Author: publius

Fools! I will destroy you all!!

ASFO 2026–04–11

ARTEMIS II grabbed the imagination of the world, but left us with two thoughts. First, that we somehow have all this to do over again ; and second, it sets before us once more the stark choice of what to do with our scientific–technological mastery over the inanimate world.

ASFO 2026–03–28

South Australia — not just for sea chanties anymore? Related, petrol rationing in New Zealand, and the difficulty of getting and maintaining political support for slow–maturing measures against problems which appear as occasional crises of moderate duration. Also, Artemis II, supply–chain attacks very literally, re–stranded whales, computer–related (but not –generated this time!) idiocy, and more generally, thinking like an Ayatollah.

ASFO 2026–03–21

Justus Freiherr von Liebig — why does it always come back to him? Oil refineries burning — who could possibly have foreseen this? A Canadian spaceport… in Nova Scotia? Also, meter–gage railways of provincial Spain, and possible consequences of helium supply constraints.

Supplementary Show

2026–03–24 From the 1955 book Atoms for Peace by Donald O Woodbury, the Foreword, and from Part I Atomic Power is on the Way, chapters 23 “How Safe is Atomic Power?” and 24 “Skill Beats the Atom”, describing the December 1952 accident at NRX, Chalk River, Ontario, and the ensuing cleanup and recovery operations ; and chapters 1 “Dawn at Midnight” and 2 “Approach to Peace”.

ASFO 2026–03–07

Money museum reviews : Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago — from railroad to whale–road — challenges inherent in using cryogenic methane as a ship fuel — idiocy masquerading as science, with an anti–nuclear payload — more unconscionable, blatantly unlawful, and above all stupid acts of aggression by the present US government…

ASFO 2026–02–28

Congratulations to Électricité de France on reaching 1600 MW of output at Flamanville 3, their first new power reactor in over 20 years, which had an unsurprisingly troubled gestation — condolences to NASA on having to move its Artemis 2 stack back from the pad to the VAB, due to problems with the “interim” cryogenic upper stage (with a brief meditation on just what interim may mean in this context), and having to rush an ISS crew change — more anti–nuclear terrorism, of a sort particularly difficult to understand — a really lovely gift from tob — one thing more convenient than a railroad station hotel — a discussion of my further travel plans — an expression of confidence that my printer woes are at last over, and of gratitude to an angel of mercy who helped make that happen.

ASFO 2026–02–21

Margaret “Tina” Thatcher, FenCon XXI and their Science Guest of Honor, the difficulties of fitting display materials into a very small borrowed car, and my continuing printer woes take up most of the time this week.

Supplementary Show

2026–02–27 (second part) Audio from four new film transfers : Atomic Power Comes of Age, a trailer for an article in the 1965 December Reader’s Digest ; Inside the Atom, an Encyclopædia Brittannica film ; Everyday Radioactivity, an introduction to gamma ray spectroscopy ; and How Much is Enough?, an introduction to the concept of statistical uncertainty in measurements, using radioactive counting rates.

ASFO 2026–02–14

Canada’s federalized inter–city passenger service, VIA Rail, differs from Amtrak in a couple of interesting ways. One of these is in providing trolley–style food service, rather than a dedicated snack car, at least in the Windsor—Quebec corridor, which is my only experience with it. Another is in having (again, at least in the Windsor—Quebec corridor) usable on–board Internet service. This, however, does not really excuse my annoying my fellow passengers by recording my show at my seat shortly before airtime, even in business class, where other passengers do not hesitate to get on conference calls and that kind of nonsense. Either way, this abbreviated show focuses mostly on my recent travels, and on a very cheering announcement this week of new nuclear power for Ontario.

ASFO 2026–02–07

The ethics of decarbonization, with aspects that perhaps don’t get enough discussion — the problem of funding scientific and technical research and development, in an international context — the South African peace dividend, the moral problem of the African National Congress, and the stupidity of attempts to sabotage the Koeberg nuclear power plant. And I don’t even get to talking about my new film transfers!