We also know now that the "democratic" govs of, for instance US and UK experimented on their populations, re. biological and chemical warfare and they weren't exactly careful with nuclear, either...
It's just plain horrible what was done for the sake of war. There's a place in the Pine Barrens (eastern Long Island) where the deer were being monitored for Lyme disease. They started to show up radioactive It ended up that Brookhaven Labs had a breeder reactor leaking radioactive coolant in to the ground, making the water table radioactive. It took public shaming for the Dept. Of Energy and the AEC to step in and fix it. Here's a "whitewash" story about Cs137 being monitored. https://www.bnl.gov/esd/wildlife/Deer.asp
So.... that how they got Rudolf's nose to glow so bright! There was a time when we actually thought the nuclear power was safe. The waste is dangerous and costs much to dispose
It’s true, the idea of SPS is (too) attractive for military ‚use‘. This fact makes me now saying it’s probably better not to go for it and to limit it to magnetic induction and low z distances. AFAIK we have got 3 standards for wireless energy transport yet. The interference of military and commercial interests had always been a problem especially at energy (physics) and ‘chemical’ / medical sectors. The main focus should be on renewal energies. We don’t have to send solar panels to space therefore. Just for interest I think the problem is to focus the microwaves...
Microwaves are dangerous too, they also emit radiation Wind, water and solar are the only "clean" sources as of today, not very efficient
Don't forget Thorium salt reactors. A technology that was discarded 60 years ago because the current designs were easy to produce.
What was that American phrase: "BatS*h*i*tCrazy"? Most of the money today comes into "science" from corporations and they are extremely left wing, sure... and have nothing whatsoever to do with rigging the research results... Which planet did you just land from?!?
Microwaves are EMR per se. General statements about 'radiation' EMR are not possible. There's universal law though. The absorbance of it is dependent on frequency and the absorbent. The amount of absorbance is dependent on thickness respectively concentration of the absorbent. There is absorption spectrum and the Beer-Lambert law. Simple words: If radiation gets absorbed or gets completely through matter due to 100% transparency is dependent on kind of radiation (frequency) and kind of absorbent, the matter that 'takes up' the energy. To make harm the radiation (energy) has to be absorbed from the matter in order to become damaged. 2.45 GHz microwaves permeate human skin around 6 millimeter. It's perceived as heating of skin at higher energy as burning skin. Thorium salt reactors are harmful and of no use. Furthermore they would be a nuclear nightmare. They are propagated ATM as alternative, but real scientific facts and experience in Germany (THTR-300) speak another language. Some: -Thorium reactors produce products of a shorter duration of radioactivity, but their radiation is stronger. -Production of Tritium is more problematic. -Protactinium extraction from Thorium by countries which better should not get such! Spreading many small nuclear plants would allow many others to build nuclear weapons since to control such is by far not as possible as a few big ones. -Each of such reactors would still produce an amount of radioactivity which is equal to many Hiroshima bombs. (Worst case scenario: Big cities around would be contaminated) -Many small of those plants means many potential attack targets for terrorists and bad security. Germany has experience with Thorium reactor in Hamm. There is no eco-friendly nuclear energy based on fission.
@Yen: I submit to you this link, for your critique http://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-a-f/france.aspx Whereas I don't know all of the gory details, they derive more than 80% of their energy from Nuclear tech. And here's a link to a -very- interesting article about molten salt reactors. http://liquidfluoridethoriumreactor.glerner.com/2012-worthless-for-nuclear-weapons/ Please let us know what you think. @bat.1,gorski: We all know very well that most if not all research done in universities has the potential to serve capitalism. NASA was created principally with that thought in mind. Take the engineering and license / sell it into the private sector. That way, the NRE (Non-Recurring Engineering) costs are paid for quickly, and more money is available to fund more ambitious projects. No sense in squabbling over which political camp it serves - It was meant to serve everyone.
Anytime you mutate human cells, even skin cells you run a cancer risk I can recall years ago when microwave ovens first hit the public market and there was much debate as to whether or not their was a risk of radiating food through it's use, The govt stated the risks are minimal so everybody eats "nuked" hotdogs at home.
@Yen: Also, take a look at tri-band phones. They run at a considerably lower frequency than 2.4 ghz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies
The awareness to protect the environment in France never had been keen. France is a neighbor to Germany and I consider their NPPs as direct danger since some of them were built near the German boarder and there is frequently S/W wind flow, means radioactive fallout would come directly to Germany. France is absolutely not aware of the real costs. Nobody can. NPPs are often calculated without the fact of final disposal and the potential harm over decades and their costs. Electricity made from nuclear fission is cheap without to consider factor x. @second link. One just has to have a look at the green graph to recognize populism pro fission. It’s pure manipulation to equal safety with deaths/TWh. Another article that makes me kinda upset.. it is of no good impression to have a scientific error on top page it’s TWh not TW/h. Sorry again for nitpicking lol… Would I reason the same way I could state SPS would be completely safe because nobody has died of microwaves?!? It’s easy. There is experience of Thorium reactor in Germany and why it has been dismantled! Pure facts a lot of German articles, though. When I have got more time I can translate and post the history of the Thorium NPP in Hamm. The thing that is left is the bold statement that nobody could use it to make nuclear weapon out of it. AFAIK ( I still know ) Nuclear Physics was special subject when I was 15 years old, lol…so I might have become rusty….) Thorium is no nuclear fuel!! It has to be transformed to uranium 233 by using weapon-able additions and already now we have a relation to nuclear weapons. You can get 8 kilogram of Uranium 233 out of 1.6 Tons of Thorium within a year. 8 kilogram pure U233 are considered to be enough to create a bomb (IAEA) Protactinium can be separated via ‘hot-cell’ method. Equipment is easily to hide. Even if this wouldn’t be possible due to impurity with uranium 232 we have: -Experience from German’s NPP and the fact that they produce radioactive waste -The possibility to create a dirty bomb either way. If you have the chance you might want to read this: “Thorium fuel has risks" Nature 492, p. 31-33, 2012
Michaela, any knowledge can be used by any type of societal organisation - but that is beside the point, though...
@gorski: So true. In the scientific / aerospace community, it's the current regime that dictates policy. In other academic pursuits, it's the funding body that drives the agenda.
A tangential remark. Despite the significant global warming, right now Europe is experiencing the lowest temperatures for decades and today's Euronews reported 73 people died from the cold.
That's Climate Change, The heating of the planet causes the Atlantic Conveyor Belt to slow down, Thus making Europe colder... crazy aint it? The planet starts to get too hot so it'll cool itself down (ocean currents) Unless it shuts down all together, then we'll be heading for another ice age again
The UK, being a northern hemisphere country, has never been warm and our weather has changed significantly since the 70s, indian summers, bloody cold winters with snow on or around christmas, even here in the london burbs. Our weather is much more even throughout the year, with a few highs and lows here and there.
Ive lived in the UK for 50 years and i can tell you i am RIGHT. We DO get hot days, but not as many as in the 70s.