Ukraine Nuclear Plant Accident

Ukraine nuclear accident 'no threat': Minister

It is interesting to see the level of calm surrounding a mishap at a nuclear plant.
Though it was a small incident, the accident has the potential to cause hysteria as it deals with such a sensitive topic of nuclear plants and the danger involved with them. The article shows how media can set a distinct mood when announcing events and thus affects the way we all approach these incidents.

In addition to that, the writer ends the article noting the amount ("60 million tonnes") of coal the Ukraine produced--inviting an even larger discussion (of coal vs. nuclear energy) and a possible explanation for the moderate tone of the article and surrounding the incident.

-Jamie G.

ISAO HASHIMOTO

An interesting video of the 2053 nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe. Quite similar to the video of the number of earthquakes in Japan each year, Hashimoto intended to evoke "the fear and the folly of nuclear weapons."

"This piece of work is a bird's eye view of the history by scaling down a month length of time into one second. No letter is used for equal messaging to all viewers without language barrier. The blinking light, sound and the numbers on the world map show when, where and how many experiments each country have conducted. I created this work for the means of an interface to the people who are yet to know of the extremely grave, but present problem of the world."

Overkillded by Isao puts the number of explosions into a creepy time lapse perspective

I think it's interesting how Isao expresses explosions in different forms in his work. The elegance and simplicity of this video reminds me of the pedestal that we put these tests on. 

-Kristi

So many things are wrong here...

I recommend this recent opinion piece talking about the situation today in Eniwetok Atoll, a small island in the pacific where the U.S. did many nuclear tests in the past.  The article only has one side of the story, but it is pretty mind-blowing that we (the U.S.) have left things in such a state:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/a-pacific-isle-radioactive-and-forgotten.html

Uranium mine found in Sahara Desert

http://imgur.com/gallery/6gE7D

- Jacob C

Nuclear Weapons Modernization

There have been a number of news stories popping up lately about investing more money into modernizing, remaking, and even testing nuclear weapons again.  Here's one from the LA Times - an interesting read, perhaps relevant for your final papers?

Sonic Deep Map

http://theradius.us/episode48

Sonic Deep Map, released in 2014, by Radio Aktiv, is an hour and a half long sound piece comprised of interviews, spoken, and sonic poetry. It uses direct quotes from residents of Pyhäjoki, Finland, along with abstractions of the negative emotional reaction to the potential threat of a nuclear power plant being placed in their town, to give a voice to further articulate and organize the rejection. An industrial pulse weaves in and out of the human voices as they describe the natural beauty of their seaside town, creating a cyborg landscape to listen in.

“To produce the audio content for Sonic Deep Map, Radio Aktiv conducted interviews with local activists of the organization Pro Hanhikivi, which is led by two mothers — local community members Hanna Halmeenpää and Helena Maijala — who fight every day to stop the proposed power plant; made field recordings in the stunning seaside landscape of the Hanhikivi Cape; did group vocalization exercises — humming and screaming to conjure the rage and sadness that the threat of the power plant proffers; traveled by boat; and documented the sounds made in a Geiger counter building workshop led by Erich Berger and Martin Howes.” 

This reminds me of the rejection the residents of Nevada had (and still have) for the plans for Yucca Mountain. This piece is an example of a way artists can speak out against nuclear power, or for it. The piece is completely biased against nuclear power, but it could also be biased completely for it. I think the reason people choose to have extreme biases, particularly in this issue, is because it’s so complicated to explain the positive and negative aspects that are inherent to it.

This piece is an episode from Radius, which is “an experimental radio broadcast platform based in Chicago, IL, USA.” One of the directors of Radius, Jeff Kolar, came in to speak to one of my classes about his work. He talked about Radius, and mentioned some of the more recent works produced under it, including this. Radius is local, and active. 

http://theradius.us

-Ava Threlkel

Something Funny When Considering Nuclear Weapons

Blame my roommate.
-Connie C.