Energy crisis solution (see what I did there?)

 blather, news, nukes, politics, science  18 Responses »
Dec 112012
 

ORNL technology moves scientists closer to extracting uranium from seawater

In short, the idea here is to string nets in ocean currents. The nets would have vast surface area… area covered by adsorbents that will selectively “grab” particles (down to atoms) of heavy metals. In this case, the adsorbents in question will collect 3.94 grams of uranium per kilogram of adsorbent in a realistic ocean environment. The worlds oceans contain about 4.5 *billion* tons of dissolved uranium.

So, it’s just about to the point where it makes economic sense to string nets here and there to strain uranium and other metals from ocean water. Instead of uranium being dug out of the ground via mining (oooh, scary, environmentally damaging mining), it can be simply drawn out of seawater – which would result in *cleaner* seawater. So… arguments against nuclear power get knocked back even further. If anyone claims to want serious answers to the end of peak oil or other energy issues, point them to the fact that uranium  will soon be pretty cheap, and environmentally friendly to produce. If they do not become enthusiastic supporters of nuclear power, then their main concern isn’t clean energy, but likely some political cause.

I can only assume that the same technology can produce useful adsorbent nets to snag thorium, gold and platinum. Great news for the economy, not so much for asteroid mining. Shrug.

 Posted by at 5:14 pm

The Nuclear Outboard Motor: 2

 art, nukes, projects, ships  5 Responses »
Dec 112012
 

A followup to “New for 1961: The Nuclear Outboard Motor” where the General Electric 601B self-contained nuclear marine propulsion pod was described. General Electric described possible applications for the pod:

Fletcher class destroyer escorts could be equipped with four 601B pods. This would provide 60,000 shp and would weigh 240 tons… replacing the 1600-ton conventional propulsion system and fuel. From 700 to 1300 tons of additional military payload could be carried, with a top speed of 35 knots. While this is a knot and change slower than standard, it could keep this up without refueling for, theoretically, a number of months.

Submarines could also be refitted with the nuclear pods. The Skipjack class was studied…  specifically the USS Scorpion. By removing the interior propulsion system and adding two 601B nuclear pods, the Scorpion would reduce system weight by 550 tons, while providing 15,000 shp. The total power could be doubled with weight increasing only from 215 tons to 245 tons.

 Posted by at 4:14 pm

US Senator Jon Tester (D: Montana)

 awesomeness, blather, news, politics  1 Response »
Dec 092012
 

Politicians love photo ops with kids. From the stereotypical kissing of babies (and consequent transmission of horrible, horrible rugrat diseases) to reading crappy books to grade schoolers (something W will never live down), they simply can’t get enough of being seen with people who can’t vote for ’em. Every now and then, though, such things actually seem to have a good purpose. Gentlemen, behold:

Tester tells Hamilton boy with missing fingers he ‘can be anything’

Short form: 7-year-old Ethan MacPherson was born missing 3 fingers on his left hand, and has been having some difficulty in a new school as a result. So Senator Jon Tester, who lost three fingers on his left hand to a meat grinder (bleah!) came to the elementary school to talk to Ethan & schoolmates specifically about that issue.

Granted, Tester likely is viewing a political angle to this, but the election season is over. So:

 Posted by at 1:46 pm

SSV progress update thingamabob

 art, awesomeness, drawings, news, science fiction  16 Responses »
Dec 092012
 

Work continues on the SSV model in fulfillment of the “d’oh, my computer’s dead kickstart project.” The laborious task of detailing the outer skin is now nearly complete; work on fleshing out the interior in a way that makes sense (to me, anyway) is well underway.

It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but *rendering* images is a job of a few dozen seconds, but the “make2d” command which makes more-or-less finished 2D drawings of selected model parts can easily consume an hour. So for the more complex images that include interior bits, I’m sticking to renders for the time being, and will reserve the 2D drawings until later. I still like the 2D drawings better’n the renders.

 Posted by at 1:08 pm

The horror… the horror…

 AARRRGH, blather, history, humor, science fiction, youtube, ಠ_ಠ  15 Responses »
Dec 072012
 

The 1970’s were just, just terrible. A wrecked economy coupled with a culture trashed by the abandonment of Viet Nam, Watergate, OPEC and disco led to just a whole great steaming pile of *crap* for the most part. Still, there were some bright spots… 1977, for instance, gave the world both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, both of which were massive improvements in the art of sci-fi movies, and remain quality entertainment to this day.

But 1978… gave us the Star Wars Holiday Special. If you are too young to have seen it, let me assure you that this festering boil of a program was far, far more of a disappointment for little Star Wars fans like m’self than Phantom Menace could ever have dreamed of being. It coupled Star Wars characters, actors, locations and plot elements with the worst dreck that 1970’s variety television had to offer. Harvey Korman doing “comedy.” Bea Arthur as a bartender on Tatooine doing a musical number. Princess Leia doing a musical number. Diahann Carroll and Jefferson Starship doing musical numbers.

Gah. The Holiday Special is, without a doubt… dreadful.

It has one feature that might be considered redeeming: an animated sequence featuring the introduction of the bounty hunter Boba Fett. Most people think he was introduced in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” but he was actually introduced two years earlier in the Holiday Special. So, there’s that.

[youtube FQt7LRTSVTA]

[youtube A3dm3on1rRQ]

[youtube tg6b3BPC39U]

For some reason, parts 4 and 5 have been shut down for copyright reasons… but not the rest. Shrug.

[youtube jCPfHQBfEBE]

[youtube xQoYFphoU3k]

And if you want just the Boba Fett segment, here it is (at least until the Disneylawyers get a hold of it):

[youtube G62NCZZAcps]

 Posted by at 10:22 pm

Ladies and gentlemen… behold, commonality

 AARRRGH, blather, books, Crazy, dumbassery, Gah., I'm from the government, news, politics, ಠ_ಠ  14 Responses »
Dec 072012
 

Catcher in the Rye dropped from US school curriculum

OK, there are a few things here:

A new school curriculum which will affect 46 out of 50 states will make it compulsory for at least 70 per cent of books studied to be non-fiction, in an effort to ready pupils for the workplace.

So far, so… well, good, probably. The libraries of the world are *filled* with non-fiction books that would be good for kids to read. Any of a number of histories of the founding of the US, for example. “The Black Book of Communism.” “The Starflight Handbook.” Hell, “The Effects of Nuclear Weapons.” But what is suggested?

Suggested non-fiction texts include Recommended Levels of Insulation by the the US Environmental Protection Agency, and the Invasive Plant Inventory, by California’s Invasive Plant Council.

Ugh.

More than two years ago I expounded on the general topic of schools forcing kids to read dreadful fiction that will turn them off reading forever. Well, just as you can ruin a kids urge to read by forcing “Oliver Twist” or “Hamlet” of “The Great Gatsby,” I suspect tomes on insulation regulations and invasive plants will accomplish much the same goals.

And this is apparently going to be spread pretty much nationwide. Feh.

When I read the Telegraph article, at first I thought it was satire. Let’s hope that it’s actually just bad reporting.

—

 Posted by at 9:02 pm
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