Radiation Dose Chart....A perspective

[Mercy Now]

http://xkcd.com/radiation/

[green plasma]

Nice. thanx

[Third Aye]

I too find this interesting. Can you sum up what you think this means realistically for the Japanese and the Americans getting introduced to this cloud?

[Mercy Now]

I too find this interesting. Can you sum up what you think this means realistically for the Japanese and the Americans getting introduced to this cloud?

That's hard to say Third Aye and would be irresponsible of me to speculate as it's still a very dynamic situation. The lack of info from Japan is frustrating.
 

[Mercy Now]

At the risk of being labeled a fear monger ,a shill icon_rolleyes,etc....

   I've always wondered why , if nuclear power is so safe , do they build the plants far away from the very area they are to generate power for?  Isn't a lot of power lost in the wire travel?

This guy was thinking along the same lines:

 

What They're Covering Up at Fukushima
By HIROSE TAKASHI

Introduced by Douglas Lummis

Okinawa

Hirose Takashi has written a whole shelf full of books, mostly on the nuclear power industry and the military-industrial complex.  Probably his best known book is  Nuclear Power Plants for Tokyo in which he took the logic of the nuke promoters to its logical conclusion: if you are so sure that they're safe, why not build them in the center of the city, instead of hundreds of miles away where you lose half the electricity in the wires? 

He did the TV interview that is partly translated below somewhat against his present impulses.  I talked to him on the telephone today (March 22 , 2011) and he told me that while it made sense to oppose nuclear power back then, now that the disaster has begun he would just as soon remain silent, but the lies they are telling on the radio and TV are so gross that he cannot remain silent.

I have translated only about the first third of the interview (you can see the whole thing in Japanese on you-tube), the part that pertains particularly to what is happening at the Fukushima plants.  In the latter part he talked about how dangerous radiation is in general, and also about the continuing danger of earthquakes.

After reading his account, you will wonder, why do they keep on sprinkling water on the reactors, rather than accept the sarcophagus solution  [ie., entombing the reactors in concrete. Editors.] I think there are a couple of answers.  One, those reactors were expensive, and they just can't bear the idea of that huge a financial loss.  But more importantly, accepting the sarcophagus solution means admitting that they were wrong, and that they couldn't fix the things.  On the one hand that's too much guilt for a human being to bear.  On the other, it means the defeat of the nuclear energy idea, an idea they hold to with almost religious devotion.  And it means not just the loss of those six (or ten) reactors, it means shutting down all the others as well, a financial catastrophe.  If they can only get them cooled down and running again they can say, See, nuclear power isn't so dangerous after all.  Fukushima is a drama with the whole world watching, that can end in the defeat or (in their frail, I think groundless, hope) victory for the nuclear industry.  Hirose's account can help us to understand what the drama is about. Douglas Lummis

Hirose Takashi:  The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident and the State of the Media

Broadcast by Asahi NewStar, 17 March, 20:00

Interviewers: Yoh Sen'ei and Maeda Mari

Yoh:  Today many people saw water being sprayed on the reactors from the air and from the ground, but is this effective?

Hirose:  . . . If you want to cool a reactor down with water, you have to circulate the water inside and carry the heat away, otherwise it has no meaning. So the only solution is to reconnect the electricity.  Otherwise it’s like pouring water on lava.

Yoh:  Reconnect the electricity – that’s to restart the cooling system?

Hirose:  Yes.  The accident was caused by the fact that the tsunami flooded the emergency generators and carried away their fuel tanks.  If that isn’t fixed, there’s no way to recover from this accident.

Yoh: Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Company, owner/operator of the nuclear plants] says they expect to bring in a high voltage line this evening.

Hirose: Yes, there’s a little bit of hope there.  But what’s worrisome is that a nuclear reactor is not like what the schematic pictures show (shows a graphic picture of a reactor, like those used on TV).  This is just a cartoon.  Here’s what it looks like underneath a reactor container (shows a photograph).  This is the butt end of the reactor.  Take a look.  It’s a forest of switch levers and wires and pipes.  On television these pseudo-scholars come on and give us simple explanations, but they know nothing, those college professors.  Only the engineers know.  This is where water has been poured in.  This maze of pipes is enough to make you dizzy.  Its structure is too wildly complex for us to understand. For a week now they have been pouring water through there.  And it’s salt water, right?  You pour salt water on a hot kiln and what do you think happens?  You get salt. The salt will get into all these valves and cause them to freeze.  They won’t move.  This will be happening everywhere.  So I can’t believe that it’s just a simple matter of you reconnecting the electricity and the water will begin to circulate.  I think any engineer with a little imagination can understand this.  You take a system as unbelievably complex as this and then actually dump water on it from a helicopter – maybe they have some idea of how this could work, but I can’t understand it.

Yoh:  It will take 1300 tons of water to fill the pools that contain the spent fuel rods in reactors 3 and 4.  This morning 30 tons.  Then the Self Defense Forces are to hose in another 30 tons from five trucks.  That’s nowhere near enough, they have to keep it up.  Is this squirting of water from hoses going to change the situation?

Hirose:  In principle, it can’t.  Because even when a reactor is in good shape, it requires constant control to keep the temperature down to where it is barely safe.  Now it’s a complete mess inside, and when I think of the 50 remaining operators, it brings tears to my eyes.  I assume they have been exposed to very large amounts of radiation, and that they have accepted that they face death by staying there.  And how long can they last?  I mean, physically.  That’s what the situation has come to now.  When I see these accounts on television, I want to tell them, “If that’s what you say, then go there and do it yourself!”  Really, they talk this nonsense, trying to reassure everyone, trying to avoid panic.  What we need now is a proper panic.  Because the situation has come to the point where the danger is real. 

If I were Prime Minister Kan, I would order them to do what the Soviet Union did when the Chernobyl reactor blew up, the sarcophagus solution, bury the whole thing under cement, put every cement company in Japan to work, and dump cement over it from the sky.  Because you have to assume the worst case.  Why?  Because in Fukushima there is the Daiichi Plant with six reactors and the Daini Plant with four for a total of ten reactors.  If even one of them develops the worst case, then the workers there must either evacuate the site or stay on and collapse.  So if, for example, one of the reactors at Daiichi goes down, the other five are only a matter of time.  We can’t know in what order they will go, but certainly all of them will go.  And if that happens, Daini isn’t so far away, so probably the reactors there will also go down.  Because I assume that workers will not be able to stay there. 

I’m speaking of the worst case, but the probability is not low.  This is the danger that the world is watching.  Only in Japan is it being hidden.  As you know, of the six reactors at Daiichi, four are in a crisis state.  So even if at one everything goes well and water circulation is restored, the other three could still go down.  Four are in crisis, and for all four to be 100 per cent repaired, I hate to say it, but I am pessimistic.  If so, then to save the people, we have to think about some way to reduce the radiation leakage to the lowest level possible.  Not by spraying water from hoses, like sprinkling water on a desert.  We have to think of all six going down, and the possibility of that happening is not low.  Everyone knows how long it takes a typhoon to pass over Japan; it generally takes about a week.  That is, with a wind speed of two meters per second, it could take about five days for all of Japan to be covered with radiation.  We’re not talking about distances of 20 kilometers or 30 kilometers or 100 kilometers.  It means of course Tokyo, Osaka.  That’s how fast a radioactive cloud could spread. Of course it would depend on the weather; we can’t know in advance how the radiation would be distributed.  It would be nice if the wind would blow toward the sea, but it doesn’t always do that.  Two days ago, on the 15th, it was blowing toward Tokyo.  That’s how it is. . . .

Yoh: Every day the local government is measuring the radioactivity.  All the television stations are saying that while radiation is rising, it is still not high enough to be a danger to health. They compare it to a stomach x-ray, or if it goes up, to a CT scan.  What is the truth of the matter?

Hirose: For example, yesterday.  Around Fukushima Daiichi Station they measured 400 millisieverts – that’s per hour.  With this measurement (Chief Cabinet Secretary) Edano admitted for the first time that there was a danger to health, but he didn’t explain what this means.  All of the information media are at fault here I think.  They are saying stupid things like, why, we are exposed to radiation all the time in our daily life, we get radiation from outer space.  But that’s one millisievert per year.  A year has 365 days, a day has 24 hours; multiply 365 by 24, you get 8760.  Multiply the 400 millisieverts by that, you get 3,500,000 the normal dose.  You call that safe?  And what media have reported this?  None.  They compare it to a CT scan, which is over in an instant; that has nothing to do with it.  The reason radioactivity can be measured is that radioactive material is escaping.  What is dangerous is when that material enters your body and irradiates it from inside.  These industry-mouthpiece scholars come on TV and what to they say?  They say as you move away the radiation is reduced in inverse ratio to the square of the distance.  I want to say the reverse.  Internal irradiation happens when radioactive material is ingested into the body.  What happens?  Say there is a nuclear particle one meter away from you. You breathe it in, it sticks inside your body; the distance between you and it is now at the micron level. One meter is 1000 millimeters, one micron is one thousandth of a millimeter.  That’s a thousand times a thousand: a thousand squared.  That’s the real meaning of “inverse ratio of the square of the distance.”  Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion.  Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that’s the danger.

Yoh:  So making comparisons with X-rays and CT scans has no meaning.  Because you can breathe in radioactive material.

Hirose:  That’s right.  When it enters your body, there’s no telling where it will go.  The biggest danger is women, especially pregnant women, and little children.  Now they’re talking about iodine and cesium, but that’s only part of it, they’re not using the proper detection instruments.  What they call monitoring means only measuring the amount of radiation in the air.  Their instruments don’t eat.  What they measure has no connection with the amount of radioactive material. . . .

Yoh:  So damage from radioactive rays and damage from radioactive material are not the same.

Hirose:  If you ask, are any radioactive rays from the Fukushima Nuclear Station here in this studio, the answer will be no.  But radioactive particles are carried here by the air.  When the core begins to melt down, elements inside like iodine turn to gas.  It rises to the top, so if there is any crevice it escapes outside.

Yoh:  Is there any way to detect this?

Hirose: I was told by a newspaper reporter that now Tepco is not in shape even to do regular monitoring.  They just take an occasional measurement, and that becomes the basis of Edano’s statements.  You have to take constant measurements, but they are not able to do that.  And you need to investigate just what is escaping, and how much.  That requires very sophisticated measuring instruments.  You can’t do it just by keeping a monitoring post.  It’s no good just to measure the level of radiation in the air.  Whiz in by car, take a measurement, it’s high, it’s low – that’s not the point.  We need to know what kind of radioactive materials are escaping, and where they are going – they don’t have a system in place for doing that now.

Douglas Lummis is a political scientist living in Okinawa and the author of Radical Democracy. Lummis can be reached at [email protected]

 
 http://www.counterpunch.org/takashi03222011.html

 

[Mercy Now]

Continuing.....

Radiation Education...click on the links for informative commentary

Introduction To Radiation
By Samshive
Created Mar 17 2011 - 8:42am

Given the general fear regarding radiation levels around Japan, this seems the perfect time to give a short introduction to this important topic. There is a lot of confusion regarding radiation and radiation poisoning and this article will try and break it down. 

Radioactive decay

To start off with, here is a little recap of the physics that is important. Atoms can be thought of as made up of protons, electrons and neutrons. The type of element is determined by the number of protons. The number of protons in any element is fixed, but the number of neutrons is variable (within limits). When you get 2 atoms of an element, with a different number of neutrons, they are known as isotopes of that element. The number of neutrons affects the stability of the atom and for every naturally occurring atom, there is a optimal number (or range of numbers) of neutrons needed to keep the atom stable.

During fission reactions (the type of reactions in all commercial nuclear power stations), unstable isotopes of an element are created from the splitting of an atom. These unstable isotopes will eventually decay via one of various decay processes. Three of these processes are important for our discussion: alpha, beta and gamma decay. 




During alpha decay, the unstable atom emits a helium nuclei (composed of 2 neutrons and 2 protons) from the atom. 

There are 2 types of Beta decay (Beta- and Beta+).  

•  Beta- decay occurs for isotopes with an excess of neutrons. During this decay, a neutron is converted into a proton (thereby changing the element) while releasing an electron and another elementary particle known as a neutrino. (N.B. The neutrino is largely irrelevant for this discussion due to the fact that they (for all practical purposes) do not interact with everyday matter.)
  
• Beta+ decay can occur if there are too few neutrons in the nucleus. In this case, a proton is converted into a neutron while emitting a positron (same as a electron except that the charge is positive instead of negative) and a neutrino. Beta+ decay can only occur if the atom has enough energy to overcome the mass difference between an proton and a neutron. (If the atom doesn't have enough energy, a process known as electron capture occurs where a proton captures an electron to become a neutron while emitting a neutrino - this process doesn't emit anything (except the neutrino which is irrelevant) and therefore cannot be considered a form of atomic decay.)

The last form of radioactive decay to be discussed here is gamma decay. Generally this type of decay will accompany an alpha or a beta decay. After an alpha or beta decay, the remaining atom can be in an excited state. In this situation, the atom can radiate a high energy photon to lose some of the excess energy that it possesses.

(Added during editing) During the alpha and beta forms of decay described above, the parent element will change to another element. The resulting atom can easily be determined by identifying the remaining number of protons and neutrons. The following graphic clearly depicts the outcome of these 2 types of radiation as well as the atomic changes that occur when an atom loses a proton (p) or a neutron(n). A change in the row means that a change in element.




Ionizing radiation

Ok, now that most of the relevant nuclear physics is covered, lets move on to another important concept. Radiation is known as ionizing, if when it interacts with an atom, it creates an ion (a charged particle). This occurs when the emitted radiation detaches electrons from another atom or molecule. 

Whether or not radiation will be ionizing is dependent on the energy of the radiation. In other words, a single particle or photon of radiation must posses a certain amount of energy before it is able to ionize an atom or molecule, the cumulative amount of energy is irrelevant. 

Ionizing radiation is important because the resultant charged molecule or atom (aka free radicals) is chemically quite reactive. If the radiation has ionized a molecule within living organism, then the resulting free radicals can damage the DNA within a cell. In addition to this, Ionizing radiation can directly damage the DNA by ionizing it or by literally breaking through the bonds of the DNA molecule. 

It is clear then that being exposed to large amounts of ionizing radiation is detrimental to health. 

The Lingo 

Now that we know the types of radiation and how it can potentially effect us, let us try and work through the different terms that is common when dealing with radiation. Most of us think we know exactly what it all means, but the reality is a bit different. The following are the most important terms to know:

Absorbed dose: this refers to the total energy that has been deposited into a certain mass of an item - measured in units called grays.

While this measure is important, it is an incomplete measure of the effect that a certain amount of radiation will have on a biological entity. Due to the fact that a minimum amount of energy is required for ionization, a photon will not be able to affect a cell in the same way that an alpha particle of the same energy would. As a general principle, the heavier the particle, the more biologically damaging it is. To cater for this, weighting factors are added to this measure so that a more synthetic, but more biologically significant measure of radiation is identified. 

Equivalent dose: this refers to the absorbed dose weighted by a weighting factor dependent on the mass of the particle and it's energy - measured in a unit called sieverts. A weighting factor table can be found in Wikipedia's "Equivalent dose" entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equivalent_dose)

The earth naturally exposes us to radiation, and while the cumulative dose has its value, the more prudent measure would be the absorbed dose rate and equivalent dose rate.

(NB. What gets reported in the the media is the Equivalent dose rate. Well if you ask, how do they identify the type of particle depositing the energy so that you can multiply the weighting factor, the simple answer is that they don't. Luckily the radioactive material that is released into the environment due to the venting of steam and other non-catastrophic releases, decays using beta and gamma decay. The weighting factor for these 2 types of radiation is 1 which means that the total energy absorbed is equal to the equivalent dose. The instruments used to measure them are actually measuring the total energy)

Geiger counter: this is the device that gets used to measure the energy of ionizing radiation in an area. This device is a useful portable device and can measure beta and gamma radiation quite well. 

Half-life: this refers to the time taken for half of a certain isotope to decay. It is impossible to predict when an individual atom of an isotope will decay, but the half-life can be used to determine approximately how many atoms of an isotope can decay in a certain time period - which in turn allows us to know how much energy is released in that time period due to the decay. 


Biological half-life: This is not a very commonly used term outside of the medical industry, but it is important none the less. The Biological half-life refers to the amount of time it will take for about half of a certain substance to be flushed out of a human's system. The substance can be a drug, radioactive substance or any other consumed substance. 

The reader should now have sufficient knowledge about this topic to understand what typically can occur when exposed to radiation. This will be the topic of the next section. 

Direct exposure from the outside

As mentioned, the heavier the decay particle, the more effect it will have on biological cells. As such alpha particles will have a greater effect on an individual than lighter photons or gamma particles. Alpha particles are generally only released by large heavy atoms. These large atoms, when they are produced in a nuclear reactor, are trapped within the fuel pellet of a reactor and will not be transported outside of the fuel unless the fuel is severely damaged and the containment is completely breached. Because of this almost all of the alpha particles released will be in around the fuel rods. Alpha particles can however be easily stopped by something as thin as a sheet of paper and are therefore not an extremely dangerous threat.

Beta particles are a lot lighter than alpha particles and therefore their effects are not as severe. However, these particles are more difficult to shield against than alpha particles. Without aluminium shielding, Beta particles can penetrate the skin of a person and ionize molecules within his body.

Gamma particles are high energy photons. These particles are the most difficult to shield against, and requires several inches of lead or concrete to protect against them completely. There will be a constant barrage of gamma particles around exposed spent fuel rods and this is one of the reasons why there will be severe problems if a worker is exposed to a spent fuel rod directly. These concentration of gamma particles will decrease as the distance from the source increases and therefore the highest risk will be closest to the reactor. 

Radioactive particles released to the environment

Radioactive isotopes can be broadly categorized into short-lived, medium-lived and long-lived isotopes. While there is no strict definition of what constitutes any category, these categories can be used to identify an important characteristic of radiation. 

As was indicated previously, the rate at which energy is released is more important than total energy released. And due to the facts that short lived isotopes have very small half-lives, there will be an initially high rate of radioactive exposure from the decay of these particles. However, because these particles have such short half-lives, their larger environmental consequences are minimal i.e. they might kill everything in sight quickly, but it will be safe for people to live there almost immediately afterwards. (The large spikes in radiation during a nuclear accident are caused by short-lived isotopes)

The long-lived isotopes are a curious bunch. The energy released is distributed over such a large period of time that their actual biological effects are difficult to ascertain. In other words, your great-grandchild could get a tumor, but the statistical probability of that happening would be equivalent to anyone else's great-grandchild getting a tumor. 


Now, the so called medium-lived isotopes are a little bit more problematic than the short or long lived isotopes. These isotopes do not decay very quickly, but do not remain stable long enough as to make its effects indistinguishable from the environment. So in other words, its effects might kill you and you probably wouldn't be able to move to an area affected by it for quite a significant amount of time (in human terms).

So are all the panic buttons ringing now.... hold on for a second. Over 99% of all fission products are retained in the fuel cells. In normal operation. there are virtually no radioactive isotopes escaping the fuel cell. The water used to cool a reactor under normal operations is de-mineralized water and therefore contains virtually no impurities. The neutrons, beta and gamma particles reaching the water does not activate any of the molecules in the water, and it remains safe. In emergency conditions where water with impurities are used (such as seawater) the beta and gamma particles together with some neutrons will slightly activate (make radioactive) the water. However, if the fuel rods are damaged or cracked, then the fission products could mix with the water making it radioactive. If this fuel is then vented to relieve pressure, then these radioactive isotopes will be released to the environment. A certain amount of fission products can also escape from exposed fuel rods if they are damaged. 

If fission products are released into the environment, then they are free to interact with natural processes like the hydrological cycle and become part of the "chain of life". The larger effect of even modest releases of radioactive materials into the atmosphere will generally be dispersed and would be unlikely to cause above-normal rates of disease. If catastrophic release occurs, like in the case of Chernobyl, where almost all the fission products were released into the environment, then significant measurable consequences will occur.

Main isotopes to watch out for

While there are countless fission products being produced in a reactor, not all of these products will cause the same amount of damage to humans. Many of the fission products can be avoided by staying indoors and by thoroughly cleaning yourself if you are exposed. Many others will be inhaled as you move about but have such short biological half-lives (a measure of the time the isotope will stay in your body) that they will not cause serious health risks to the public. There are 3 main isotopes that could be potentially harmful:

Iodine-131: This is a short-lived radioactive element. It can easily enter your body since your thyroid gland can easily absorb Iodine from the environment. Iodine-131 has a half-life just over 8 days and can cause significant damage to cells by Beta decay. Absorbing Iodine-131 will increase the risk of thyroid cancer. Potassium Iodide capsules can be taken to prevent the body from absorbing the radioactive Iodine. The Potassium Iodide saturates your body with Iodine preventing further absorption. The capsules must be taken daily for as long as a significant threat exists. 

Caesium-137: This is a medium-lived radioactive element. It is a soluble toxic element that has a half-life of about 30 years. Within a human body, it has a biological half life of around 70 days, but untreated, could cause significant damage if the equivalent dose is high enough. Caesium will biologically act similar to potassium but cannot be absorbed through inhalation. If accidental ingestion does occur, Caesium can be treated with the Chemical Prussian blue - a dye with some medical uses.

Strontium-90: This is also a medium-lived radioactive isotope with a half life of around 29 years. It can behave similar to Calcium. It usually enters the body through drinking or eating contaminated foods and drinks. It will attach itself to bones and can cause cancer if the dose is high enough. 

Biological Effects

Well now that you know all of this, what does this mean to us? Well - once the DNA in a cell is damaged, it is not the end for us. Not by any long shot. DNA is an interesting chemical in that it has the peculiar ability to be able to repair itself. Given that, the following  scenarios could occur:

1. The DNA in the cell is damaged but it is able to repair itself  
   
2. The DNA in the cell is damaged and cannot repair itself - the automatic cell death occurs  
   
3. The DNA in the cell is damaged, it cannot repair itself, and has damaged the automatic cell death mechanism - the cell continues it's function in a damaged way, but cannot propagate the damaged genes  
   
4. The DNA in the cell is damaged, it cannot repair itself,  has damaged the automatic cell death mechanism, the cell continues it's function in a damaged way, it propagate the damaged genes, but does not cause a malignant tumor  
   
5. The DNA in the cell is damaged, it cannot repair itself,  has damaged the automatic cell death mechanism, the cell continues it's function in a damaged way, it propagate the damaged genes, and cannot help but form a malignant tumor  

Cells have developed these capabilities through evolution as a means to survive cell damage. In fact, one should not be constrained to thinking that DNA damage is only caused by radiation. There are various reasons why free radicals can form within the body and damage DNA. Even a significantly strong heat source will damage cells.

(Added during editing) The following diagram puts the whole situation into perspective:




The various scenarios described above are largely dependent on the extent of the radiation exposure onto the cell. The higher the exposure, the more likely that the exposure will cause detrimental cell damage.

Doses and Risks

I hope this discussion has helped give readers a reasonable understanding of how radiation effects people in general. What is important to note is that the amount of radiation that is received is the key to determining what level of biological effect the radiation will have on the individual.  The following list (extracted from wikipedia) will give an estimate of what the effects of a certain amount of cumulative radiation exposure within a short period will be. 

• 0 – 0.25 Sv (0 - 250 mSv): None
  
• 0.25 – 1 Sv (250 - 1000 mSv): Some people feel nausea and loss of appetite; bone marrow, lymph nodes, spleen damaged.
  
• 1 – 3 Sv (1000 - 3000 mSv): Mild to severe nausea, loss of appetite, infection; more severe bone marrow, lymph node, spleen damage; recovery probable, not assured.
  
• 3 – 6 Sv (3000 - 6000 mSv): Severe nausea, loss of appetite; hemorrhaging, infection, diarrhea, peeling of skin, sterility; death if untreated.
  
• 6 – 10 Sv (6000 - 10000 mSv): Above symptoms plus central nervous system impairment; death expected.
  
• Above 10 Sv (10000 mSv): Incapacitation and death.  

A more detailed table can be found on Wikipedia's article on Acute Radiation Sickness. As a general rule of thumb, exposure should be limited to below 100mSv under normal conditions, and even in extreme circumstances no exposure above 1 Sv should be permitted. Once you exceed the 1 Sv level, effects will become increasingly severe.

(The original article has been extended with clarifications and diagrams to enhance the reader's experience. Where additions have been made, these have been identified. Several grammar and spelling corrections were done and these have not been explicitly stated.)

Epilogue

As a final word, I'd like to say a few words about the events unfolding in Japan and to all of us reporting on the incident. The crew trying to control the reactors there are risking their lives to do what they must. Truly selfless individuals! 

Shame on all of us who have tried to manipulate these events to suit our own agendas. Instead of leaving conjecture and speculation to the side we used this opportunity to nit pick each other's viewpoint. The outcome of these events will be change the outlook of the world, whether we want the change or not. But us bickering over nothings helps no one. I think we owe it to those hardworking men and women who are struggling to overcome these massive challenges to take a step back and just watch the work that they are doing. Leave the commentary for afterwards. 

ION Publications LLC


Source URL: http://www.science20.com/nonpragmatic_engineer/introduction_radiation-77286