Catching up PART 1 – NEST

…the heck have I been? Well, dear readers… There’s been quite a gap in my posts save what I’d sent forward in time from the past. (The “jumping the timestream” posts were written and sent forward into the future by scheduling an automatic publish date years after they were written..) Why the gap? Lots and […]

System of Fear: A Dose of Radiation Reality

In line with last week’s post, please see the below infographic, which paints radiation doses in the visual context of a sort of system of planets according to size (click to enlarge): As is plainly evident, it’s shocking how much the public perception of radiation doses and negative health effects differs from reality. (For example, […]

Nuclear and Atomic Radiation Concepts Pictographically Demystified

Greetings, all. Today I’m attempting a different, largely pictographic approach to demystifying the concept of “radiation” for the layperson. Despite the hype, radiation is a natural part of our planet’s, solar system’s, and galaxy’s environment, and one that our biology is equipped to mitigate at ordinary intensities. It’s all actually surprisingly straightforward. So, without further ado, here […]

Radiation, Japan, and Irresponsible Reporting: Part IV

This post has been lying in wait for quite some time. I thought it best that I let it simmer and distill for a while… The truth is that I was simply getting too frustrated with the Fukushima coverage to compose a sensible post. Now, with a little extra time and perspective, please allow me […]

Summer Hits: Martian Water, Asteroid Nukes, Orbital Antimatter!

Here’s a recap of some of this summer’s greatest hits in space news that you might have missed: Water on Mars In an utterly tantalizing development, scientists analyzing imagery from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have announced what appears for all the world to be direct evidence of water on Mars! Because the MRO has […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part III

As detailed in Part I and Part II of this series, the vocabulary of radiation science, (known as “health physics,”) is being chronically misused and confused by the news media in its coverage of the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan, and critical context is being ignored when details are reported. The result? There is so […]

Russia announces new Nuclear Rockets for manned Mars trip

For the first time in possibly four decades, two electrifying space technology phrases have managed to show up in the same sentence in earnest. Quietly nestled in the murky details of a somewhat thrilling AP news story about a potential new Russian spacecraft to be produced in the next few years are the words: “manned […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part II

So, after my last post, you’ve got the subtle (and not-so-subtle) differences between radioactivity (overweight atoms), radioactive material (the material containing or composed of the overweight atoms), radiation (invisible light and particles emitted by the overweight atoms), and contamination (having radioactive material someplace you don’t want it). Hopefully, you can also see why mixing these […]

Exploring Test Cell C with ArcGIS Online

The future is now. GIS forerunner company ESRI has recently published much of their geospatial analysis capability online… for free. Implementing the philosophy that knowledge is power and that all peoples and nations should be empowered to make smart and responsible decisions, ESRI is seeking to change the world by making powerful GIS tools available […]

Radiation, Japan, and irresponsible reporting: Part I

While the media continues to sensationalize what is already a “gee-whiz” bewildering topic for most ordinary people on planet Earth – nuclear reactors and radioactivity – the recent run on Potassium-Iodide tablets in the United States and on the Internet betrays just how badly the outlets are throwing gasoline on the raging inferno of ignorance […]