted all the way to uranium, atomic number 92 and assuming he wants to make a reactor he would be after isotope 235. I think they meant he was after the Americium which is an alpha emitter, when you hit lithium with an alpha you can get neutrons. You can do cool stuff with neutrons, but you need lots of time and lots and lots of neutrons.

Here is a link to the story from Harper’s:

http://harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000749

All my friends have earned some of these…

I stumbled upon a bunch of merit badges at “Science Creative Quarterly“

Most dorks I end up hanging around with are ~Level III “I’ve set fire to stuff” the level III means “…fully aware of all the thermodynamic principles at play”.

Adam Parkison is surely worthy of the “I may look like a scientist but I’m actually also a ninja”

we may all end up with the “I work with way too much radioactivity, and yet still no discernable superpowers yet” badge.

A cool badge/warning would be good for guys like Aaron and myself who have the ability to sap the fun out of a movie by pointing out why that was impossible- of course while simultaneously being cool with it if happens to be in movie we like.

Here is the link:
ORDER OF THE SCIENCE SCOUTS OF EXEMPLARY REPUTE AND ABOVE AVERAGE PHYSIQUE

technorati tags:science, friends, dorks, funny

New Radiation Symbol

The IAEA has a new radiation sign, I think it means keep to the right OR DIE!

Here is the link.

Even OPEC is talking about peak oil now…

This is out of the OPEC Bulletin (Nov-Dec, 06)

If you want to see the whole document you can get it directly here (PDF). Bottom line, what everyone already knows is coming from all sources- the end of cheap oil is here.

Happy Equinox

And when the time of the lesser light that ruled the
night did increaseth to equal the greater light that
ruled the day God did again cast the dice and they
were a five and a two and He did yelleth “CRAPS” for
that mutation did produceth the lineage which led to:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/14/Michaeljacksonmugshot.png