Posts

May 03, 2013

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4:02 AM | Hot potatoes to combat nuclear Armageddon

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April 18, 2013

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9:00 PM | European Union Rejects Carbon Market Solution

The European Union Parliament rejected a proposal to backload the auctioning of credits within its Emissions Trading Scheme this week. The proposed “backloading” plan would have removed a surplus of emissions permits from the world’s largest carbon market—potentially saving it from collapse and making fossil fuels more expensive for utilities and factories to burn. The surplus, partly a result of the…

April 17, 2013

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10:08 PM | Missions to Mars and Nuclear Fusion

“We are much closer today to being able to send humans to Mars than we were to being able to send men to the moon in 1961, and we were there eight years later. Given the will, we could have humans on Mars within a decade.” -Robert Zubrin Of all the planets in the Solar…

April 14, 2013

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4:02 AM | The Rad Dose Gum Test

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April 11, 2013

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11:30 AM | My EGU2013 (Tuesday)

Firstly, I am not actually attending EGU 2013 this year. However, that does not mean I can’t participate. In fact, it has been incredibly easy for to me join in, although I have had to wake up very early in the morning to make up for the time difference between Vienna and Ottawa. I took [...]

March 27, 2013

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11:58 AM | It’s rainin’ isotopes…

This post is kind of a continuation of Laura Roberts excellent guest post on the Solar Storms and the Earth’s Magnetic field. However, this is a bit of a different spin on it. I am not writing about what get’s kept out, but rather what slips by the shield and gets in. Of course, I am [...]

March 22, 2013

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5:27 PM | Fukushima Blackout Linked to a Rat in the Wiring

A lowly rat likely brought down the Fukushima nuclear power plant's cooling system this week. ->

March 14, 2013

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7:50 PM | Carbon Tax Is a Popular Topic in Washington

Since China announced it will hold off plans to introduce a carbon tax, the idea has generated some activity on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers on Tuesday proposed a draft bill that would charge the largest industrial polluters a fee for, or carbon tax on, their fossil-fuel emissions. The plan, proposed by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Rep. Earl…

March 11, 2013

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4:02 AM | I ‘Heart’ Hunter-Killer Nuke Subs

A giant fading heart might not be the first graphical device to spring to mind if you were tasked with publicly profiling the latest generation of nuclear-powered hunter-killer submarines – but the world’s number two ‘defence contractor’, the UK’s BAE Systems, consider it appropriate – having published just such a design in the November 2012 [...]

March 08, 2013

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11:13 PM | The U.S. Says It Could Stop A North Korean Missile. How?

THAAD interceptor missile U.S. Missile Defense AgencyNorth Korea has basically zero chance of hitting anyone but themselves with a nuke. But if they did manage to launch a missile, what technology do we have to stop it? In response to questions about North Korea's latest threats to nuke the U.S., White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday: "I can tell you that the United States is fully capable of defending against any North Korean ballistic missile attack." This is the most […]

March 07, 2013

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8:57 PM | Obama Announces Leaders of His Energy, Environment Team

After weeks of speculation, President Barack Obama officially announced his selections to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Monday. Gina McCarthy was chosen to lead the EPA, replacing Lisa Jackson, while Ernest Moniz will take over as energy secretary, replacing Steven Chu. Together, Obama said, they are charged with “making sure that we’re investing in…

March 04, 2013

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7:37 PM | Meet the New Secretary of Energy Nominee: Ernie Moniz

Ernest J. Moniz, a nuclear physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who serves on Scientific American’s board of advisors, will be President Barack Obama’s pick to replace Nobel laureate Steven Chu as Secretary of Energy. While Moniz has yet to win a Nobel, he served on the President’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear [...]

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8:30 AM | Soul-searching at Serbia’s Vinča institute as it looks for new director, vision and reforms

One of Serbia's largest and most renowned research bodies, the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, has re-launched its long-running quest for radical reform in its management and of its purpose in this troubled society. Since its foundation in 1948 Vinča has been carrying out research on a range of topics from nuclear and atomic physics to environmental protection. The institute, and one of its now defunct research reactors, was built with Russian assistance during the Cold War: some […]

February 27, 2013

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1:31 PM | Could You Build a Banana-Powered Generator?

I’ll just go ahead and say it. Bananas are AWESOME. Maybe you like the taste and maybe you think they are disgusting. This has very little impact on the awesomeness of bananas. Why? Well, first there is the obvious nutritional ...

February 22, 2013

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1:38 PM | The Truth about Radon

There are few things on Earth that evoke more fear than radioactivity. Most people’s response to radioactivity is one of immediate fear and confusion and I can’t say I blame them. There is something very frightening about a substance that shoots off invisible rays that can kill you if you’re exposed to enough of them. [...]

February 21, 2013

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2:02 AM | Correction: Radiation From N. Korea Nuke Test NOT Detected

The detection of a radioactive isotope in Russia and Japan indicate a nuclear test was carried out -- likely deep underground. ->

February 20, 2013

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4:02 AM | Radiation From N. Korea Nuke Test Detected

The detection of a radioactive isotope in Russia and Japan indicate a nuclear test was carried out -- likely deep underground. ->

February 18, 2013

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4:00 PM | Fusion Power Could Happen Sooner Than You Think

Lockheed Skunkworks Exterior Wikimedia CommonsA new Lockheed Skunkworks project promises outsized results in a compact package. In a presentation that seems ripped from the Atomic Age, Lockheed Skunkworks says it might be a decade away from producing a power plant based on compact fusion reactors. Unlike current nuclear reactors, all of which use fission, nuclear fusion does not easily produce materials that can be used in nuclear weapons. Fusion reactors also offer better containment, easier […]

February 13, 2013

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3:20 AM | 2013 State of the (Scientific) Union

(Adapted from last year's post, with updated data for 2013)Did you watch President Barack Obama present the 2013 State of the Union address?Source: Whitehouse.govOnce again, I downloaded the text to the 2013 S.o.T.U. (Unfinished Tasks / Next Chapter), and compared it against the text from 2011 (Winning the Future) and 2012 (An America Built to Last). Now, I’m not a political pundit or a news analyst - I’m a scientist. So let's see how certain scientific themes grew or shrunk […]

February 12, 2013

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10:30 PM | How Did We Know North Korea Tested A Nuke?

Seismograph Wikimedia CommonsWhen North Korea tests a new nuclear weapon, seismographs are the first to know. Early Tuesday morning, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) data detected a 5.1 magnitude earthquake in North Korea. Within minutes, night owl commenters like Jeffrey Lewis of the Arms Control Wonk in the U.S. were already discussing the political implications of Kim Jong-Un's first nuclear test. How did seismic readings become key to tracking clandestine nuclear tests? Let's […]

February 05, 2013

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10:20 PM | Is Nuclear Power Doomed to Dwindle?

The nuclear reactor near Crystal River north of Tampa Bay will never fission again. Duke Energy has decided to shutter the troubled nuclear power plant, which has been shut down since 2009 thanks to a crack in the dome that shields the reactor. Attempts to repair the initial crack had caused other cracks to form [...]

January 14, 2013

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11:59 AM | Studying Wildlife in Chernobyl’s Infamous Exclusion Zone

On April 26th, 1986 a catastrophic nuclear accident took place at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The explosion and fire associated with this event released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere.The impact of the explosion on the local flora and fauna was dramatic with after-effects expected to be seen for another 100 years.

January 10, 2013

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5:50 PM | What Will It Take to Solve Climate Change?

Australia had to add a new color to its weather maps this week. Meteorologists used royal purple to denote an off-the-charts high temperature of 122 F (50 C), part of an unprecedented heat wave and ongoing wildfires occurring down under this month. On the other side of the globe, 2012 proved the hottest year on [...]

January 08, 2013

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3:59 PM | Nuclear power in space? Petition asks White House to rekindle project

First there was the Death Star petition, then there was the Starship Enterprise petition, and now there's a petition calling on the White House to build a nuclear rocket for fast interplanetary travel. Unlike the spaceships cited in those first two petitions, this one isn't just …

December 18, 2012

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1:00 PM | British Sheep vs. Chernobyl Radiation

The explosion of reactor number four of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 is widely regarded as the worst radiation disaster in human history. The radioactive fallout spread from Northern Ukraine throughout Northern Europe, dispersing large quantities of radioactive elements, including two caesium isotopes, Cs-134 and Cs-137. In the United Kingdom, this radiocaesium-laden cloud mingled with heavy rain falling in mountainous areas of North Wales and Cumbria, depositing substantial […]

December 13, 2012

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11:55 AM | Research Highlight – Variations of 129I in the atmospheric fallout of Tokyo, Japan: 1963-2003

I occasionally like to focus in on what I view as a key paper either in my particular field of iodine geochemistry or in the geochemical world at large. In this instance I have decided to highlight a paper in my field that releases a fantastic wealth of data that is matched nowhere else in the literature I have [...]

December 11, 2012

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10:15 PM | Mad on Radium

(Still trying to complete the Christmas shopping list? I’m going to bring to you a couple of book reviews for readers who like more than the latest ‘trashy’ thriller.) New Zealand wasn’t always anti-nuclear. In fact, as New Zealand writer Rebecca Priestley shows us, it was distinctly pro-nuclear. Mad on Radium explores the corners of [...]

December 05, 2012

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12:45 PM | Geology Photo of the Week #14 – Dec 2-8

This week’s photo, which is posted mid-week instead of at the beginning is one that I only took this Monday. I was away all day at the Royal Military College SLOWPOKE-2 reactor doing some neutron activation of cesium and calcium. We were making minute quantities of Cs-134 and Ca-41 for research purposes on the accelerator [...]

November 09, 2012

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5:02 AM | Atomic Bomb v. Cod Fillets (1955 study)

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October 05, 2012

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4:02 AM | Atomic Berms *

No summary available for this post.

May 03, 2013

April 18, 2013

April 17, 2013

April 14, 2013

April 11, 2013

March 27, 2013

March 22, 2013

March 14, 2013

March 11, 2013

March 08, 2013

March 07, 2013

March 04, 2013

February 27, 2013

February 22, 2013

February 21, 2013

February 20, 2013

February 18, 2013

February 13, 2013

February 12, 2013

February 05, 2013

January 14, 2013

January 10, 2013

January 08, 2013

December 18, 2012

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December 11, 2012

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November 09, 2012

October 05, 2012

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