Author: Simon

It will be done by optimizing siting. Evolution is providing the inspiration for University of Adelaide computer science research to find the best placement of turbines to increase wind farm productivity. Senior Lecturer Dr Frank Neumann, from the School of Computer Science, is using a “selection of the fittest” step-by-step approach called “evolutionary algorithms” to…

I know a lot of folks like to compare Obama to Jimmy Carter these days. But compare Jimmy Carter’s failed hostage rescue attempt Operation Eagle Claw with Obama’s successful killing of Osama. Of course in these matters one must not only be good but also lucky. Now if only economics worked that way as well.…

No. No one has dropped a bomb on Fukushima. Not a Big One (nuclear). Not even a big Small One. What we have (and it is devastating) is an Information Bomb. And it is wrecking Japanese complacency about ongoing efforts at Fukushima. I’m going to quote excerpts from the report. But you should read the…

Finally there is some news about Polywell Fusion progress. From recovery.gov here is the essential news. Projects and Jobs Information Project Title Federal Contract Project Status More than 50% Completed Final Project Report Submitted No Project Activities Description Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services Quarterly Activities/Project Description As of 1Q/2011, the WB-8 device operates as…

This is a story I have been meaning to get to for over a week. I’ve been lazy. But with the “China’s Rise America’s Fall” stories being so prevalent these days I thought some counter balance was in order. And what are the riots about? Inflation and wages. Yesterday we reported news that has so…

It has been a few days since my last round up and there have been some “events”. But first a couple of videos of critical importance. Radiation Safety has this report: Radiation in the #1 building is at highest levels since the crisis They don’t even know the source of the newly-elevated readings From the…

plutosdad at my post A Radiation Safety Expert Says – Tokyo Uh Oh left a link to the following post which I am going to repeat (most of it) here. I have no idea if these people are legit. But the idea is a good one. ==== This morning, my friend Sean Bonner e-mailed me…

A little bio of the radiation safety expert. I am a licensed medical dosimetrist from the U.S. currently living in the Philippines. Given the recent extraordinary events unfolding in Japan, i’ve decided to express, to the best of my ability, the dangers associated with the nuclear powerplant crises in Fukushima and how it may affect…

I’m having a discussion over at Zero Hedge with Crockett. We are looking at Ron Paul’s idea of Foreign Policy. Needless to say – I’m not a fan. Way ahead of you Crockett, my man. I already make my world conform to my desires. And I’m not unhappy with the results. International politics is a…

Yes. It has been a few days since my last update. The news from nuclear Japan is just so depressing. So let me have at it in no particular order. Evacuation Zone Widened The government on Friday added some towns outside a 20-kilometer radius of the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the list…

The first mate bought me a box of Fruit Roll-Ups™ the other day which is how I learned that General Mills is running a promotion that is giving laptops to kids without cash in places like Haiti. Helping to educate In 2010, Fruit Snacks partnered with One Laptop Per Child, a nonprofit organization whose mission…

Time for another update of the Fukushima Follies. Gov’t mulls raising consumption tax to 8% for reconstruction. But as is usual almost every where these days some are more equal than others. Japan studies easier capital rules for quake-hit banks and Japan mulls hiking power charges to help cover damages payments. The government is considering…

Instapundit ran a blurb That reminded me of Offutt Air Base. RAND SIMBERG IS live-blogging a space-law conference. “I’m attending the fifth annual conference on space law hosted by the law school at the University of Nebraska, which has a program in space law, partially sponsored by USSTRATCOM (fifty miles up the road at Offut…

Very nice map of the radiation plume from Japan. And you can pick your poison. I-131 or Cs-137. Plus you can make it go fast or slow and pick out individual frames. Frames 33 to 51 are quite interesting. “Loop” to get started. Tokyo will get smacked. As well as Osaka. Hot times. Note also…

How about that hole? I think it is a case of more rubble, more trouble. Video #2 Video #3 OK. By now you have seen the nice hole – you did look didn’t you? So what about the 69 months? I’m afraid that is either a typo or a projection based on past performance. One…

Well our friends the Japanese have screwed the pooch again. They forgot to turn on the water. “The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan emitted a new burst of radioactive material this week after a bungled cooling effort apparently affected spent atomic fuel in the site’s No. 4 reactor cooling pond, the Associated Press…

I was rereading my post Worms Autism and since I referenced one comment from here I thought I ought to read them all. Just in case I missed something interesting. And it looks like I did. Several somethings in fact. Let me start with a bit that interests me personally since I have a close…

What exactly do worms have to do with autism? Good question. As faithful readers know, in the first of my many previous lives I was occupied as a clinical psychologist (preparation for dealing with engineers [ain’t it the truth – and I’m an engineer – ed.] on a full time basis in my current life).…

Sounds pretty amazing to me. According to Carnot the efficiency of an ideal engine is 1 – Tc/Th. Where Tc is the exhaust temperature and Th is the burning temperature (this is somewhat simplified). The temperatures are absolute (i.e. Kelvin scale in the metric system). The Wave Engine according to some designs operates at a…

Commenter Jeremy at “Fukushima Update 14 April 2011” sent me via e-mail a link to the below map. And some supporting evidence. Links below for the source of the map and the supporting evidence. The source of the map. Why there is an exclusion zone around the other Fukushima plant. The situation now is such…