Peter's Blog

Fukushima (Un)vailed & The Mind

2013-05-12T09:34:00.002-05:00

SimplyInfo.org member Dean Wilke only recently discovered Ora Cohen's article with the title "Israeli firm which secured Japan nuclear plant says workers there 'putting their lives on the line'" published online by Haaretz Mar. 18, 2011. In this article the author reports that the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station that incurred three reactor meltdowns after the Great Tohoku

Science, Media & The Mind

2013-04-28T15:41:00.000-05:00

Introduction On April 25, The New York Times published Gary Gutting's essay with the title "What Do Scientific Studies Show?" written for The Stone. The author argues that much scientific reporting in the media suffers from journalistic misconceptions of the methodological limitations inherent in the reported studies. As consequence, the significance of the findings tends to appear

Fukushima Radiophobia & The Mind

2013-02-22T16:18:00.000-06:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } The disastrous nuclear reactor accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi (number one) Nuclear Power Station on the Pacific coast 120 miles north of Tokyo is nearing

Groundhog Day 2013

2013-02-02T10:57:00.000-06:00

After the abysmal forecast of 2012 (see related post below), Punxsutawney overcast and Phil may have embraced climate change this year. Reuters reports today: "Groundhog predicts early spring." Addendum At this moment, May 14, 2013, 6:18 a.m., we record 32 degrees Fahrenheit in central Virginia. Poor Phil! Related Posts Annotations to Groundhog Day Groundhog Day 2012

Preparedness: Hurricane Sandy & Mr. Jefferson's University

2012-10-29T11:19:00.002-05:00

Sunday morning, Oct. 29, 2012, I walked our dog around the neighborhood, observing much anticipated Hurricane Sandy brewing up ill-foreboding clouds. The wind picked up. Brown leaves were falling like snowflakes, densely covering the street. I wondered whether we had enough batteries, water, food and other supplies for the coming days. My most useful acquisition seems a safety preparedness radio

Science & Fortuity

2012-10-24T10:59:00.000-05:00

The historical account below is published with the author's permission. I annotated two typographical errors. The document is best read with fullscreen view. The reader may find this option at the right-hand corner of the task bar at the bottom of the text window or may open a new window, using this link. The lecture revisits the development of the fluorodeoxyglucose method for the imaging

Morat to Fribourg 2012: Free Will Lives!

2012-10-07T07:30:00.001-05:00

The winners of the 79th race (2012) from Morat to Fribourg are: Nancy Koech (#111; 1:03.18:1) and Shadrack Kimaiyo (#30; 54.52:0), both from Kenya. Congratulations!!! Related posts Free Will Exists Morat: Triumph of Free Will

Autism & Feral Children

2012-10-05T08:41:00.000-05:00

The diagnosis for autism is based on behavioral differences, the first signs of which can be observed in infants. Autism is classified as a spectrum disorder. That is, its diagnosis covers a spectrum of abnormal behaviors that differ in severity, ranging from people who repetitively self-injure and may be considered mentally retarded to individuals who score extremely high on intelligence tests

The Value of a Ph.D. & The Mind

2012-09-07T20:21:00.004-05:00

The value of higher education is hotly debated in this country. Particularly the worth of doctoral degrees in philosophy is highly questioned. Only a week ago, that is on Aug. 31, the Slate published Daniel Lametti's post, posing the question in the title "Is a Science Ph.D. a Waste of Time?" Dr. Lindemann's Ph.D. certificate. The other day, I happened upon the document shown above. In the

Fukushima Anniversary, Mar. 11, 2012

2012-03-11T00:09:00.005-06:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } It has been a year that the fuel cores of three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station on the northeast coast of Japan melted down in the

Plutonium & A Fukushima Mother's Fears

2012-02-20T18:18:00.010-06:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } Almost a year ago, three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on the northeast coast of Japan incurred fuel core meltdowns in

Groundhog Day 2012

2012-02-02T17:35:00.010-06:00

Punxsutawney Phil divined six more weeks of winter today (read more in the CNN news blog post with the title "More winter weather, Punxsutawney Phil predicts" published today). It is 60.8 ℉, or 16 °C, in central Virginia. The daffodils are in bloom! Today, Sunday Feb. 19, 2012, it seems Phil was right! I seem not to be the only one who finds this winter's weather peculiar. In accord with

Tepco 東京電力 and the Toad 蟾蜍 : Neuroethological Reflections on the Failure of A Human Enterprise

2011-12-30T01:00:00.265-06:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } “During the week from March 11, I thought several times that I would die.”Director of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power StationMasao Yoshidain his

Professor Ewert's Toad

2011-12-21T11:34:00.004-06:00

About 35 years ago, I was privileged to attend Professor Dr. Jörg-Peter Ewert's seminar at the Institute of Zoology, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe University, in Frankfurt am Main. I was a student at the time. Prof. Ewert paid a visit to tell us about research underway in his laboratory at the University of Kassel on the nerve cell basis of behavior in the common toad Bufo bufo (Ewert, 1992 and 1997

A Great Mind is No More

2011-10-05T19:37:00.002-05:00

Steve Jobs passed away. Reuters broke the news 7:56 EST with a post entitled "Apple co-founder Steve Jobs dead at 56". Steve’s advice for us was to live every day as if it was our last. Time is our most precious commodity. He used it well. The United States lost one of her finest innovators and a great human being. His biography by Walter Isaacson to be published later this month will be

Morat-Fribourg, 2011

2011-10-02T16:38:00.004-05:00

While I grappled for my old booklets of 25 years ago to reminisce, I discovered to my shame that my edition count was one off in my past posts. I corrected the miscount retroactively. The 78th edition of the race was held today. Caroline Chepkwony, Kenya (59.09,5), and Stéphane Joly, Switzerland (53.07,3), won. Congratulations! More results and video clips are available here. Related

Whiskers, Manatees & The Mind

2011-10-01T13:14:00.006-05:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'es', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), courtesy L. Heafner. Unlike the follicles of common hair, the follicles of whiskers, also known as tactile vibrissae or

A Marker to Remember

2011-07-04T23:28:00.009-05:00

Villagers in the Alps must not fear tsunamis like the inhabitants of the east coast of Japan. But they must confront snow avalanches which may be highly destructive to home and life as well. Unlike tsunamis in Japan, avalanches in the Alps recur with great regularity every year. Indeed, some avalanches fall with seemingly clockwork-like precision. Hamlets huddled on the slopes of deep, narrow

Fukushima: Failure by Design

2011-07-03T10:24:00.032-05:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } This post concludes my quatrology of essays touching on peculiarities of the reactor accident at the Fukushima I (Daiichi) Nuclear Power Station on the

A Fukushima Mother's Letter

2011-05-27T22:08:00.011-05:00

Steven L. Herman, Voice of America (VOA) Bureau Chief/Correspondent in Seoul, relayed this message. I could not help, but repost it: When Tomoko-san, a mother of two in Fukushima City, heard from an NGO worker that I was going to be in Fukushima to report on a story about radiation levels at local schools, she was kind enough to volunteer her time to speak to me – and handed me this letter. I

The Enigma of 1 Fukushima 4 号機

2011-05-21T22:58:00.019-05:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } Reactor № 4 of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on the northeast coast of Japan roughly 150 miles north of Tokyo was shut down for service past

Fukushima: Failure of the Mind

2011-05-17T12:51:00.096-05:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } For the third time in the history of the commercial use of nuclear power, operating a reactor during an emergency proved beyond human abilities, leading to

Free Will Music

2011-05-11T05:10:00.076-05:00

“The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?” Bob Marley, 1976, in response to why he gave a concert on behest of Micheal Manley two days after he, his wife and his manager were wounded by gunshot in an assassination attempt at his home. Today thirty years ago Nesta Robert Marley passed way. He was born Feb. 6, 1945, in Nine Mile, Jamaica. The cause of

Cell Phones & Brain Metabolism

2011-04-01T04:36:00.001-05:00

Roughly a month ago a study was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association that reported an association between cell phone radiation and enhanced local brain glucose metabolism. Nerve cells consume glucose for their work. The study was carried carried out with great methodological expertise. The change is small and at odds the findings of other studies, including research I was

Ionizing Radiation & The Mind

2011-03-18T16:58:00.097-05:00

function googleTranslateElementInit() { new google.translate.TranslateElement({ pageLanguage: 'en', includedLanguages: 'ja', layout: google.translate.TranslateElement.InlineLayout.HORIZONTAL }, 'google_translate_element'); } On this day last week, northeastern Japan was hit by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake, the strongest recorded in history, triggering a tsunami with waves