He did use a Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor to actively interrogate for special nuclear material, causing a subcritical fission reaction. This produces radiation of higher energies than are normally emitted by enriched u-235 (HEU) or weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) or are significantly present in the background, but it is nothing new technologically. For detection, he is using another technique that is not new, but is perhaps novel in its application. He is using both a Thallium doped Sodium Iodide scintillation detector and a Cherenkov Water Detector doped with Gadolinium Chloride (in concert with photomultiplier tubes) to detect the Gamma radiation that is produced by any fission events that would be induced in HEU or WGPu (respectively) by active interrogation. This method has the benefit of high sensitivity AND high specifity. It is also more cost-effective than current passive methods, since it uses more commonly available materials (no He-3) and proven technologies. Currently the setup exceeds the amount of time allowed by DHS for a scan, but is useful to confirm or rule out initial tests. It is also being improved upon.
Perhaps, just maybe, we could adopt a very fuzzy metric instead of precision without accuracy. Say for example, what important questions can they help us answer? As amorphous as that criterion will be, it will likely stimulate smart engineers to do whatever necessary to get tangible, valuable, benefits.
True, but right now there are many orders of magnitude more processing of information occurring in just a few hundred of the cells in most parts of your own body.
WTF is right. In general I agree as that far as the spin, loaded terms, and hyperbole, that the summary causes more danger from its bullshit emissions than the subject matter it "addresses"
As an addendum, which you might already be aware of:
One reason tritium is pricey on the world's markets is that it is especially useful in producing boosted fission weapons, which greatly exceed the efficiency of the chain reaction. In a fission weapon one key performance factor is doubling time (aka "alpha") which represents the time required for the number of fission reactions to increase by 2x. The shorter the doubling time in an exponentially based energetic reaction such as fission, the (much) more energy is produced -- in the A-bomb case it's crucial to have as many doublings as possible before explosive disassembly overcomes inertial confinement. Even the misnamed "H-Bombs" (2+ stage devices) produce most of their yield from fission processes, so similar principles apply.
But as you stated, tritium leakages are not a cause for concern, unless one has magic tiny tritium-gobbling nano-machines in the air that will collect the isotope and sell it to the highest bidder prior to decay or diffusion.
You're correct, and it has gotten easier and the mills are far more cheap and capable than back in the day. But, building even a 70's era fighter jet required a big complex infrastructure, of which working with Titanium was but one part. Precision turbine blades were/are another. Getting all the damn pieces to actually work together w/o blowing up is another.
But on your point, you're right, and the guy you spoke of is certainly more of an expert on that aspect than I was.
No need to apologize. I AM an expert on military aircraft, and the Saegheh is NO match for an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Not in speed, dogfighting, avionics, ordnance, targeting, support infrastructure or ancillary systems such as AWACS and MILSTAR. Sorry, but it's a slightly improved F5-E with a twin tail and 80's avionics. I does maneuver well, since the plane the design for it was stolen from also did.
I agree. I was involved in the construction of F-14's in th '70s, and the engineering requirements for the construction process were as complex as for the aircraft itself. Try doing high precision manufacturing with finicky Titanium, just to name one example.
One important reason that Southwest has historically made money is that they very presciently locked in the price they would pay for jet fuel just before it went through the roof. That contract is over now, but gave them a huge war chest, which they partially spent on upgrading their equipment to more fuel efficient models.
Yes. Sometimes the best things happen (or more correctly, the worst things do not happen) when government gets nothing done. The people who wrote our Constitution really did not intend for government to be efficient. Maybe way less profligate, but not efficient. However, it might be a stretch to say no more crazy laws will be passed, even for a while. Craziness/stupidity is not a monopoly -- but rather the best-defended competitive industry we have.
Yup, yer' right. You need to know how to very quickly combine two sub-critical masses of Ur-235 (or secondarily a whole bunch of bits of Pu-244 with a lot of good timing, if you want an implosor, which they won't bother with) preferably with an initiator such as Polonium so the reaction starts properly. Perhaps some Tritium-Boost(tr) to speed up the alpha-time (make sure to compressively fill the Tritium-Boost Tank(tr) at the receiving end of your gunshot-type fissor at the last minute to avoid degradation, rust, or spoilage -- it's not covered under the warranty), and your choice of a tamper-reflector based on your personal taste.
And if you're going to go the extra step and fuse Hydrogen, you might need to focus the neutrons properly into the really nasty deuterium/tritium stuff. A bit of lucite or polystyrene helps here if applied properly. Oh and don't forget to surround the core with lithium-deuteride and Ur-238 to get the most bang for your buck. It's not that hard, unless you actually try to do it. Then it does get to be a bitch.
OK, so worry starting 3..2..1.. now.
I apologize for denigrating your deeply-studied viewpoint on the behavior of foriegn states (and our own state). But you might want to consider that the mere possession of atomic or thermonuclear weapons carries an inherent threat that they can be used. That is what they are for.
Yes, I think we both do. I hope that you realize that the comments were an attempt at relatively innocent and non-disparaging humour. That gives us a bit of "comedic license" to play loose with facts that are not central, even if the term "comedic" is overstretched.
BTW, I have done a number of years of work in IP law. Of which I am embarrassed.
Unfortunately for you both, I possess the copyright on the term "pizzachrist", having first used it to describe an image seen on a pizza just outside of St. Peter's Basilica and published it via crazy people with pencils and paper. And, I have a method patent on the use of the word "fuck" (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.), prohibiting its use in any context not referring to the act of sexual intercourse (there was prior art on that one).
And with your polemics (which I am tired of hearing from either end of the spectrum) you are offering something more? Either make your attempt at satirical wit (not easy) or offer something yourself. Some suggestions:
Balance the f'ing budget
Try to be deft enough at foreign policy that you do not get most of the rest of the world pissed off at you.
When striking at your enemy, prefer a swift lance in the right place versus an avalanche in the general area.
Read Sun Tzu.
Remember that the "goddamn piece of paper" written about 230 years ago helped make us the most respected country in the world at one time, and was specifically intended to protect us from the worst of leaders, not those that we trust.
Constrict the ability of lobbies to buy our government policies, criticize your elected officials with reasoned arguments, accept the inevitable fact that your views are not absolutely "right", don't use all caps in your Slashdot subject line, limit your government to doing the things that only government can do well, think for yourself (at length).
Question why you believe what you believe, as if it was a scientific question -- which of course it never will be.
Put your neocortex in control of your verbal/written output, as opposed to your limbic system.
Failing all of the above, stew in your own juices and try to avoid ad hominem attacks. If you find a perfect way of doing this, let me know or patent it.
BTW, if I had to label myself it would be as a centrist-conservative, but any label now carries so much stupid baggage that I try to avoid any one of them. "More power to the Party of Thinking People" -- Oh Shit, there isn't one.
In my observation of recent government policies and behaviors, I had concluded that the document that you referenced (Original and Amendments) was no longer in force. Was I in error? Please clarify.
The parent poster appears to actually "get it", whereas the GP is still in a naive world where he/she has never been on the unpleasant end of official scrutiny. Also:
Personal Information for Sale:
I'll find yours GP and see how you like it spread far and wide. You would be surprised at what I can find in my position.
"Think of the Children" - "Stop the Terrorists at All Costs":
I hate to trot this quote out again but some people need to be hit with a 2x4 to understand:
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." -
Benjamin Franklin
Timeworn and perhaps overused, but true. Governments rarely concede powers that they have gained over the populace. Read some history GP dolt. Read about "water societies" such as Egypt, in which the very means of life were controlled by the state. You do NOT want to go there.
Murphy's Law:
Perhaps the GP is an engineer, or technical, and so could relate to this. Anything that can go wrong, eventually will. This is more true for human political systems than it is for physical systems, because those in a position to do so will skew probability for the worse, for their own interests, not yours. Respond with some examples from past cultures of where this has NOT happened, if you can.
Efficacy:
Negligible.
Privacy:
Numerous studies (Google them) have shown that a decreased perception of privacy has a deleterious effect on mental and physical well-being, not to mention a constricting effect on freedom of expression (which I believe was mentioned in some document of ours in the late 18th century, which we supposedly still hold dear.
Technology:
In earlier times we were somewhat inured against the flow of information about ourselves to large organizations, such as governments and coorporations. Technology has beaten down those barriers, and we therefore need stronger safeguards to shore them up.
I could go on, but if you can't step back and think about it GP, there is really no point. I'll just put my effort into rising into the elite, and I'll be watching YOU.
Excuse me, but this would be so easy to get around for anyone intent upon doing so. Unless the RFID tags were quite complex, and could effect something even simple like a challenge-handshake protocol, they could be read and copied easily, in real-time. Even if so, the system could be fooled. The average traveler, perhaps even the average diamond smuggler, would not bother, but a terrorist easily could.
Oh, by the way, where was that guy Osama again?
Slashdot Mirror
He did use a Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor to actively interrogate for special nuclear material, causing a subcritical fission reaction. This produces radiation of higher energies than are normally emitted by enriched u-235 (HEU) or weapons-grade plutonium (WGPu) or are significantly present in the background, but it is nothing new technologically. For detection, he is using another technique that is not new, but is perhaps novel in its application. He is using both a Thallium doped Sodium Iodide scintillation detector and a Cherenkov Water Detector doped with Gadolinium Chloride (in concert with photomultiplier tubes) to detect the Gamma radiation that is produced by any fission events that would be induced in HEU or WGPu (respectively) by active interrogation. This method has the benefit of high sensitivity AND high specifity. It is also more cost-effective than current passive methods, since it uses more commonly available materials (no He-3) and proven technologies. Currently the setup exceeds the amount of time allowed by DHS for a scan, but is useful to confirm or rule out initial tests. It is also being improved upon.
Perhaps, just maybe, we could adopt a very fuzzy metric instead of precision without accuracy. Say for example, what important questions can they help us answer? As amorphous as that criterion will be, it will likely stimulate smart engineers to do whatever necessary to get tangible, valuable, benefits.
True, but right now there are many orders of magnitude more processing of information occurring in just a few hundred of the cells in most parts of your own body.
I have a cat. I routinely exceed ten petaflops daily, but it screws up her neural net processing big time.
WTF is right. In general I agree as that far as the spin, loaded terms, and hyperbole, that the summary causes more danger from its bullshit emissions than the subject matter it "addresses"
As an addendum, which you might already be aware of:
One reason tritium is pricey on the world's markets is that it is especially useful in producing boosted fission weapons, which greatly exceed the efficiency of the chain reaction. In a fission weapon one key performance factor is doubling time (aka "alpha") which represents the time required for the number of fission reactions to increase by 2x. The shorter the doubling time in an exponentially based energetic reaction such as fission, the (much) more energy is produced -- in the A-bomb case it's crucial to have as many doublings as possible before explosive disassembly overcomes inertial confinement. Even the misnamed "H-Bombs" (2+ stage devices) produce most of their yield from fission processes, so similar principles apply.
But as you stated, tritium leakages are not a cause for concern, unless one has magic tiny tritium-gobbling nano-machines in the air that will collect the isotope and sell it to the highest bidder prior to decay or diffusion.
You're correct, and it has gotten easier and the mills are far more cheap and capable than back in the day. But, building even a 70's era fighter jet required a big complex infrastructure, of which working with Titanium was but one part. Precision turbine blades were/are another. Getting all the damn pieces to actually work together w/o blowing up is another. But on your point, you're right, and the guy you spoke of is certainly more of an expert on that aspect than I was.
No need to apologize. I AM an expert on military aircraft, and the Saegheh is NO match for an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet. Not in speed, dogfighting, avionics, ordnance, targeting, support infrastructure or ancillary systems such as AWACS and MILSTAR. Sorry, but it's a slightly improved F5-E with a twin tail and 80's avionics. I does maneuver well, since the plane the design for it was stolen from also did.
I agree. I was involved in the construction of F-14's in th '70s, and the engineering requirements for the construction process were as complex as for the aircraft itself. Try doing high precision manufacturing with finicky Titanium, just to name one example.
One important reason that Southwest has historically made money is that they very presciently locked in the price they would pay for jet fuel just before it went through the roof. That contract is over now, but gave them a huge war chest, which they partially spent on upgrading their equipment to more fuel efficient models.
Perhaps more useful might be steering comets. It's a bigger challenge but they have lots of H2O
When I see a strange woman lying in a pond, with or without a sword, I tend to lose interest in governmental matters.
Yes. Sometimes the best things happen (or more correctly, the worst things do not happen) when government gets nothing done. The people who wrote our Constitution really did not intend for government to be efficient. Maybe way less profligate, but not efficient. However, it might be a stretch to say no more crazy laws will be passed, even for a while. Craziness/stupidity is not a monopoly -- but rather the best-defended competitive industry we have.
And if you're going to go the extra step and fuse Hydrogen, you might need to focus the neutrons properly into the really nasty deuterium/tritium stuff. A bit of lucite or polystyrene helps here if applied properly. Oh and don't forget to surround the core with lithium-deuteride and Ur-238 to get the most bang for your buck. It's not that hard, unless you actually try to do it. Then it does get to be a bitch.
Unless you were responding to something else, I believe the parent comment agreed with your point. Still, the Wikipedia reference was enlightening.
OK, so worry starting 3..2..1.. now. I apologize for denigrating your deeply-studied viewpoint on the behavior of foriegn states (and our own state). But you might want to consider that the mere possession of atomic or thermonuclear weapons carries an inherent threat that they can be used. That is what they are for.
I'm just glad that my Dad wasn't a 4x4 Quad Father, or my Mom would have died during conception.
Yes, I think we both do. I hope that you realize that the comments were an attempt at relatively innocent and non-disparaging humour. That gives us a bit of "comedic license" to play loose with facts that are not central, even if the term "comedic" is overstretched. BTW, I have done a number of years of work in IP law. Of which I am embarrassed.
Unfortunately for you both, I possess the copyright on the term "pizzachrist", having first used it to describe an image seen on a pizza just outside of St. Peter's Basilica and published it via crazy people with pencils and paper. And, I have a method patent on the use of the word "fuck" (Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.), prohibiting its use in any context not referring to the act of sexual intercourse (there was prior art on that one).
How so? Not a criticism, I just want to hear your reasoning.
Of course I am. All comments are in some way, even the satirical ones. But clarify.
Good God man! Only patent holders could raise taxes? Think of the children while you're fighting terrorism and the USPTO!
Balance the f'ing budget
Try to be deft enough at foreign policy that you do not get most of the rest of the world pissed off at you.
When striking at your enemy, prefer a swift lance in the right place versus an avalanche in the general area.
Read Sun Tzu.
Remember that the "goddamn piece of paper" written about 230 years ago helped make us the most respected country in the world at one time, and was specifically intended to protect us from the worst of leaders, not those that we trust.
Constrict the ability of lobbies to buy our government policies, criticize your elected officials with reasoned arguments, accept the inevitable fact that your views are not absolutely "right", don't use all caps in your Slashdot subject line, limit your government to doing the things that only government can do well, think for yourself (at length).
Question why you believe what you believe, as if it was a scientific question -- which of course it never will be.
Put your neocortex in control of your verbal/written output, as opposed to your limbic system.
Failing all of the above, stew in your own juices and try to avoid ad hominem attacks. If you find a perfect way of doing this, let me know or patent it.
BTW, if I had to label myself it would be as a centrist-conservative, but any label now carries so much stupid baggage that I try to avoid any one of them. "More power to the Party of Thinking People" -- Oh Shit, there isn't one.
In my observation of recent government policies and behaviors, I had concluded that the document that you referenced (Original and Amendments) was no longer in force. Was I in error? Please clarify.
Personal Information for Sale:
I'll find yours GP and see how you like it spread far and wide. You would be surprised at what I can find in my position.
"Think of the Children" - "Stop the Terrorists at All Costs":
I hate to trot this quote out again but some people need to be hit with a 2x4 to understand:
"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." - Benjamin Franklin
Timeworn and perhaps overused, but true. Governments rarely concede powers that they have gained over the populace. Read some history GP dolt. Read about "water societies" such as Egypt, in which the very means of life were controlled by the state. You do NOT want to go there.
Murphy's Law:
Perhaps the GP is an engineer, or technical, and so could relate to this. Anything that can go wrong, eventually will. This is more true for human political systems than it is for physical systems, because those in a position to do so will skew probability for the worse, for their own interests, not yours. Respond with some examples from past cultures of where this has NOT happened, if you can.
Efficacy:
Negligible.
Privacy:
Numerous studies (Google them) have shown that a decreased perception of privacy has a deleterious effect on mental and physical well-being, not to mention a constricting effect on freedom of expression (which I believe was mentioned in some document of ours in the late 18th century, which we supposedly still hold dear.
Technology:
In earlier times we were somewhat inured against the flow of information about ourselves to large organizations, such as governments and coorporations. Technology has beaten down those barriers, and we therefore need stronger safeguards to shore them up.
I could go on, but if you can't step back and think about it GP, there is really no point. I'll just put my effort into rising into the elite, and I'll be watching YOU.
Excuse me, but this would be so easy to get around for anyone intent upon doing so. Unless the RFID tags were quite complex, and could effect something even simple like a challenge-handshake protocol, they could be read and copied easily, in real-time. Even if so, the system could be fooled. The average traveler, perhaps even the average diamond smuggler, would not bother, but a terrorist easily could. Oh, by the way, where was that guy Osama again?