The immortality projects of singularity science bring with it a serious question of what it will be to continue to exist as a self. I look at Eastern and Western concepts of self in this thought about transcendent projects. . . . → Read More: The persistence of the self
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There have been many disparagers of the Federal Reserve and its control over the currency recently and there are also many Gold-Bugs in commodity land touting buying gold. I was wondering actually how any return to a non-fiat currency would take place. The US economy’s GDP released on Friday is approximately $14.872 billion according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis site. This was a sharp upward revision to a growth rate of 3.1 and knocked down commodity prices, including gold. Many of the Gold-Bug people decry the “fiat money” and the Federal Reserve, and would like to get rid of the Fed and return to a Gold Standard or a hard money standard. But, all the gold in Fort Knox, if allowed to underpin the dollar at current market values, would cover about 1.5% of the needs of the US economy. . . . → Read More: For all the gold in Fort Knox I felt the earth shake. I thought that it was an earthquake, There was a tendency, I don’t quite know how to say it, for the ground directly in front of my to move upward. I’ve been in earthquakes before and know what they feel like. But those had been inside, in my bed in California, or just a tremor, like a heavy . . . → Read More: The tremor The Guardian has an good opinion piece which cites the surprising support from environmentalists like George Monbiot and Stewart Brand for nuclear power even after Fukushima.They contend that nuclear is better than coal, and that makes it imperative to the future. But the Guardian points out, nuclear will not go anywhere without large government support because of the uncertainties . . . → Read More: The cost of nuclear – incalculable Little Mr. Pluto – the cute and friendly plutonium avatar of the Japan Atomic Energy Bureau The Wall Street Journal had a good article today with a sidebar on the Hunt for Plutonium I am quoting this in its entirety here because it disappears beyond the paywall after 24hours usually. Hunt for Plutonium Workers are still probing for the source of . . . → Read More: Hunt for plutonium source The end scenario for Fukushima is murky at this point in time. I tend to work intuitively: that is seeing the end state and working back to the present and then working out the steps to get from here to there. So let me try to do that in this somewhat long post. It has been suggested that I make longer posts and . . . → Read More: Fukushima: Thinking back from the end scenario XKCD had this neat Power of Ten Radiation chart which explains how much radiation is absorbed by humans in everyday sort of way and gives an idea of the scale of the radiation at Fukushima. Click on the chart for a link to the original article. Edge had an interesting discussion on What We Cannot Predict (which used this chart) and had some . . . → Read More: Radiation in powers of 10 and a meditation on risk On the toxicity of Plutonium there is likely to be some over reaction and hysteria. I would refer you to the Plutonium information page of the World Nuclear Association.Since they are a pro-nuclear industry group, one should take their information in that light, however, I don’t think they are mis-stating the science. Despite being toxic both chemically and because of its ionising radiation, . . . → Read More: On Plutonium toxicity Just yesterday I posted on Firedoglake that this was bound to happen. Now Fox News has confirmed it. This is horrible news. My heart goes out to those workers. They need better equipment and international support asap. Power company officials say plutonium has been detected in the soil outside of the stricken Japanese nuclear complex. Tokyo Electric Power Co. says in a statement . . . → Read More: Plutonium detected outside Fukushima I found that New Scientist article that I had seen last week on a comparison of the output of radioactivity into the environment from Fukushima and Chernobyl. It states: Japan’s damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. Austrian researchers have used a worldwide network . . . → Read More: Comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl |
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