In the past I’ve made a number of posts and videos mentioning the fact that uranium is a rather common mineral and that it’s been used in a number of consumer products.   Indeed, thousands of kitchen cabinets contain uranium-glazed dinnerware, some of which was mass produced as recently as the 1980’s.

This has been met with a curious response on numerous occasions.   Many concede that uranium is not all that harmful when touched or even ingested but then say “but what about the nano-particles.”   The dust, or “nanoparticles” resulting from uranium combustion are one thing that seems to come up again and again.  They are often credited with nearly magical properties, like the ability to stay suspended in the air indefinitely or to cause horrible health problems even in those far from the location where the uranium projectile was fired.

Indeed uranium tends to be more hazardous when inhaled than when exposure is by other routes, but that’s the extent of the truth to these statements.  Uranium is hardly unique in this respect.  Exposure to dust in general can cause respiratory problems, and certain metallic particles, such as beryllium, are well known to be especially hazardous if inhaled.   By comparison, uranium less dangerous, though it can be a hazard in high concentrations.

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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

Starting a blog can be pretty frustrating.  For the first few weeks (or more) there are few visitors and even fewer comments, which really makes it feel like you’re posting to a vacuum.   So when someone starts a blog that advocates things like nuclear energy, better enviornmental policy, human health and those kind of things, it’s always a good idea to support it and help it get going.

So why not do that for our friend Robert Steinhaus who has a brand-spankin-new blog called “Yottawatts From Thorium.” It’s worth a read anyway and although it only has a few posts up thus far, I’m sure we’ll be seeing more insightful and top-notch posts in the near future.

A very important announcement:

A fellow nuclear energy promoter and very knowledgeable about the subject, Rod Adams has one hell of an engine design, one hell of a mustache and is one hell of a guy.  Rod knows how reliable and safe nuclear reactors are because he used to live next to one, while under hundreds of feet of ice cold sea water, no less!  He’s a very smart and knowledgeable nuker and runs an excellent site that is informative and occasionally shows his excellent sense of humor.    Above all else, he’s always very insightful.

Why am I mentioning this?   Because it’s his birthday!

A BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ROD ADAMS

A very interesting read from cracked.com “The 6 Most Frequently Quoted Bullshit Animal Facts.”   It outlines the classics like the myth that lemmings commit suicide or that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when scared.   It  also has some fascinating information on just where these myths come from and why they’re not true.   One thing I’ve always been taken by is just how easy it can be to start a myth that is nearly impossible to kill.   In some cases, these bogus facts can be traced back to a single individual or publication that got the whole idea started.

Definately worth a look!

For some good information debunking the ridiculous “chemtrail” claims that have been made as of late, I highly recommend the website Contrail Science.   Even if you happen to be the rational type, who really does not need any more information to be convinced that chemtrails are just crazy, the site still has some interesting information on the science and history of contrails.

In addition to information debunking chemtrails, you can also find spectacular historic and modern photos of contrails and related aviation and meteorological interest.   One of my favorite posts was one that did an excellent post debunking a local news story that claimed to have found barium being sprayed by government aircraft.

It should not be much of a surprise, however, that any effort to dispell silly myths with some good science and common sense would attract some angry responses by conspiracy theorists who insist that the author is either blind or part of the conspiracy

Here are a few:

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Google Sketchup is a 3d drawing and illustration program like none you’ve ever seen before. It’s about the fastest, easiest, most self-explanatory, simple 3D tools I’ve used before. That’s because Sketchup is designed and operated in a much different way that any other 3D program I’ve seen before. Most 3D design tools owe their lineage to CAD software, and for that reason they’re really designed for precise, step-by-step drawing of well scaled, detailed and precise figures for mechanical or architectural use. There’s often as much typing of commands as there is mouse-clicks. (Also, it’s FREE)

But Sketchup is much different. It is designed for freehanded drawing and creation of 3D objects and worlds. It has a “tape-measure” as a measuring tool, but by and large it’s click-drag-draw and eyeball the dimensions and layout. This is combined with some very useful geometric tools allow for easy scaling, dividing and aligning of components. It’s a ball to make simple and complex figures and the models are rendered in real time, even on a relatively lackluster computer, allowing you to pan, tilt, zoom and fly around the models. It has some very useful features including “push/pull” which is akin to extrude and “follow me” which allows for extrusions that create circles, spirals, shapes or follow almost any profile. You can create “components” which allows you to put a given figure in multiple places and have it change in all locations by just editing it once.

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Julian Beever is a pretty damn good artest when it comes to portraits and other drawings on pavement or elsewhere, but some of his creations that take things to the next level of talent are his 3D illusions. These amazing works use perspective to create masterful illusions when viewed from the correct angle. They line up with the geometry of the area they are drawn in seamlessly. This creates an effect known as “forced perspective.” If you ask me, it’s pretty damn amazing that one guy can do this freehand with just some chalk and a Two Dimensional surface.

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Is it just me or is the headline of this real news story just slightly misleadings:

Toxic Paint Makes Females Grow Penis!

(It’s less exciting than you might think)

I wonder if there was the intention to make this headline appear to imply what it does or if perhaps it was just a rather dumb error. Sometimes the funniest things are the ones which were not intended to be funny. Hope nobody feels too letdown by this one.

Always read the instructions and make sure to be safe when it comes to ventilation and such. But that’s for all paint and varnish and for both genders. Ladies, you don’t actually have to worry that painting something could lead to an unanticipated… change… in your life.

Wikipedia gets a lot of criticism based on the fact that it’s open-source and just about anyone can edit it. That’s definitely something that is worth considering whenever using it, but I’ve found it is surprisingly good, considering this. Inaccurate content exists, but it’s fairly rare. A few articles are poorly written, but generally it’s pretty decent. Most articles have citations, which is probably the best way of assuring you can track down the validity of the information.

That having been said, I would never cite it as a source for any sort of scholarly research or any academic paper or serious news article. But there’s one thing that I love about Wikipedia, aside from the fact that it’s free: It has *EVERYTHING* in it. When you want concise information on a topic, there’s no other place I can think of to find it right away. The only alternative might be to start searching the web. You could also turn to a traditional encyclopedia, but aside from being updated as frequently they might not have quite as many topic. Here’s just a few:

The Holy Roman Empire
Ren and Stimpy
GNU Project
“Paul is Dead”
Project Jennifer

The biggest issue with Wikipedia is generally baring in mind that it is user-written, so if you are serious about the information being 100% accurate, you had best track down the sources or get some kind of independent confirmation. And above all else, be skeptical, especially with articles on topics that are controversial or prone to strange theories or where someone might have an interest in misleading. But where else can you get info on Ren and Stimpy and The Holy Roman Empire?