When the govt tried to bail out Bear Stearns, the market reacted adversely causing a run which only exacerbated the problem. I think they were trying to avoid that happening again.
Sci Am had an interesting article re nuclear waste last month. Apparently, only 5% of the energy of nuclear fuel is consumed with current methods.
Using fast reactors and some newly developed processing techniques you can up that percentage to 95%.
The waste from these reactors is much less harzardous since its energy content is almost all consumed. Not a physicist so I'll leave out the details...
Additionally, all the nuclear "waste" we have sitting around, right now, could power these reactors for literally decades. No mining (or storage) necessary.
We lose one crew on a manned Mars mission and all the time/effort/money we spent up to that point will be wasted due to the public outcry at the loss of important people on TV.
Never forget that Americans really are that shallow.
...a science daily article last year that spoke of fusion occuring at low temperatures in a liquid (some type of acetate?) bombarded with sound waves.
IIRC, the sound waves created tiny vacuum bubbles in the liquid. When the bubbles collapsed, they did with enough force to produce small amounts of fusion byproducts.
Anyone recall that article?
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When the govt tried to bail out Bear Stearns, the market reacted adversely causing a run which only exacerbated the problem. I think they were trying to avoid that happening again.
Sci Am had an interesting article re nuclear waste last month. Apparently, only 5% of the energy of nuclear fuel is consumed with current methods.
Using fast reactors and some newly developed processing techniques you can up that percentage to 95%.
The waste from these reactors is much less harzardous since its energy content is almost all consumed. Not a physicist so I'll leave out the details...
Additionally, all the nuclear "waste" we have sitting around, right now, could power these reactors for literally decades. No mining (or storage) necessary.
Even if this thing did work, wouldn't a simple bucket of water completely nullify it's deadliness?
We lose one crew on a manned Mars mission and all the time/effort/money we spent up to that point will be wasted due to the public outcry at the loss of important people on TV. Never forget that Americans really are that shallow.
...a science daily article last year that spoke of fusion occuring at low temperatures in a liquid (some type of acetate?) bombarded with sound waves. IIRC, the sound waves created tiny vacuum bubbles in the liquid. When the bubbles collapsed, they did with enough force to produce small amounts of fusion byproducts. Anyone recall that article?