Today I Learned

[mfb]

You seem to be saying that, despite nuclear disasters, nuclear is overall safer than coal in terms of radiation. What's missing from that, in my understanding of the situation, is the fact that the after effects of nuclear disasters are mitigated by evacuating huge numbers of people, while no one gets evacuated from the vicinity of coal plants. In other words, it is not that radiation from nuclear disasters are slightly less bad than coal radiation, it is the fact special measures are taken after nuclear disasters that aren't taken with the much less concentrated ongoing coal radiation that skews the statistics. Local poisoning from radiation was much worse at Chernobyl and Fukushima than what those places received from coal radiation, therefore, evacuation was in order. Evacuation took place, and the natural consequences of the concentrated radiation was avoided.

To summarize: concentrated radiation is better because you can avoid it with reasonable effort. That is my point.
Maybe it is clearer with an example. Consider the following two scenarios:
- you know a meteorite will hit 1 out of 1 billion houses and kill everyone in that house but no one outside. You do not know which house will be hit, so evacuation is not an option - everyone has to live with a higher risk.
- you know precisely which house the meteorite will hit. If you do nothing, the effect would be the same, the inhabitants of one house are killed. But you can do better! You can evacuate this house.

Coal is so bad for so many reasons it hardly constitutes a viable alternative to nuclear.

Well, it is used as alternative.

 

[zoobyshoe]

To summarize: concentrated radiation is better because you can avoid it with reasonable effort. That is my point.

OK, I now understand that was your point. I have to disagree, though, because evacuation is extremely traumatic:

Effects on evacuees[edit]

In the former Soviet Union, many patients with negligible radioactive exposure after the Chernobyl disaster displayed extreme anxiety about radiation exposure. They developed many psychosomatic problems, including radiophobia along with an increase in fatalistic alcoholism. As Japanese health and radiation specialist Shunichi Yamashita noted:[230]

We know from Chernobyl that the psychological consequences are enormous. Life expectancy of the evacuees dropped from 65 to 58 years -- not [predominantly] because of cancer, but because of depression, alcoholism and suicide. Relocation is not easy, the stress is very big. We must not only track those problems, but also treat them. Otherwise people will feel they are just guinea pigs in our research.[230]

A survey by the Iitate local government obtained responses from approximately 1,743 evacuees within the evacuation zone. The survey showed that many residents are experiencing growing frustration, instability and an inability to return to their earlier lives. Sixty percent of respondents stated that their health and the health of their families had deteriorated after evacuating, while 39.9% reported feeling more irritated compared to before the disaster.[231]

Summarizing all responses to questions related to evacuees' current family status, one-third of all surveyed families live apart from their children, while 50.1% live away from other family members (including elderly parents) with whom they lived before the disaster. The survey also showed that 34.7% of the evacuees have suffered salary cuts of 50% or more since the outbreak of the nuclear disaster. A total of 36.8% reported a lack of sleep, while 17.9% reported smoking or drinking more than before they evacuated.[231]

Stress often manifests in physical ailments, including behavioral changes such as poor dietary choices, lack of exercise and sleep deprivation. Survivors, including some who lost homes, villages and family members, were found likely to face mental health and physical challenges. Much of the stress came from lack of information and from relocation.[232]

A survey computed that of some 300,000 evacuees, approximately 1,600 deaths related to the evacuation conditions, such as living in temporary housing and hospital closures that had occurred as of August 2013, a number comparable to the 1,599 deaths directly caused by the earthquake and tsunami in the Prefecture. The exact causes of these evacuation related deaths were not specified, because according to the municipalities, that would hinder relatives applying for compensation.[28][233]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fukushima_Daiichi_nuclear_disaster#Effects_on_evacuees

 

[mfb]

I have to disagree, though, because evacuation is extremely traumatic:

It should be done only if the negative effects of radiation would be worse than the negative effects of evacuation, of course.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Today I learned scientists at Cal-Tech think they might have found evidence of a hitherto undiscovered large planet in our solar system:

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/9th-planet-may-lurk-in-the-outer-solar-system-160120.htm

 

[fresh_42]

What really astonishes me is that one scientist gave it a 0.007% probability for not being number 10. (I like Pluto.)

 

[mfb]

What really astonishes me is that one scientist gave it a 0.007% probability for not being number 10. (I like Pluto.)

That is not what they did. They say the probability of a random arrangement as signficant as observed in the particular properties they look at is 0.007%.
Look at 10000 sets of parameters and the chance to find a 0.007% coincidence among them is about 50%.
Roll a die multiple times, let's say the results are "42556235". The probability to get exactly this series is less than 0.007%. How unlikely was that?

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned a technical investing term. When the stock market falls a lot, then recovers a bit, then continues merrily falling, it's called a dead cat bounce.

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned a technical investing term. When the stock market falls a lot, then recovers a bit, then continues merrily falling, it's called a dead cat bounce.

The analysts' passion for charts and their interpretations of them always remind me on astrology, homeopathy and other esoteric non-sense.
Same stupid stuff since Pythagoras. I call them chartists. It's as reliable as weather lore are and as soon as they unexpectedly change they have another explanation along the new lines at hand.

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Today I learned that the air's temperature and humidity influence the formation and shapes of snowflakes.

 

[jtbell]

Today I learned that one of Scott Walker's predecessors as governor of Wisconsin suggested a new slogan for the state's vehicle license plates:

http://www.nytimes.com/1985/12/08/us/wisconsin-s-license-plates-won-t-say-eat-cheese-or-die.html

 

[Boolean Boogey]

Today I learned some numbers are vampires.

125460 = 204 × 615 = 246 × 510
13078260 = 1620 × 8073 = 1863 × 7020 = 2070 × 6318
16758243290880 = 1982736 × 8452080 = 2123856 × 7890480 = 2751840 × 6089832 = 2817360 × 5948208
24959017348650 = 2947050 × 8469153 = 2949705 × 8461530 = 4125870 × 6049395 = 4129587 × 6043950 = 4230765 × 5899410

I should be able to have a career where I play around with recreational number theory all day.

 

[fresh_42]

Today I learned some numbers are vampires.

125460 = 204 × 615 = 246 × 510
13078260 = 1620 × 8073 = 1863 × 7020 = 2070 × 6318
16758243290880 = 1982736 × 8452080 = 2123856 × 7890480 = 2751840 × 6089832 = 2817360 × 5948208
24959017348650 = 2947050 × 8469153 = 2949705 × 8461530 = 4125870 × 6049395 = 4129587 × 6043950 = 4230765 × 5899410

I should be able to have a career where I play around with recreational number theory all day.

Here some food:
$2^n+7^n+8^n+18^n+19^n+24^n = 3^n+4^n+12^n+14^n+22^n+23^n \;∀\, n∈\{0,1,...,5\}$

I'm still asking myself: Who found this? And why? And is he still at good health?

 

[Boolean Boogey]

Here some food:
$2^n+7^n+8^n+18^n+19^n+24^n = 3^n+4^n+12^n+14^n+22^n+23^n ∀ n∈\{0,1,...,5\}$

I'm still asking myself: Who found this? And why? And is he still at good health?

Oh man I love that. That's going in my nerdy notebook.

 

[alan4903]

Today, I learned that going gluten free leads to no benefits in healthy people.

 

[Sophia]

According to conference in Davos, 2 million people will lose their jobs because of robotisation in next 5 years.

 

[Boolean Boogey]

According to conference in Davos, 2 million people will lose their jobs because of robotisation in next 5 years.

From what fields? I am assuming areas like fast food?

 

[OmCheeto]

From what fields? I am assuming areas like fast food?

From the article I just read:

Davos 2016: More than 5 million jobs will be lost to robots by 2020 says WEF* study
January 19, 2016

Jobs Lost
4,759,000 clerical/administration
1,609,000 Manufacturing and production
497,000 Construction and mining
151,000 Sports and creative industries
109,000 Lawyers
40,000 Mechanics/maintenance
-------
7,165,000 total

Jobs Created
492,000 Banking, accounting, insurance
416,000 Management
405,000 IT/data analysis
339,000 Architecture and engineering
303,000 Sales
66,000 Teaching and training
-------
2,021,000 total

net loss 5,144,000

It looks like the Luddites were about 200 years too early.

wiki on the Luddites; The Luddites were 19th-century English textile workers (or self-employed weavers who feared the end of their trade) who protested against newly developed labour-economizing technologies, primarily between 1811 and 1816.​

It will be interesting to see how AI shifts the job markets in the future, once it really gets going.*WEF: World Economic Forum
wiki on the WEF; The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a Swiss nonprofit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva. Recognized by the Swiss authorities as the international institution for public-private cooperation, its mission is cited as "committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas".

 

[mfb]

Today I learned: There are papers about sheep collisions.
(from @Dr. Courtney).

 

[Silicon Waffle]

Thanks to Moon, today I learned about placental hormones.
and this poem is for Moon:

Out of the mud grows the lotus
It's not the lotus that does it.
Out of the egg comes the chick
It’s not the chick that does it
These are things I’ve realized
And that, too, I didn’t do.

 

[Psinter]

Today I learned there exist plants with things called psychoactive alkaloids.

Alkaloids - Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms.
-Wikipedia

A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alterations in perception, mood, or consciousness.
-Wikipedia

I must be careful then when making teas. I don't want my brain function to be changed.

 

[WWGD]

Today I learned there exist plants with things called psychoactive alkaloids.

I must be careful then when making teas. I don't want my brain function to be changed.

Actually, just about anything you do changes your brain function, though not necessarily in a radical way. The changes in brain states are needed to adapt to a changing world.

 

[Sophia]

Today I learned there exist plants with things called psychoactive alkaloids.

I must be careful then when making teas. I don't want my brain function to be changed.

Is there a difference between these alkaloids and those chemicals present in traditional drugs?

 

[Psinter]

Actually, just about anything you do changes your brain function, though not necessarily in a radical way. The changes in brain states are needed to adapt to a changing world.

Thanks for that tip.

Is there a difference between these alkaloids and those chemicals present in traditional drugs?

It says the difference is that some traditional drugs use them as base. I'm guessing they are different in some drugs and the same in others.

 

[zoobyshoe]

It says the difference is that some traditional drugs use them as base.

But what is the article referring to when it says "traditional?" It's "traditional" for some Native Americans to eat peyote cacti as part of ritual ceremonies in order to induce 'mystical experiences,' in other words: hallucinations, highly altered perceptions, and extremely out-of-the-box states of mind. A person on peyote is essentially helpless and has to be watched over by a shaman. Naturally psychoactive plants (and there are a lot of them) are, consequently, extremely dangerous. They definitely produce radical mental alterations.

 

[Psinter]

But what is the article referring to when it says "traditional?"

It says here that it means this. Look:

Alkaloids - Many have found use in traditional or modern medicine, or as starting points for drug discovery.

But I bet Sophia and I meant normal drugs used by doctors.

Naturally psychoactive plants (and there are a lot of them) are, consequently, extremely dangerous. They definitely produce radical mental alterations.

Yup. Just what I was thinking! That's why I used the little face: And said I must be careful when making teas. I most definitely don't want to hallucinate.

 

[zoobyshoe]

And said I must be careful when making teas. I most definitely don't want to hallucinate.

You are not making tea from random, unknown plants are you?

 

[Hornbein]

Natural drug plants often have a complicated mixture of alkaloids while synthesized alkaloids are pure.

 

[Psinter]

You are not making tea from random, unknown plants are you?

Nope, I would never... Well... I may have... Only once... Deep in the forest a plant smelled really good and was different from everything around it. But they are probably unknown only to me. Scientists must have written something about them somewhere. I just have to look for it and educate myself.

 

[Sophia]

I've just read in the newspaper that there have been several cases where toddlers got swollen breasts after their parents gave them baby food containing meat from foreign chickens. The chickens were fed with growth hormones and large doses of antibiotics.
It is recommended that people don't buy cheap meat from central and south America that have been not properly checked. This is not commonly sold here as fresh meat, but it can be included in processed products where people don't expect it.
The case is now investigated by veterinary police.

 

[Dr. Courtney]

I've just read in the newspaper that there have been several cases where toddlers got swollen breasts after their parents gave them baby food containing meat from foreign chickens. The chickens were fed with growth hormones and large doses of antibiotics.
It is recommended that people don't buy cheap meat from central and south America that have been not properly checked. This is not commonly sold here as fresh meat, but it can be included in processed products where people don't expect it.
The case is now investigated by veterinary police.

Recommended by who? The CDC or FDA or someone authority we should listen to? Or some fringe group of alarmists peddling pseudoscience?

I don't want your arguments or reasoning. I want to know if you can show your assertions are backed by reliable sources.