When will the IT Industry realise the content industry as the biggest threat to innovation of business models? Innovation is what creates wealth in business and any business that stifles innovation should be treated as a threat to all businesses.
Indirectly the content industry is a threat to every Technology professional's livelihood. Altruism aside, any legal change that enforces the status quo threatens the deployments of new technology in business models. IT has never been about 'doing old things the same old way'.
IT is a behemoth compared to the Music industry, I don't understand how or why we've let them push us around for this long.
In case the username wasn't enough, here's some more evidence to suggest that mdsolar might have a bias.
I think if you examined the posts that were moderated +5
none of these were really critical of Nuclear Power,
one was funny and then there was yours which looks like a thinly disguised ad hom attack. I think the evidence indicates that, at least in this discussion, there is a clear bias towards Nuclear Power on slashdot.
I wonder if we gather a larger sample of discussions perhaps we can identify a trend.
A list of some scientific studies on the effects of tritium with references in case there is any doubt regarding Triated water's effect on living beings.
Tritium is biologically mutagenic *because* it's a low energy emitter. This characteristic makes readily absorbed by surrounding cells. The available evidence from studies conducted journal a list of effects. From those works;
Tritium can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin. Eating food containing 3H can be even more damaging than drinking 3H bound in water. Consequently, an estimated radiation dose based only on ingestion of tritiated water may underestimate the health effects if the person has also consumed food contaminated with tritium. (Komatsu)
Studies indicate that lower doses of tritium can cause more cell death (Dobson, 1976), mutations (Ito) and chromosome damage (Hori) per dose than higher tritium doses. Tritium can impart damage which is two or more times greater per dose than either x-rays or gamma rays.
(Straume) (Dobson, 1976) There is no evidence of a threshold for damage from 3H exposure; even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts. (Dobson, 1974) Organically bound tritium (tritium bound in animal or plant tissue) can stay in the body for 10 years or more.
It's often said "of all the elements in nuclear waste tritium is one of the more harmless ones" and while it's more benign than most other radioactive effluents it's toxicity should not be under-estimated.
Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death. (Rytomaa) Tritiated water is associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract organs in mice (Torok) and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. (Dobson, 1979) (Laskey) Tritium from tritiated water can become incorporated into DNA, the molecular basis of heredity for living organisms. DNA is especially sensitive to radiation. (Hori) A cell's exposure to tritium bound in DNA can be even more toxic than its exposure to tritium in water. (Straume)(Carr)
First, as an isotope of hydrogen (the cell's most ubiquitous element), tritium can be incorporated into essentially all portions of the living machinery; and it is not innocuous -- deaths have occurred in industry from occupational overexposure. R. Lowry Dobson, MD, PhD. (1979)
References;
Komatsu, K and Okumura, Y. Radiation Dose to Mouse Liver Cells from Ingestion of Tritiated Food or Water. Health Physics. 58. 5:625-629. 1990.
Dobson, RL. The Toxicity of Tritium. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium, Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 203. 1979.
Hori, TA and Nakai, S. Unusual Dose-Response of Chromosome Aberrations Induced in Human Lymphocytes by Very Low Dose Exposures to Tritium. Mutation Research. 50: 101-110. 1978.
Straume, T and Carsten, AL.Tritium Radiobiology and Relative Biological Effectiveness. Health Physics. 65 (6):657-672; 1993. [This special issue of Health Physics is entirely devoted to Tritium]
Laskey, JW, et al. Some Effects of Lifetime Parental Exposure to Low Levels of Tritium on the F2 Generation. Radiation Research.56:171-179. 1973.
Rytomaa, T, et al. Radiotoxicity of Tritium-Labelled Molecules. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium,Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 339. 1979.
My *current* computer has a G4 @ 1.25MHz, TOP THA-- oh, wait, wrong architecture.
After a while I run out of places to store old computer, most of them still work. I threw my first PC away not so long ago. A original IBM PC 8088, with cassette interface and BASIC ROMS, everything still worked, it seems like a waste it ended up on a tip - but who was going to use it? I try to redeploy them in my house or elsewhere like friends, sell what I can or donate assembled systems. A P4 still makes a decent media centre so I guess it all come down to the application.
How many different types of intelligence are there? What is intelligence in the first place?
I've pondered this very question. We are arrogant enough to presume that a new intelligence will be our creation by calling it 'Artificial'. Isn't it possible that a new intelligence could arise from the complexity of our systems, and as they grow in complexity 'evolve'.
What if intelligence is a product of complexity and a conclusion of something arriving at a certain critical mass, we see the product of critical mass in nature all the time, maybe it's not unusual. Are we so different from animals or is it that we have more computing power at our disposal. Could it be possible that once the amount of nodes on the net reaches a certain point *something* happens.
I know it's probably far fetched but is it possible our systems could reach a point of instinctual but not yet aware, and if it reaches that point of awareness will we even recognise 'it' as intelligence. Could it happen and we don't notice it?
On a more radical note, I propose that there already is a form of instinctual intelligence called 'Human Society'. It's laws and constructs define it's behavior and the governments, corporations and other things that make up it's vital organs make it largely hostile to human life. Consider for a moment bee and ant colonies, they act differently as a whole surely it's the same with humanity. Is it possible that we have already created a form of Artifical Intelligence, our civilisation, defined it's behavior through law and we are not even aware of it's instinctual existance. What if that forms the body and our super complex Internetwork forms the brain?
From my understanding the criteria for shutting down a Nuclear Power plant is assessed on mainly two parameters.
A "Licencee Event Report" (LER) is submitted for issues above a safety significance threshold. For example at Davis-Besse, the frequency of the replacement water filters was out of spec. It should have signaled that something is going wrong in the reactor. This is the type of event that should be signaled as a LER even if it seems insignificant.
The second stage is an "Accident Sequence Precursor" (ASP) which defines events that characterise the lead up to an accident at a Nuclear Plant.
Sticking with the Davis Besse example which (from memory) was caused by a fine jet of borated water spraying onto the the *inside* of the reactor head. Water rusts steel, reactor head is steel, rust goes in water, water goes through filter, filter catches rust, management says it's ok, reactor head gets hole [if allowed to continue - reactor core breach and potential for explosion] - 'Accident Sequence Precursor'.
By examining the trends for LER's and ASP statistically for all nuclear plants the NRC can get an overview of the operational state of all the plants *if* the operators of the plant co-operate and share their operational data (which I also believe to be a legal obligation of the Licensee) with the NRC. At issue is the characterisation of what sort of events should lead to a LER.
At the Davis Besse plant I believe that it led to criminal charges as management allowed the plant to operate outside of it's "Basis Design" which is a known operational characteristic of the plant. Filter replacement intervals had been defined and were known about and thus should have characterised the plant as "not operating safely". I'm not sure if the criminal charges were placed because management should have reported several LERs instead of inspectors finding a hole in the reactor head when it was shutdown.
"Basis Design Issues" (BDI) are also revealed whilst the reactors are operating - they are not all known when the reactor becomes operational due to the complexity of the machine. Industry wide knowledge of LERs contribute to knowing what BDIs lead to ASPs (and a sentence full of acronyms). Further information can be found in the NRC document NUREG 1275 - Volume 14 "Causes and Significance of Design Basis Issues at U.S Nuclear Power Plants"
As often observed in plane crashes it's a combination of insignificant issues that lead to a problem. The question at hand is whether the leak is indicative of a larger problem for example; lets say our leak has led to filling a concrete void under the reactor core with water. Together the two events are insignificant, however when combined with a third event like a SCRAM of the reactor that suddenly heats that water in the concrete void you have the potential for a serious explosion.
I'm not saying thats whats happening, just that the water leak my be an indicator (a LER) of a larger issue which is used as part of the determination if the plant should be shut down. A leak of triated water into the environment is a serious concern. What is yet to be revealed is if the leak reveals a Basis Design Issue that is serious enough to be a part of an Accident Sequence Precursor.
No matter what the outcome the continued operation of the reactor will probably be determined on *if* they can find the leak. Anything that affects the cooling capacity of a Nuclear Reactor is not a situation that can be allowed to persist.
A list of some scientific studies on the effects of tritium with references in case there is any doubt regarding Triated water's effect on living beings.
Tritium is biologically mutagenic *because* it's a low energy emitter. This characteristic makes readily absorbed by surrounding cells. The available evidence from studies conducted journal a list of effects. From those works;
Tritium can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin. Eating food containing 3H can be even more damaging than drinking 3H bound in water. Consequently, an estimated radiation dose based only on ingestion of tritiated water may underestimate the health effects if the person has also consumed food contaminated with tritium. (Komatsu)
Studies indicate that lower doses of tritium can cause more cell death (Dobson, 1976), mutations (Ito) and chromosome damage (Hori) per dose than higher tritium doses. Tritium can impart damage which is two or more times greater per dose than either x-rays or gamma rays.
(Straume) (Dobson, 1976) There is no evidence of a threshold for damage from 3H exposure; even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts. (Dobson, 1974) Organically bound tritium (tritium bound in animal or plant tissue) can stay in the body for 10 years or more.
It's often said "of all the elements in nuclear waste tritium is one of the more harmless ones" and while it's more benign than most other radioactive effluents it's toxicity should not be under-estimated.
Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death. (Rytomaa) Tritiated water is associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract organs in mice (Torok) and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. (Dobson, 1979) (Laskey) Tritium from tritiated water can become incorporated into DNA, the molecular basis of heredity for living organisms. DNA is especially sensitive to radiation. (Hori) A cell's exposure to tritium bound in DNA can be even more toxic than its exposure to tritium in water. (Straume)(Carr)
First, as an isotope of hydrogen (the cell's most ubiquitous element), tritium can be incorporated into essentially all portions of the living machinery; and it is not innocuous -- deaths have occurred in industry from occupational overexposure. R. Lowry Dobson, MD, PhD. (1979)
References;
Komatsu, K and Okumura, Y. Radiation Dose to Mouse Liver Cells from Ingestion of Tritiated Food or Water. Health Physics. 58. 5:625-629. 1990.
Dobson, RL. The Toxicity of Tritium. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium, Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 203. 1979.
Hori, TA and Nakai, S. Unusual Dose-Response of Chromosome Aberrations Induced in Human Lymphocytes by Very Low Dose Exposures to Tritium. Mutation Research. 50: 101-110. 1978.
Straume, T and Carsten, AL.Tritium Radiobiology and Relative Biological Effectiveness. Health Physics. 65 (6):657-672; 1993. [This special issue of Health Physics is entirely devoted to Tritium]
Laskey, JW, et al. Some Effects of Lifetime Parental Exposure to Low Levels of Tritium on the F2 Generation. Radiation Research.56:171-179. 1973.
Rytomaa, T, et al. Radiotoxicity of Tritium-Labelled Molecules. International Atomic Energy Agency symposium,Vienna: Biological Implications of Radionuclides Released from Nuclear Industries v. 1: 339. 1979.
Yup. Personal experience, too. I happen to have been a non typical-geek:
I think I may fall in this category as well. I still had trouble with bullies but on reflection it may have been because I was self-centered. With plenty of friends outside of school - which was the early 80's - it wasn't really a priority for me to be interested in the kids at my school. Computers and electronics occupied my spare time but I also played a lot of hockey and cycling.
I didn't share the things I played with because - frankly - most other kids didn't understand what to do with an electronics lab kit. One kid decided to trick me by acting all curious about what a 'floppy disk' was and when I showed him one (that contained the code I was writing at the time) he decided it would be a good idea to scrape his finger along the media. As I watched in horror he said 'you aren't supposed to do that are you?'.
As soon as the kids found out I was a computer 'geek' or 'nerd' the bullying started. I would try to hide and avoid a confrontation until I was cornered. Problem for them was I had a foul temper and didn't they get a nasty surprise. I think they thought because I was trying to avoid them and just play with my computers and electronics I was somehow afraid, which I was, but of them and my temper in equal measure. I hated being bullied and every time it happened the fear, frustration and anger would build until confrontation was unavoidable. I never instigated it but I finished it. Once every 6 months one of these losers would come along to make life a misery.
Towards the end of school everyone was asked what they were going to do when they left school. While everyone else was saying 'mechanic' or 'hairdresser' I outlined my 5 year plan to get into the IT industry. Most of the kids looked at me like I was some kind of loser but as I had already been paid for my code and magazine contributions I was confident that I wasn't. 20 years of IT work later it's a genuine pleasure to be talking to like minded people here. I still feel the joy of working with code that I did as a boy and no bully could ever take that away from me.
They are completely put off by target who just ignore them.
And they are even more astonished if their potential victim laughs their attempts off.
I wish I had this kind of advice when I was a kid so I could have controlled the situation a little better only because I feel I could have done better at school. Even so I feel that there it's a valuable life skill to have learned how to confront bullies. It's satisfying to look at them while they apologise with a black eye and a busted nose. Now I don't get intimidated easily and this has translated to the ability to deal with drunken assholes as well as confidence in business negotiations.
It reduces the probability that earth could be quickly located.
Good, ever heard of Lamb civilisations and Wolf civilisations. We're a lamb civilisation chained to a gravity well bleating in the dark 'come and eat us wolves'. I'm glad we're learning how to be quiet.
Extreme desire for another habitable place to live.
Or a Wolf civilisation doesn't want competition for resources from another (potentially) star faring race that may itself become a Wolf. Hasn't anyone read Greg Bear's The Forge of God. There is no need for any contact, any sufficiently advanced civilisation could achieve complete destruction of a target race without even knowing they have done it.
It's happened before, it could happen again. Except us earth inhabitants could be the primitive natives / "Indians" / etc.
Yeah well one things for certain, I doubt you would need to use a shuttle full of explosives to do it, just push a big rock from somewhere in orbit and calculate where you want it to land. Then say to the natives - "how terrible - how can we help you? BTW - stay away from _BIG_HOLE_ as it is very dangerous - We will send machines in there to 'clean it up'". Still I suppose they needed a plot line that Joe Public could understand.
Mass drivers from orbit people, once you have the high ground you hold *all* the aces.
The US had little to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union much of that was caused by internal failures.
considering the US Defense departments budget its an easy game to win. What they spend on one program is more than most can spend on many.
Certainly true. What's at issue is how the US's oil centric economy will be able to continue to produce income when Russia has control over large oil interests. I doubt the US is going to invade Russia to secure it's oil supply so with Russia placed as an oil producer just as oil prices are set to skyrocket I think the Russians will have plenty of money to keep up. I certainly don't see Russia at the forefront of the movement to reduce our carbon footprint.
The irony in all this is that US commercial oil interests will do everything they can to maintain the status quo, especially when they know they can dig up Alaska for more oil. Russia will be placed similarly as they can sell oil to themselves without paying for it in US dollars and the East and Western Military Industrial complexes will happily march any country they can into resource conflicts (such as Iraq) while the dolars keep rolling in.
Sure it's a pretty plane, and I even like looking at this stuff, but it leaves me asking myself if any of this Military progress is real progress when there are some many other avenues of technology that have to be advanced for the whole Human Race.
Without private financing in the future there may be no NASA program to speak of.
How did we ever manage before and why bother paying taxes at all if the government cannot fulfill it obligations. Private corporation should be contractors to the government, governments should not be beholden to the profit motivation of private financiers.
Slashdot Mirror
When will the IT Industry realise the content industry as the biggest threat to innovation of business models? Innovation is what creates wealth in business and any business that stifles innovation should be treated as a threat to all businesses.
Indirectly the content industry is a threat to every Technology professional's livelihood. Altruism aside, any legal change that enforces the status quo threatens the deployments of new technology in business models. IT has never been about 'doing old things the same old way'.
IT is a behemoth compared to the Music industry, I don't understand how or why we've let them push us around for this long.
I think if you examined the posts that were moderated +5 none of these were really critical of Nuclear Power, one was funny and then there was yours which looks like a thinly disguised ad hom attack. I think the evidence indicates that, at least in this discussion, there is a clear bias towards Nuclear Power on slashdot.
I wonder if we gather a larger sample of discussions perhaps we can identify a trend.
I think you miss the point. It's one example of a more benign danger of the Nuclear Power industry.
A list of some scientific studies on the effects of tritium with references in case there is any doubt regarding Triated water's effect on living beings.
Tritium is biologically mutagenic *because* it's a low energy emitter. This characteristic makes readily absorbed by surrounding cells. The available evidence from studies conducted journal a list of effects. From those works;
Tritium can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin. Eating food containing 3H can be even more damaging than drinking 3H bound in water. Consequently, an estimated radiation dose based only on ingestion of tritiated water may underestimate the health effects if the person has also consumed food contaminated with tritium. (Komatsu)
Studies indicate that lower doses of tritium can cause more cell death (Dobson, 1976), mutations (Ito) and chromosome damage (Hori) per dose than higher tritium doses. Tritium can impart damage which is two or more times greater per dose than either x-rays or gamma rays.
(Straume) (Dobson, 1976) There is no evidence of a threshold for damage from 3H exposure; even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts. (Dobson, 1974) Organically bound tritium (tritium bound in animal or plant tissue) can stay in the body for 10 years or more.
It's often said "of all the elements in nuclear waste tritium is one of the more harmless ones" and while it's more benign than most other radioactive effluents it's toxicity should not be under-estimated.
Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death. (Rytomaa) Tritiated water is associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract organs in mice (Torok) and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. (Dobson, 1979) (Laskey) Tritium from tritiated water can become incorporated into DNA, the molecular basis of heredity for living organisms. DNA is especially sensitive to radiation. (Hori) A cell's exposure to tritium bound in DNA can be even more toxic than its exposure to tritium in water. (Straume)(Carr)
First, as an isotope of hydrogen (the cell's most ubiquitous element), tritium can be incorporated into essentially all portions of the living machinery; and it is not innocuous -- deaths have occurred in industry from occupational overexposure. R. Lowry Dobson, MD, PhD. (1979)
References;
Priceless.
After a while I run out of places to store old computer, most of them still work. I threw my first PC away not so long ago. A original IBM PC 8088, with cassette interface and BASIC ROMS, everything still worked, it seems like a waste it ended up on a tip - but who was going to use it? I try to redeploy them in my house or elsewhere like friends, sell what I can or donate assembled systems. A P4 still makes a decent media centre so I guess it all come down to the application.
It looks great in the picture, it really captures the 3dy'ness.
and the Prosthetics industry.
It's always the way with the Tour de France - Win Sunday, in hiding Monday, in shame Tuesday.
It's a waste of time to watch this race.
If only it was so profitable to remove landmines and stop them from performing their gruesome task.
There is so much hot air in data centers these days.
I've pondered this very question. We are arrogant enough to presume that a new intelligence will be our creation by calling it 'Artificial'. Isn't it possible that a new intelligence could arise from the complexity of our systems, and as they grow in complexity 'evolve'.
What if intelligence is a product of complexity and a conclusion of something arriving at a certain critical mass, we see the product of critical mass in nature all the time, maybe it's not unusual. Are we so different from animals or is it that we have more computing power at our disposal. Could it be possible that once the amount of nodes on the net reaches a certain point *something* happens.
I know it's probably far fetched but is it possible our systems could reach a point of instinctual but not yet aware, and if it reaches that point of awareness will we even recognise 'it' as intelligence. Could it happen and we don't notice it?
On a more radical note, I propose that there already is a form of instinctual intelligence called 'Human Society'. It's laws and constructs define it's behavior and the governments, corporations and other things that make up it's vital organs make it largely hostile to human life. Consider for a moment bee and ant colonies, they act differently as a whole surely it's the same with humanity. Is it possible that we have already created a form of Artifical Intelligence, our civilisation, defined it's behavior through law and we are not even aware of it's instinctual existance. What if that forms the body and our super complex Internetwork forms the brain?
What then can we say about it's mind?
Hey wouldn't it be great if our bodies did this automatically...
Hope it all goes well
Sayeth thy worst to this befuddled reader of text.
From my understanding the criteria for shutting down a Nuclear Power plant is assessed on mainly two parameters.
A "Licencee Event Report" (LER) is submitted for issues above a safety significance threshold. For example at Davis-Besse, the frequency of the replacement water filters was out of spec. It should have signaled that something is going wrong in the reactor. This is the type of event that should be signaled as a LER even if it seems insignificant.
The second stage is an "Accident Sequence Precursor" (ASP) which defines events that characterise the lead up to an accident at a Nuclear Plant. Sticking with the Davis Besse example which (from memory) was caused by a fine jet of borated water spraying onto the the *inside* of the reactor head. Water rusts steel, reactor head is steel, rust goes in water, water goes through filter, filter catches rust, management says it's ok, reactor head gets hole [if allowed to continue - reactor core breach and potential for explosion] - 'Accident Sequence Precursor'.
By examining the trends for LER's and ASP statistically for all nuclear plants the NRC can get an overview of the operational state of all the plants *if* the operators of the plant co-operate and share their operational data (which I also believe to be a legal obligation of the Licensee) with the NRC. At issue is the characterisation of what sort of events should lead to a LER.
At the Davis Besse plant I believe that it led to criminal charges as management allowed the plant to operate outside of it's "Basis Design" which is a known operational characteristic of the plant. Filter replacement intervals had been defined and were known about and thus should have characterised the plant as "not operating safely". I'm not sure if the criminal charges were placed because management should have reported several LERs instead of inspectors finding a hole in the reactor head when it was shutdown.
"Basis Design Issues" (BDI) are also revealed whilst the reactors are operating - they are not all known when the reactor becomes operational due to the complexity of the machine. Industry wide knowledge of LERs contribute to knowing what BDIs lead to ASPs (and a sentence full of acronyms). Further information can be found in the NRC document NUREG 1275 - Volume 14 "Causes and Significance of Design Basis Issues at U.S Nuclear Power Plants"
As often observed in plane crashes it's a combination of insignificant issues that lead to a problem. The question at hand is whether the leak is indicative of a larger problem for example; lets say our leak has led to filling a concrete void under the reactor core with water. Together the two events are insignificant, however when combined with a third event like a SCRAM of the reactor that suddenly heats that water in the concrete void you have the potential for a serious explosion.
I'm not saying thats whats happening, just that the water leak my be an indicator (a LER) of a larger issue which is used as part of the determination if the plant should be shut down. A leak of triated water into the environment is a serious concern. What is yet to be revealed is if the leak reveals a Basis Design Issue that is serious enough to be a part of an Accident Sequence Precursor.
No matter what the outcome the continued operation of the reactor will probably be determined on *if* they can find the leak. Anything that affects the cooling capacity of a Nuclear Reactor is not a situation that can be allowed to persist.
A list of some scientific studies on the effects of tritium with references in case there is any doubt regarding Triated water's effect on living beings.
Tritium is biologically mutagenic *because* it's a low energy emitter. This characteristic makes readily absorbed by surrounding cells. The available evidence from studies conducted journal a list of effects. From those works;
Tritium can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin. Eating food containing 3H can be even more damaging than drinking 3H bound in water. Consequently, an estimated radiation dose based only on ingestion of tritiated water may underestimate the health effects if the person has also consumed food contaminated with tritium. (Komatsu)
Studies indicate that lower doses of tritium can cause more cell death (Dobson, 1976), mutations (Ito) and chromosome damage (Hori) per dose than higher tritium doses. Tritium can impart damage which is two or more times greater per dose than either x-rays or gamma rays.
(Straume) (Dobson, 1976) There is no evidence of a threshold for damage from 3H exposure; even the smallest amount of tritium can have negative health impacts. (Dobson, 1974) Organically bound tritium (tritium bound in animal or plant tissue) can stay in the body for 10 years or more.
It's often said "of all the elements in nuclear waste tritium is one of the more harmless ones" and while it's more benign than most other radioactive effluents it's toxicity should not be under-estimated.
Tritium can cause mutations, tumors and cell death. (Rytomaa) Tritiated water is associated with significantly decreased weight of brain and genital tract organs in mice (Torok) and can cause irreversible loss of female germ cells in both mice and monkeys even at low concentrations. (Dobson, 1979) (Laskey) Tritium from tritiated water can become incorporated into DNA, the molecular basis of heredity for living organisms. DNA is especially sensitive to radiation. (Hori) A cell's exposure to tritium bound in DNA can be even more toxic than its exposure to tritium in water. (Straume)(Carr)
First, as an isotope of hydrogen (the cell's most ubiquitous element), tritium can be incorporated into essentially all portions of the living machinery; and it is not innocuous -- deaths have occurred in industry from occupational overexposure. R. Lowry Dobson, MD, PhD. (1979)
References;
What's this 'competition' you speak of?
I think I may fall in this category as well. I still had trouble with bullies but on reflection it may have been because I was self-centered. With plenty of friends outside of school - which was the early 80's - it wasn't really a priority for me to be interested in the kids at my school. Computers and electronics occupied my spare time but I also played a lot of hockey and cycling.
I didn't share the things I played with because - frankly - most other kids didn't understand what to do with an electronics lab kit. One kid decided to trick me by acting all curious about what a 'floppy disk' was and when I showed him one (that contained the code I was writing at the time) he decided it would be a good idea to scrape his finger along the media. As I watched in horror he said 'you aren't supposed to do that are you?'.
As soon as the kids found out I was a computer 'geek' or 'nerd' the bullying started. I would try to hide and avoid a confrontation until I was cornered. Problem for them was I had a foul temper and didn't they get a nasty surprise. I think they thought because I was trying to avoid them and just play with my computers and electronics I was somehow afraid, which I was, but of them and my temper in equal measure. I hated being bullied and every time it happened the fear, frustration and anger would build until confrontation was unavoidable. I never instigated it but I finished it. Once every 6 months one of these losers would come along to make life a misery.
Towards the end of school everyone was asked what they were going to do when they left school. While everyone else was saying 'mechanic' or 'hairdresser' I outlined my 5 year plan to get into the IT industry. Most of the kids looked at me like I was some kind of loser but as I had already been paid for my code and magazine contributions I was confident that I wasn't. 20 years of IT work later it's a genuine pleasure to be talking to like minded people here. I still feel the joy of working with code that I did as a boy and no bully could ever take that away from me.
I wish I had this kind of advice when I was a kid so I could have controlled the situation a little better only because I feel I could have done better at school. Even so I feel that there it's a valuable life skill to have learned how to confront bullies. It's satisfying to look at them while they apologise with a black eye and a busted nose. Now I don't get intimidated easily and this has translated to the ability to deal with drunken assholes as well as confidence in business negotiations.
Yes. Unless it was Twilight or New moon then the doppler effect would make the audio hilarious for all eternity.
I wonder if the emp guns the police are trying to have constructed will make it worse when used?
Good, ever heard of Lamb civilisations and Wolf civilisations. We're a lamb civilisation chained to a gravity well bleating in the dark 'come and eat us wolves'. I'm glad we're learning how to be quiet.
Or a Wolf civilisation doesn't want competition for resources from another (potentially) star faring race that may itself become a Wolf. Hasn't anyone read Greg Bear's The Forge of God. There is no need for any contact, any sufficiently advanced civilisation could achieve complete destruction of a target race without even knowing they have done it.
Yeah well one things for certain, I doubt you would need to use a shuttle full of explosives to do it, just push a big rock from somewhere in orbit and calculate where you want it to land. Then say to the natives - "how terrible - how can we help you? BTW - stay away from _BIG_HOLE_ as it is very dangerous - We will send machines in there to 'clean it up'". Still I suppose they needed a plot line that Joe Public could understand.
Mass drivers from orbit people, once you have the high ground you hold *all* the aces.
The US had little to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union much of that was caused by internal failures.
Certainly true. What's at issue is how the US's oil centric economy will be able to continue to produce income when Russia has control over large oil interests. I doubt the US is going to invade Russia to secure it's oil supply so with Russia placed as an oil producer just as oil prices are set to skyrocket I think the Russians will have plenty of money to keep up. I certainly don't see Russia at the forefront of the movement to reduce our carbon footprint.
The irony in all this is that US commercial oil interests will do everything they can to maintain the status quo, especially when they know they can dig up Alaska for more oil. Russia will be placed similarly as they can sell oil to themselves without paying for it in US dollars and the East and Western Military Industrial complexes will happily march any country they can into resource conflicts (such as Iraq) while the dolars keep rolling in.
Sure it's a pretty plane, and I even like looking at this stuff, but it leaves me asking myself if any of this Military progress is real progress when there are some many other avenues of technology that have to be advanced for the whole Human Race.
How did we ever manage before and why bother paying taxes at all if the government cannot fulfill it obligations. Private corporation should be contractors to the government, governments should not be beholden to the profit motivation of private financiers.
I'm not sure how far into the US system they are but this documentary might give you some idea.