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Crowdsourcing Radiation Monitoring In Japan
fysdt writes "A new open- and crowdsourced initiative to deploy more geiger counters all over Japan looks to be a go. Safecast, formerly RDTN.org, recently met and exceeded its $33,000 fund-raising goal on Kickstarter, which should help Safecast send between 100 and 600 geiger counters to the catastrophe-struck country. The data captured from the geiger counters will be fed into Safecast.org, which aggregates radiation readings from government, nonprofit, and other sources, as well as into Pachube, a global open-source network of sensors."
We're talking about their money and of course it's their choice how to spend it, but everyone please remember that the "catastrophe-struck country" is the fourth richest country in the world (even the third one, if we count individual EU states separately).
They don't need money, much less having stuff physically delivered there. If you really want hundreds of Geiger counters in Japan, don't buy them in the US and have them delivered to Japan, just send the money there and buy the thingy things directly in Japan (hint: they're probably manufactured in China anyway, think about the two alternatives on a world map).
And to the people that donated to this cause: that's your money but I assure you that there are way better ways to donate it. Like letting people that are actually experts on the subject decide which part(s) of the world need it more at any given time.
There's a hidden treasure in Python 3.x: __prepare__()
except Google Earth had a network sites for monitoring set up throughout Japan within a few days of the Fukushima news - government sites, university sites, private companies with monitoring, individuals with geiger counters. This site is near my house: http://www.aist.go.jp/aist_e/taisaku/en/measurement/index.html
The radiation in Tokyo is less than the radiation in New York, so many places have stopped monitoring continuously now. According to most of the press, we should have been dead by now...
The Japanese need to advertise for aspiring super heros and send them to the reactor where they can get their superpowers.
(Bitten by radioactive spiders etc.)
Once a sufficient quantity of super heros have been made, they can use them to clean up the damage and fix the reactors.
The Japanese just need to ensure that the intentions of the super heros are pure else they will create super villeins.
How can you cover up something you can easily measure yourself with a $200 device?
Measuring radiation correctly is an expert task ! Without knowing the origin of the radiation, it's type and energy, the use of Geiger Counter is pretty much useless. One can get random numbers by using the wrong apparatus on the wrong radiation. In some case, the Geiger counter will over-react on the wrong radiation (e.g. x-rays), other radiation (e.g alphas) will not even enter the device. By having thousand of non-specialist running around with Geiger Counters, you will collect mainly garbage. But apparently that's what everyone (especially governments) want to do today. Collect data. Store it. Use it. Even if wrong.
Just as a curiosity, why _wouldn't_ you count individual EU states separately? EU states are actual countries, you know?
That's certainly true but AFAICT the EU itself is also in the process of slowly becoming a country (arguably it already is, since December 1, 2009 when it acquired international legal personality independent of its member states). The power within it has been for decades constantly moved from inter-government negotiations between the individual members to EU-wide shared institutions (e.g. the European Commission and the Parliament).
There's a hidden treasure in Python 3.x: __prepare__()
Measuring radiation is not as simple as measuring a temperature (and even that is something nobody wants to entrust an amateur with for the purpose of weather forecasts, etc.).
Depending on sample geometry, distance to sample, even atmospheric conditions for alpha/beta radiation, not to forget cleanliness of the counter, measurements can easily be different by a factor of 1000 or more (!) if you just hand a counter to a lay person and ask him/her to determine some radiation level out in the nature.
Without calibration, test sample verification, standard equipment, and very precise instructions on sample preparation and measurement conditions, the collected data is absolutely worthless.
Are you one of those Greenpeace Hippies?
Seek facts not propaganda.
An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
I agree that Japan's problem is not lack of money. However, Japan does have a serious problem in regards to appropriate allocation of resources in response to recent events, specifically when it comes to transparent measurement data of radiation (which is not unique to Japan). So, if you wanted to donate to Japan, this was a good way to do it.
Personally, though, I see this developing into something like the fon network, with global participation only requiring you buy a compatible device. In times like these, I think spending money to participate in such a network (regardless of where you live) would be a very good way to spend your money.
Sdelat' Ameriku velikoy Snova!
30 years ago I proposed putting radiation sensors in watches. When cell phones became common, I asked why cell phones don't incorporate them.
I wonder if the current mess in Japan will bring cell phone radiation detectors to the market?
Or if it has already?
End MGM. Get prospective parents of boys to Google: Men do complain
That is sarcasm, right? I mean, yeah, it's not a communist country, but claiming that because of it the government and the power company cannot cover up stuff, or at least try, is pretty abysmally stupid. In particular because they are known to have done that quite a lot.