Tag: weekly post

ASFO 2023–04–01

Earth system limits? No, I’m not April Foolin’ here ― it’s difficult to keep ahead of the absurdities of the so–called real world (and anyway I’ve been sick, so my wits aren’t in the best shape). Also, quantitative thinking comes around for another pass or two. Just what are they teaching in the schools, anyway?

Pass for a radiomedicine patient in the New York City area

Supplementary Show

2023–04–04 Vignettes in Nuclear Medicine by Marshall Brucer MD : №1, What is Nuclear Medicine? A Historical Approach to a Definition, and №2, From Surgery Without a Knife to the Atomic Cocktail (History of Nuclear Medicine)

ASFO 2023–03–25

In the country of the blind, the one–eyed man is thought mad. The over–arching theme of this episode is “quantitative thinking”, an excercise which is never popular, even though we have to live with its results in the end. Also I introduce the expressive term Goudadämmerung for the prospective demise of the Dutch dairy industry in the face of mounting restrictions on animal husbandry.

Countries with nuclear power and a population smaller than Metro Istanbul

  1. Slovenia : 2·1 million people, 1 power reactor / 688 MW, 37% nuclear electricity
  2. Armenia : 3·0 M, 1/448 MW, 25%
  3. Finland : 5·5 M, 4/2794 MW, 33%
  4. Slovakia : 5·5 M, 4/1868 MW, 52%
  5. Bulgaria : 7·0 M, 2/2006 MW, 35%
  6. Switzerland : 8·6 M, 4/2960 MW, 29%
  7. Belarus : 9·5M, 1/1110 MW, 14%
  8. Hungary : 9·8 M, 4/1916 MW, 47%
  9. United Arab Emirates : 9·8 M, 2/2762, 1·3%
  10. Sweden : 6/6882 MW, 31%
  11. Czech Republic : 10·7 M, 6/3964 MW, 37%
  12. Belgium : 11·5 M, 7/5942 MW, 51%

Population given is for 2019. Number of reactors and rated capacity are as of 2021–12–31. Nuclear share of electrical generation is for the full year 2021. Note that the Krsko plant in Slovenia and the Metsamor (Oktemberjan) plant in Armenia (originally two reactors, one of which has been permanently shut down) were built when those countries were part of a larger union, Yugoslavia and the USSR respectively. It is not considered good practice for any generating unit on a system to exceed 10% of the peak load, and with 25% of the average, Metsamor must be approaching that, and Armenia would definitely be a good customer for “small modular reactors”. Krsko is clearly much too large for Slovenia alone.

EU Member States which must be eliminated to meet the 11·7% energy austerity target

  1. Malta : 0·5 million people / 0·11% of EU population, 0·09% of EU total GDP, 0·05% of EU total energy consumption
  2. Luxembourg : 0·6 M / 0·13%, 0·44% of GDP, 0·28% of energy
  3. Cyprus : 0·9 M / 0·20%, 0·16% of GDP, 0·16% of energy
  4. Estonia : 1·3 M / 0·29%, 0·19% of GDP, 0·37% of energy
  5. Latvia : 1·9 M / 0·42%, 0·21% of GDP, 0·32% of energy
  6. Slovenia : 2·1 M / 0·47%, 0·34% of GDP, 0·49% of energy
  7. Lithuania : 2·8 M / 0·62%, 0·33% of GDP, 0·54% of energy
  8. Croatia : 4·1 M / 0·91%, 0·38%, 0·33% of GDP, 0·61% of energy
  9. Slovakia : 5·5 M / 1·2%, 0·67%, 0·33% of GDP, 1·22% of energy
  10. Bulgaria : 7·0 M / 1·6%, 0·39%, 0·33% of GDP, 1·31% of energy

Additional EU countries which may have to be eliminated

  1. Ireland : 4·9 million people / 1·1% of EU population, 2·5% of EU total GDP, 0·97% of EU total energy consumption
  2. Finland : 5·5 M / 1·2%, 1·7% of GDP, 2·4% of energy
  3. Denmark : 5·8 M / 1·3%, 2·3% of GDP, 1·1% of energy
  4. Austria : 8·9 M / 2·0%, 2·8% of GDP, 2·4% of energy
  5. Hungary : 9·8 M / 2·2%, 1·0% of GDP, 1·9% of energy
  6. Portugal : 10 M / 2·3%, 1·5% of GDP, 1·6% of energy
  7. Greece : 11 M / 2·4%, 1·4% of GDP, 1·6% of energy
  8. Czech Republic : 11 M / 2·4%, 1·5% of GDP, 3·1% of energy

ASFO 2023–03–18

Vive la France! Macron’s government does some good things, some questionable things, and some extremely stupid things. Will revulsion against the bad lead to a wiping out of the good? Can anyone explain why the French Left insists on imitating the German Energiewende, even after seeing just exactly what happens with it in practice? And what would I do, if I were in charge there? (Minor glitch at the beginning)

ASFO 2023–03–11

Toward a working definition of the “post–human”. Pithy attempts at summing up important concepts, as you expect from me. And commentary on world affairs ― if the German Energiewende is intended to make that country irrelevant in the world, the newest EU policy announcement is a bold step in that direction for the whole bloc. (Minor glitch at the beginning)

ASFO 2023–03–04

Theatre of the Atom! What is it? Even I am not sure yet. Also, Mail Call! And your periodic reminder that something is horribly wrong with the humanity of this planet, and I want off. (This is a short show, because I ran out of time to edit it ― I have a whole segment about the Oklo Phenomenon recorded for future use. And I didn’t even make a “March Forth” pun!)

ASFO 2023–02–25

Ice cream is the next frontier of “climate action” as marketing campaign. The delicious flavour of Pykrete! Also, is the Internet becoming a vast Voynich Manuscript? and a reflection on the problem of lying down with dogs and getting up with fleas. Note : owing to an error on my part, this show was done several hours late, during the 0300 Sunday OpenMic block on aNONradio. Thanks to SDFer screwtape for recording it.

ASFO 2023–02–18

Charles Proteus Steinmetz is a name you should know. For generations Edison was lionized, now Tesla is cast as the romantic hero, but Steinmetz is always ignored. Yet, where would we be without him? Also, what does it mean that India has ordered 470 new large jetliners? The very necessary distinction between “renewable” and sustainable energy, and a reminder of the importance of quantitative thinking. And Mail Call!

Supplementary Show

2023–02–24 “Why Nuclear Power Should be Defended”, address given 1980–03–15 in Los Angeles by Professor Petr Beckmann, author of The Health Hazards of NOT Going Nuclear ― transferred from audiocassette

ASFO 2023–02–11

A Question, of the type I so love to pose. Also more about that cult I’m definitely not starting, and a brief aside regarding so–called generative artificial intelligence (also referred to as “regurgative AI” or “stochastic parrots”), with a plea to read Reflections on Trusting Trust. And I merely tease a dive into the wonderful world of the Oklo Phenomenon.

ASFO 2023–02–04

Power outage? Power outrage! And just like that, I’m back to talking about the Regulated Utility Model for applying private enterprise to furnishing public goods, and trying to examine its potential uses in fields as disparate as pharmaceuticals and housing. With a bonus mention of Jimmy McMillan, the guy who says The Rent Is Too Damn’ High! Also Mail Call.

Supplementary Show

  • 2023–02–07 More from Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience (Finney and Jones, eds) : Introduction to Section II, Demography and Economics : Growth of the Human Tribe ; Comments on Hodges’ “The Division of Labor”, by the editors (with a very different view of “artificial intelligence” from that exhibited by, say, ChatGPT) ; Introduction to Section III, Migrating Societies ; Introduction to Section IV, Speciation ; and a part of the Introduction to Section V, Is Anybody Home? (stopping at the beginning of the section on the “Fermi paradox”).
  • 2023–02–10 Probably the last I’ll read out of Interstellar Migration and the Human Experience (but perhaps you’ll be interested enough to seek out the book for yourself). Fermi’s Question, the Epilogue, and the short biographies of authors.

ASFO 2022–01–28

Graphite leads me to consider the problem of false mental world pictures, with a detour to boggle at the neologism elementeome. I interrogate just what it would mean for The Singularity to come in seven years. And, having considered “population control” from the standpoint of genocide last week, I look at it from the standpoint of eugenics ― which involves a closer examination of that concept. Also there may be just the slightest smidgeon of cult–starting.