nuclear meltdowns

Fission-energy is a form of ordered-energy from long-dead stars that's found in all atoms much heavier than Iron-58 and Nickel-62. The only way we know to release it is to exploit the neutron-mediated herd-behavior of certain big atoms like Uranium-235.

Fissioning releases that ordered-energy by breaking atoms almost randomly into two fragments with energies that correspond to heat at about 200MeV/(2k_B) ≈ 10¹²K. The resulting motion warms up the atom's surroundings, including any coolant being used to pull the heat out for use running an electric generator.

This is an abundant form of ordered-energy that doesn't create green-house gases. To the extent that we make it safe and sustainable, fission energy is an important part of our future.

One of the two fission fragments usually has an atomic weight between 75 and 105, the other an atomic weight between 150 and 130. One inconvenient truth is that these fragments have a mess of chemical & radioactive properties.

The other problem is that once you get a herd of such atoms to start fissioning, the process may be controlled only by aggressively cooling the herd. Otherwise it melts and allows the release of both heat and fragments to get out of hand.

This is not new, as meltdown of naturally-occurring reactions like this are present in the geological record. If you have ideas for designing reactors so that gravity helps melting to disperse the critical mass, this might come in handy for future reactor construction!

All told, we take our chances with all forms of ordered-energy both because: (a) we need it to survive and because (b) it is fun to waste. If one looks at the numbers, the ratio of benefit to both: (i) cost & (ii) risk for fission-energy is quite good in spite of our media's passion for sensationalizing it.

If it helps with the overall picture of regional land-use, therefore, folks who assume the risk of living near reactors should get a break. That's mainly because space nearby a reactor will most likely be fine, but might accidentally lose its property value and habitability for decades.

idea angiogenesis

Archival limited-access joint-editing spaces can serve as the idea-code bloodstream for communities of all sorts, much as molecule-code bloodstreams serve internal communication between cells in many multicelled organisms. The internet and browsers for the most part already offer to much of the population access to such idea-streams, where and when they have been set up.

Once such joint-editing platforms are made available, however, developing the behavior patterns for access and sharing may take time.  Can mechanisms for the development of molecule flow to and from biological cells via the circulatory system likewise provide inspiration there?

who's your daddy?

One of the reasons that the rocky planets in solar systems with more O than C are made of silicates is that mainly O and Si are left after most of the carbon pairs up with oxygen to form CO₂.

Note that even trees on earth (not to mention animals) are made of carbon temporarily pulled from the gas phase onto a planetary surface. 

This is how our atmosphere, thankfully, reacts with the planet and sunlight to form a living crust.

We get water and nutrients from mother earth, but the ground state for the carbon of which we're made is CO₂. It's a key part of where we came from, and it carries away the carbon weight that we (and organisms which prey on us) metabolize. 

Civilization may produce many gases harmful to the environment that are mere pollutants.  Carbon dioxide is not only that.

targeted clotting

Our bodies generally do a pretty good job of sending molecules (like blood thickeners) where they are needed (like the site of a wound) and not where they aren't needed (like in our brain).  Our body's circulatory system for molecules is like society's electronic ideastream.

For sustainable use of either molecules or ideas, explicit awareness of the multi-layer structure of our communities as well as the scope of a given communication is crucial. 

Like chemical concentration differences from point to point in our bodies, gradients in social access to information are necessary.  Intelligent packaging of communications is also important, so that the damage due to occasional spills is minimal.  For example confusing countries & corporations with individuals is just as irresponsible, whether you do it as a reporter or as a supreme court justice.

Thus we're all responsible for what we say, what we repeat, and what we listen to.  Let's set some better examples downstream...

pros & cons

Theorem: 

Moving toward the negative of anything embedded in a higher-dimensional space reduces the orthogonality (and hence dimensionality) of your path with respect to the postive of that same thing.

Corollary:

X and anti-X are in cahoots, even when they don't act like it.

baseball & innovation

"Baseball professionals" might be seen as folks who love the game (in whatever field), and who may aspire to the discipline's hall of fame. 

That said, experts in the game are often the last to see opportunities to adapt to new information and developments. 

Can you think of any examples of this?

technical question

More generally, what sub-system correlations have you been buffering of late?