Readings (and quiz info) for October 7

Right now in class we're talking about radiation health risks, "risk" in general, and beginning to develop a better understanding of nuclear reactors.  Readings for this week pick up on a couple of those threads. 

1)  The American Nuclear Society Dose Chart.  Go through this and find out your own average yearly ionizing radiation dose.  I won't expect you to know any of the actual numbers for the purposes of the quiz in class, but I'd like you to have some sense of which contributions are large and which are small.  It is also worth looking at this critically:  this is put together by a pro-nuclear organization.  Can you tell?

2) A primer on the health effects of ionizing radiation, used for training workers at Princeton University who handle radioactive materials.  This is an online version of the type of training manual used anywhere that scientists or technicians have to work with or around ionizing radiation.  Things to pay attention to:  types of prompt vs. delayed effects, why children and fetuses are more susceptible to radiation damage, and which body organs are most and least sensitive.  (Note - your brain is a part of your nervous system.  Is it extra sensitive to radiation, or not so much?)

3) An opinion piece by (pro-nuclear) risk expert David Ropeik in Scientific American last Spring.  This article was in response to the reaction to the Fukushima catastrophe.  As you're reading it, pay particular attention to his explanation of why nuclear risks are particularly scary to people.  Also pay attention to the idea of "confirmation bias," and his comparison of estimated deaths from nuclear accidents compared to deaths from fossil fuel burning.  

Beyond Visibility: Photography and Our Connection to the Cosmos

October 4, 2011 - Mind = Blown

Aspen Mays in conversation with Kathryn Schaffer, PhD!!!

Exhibiting artist Aspen Mays and Kathryn Schaffer, postdoctoral fellow at the Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics at the University of Chicago, will discuss ways scientists and artist search for insight into the origins of our universe using photography, among other tools.
Tuesday, 6pm at MoCP

http://www.mocp.org/exhibitions/2011/07/post_1.php

sorry there is not so much relevant science provocation in this post but this should be an amazing talk.

Yikes?

So, it looks like the first radioactive rice has been found in Japan... and yet, no rice crop has been banned for shipments....

First Part of the Article

Article Continued...

-Kate

OMG CRAZY INFO! "Light Speed May Have Been Exceeded By Subatomic Particle"

read this article about poor Einstein and how his theory may have just been proven wrong! those damn neutrino's

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/22/cern-light-speed_n_977014.html

Posted by Adam Rose

http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2011/06/20/nuclear-plant-problem-in-nebraska

Obama News Black Out Over Nebraska Plant

http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2011/06/20/nuclear-plant-problem-in-nebraska---Nick Foster

Note on readings for Sept. 23

Howdy!  If you're looking here for readings for class this week, note that this week they're on the portal page for the class, along with a written homework assignment that we will discuss in class, which is due the following week.

Keep up the interesting posts!  Remember that the login information for adding to the blog is in the syllabus (which is posted on the portal also).  Note that to make web links work, copy the link into the edit window and then highlight it and click on "link" in the menu bar... and you'll get a real link!