Glowing Health

Too bad the brave, and mostly unsung, heroes of Chernobyl who took the lethal load to seal that thing up didn't have this available to them.  It may amp things up so that folks with cancer can take higher loads of ionizing radiation without harming themselves. Very cool if it all works out.

New Drug Protects Against Radiation Damage - Scientific American - 11 Apr 08

"A new drug may protect healthy tissue during cancer-killing radiation treatments or other exposures. Molecular geneticist Andrei Gudkov and colleagues report in Science this week that they protected mice from the cell-damaging effects of radiation by injecting them with a compound that helps cells resist apoptosis, or self-destruction."

Glowing Health

Too bad the brave, and mostly unsung, heroes of Chernobyl who took the lethal load to seal that thing up didn't have this available to them.  It may amp things up so that folks with cancer can take higher loads of ionizing radiation without harming themselves. Very cool if it all works out.

New Drug Protects Against Radiation Damage - Scientific American - 11 Apr 08

"A new drug may protect healthy tissue during cancer-killing radiation treatments or other exposures. Molecular geneticist Andrei Gudkov and colleagues report in Science this week that they protected mice from the cell-damaging effects of radiation by injecting them with a compound that helps cells resist apoptosis, or self-destruction."

Little Moves, Collective Progress

Sometimes people are frozen by the scale of the environmental problems we face.  Here's an example of a renewable energy step that can be taken personally without a massive economic risk.  The economic analysis is a simple one. Too simple, imo.

Take You[r] Spare Room Off-Grid - The Ecologist - 11 Apr 08

"So there you have it, for less than $1300 (£702.70), you have taken one room off grid, and eliminated $0.09 / day (600wh’s x $0.15 kWh) of grid electric, giving you a 40 year payback ($1300 / $0.09 = 14444 days / 365 = 39.6 years). And if electricity prices rise faster than inflation, which they will, the payback is much faster. In fact you get the double benefit of having made one room Kyoto-compliant, AND saving money."

A little story about PV durability. I dropped by the UN-L agriculture research farm at Mead, Nebraska back in 1977 to check out a new project they were working on. Some fellows from MIT (Lincoln Lab) were putting up this, then, huge array of 25 kW of PV as an irrigation demonstration. I chatted them up a bit. One motivation was to give them a bit of a hard time on the specific type of technology being used. That didn't go over real well. You'd think I'd asked them about their defense contracting or something.

The huge expense of the project was also a bit annoying to me. (Did I mention something about defense contracting?) A mere one million bucks that could have better been used on more R&D.

These panels went on the surplus market after ten years of often stop-banging Nebraska weather. Home Power Magazine picked up a couple of these panels for relatively cheap and tested them to see how much they'd degraded.

"Things that STILL Work!" - Home Power Tests an Ancient PV Panel

"When someone tells you that PV panels are a lifetime investment, he's telling you the truth.  While we can estimate their lifetimes in decades, the proof of the pudding can only be found over time.  This particular panel has spent over 10 years working its silicon heart out.  And it's still producing more power than its original rating!"

Little Moves, Collective Progress

Sometimes people are frozen by the scale of the environmental problems we face.  Here's an example of a renewable energy step that can be taken personally without a massive economic risk.  The economic analysis is a simple one. Too simple, imo.

Take You[r] Spare Room Off-Grid - The Ecologist - 11 Apr 08

"So there you have it, for less than $1300 (£702.70), you have taken one room off grid, and eliminated $0.09 / day (600wh’s x $0.15 kWh) of grid electric, giving you a 40 year payback ($1300 / $0.09 = 14444 days / 365 = 39.6 years). And if electricity prices rise faster than inflation, which they will, the payback is much faster. In fact you get the double benefit of having made one room Kyoto-compliant, AND saving money."

A little story about PV durability. I dropped by the UN-L agriculture research farm at Mead, Nebraska back in 1977 to check out a new project they were working on. Some fellows from MIT (Lincoln Lab) were putting up this, then, huge array of 25 kW of PV as an irrigation demonstration. I chatted them up a bit. One motivation was to give them a bit of a hard time on the specific type of technology being used. That didn't go over real well. You'd think I'd asked them about their defense contracting or something.

The huge expense of the project was also a bit annoying to me. (Did I mention something about defense contracting?) A mere one million bucks that could have better been used on more R&D.

These panels went on the surplus market after ten years of often stop-banging Nebraska weather. Home Power Magazine picked up a couple of these panels for relatively cheap and tested them to see how much they'd degraded.

"Things that STILL Work!" - Home Power Tests an Ancient PV Panel

"When someone tells you that PV panels are a lifetime investment, he's telling you the truth.  While we can estimate their lifetimes in decades, the proof of the pudding can only be found over time.  This particular panel has spent over 10 years working its silicon heart out.  And it's still producing more power than its original rating!"

Down and Out in Torness

Maybe the Brits can still give one of their neighbors in Europe a gift that keeps giving. Tip o' the hat to the sensible Scots in opposition.

Blow for British Energy Deal Hopes as Torness Generator is Shut Down - The Times (UK) - 15 Apr 08

"The long-running bid process for British Energy has suffered a fresh blow after it emerged that the group was forced to shut down one of its largest power-producing units.  Unit 1 of British Energy's Torness reactor was taken out on Saturday for an unspecified length of time, highlighting the company's ageing, problematic infrastructure.  The shutdown is a setback because it raises questions over the valuation of British Energy's assets and the cost of keeping them in operation until they are retired. "

Shutdown at Nuclear Power Station as Reactor is Repaired - Edinburgh Evening News - 15 Apr 08

"The shutdown has reduced Scotland's nuclear energy output to a quarter of capacity, as both reactors at Hunterston in Ayrshire are currently closed for planned maintenance. It is the eighth stoppage at Torness in the last year, raising fears that it may not reach its expected closing date in 2023. Opposition parties today said the problems at the East Lothian plant were evidence of a 'looming power gap', and called for the Scottish Government to step up its commitment to renewable energy."

Around here "elected" means there was an actual choice (not counting Ohio 2004 and Florida 2000).

Merely a flesh wound says the knight. We planned it this way.

British Energy Torness Unit 1 Reactor Shut Down Because of Leak - TradingMarkets.com - 15 Apr 08

"British Energy Group's chief executive Bill Coley said that Unit 1 of the Torness reactor was shut down on Friday because of a 'small leak', but he did not give details of when it would come back on line.  He said that the company 'elected to take the reactor offline' after seeing the leak, saying that the outage was planned."

Down and Out in Torness

Maybe the Brits can still give one of their neighbors in Europe a gift that keeps giving. Tip o' the hat to the sensible Scots in opposition.

Blow for British Energy Deal Hopes as Torness Generator is Shut Down - The Times (UK) - 15 Apr 08

"The long-running bid process for British Energy has suffered a fresh blow after it emerged that the group was forced to shut down one of its largest power-producing units.  Unit 1 of British Energy's Torness reactor was taken out on Saturday for an unspecified length of time, highlighting the company's ageing, problematic infrastructure.  The shutdown is a setback because it raises questions over the valuation of British Energy's assets and the cost of keeping them in operation until they are retired. "

Shutdown at Nuclear Power Station as Reactor is Repaired - Edinburgh Evening News - 15 Apr 08

"The shutdown has reduced Scotland's nuclear energy output to a quarter of capacity, as both reactors at Hunterston in Ayrshire are currently closed for planned maintenance. It is the eighth stoppage at Torness in the last year, raising fears that it may not reach its expected closing date in 2023. Opposition parties today said the problems at the East Lothian plant were evidence of a 'looming power gap', and called for the Scottish Government to step up its commitment to renewable energy."

Around here "elected" means there was an actual choice (not counting Ohio 2004 and Florida 2000).

Merely a flesh wound says the knight. We planned it this way.

British Energy Torness Unit 1 Reactor Shut Down Because of Leak - TradingMarkets.com - 15 Apr 08

"British Energy Group's chief executive Bill Coley said that Unit 1 of the Torness reactor was shut down on Friday because of a 'small leak', but he did not give details of when it would come back on line.  He said that the company 'elected to take the reactor offline' after seeing the leak, saying that the outage was planned."

A Big "Git-R-Done" to Austin

As long as gas stays as high as it is now (and there's little indication it will be heading south soon), we can expect a LOT of development in EV tech.  This is very good news for renewables as a power source.  Storage good, Igor.

Austin is Abuzz with Technology in the Electric Car Market - Austin American-Statesman - 14 Apr 08

"ZENN Motor Co. Inc. of Toronto last month said it would roll out an electric car in the fall of 2009: a real car, top speed 80 miles per hour. You could even take it on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1). And it recharges in a few minutes.

The car, called ZENN for 'zero emissions, no noise,' will use an energy storage device from EEStor Inc., a small, well-funded company nestled in a nondescript business center in Cedar Park.  EEStor has developed a new method for making ultracapacitors, batterylike devices that can store large amounts of electricity — enough to power a car for 300 miles, according to the company's patent."

A Big "Git-R-Done" to Austin

As long as gas stays as high as it is now (and there's little indication it will be heading south soon), we can expect a LOT of development in EV tech.  This is very good news for renewables as a power source.  Storage good, Igor.

Austin is Abuzz with Technology in the Electric Car Market - Austin American-Statesman - 14 Apr 08

"ZENN Motor Co. Inc. of Toronto last month said it would roll out an electric car in the fall of 2009: a real car, top speed 80 miles per hour. You could even take it on MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1). And it recharges in a few minutes.

The car, called ZENN for 'zero emissions, no noise,' will use an energy storage device from EEStor Inc., a small, well-funded company nestled in a nondescript business center in Cedar Park.  EEStor has developed a new method for making ultracapacitors, batterylike devices that can store large amounts of electricity — enough to power a car for 300 miles, according to the company's patent."

"Civil Nuclear Rights" ala the State Capitalist Model

Nuclear proliferation.  It's not just for the big guys anymore.  More on the Rokkasho anti-nuke event.

Japanese Anti-Nuke Activists Protest French PM - World War 4 Report - 13 Apr 08

"Undaunted, Fillon turned the occasion into a booster session for the Franco-Japanese nuclear partnership, and the nuclear industry in general. 'It is important France and Japan are the spokesnations of the reasonable use of nuclear on a global scale,' he told reporters.

He said it would be would be 'a political mistake' to refuse emerging economies access to what the French news agency AFP perversely termed (not making clear if its was directly quoting Fillon) 'civil nuclear rights.' (As we have stated before: Nuclear development should appropriately be viewed not as a 'right', but as a bad idea—in fact, a violation of the human right to freedom from radiation, and the anti-democratic measures which are the inevitable concomitant of nuclear power.)"

'Step by step, by respecting all the security rules, we would like to bring developing nations toward mastery of these technologies,' Fillon added. 'It is a very important political trend.'"

"Civil Nuclear Rights" ala the State Capitalist Model

Nuclear proliferation.  It's not just for the big guys anymore.  More on the Rokkasho anti-nuke event.

Japanese Anti-Nuke Activists Protest French PM - World War 4 Report - 13 Apr 08

"Undaunted, Fillon turned the occasion into a booster session for the Franco-Japanese nuclear partnership, and the nuclear industry in general. 'It is important France and Japan are the spokesnations of the reasonable use of nuclear on a global scale,' he told reporters.

He said it would be would be 'a political mistake' to refuse emerging economies access to what the French news agency AFP perversely termed (not making clear if its was directly quoting Fillon) 'civil nuclear rights.' (As we have stated before: Nuclear development should appropriately be viewed not as a 'right', but as a bad idea—in fact, a violation of the human right to freedom from radiation, and the anti-democratic measures which are the inevitable concomitant of nuclear power.)"

'Step by step, by respecting all the security rules, we would like to bring developing nations toward mastery of these technologies,' Fillon added. 'It is a very important political trend.'"

Electric Bike and Web Project Continuing Sagas

It was a nice day here in Lincoln although the wind was wicked. I mean knock-you-on-your-butt-if-you-aren't-careful wicked.

Fortunately my electric bike came to the rescue and I was not only buzzing into the wind nicely but up the hills to a favorite coffeehouse for an afternoon of reading and note taking for a project I'm working on. That trip was going well until all of sudden I lost power (fortunately just before the destination and after most of the hills).

I had my Swiss Army knife with Phillips-head screwdriver tool, like a proper nerd, and since I knew I'd been having what seems like a loose electrical connection on the bike, I popped the lid (underneath the to of the bike rack to surface) and pulled all the wiring out and gave it a once over. What a rat's nest!

( Good, bad and the so-so... )

On the good side for today, I sorted out a major web design problem that had been vexing me for quite a while. The time at the coffeehouse with this new web design reference work was well spent. I'm all wound up now that I have those issues settled. After being lost in the woods, it's always exciting to find a footpath that you know will allow you to make some headway.

Also sent my taxes in. Small victories. I'll take them where I get them.

Electric Bike and Web Project Continuing Sagas

It was a nice day here in Lincoln although the wind was wicked. I mean knock-you-on-your-butt-if-you-aren't-careful wicked.

Fortunately my electric bike came to the rescue and I was not only buzzing into the wind nicely but up the hills to a favorite coffeehouse for an afternoon of reading and note taking for a project I'm working on. That trip was going well until all of sudden I lost power (fortunately just before the destination and after most of the hills).

I had my Swiss Army knife with Phillips-head screwdriver tool, like a proper nerd, and since I knew I'd been having what seems like a loose electrical connection on the bike, I popped the lid (underneath the to of the bike rack to surface) and pulled all the wiring out and gave it a once over. What a rat's nest!

( Good, bad and the so-so... )

On the good side for today, I sorted out a major web design problem that had been vexing me for quite a while. The time at the coffeehouse with this new web design reference work was well spent. I'm all wound up now that I have those issues settled. After being lost in the woods, it's always exciting to find a footpath that you know will allow you to make some headway.

Also sent my taxes in. Small victories. I'll take them where I get them.