I have to say this is some of the most shameful reporting I have seen in a major news outlet in my entire life. Multiple news outlets are reporting a “massive explosion” at the Fukushima nuclear power station in Japan. The implication being that there has been some kind of explosion within the reactor or that dangerous levels of radioactive fallout are present.
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The above CBS video starts off with footage of a very real and very dangerous fire that is burning out of control at an oil and gas refinery. At this time those flames do pose a very significant threat of producing a major explosion. There is some footage of the nuclear plant in the report as well and of billowing smoke that is being reported as an “explosion.”

In fact, this is not really an “explosion” in the normal sense of the word at all and it has nothing to do with the nuclear aspects of the plant. It appears to be the catastrophic failure of transformer equipment. Transformers are typically filled with large volumes of oil, which provides electrical insulation and helps to cool the transformer coils. If the transformer malfunctions, the oil can spill out or catch fire as a result of electrical arcs.

When the quake struck the power plant, it was producing electricity and many of the transformers were damaged. Transformer fires are known to produce large billowing clouds of smoke and sudden bursts of flames. The sudden eruption of fire may occur when the oil heats, either as a result of fire or a short circuit and eventually begins to boil. This will cause the oil to overflow the transformer and come out through vents. When this happens it immediately catches fire.

This is what is happening in this video. The transformer experiences a fault that causes it to overheat. Oil begins to burn slowly, but notice that after several seconds the oil has become so heated that it begins to spray out the top of the transformer. It ignites and creates a fireball.

This appears to be what happened at the Fukushima nuclear power station. Transformer fires can be very visually dramatic, but they’re also not terribly uncommon and because of this power plants are designed such that transformers are physically isolated from other important structures, assuring fire can be contained. While it may destroy the transformer, it is nothing that a power plant can’t handle. It poses no threat to the nuclear components of the power station.

UPDATED: A separate explosion, probably caused by hydrogen gas occurred within the reactor building but outside the containment structure of reactor number 1.

UPDATE: Additional information confirms that transformers have been damaged, this accounts for some of the reports of smoke and fires, however, reports also indicate that an explosion may have occurred as the result of hydrogen used to cool the generator coils at the plant. This explosion did not damage the nuclear reactors. Details are still sketchy.

UPDATE 2: Still no official word on whether there was indeed a localized hydrogen explosion. TEPCO reports all reactors appear to be in safe condition.

UPDATE 3:EPCO confirms white smoke seen at turbine building 1. Two workers injured, but extent is unknown. Appears to have been a relatively small explosion. TEPCO information indicates exact cause not known. Hydrogen explosion appears to be speculation at this point. May have also been a steam rupture.

UPDATE 4: Additional reports from Japanrse officials continue to point to hydrogen as the likely cause of the explosion at the TEPCO plant. It seems that the explosion occurred in pumping equipment and may signal that there was some kind of thermal reaction between the zirconium alloy cladding and cooling water.

At this point the Unit-1 core may have sustained extreme damage and the unit appears to be a likely write-off. The plant sustained enormous damage from the huge earthquake. Damage to the core does not itself put the public in danger but it is expensive. Repairing the plant is going to take a long time.

UPDATE 4: (3:45 EST) Reports from NEI and other sources confirm an explosion occurred within the reactor building but outside the main containment structure. The explosion happened in a service area above the reactor’s containment structure. The reactor is still perfectly safe within multiple layers of containment and is not in danger of a major breach or any radiological incident.

Further reports are that the reactor experienced at least a partial uncovering of fuel and that cooling is now being provided by borated seawater which is being pumped directly into the reactor vessel.

This is getting very bad (the reporting) and special interests and anti-nuke propaganda groups are coming out of the woodwork and being interviewed as “experts.” I urge readers to please contact news organizations and complain about the quality of this reporting. I have done so already, and while this kind of thing is not always effective, this is an extreme situation where pro-science activists need to mobilize.

To news organizations looking for real “experts” who can explain the workings of modern reactors and what is going on, some suggestions:

Rod Adams
Ted Rockwell
Kirk Sorenson
Jeremy Whitlock

As you probably know by now New Zealand has experienced a devastating earthquake centered near Christchurch. The death toll may be more than one hundred and thousands more are either homeless or left without power, water or other vital services.

A disaster of this scale will certainly result in an international relief effort, including the United States. With the world’s largest blue water navy and a massive air logistics force, the United States military has been called on numerous times to provide humanitarian and disaster relief services. Indeed, the US has already dispatched at least 300 rescuers to aid the recovery.

When called upon to help out in such circumstances one of the greatest assets of US forces has proven to be the Nimitz Class Supercarier. Although a potent weapon of war, the scale and unique capabilities of these carriers has proven equally capable in providing relief when catastrophe has struck and aid is needed rapidly.

Each carrier is over one thousand feet long and carries a compliment of more than three thousand. Despite their enormous size, these carriers are also very fast, with top speeds of over 30 knots. Unlike most other large ships they can travel at top speed for effectively unlimited distances without concern for the use of fuel. Carriers can be rapidly dispatched for new missions without first returning to port. New supplies can be ferried by aircraft while the carrier is under way, allowing weapons to be transported off and relief supplies to be brought onboard without ever having to slow down.

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The Chinese nuclear sector recently announced that it has begun a full-scale national reprocessing program intended to manage waste and improve energy independence. The following report describes it as a “breakthrough,” but this is really not accurate. The technology and methods have been established for some time. That said, the Chinese have been hard at work improving the economics and technical aspects of reprocessing, refining and improving existing processes.

The current LWR fuel cycle makes reprocessing a hit-or-miss economic proposition, although there have been some improvements. The economics are far better with more advanced reactors. In any case, it’s generally agreed by most nuclear experts that reprocessing will play an important part in future nuclear energy policy.

Unfortunately, even as China is moving forward, the United States and others are intentionally avoiding this technology. The US stopped all commercial reprocessing and most reprocessing research in the 1970’s based on the idiotic notion that it would somehow reduce global weapons proliferation. Reprocessing is being scaled back in the UK, primarily due to political concerns. In much of Europe, reprocessing is a taboo topic, although France still reprocesses the fuel of other countries on contract.

If the world rolls over to see China become the single superpower, it will be by our own choosing. We can do this. We used to. We just don’t now because too many people thought it was scary. As China’s energy needs grow, the country has turned to an energy policy founded on nuclear energy and advanced fuel cycles.

This should be a wake-up call to the rest of the world, especially the United States, which has wallowed in shameful fear for decades, resulting in it completely giving up the lead it once had in nuclear technology.

It seems that the “peaceful protesters” have dumped the whole idea of being peaceful and reached new levels of fanatical resistance as a train carrying nuclear materials has been repeatedly attacked, with tracks sabotaged and police assaulted on its route from France into Germany.

Via the Mail Online:

Riot police fire tear gas and water cannon at activists as anti-nuclear protests spill over into violence

Riot police used truncheons and teargas today to clear a rail line during violent clashes with activists trying to disrupt a shipment of nuclear waste in Germany.

Around 250 activists had tried to damage the track near a waste storage dump to halt a train carrying the nuclear material.

When police tried to stop them, they responded by firing flare guns and spraying officers with a chemical irritant.

A water cannon was brought in to deal with some of the activists, who were part of a larger group of around 4,000 protesters near the town of Leitstade.

Images broadcast on German television showed an armoured police car in flames after it was covered in tar and petrol bombs were thrown at it.

Lines of police officers stood along the rail line as they attempted to stop activists repeatedly removing gravel from under the rail tracks.

Television footage also showed helmet-clad officers punching and hitting activists with their batons.

The anti-nuclear groups out there have been working hard to spin this story into one of police brutality, with pictures of protesters being hosed with water cannons or pushed by riot gear-clad cops making headlines. It should therefore be noted that the protesters have been far from benign. The protesters, many wearing masks to hide their identities, have repeatedly sabotaged train tracks that are not used exclusively by this train. They have also thrown rocks, fired flare guns and used pepper spray against police and security attempting to clear the tracks or escort the train. In some incidents, protesters have even thrown fireworks at police.
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We often hear of how homeopathy or other alternative medicine offers something that “western” medicine can’t.   The fact of the matter is that modern science-based medicine is hardly a western phenomenon and quack medicine is not confided to traditional Asian or other Eastern medicine.   Countries like Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and increasingly China are on the cutting edge or real, science-based medicine, but just like the rest of the world, the East faces a serious problem with quackery.

Homeopathy, of course, is actually a concept that originated in Germany, although it has spread worldwide and has taken root everywhere from India to the UK.    Doctors and health officials around the world, whether they are America, British or Japanese all have to deal with the continued threats of ignorance-based quackery, even as real medicine continues to improve.

Recent comments by officials in Japan really highlight the international problem that quackery has become.

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You may have heard by now that a man entered the Maryland offices of Discovery Communications, the parent company of The Discovery Channel, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Animal Planet and several other television channels.   The man carried firearms and had explosives strapped to his body, which he threatened to detonate.   The standoff ended when police sharp-shooters managed to shoot and kill the suspect.

The man, James E. Lee, had been protesting the programing of the Discovery Channel and its other networks, including programs which documented children and families.   These include reality tv shows like “Kate Plus 8” and “19 Kids and Counting.” You can read more in this LA Times Article.

What is especially disturbing about this incident is the motivation of Mr. Lee, which he made very clear on his website savetheplanetprotest.com Lee had previously protested at the building and elsewhere and had been arrested for disorderly conduct related to his protest activities.

There’s a good liklihood that the website will be taken down in the near future, so I am copying the entirety of the site, which consists of one page of text.   The page is titled “My Demands”

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Saunas are very hot rooms where people go to induce sweating and relaxation.  They have a long tradition of use in Nordic countries, especially Finland.  It has been claimed that sauna use helps to rid the body of toxins.  While this claim is fairly dubious, there’s no disputing that saunas can be relaxing and do seem to help relax tense muscles and may offer some relief to the symptoms of certain conditions, such as reducing nasal congestion.

However, under no circumstances should a person attempt to stay in a sauna for an extended period of time.  If the heat reaches the point of discomfort, one should leave the sauna immediately.  Spending more than about fifteen minutes (depending on the temperature) should be avoided.   The temperatures reached by saunas (as much as 170  F or 80 C) can easily cause hyperthermia, dehydration and possibly fatal conditions.  Also, under no circumstances should a sauna be modified to operate at extremely high temperatures.   Operating  sauna at an ambient temperature above the boiling point of water is insanity, as it can cause immediate scalding of the body to anyone who enters.

And trying to stay in a sauna as long as you can stand it?   That’s just idiotic!

Well, that message was apparently lost on some in Finland, who decided to hold a “world sauna championship.”  Now one competitor is dead and another is being treated for full body scalding. (OUCH)

Via NPR:

Russian Man Dies In Searing Heat At Sauna Contest
A Russian man trying to win the Sauna World Championships died after collapsing with severe burns in the final stage of an event that required contestants to sit in a 230-degree (110 Celsius) room as water was tossed onto a searing stove, officials and witnesses said.

Vladimir Ladyzhenskiy, an amateur wrestler who was in his 60s, was pronounced dead late Saturday after he collapsed alongside reigning champion Timo Kaukonen of Finland roughly six minutes into the final round.

Nearly 1,000 spectators had gathered in the southern Finnish town of Heinola to watch 130 competitors from 15 countries, waving flags and cheering on the contestants before medical workers pulled the shaking and bleeding men out of the sauna.

Video footage shows workers pouring cold water over the two men and administering first aid as organizers tried to cover up the scene and calm spectators.

The men were bleeding from what appeared to be severe burns, said Hakon Eikesdal, a photographer with the Norwegian daily Dagbladet.

Ladyzhenskiy headed a charity fund in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk. The fund’s spokesman Konstantin Kruglyansky told the LifeNews daily that his family has demanded an investigation into his death.

Kaukonen, about 40, was hospitalized in stable condition Sunday, contest spokesman Ossi Arvela said.

The annual contest had been held since 1999. It will never be held again, Arvela said.

Half a liter (a pint) of water is added to the stove every 30 seconds and the last person to remain in the sauna is the winner.

There was no prize other than “some small things” Arvela said. He declined to provide details.

Eikesdal said Kaukonen — the defending world champion — had refused to leave the sauna despite getting sick and that organizers had to force the men out.

Sauna bathing is a popular pastime in the Nordic countries and Russia, but especially in Finland, which has an estimated 1.6 million saunas for a population of 5 million people. Temperatures are normally kept around 158 to 176 degrees (70-80 degrees Celsius).

What are these people thinking?!?!!
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Back from The Amazing Meeting 8, which was indeed Amazing, I’ve found a pile of work to get to even as I get over the modest jetlag that traveling across three time zones will cause.   Luckilly, I don’t have to describe the event all by myself because others have.   Better still, my friends at the Greater Edmonton Skeptics Society (GESS) have put together a roundup of links from other blogs and news sites describing the amazing events of the Amazing Meeting!

Check it out here

I’ve always felt especially privileged to have met Carl Sagan, if only very briefly and to have seen one of his fantastic lectures while he as alive. For a while I’ve been looking for any photographs or video from that lecture (I distinctly remember that there were cameras), but as of yet I’ve been unable to find any.

However I did recently find this news article from the Schenectady Daily Gazette.
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I was able to confirm the date of the lecture as being October 3, 1994. This news item was published the next day. I was only 12 years old at the time and certainly did not appreciate the importance of who I was seeing nor did I (or anyone there) realize how little time Carl Sagan had left. I do, however, distinctly remember many of the things he spoke of and especially how he answered audience questions, with more insight than a short answer, although I was not lucky enough to be picked for one.

One week ago today I attended NECSS, the North East Conference on Science and Skepticism. The event was held in New York City and attracted several hundred local science and skepticism enthusiasts. All in all it was a great event, both for the presentations and for the general crowd and socialization which occurs between lectures and panels and after the formal event.   This was the second NECSS conference, the first one being held back in October of 2009.

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe did a live podcast to kick off the event and were followed by a number of different panels and speakers.   I was happy to see James Randi was able to make it to the event.  Mr. Randi is one of the most outspoken and iconic members of the skeptical movement.  Randi helped found what is currently the modern skeptical community back in the 1970’s, a time when a lot of questionable research was beginning to come back into vogue.

Randi is the type whose always ready and willing to attend any event that can help increase education and awareness.  Last year he had planned on attending NECSS but had to cancel and appeared only in a pre-taped video due to his health problems.   At the time Mr. Randi had just been diagnosed with colon cancer and had to have a section of his large intestine removed.   This was followed by chemotherapy for several months.   Thankfully, Mr. Randi was looking perfectly at NECSS last week and it appears that the cancer was taken care of before it could spread and become a bigger problem.

As with last year, the event was MC’ed by Jamy Ian Swiss and featured the talent of George Hrab.  D.J. Gorthe, the program director of the Center for Inquiry and president of the JREF also contributed as did Steve Mirsky of Scientific American.

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