Governor Ishihara of Tokyo (age: Jurassic) has recently been re-elected for a fourth term of office. Despite having a reputation as a leading national curmudgeon and outspoken out-of-left-field commentator on almost anything, now and then he does cough up an idea that has a ring of truth to it.
Recently, he remarked that since vending machines and pachinko parlors account for the total output of a large-scale nuclear power plant, such as that lost in Fukushima – something on the order of 10 million kilowatts – the country doesn't need them any more and they should all be shut down. In layman's terms, 10 million kilowatts if lined up end to end would form a loop around the sun and back again... or the moon... something like that.
Anyway, these ARE desperate times, and Ishihara (slogan: NO!) has been making an effort to start the proverbial ball rolling by provoking a national debate on energy use.
Bloggers, such as I am, cannot merely stand by and suck our thumbs while making fun of people like Ishihara. No, we need to come up with concrete solutions to the problems of the day as well, to make a meaningful contribution to society.
It is in the interest of this process, that I, Pterosaurish, submit a simple solution (amazingly overlooked!) to the power generation problem, facing Japan even as you read this.
Pachinko.
For those of us who live in Japan, the ubiquitous pachinko parlor is like a national blight. For those outside the country, however, it may not bring anything to mind at all, so allow me to outline exactly what it is.
Pachinko is an upright pinball machine where small steels balls are sent in high volume through the machine, hopefully falling into pay-out pockets. Balls can then be cashed in for prizes which (to circumvent anti-gambling laws) can in turn be cashed in for money. According to the National Police Agency, there are some 14,600 pachinko parlors around the country. The business is improbably popular, generating 27.45 trillion yen in income per year.
"How much is that?" You ask.
Considering that the total value of all domestic auto manufacture is 19.7 trillion yen a year, you can see that it is an enormous enterprise, indeed. 70% of the pachinko industry is controlled by people of Korean ethnicity and suspicions are strong that large amounts of money skimmed from profits are sent to North Korea. Japanese love pachinko, despite the fact that the parlor atmosphere is not lively or full of pleasant energy. Players sit glumly in front of the machines, staring at the whirl of balls, maybe lost in thought or Zen mindlessness.
"So cut to the chase!" You say?
Yes. Enough background.
You see? The problem with the pachinko industry is that the machines it uses today are electricity intensive. Covered with flashing lights and small video screens, and powered by a rotating dial, they suck up power like black holes. In the old days, however, the machines had no electrical parts at all. The balls were sent their spinning way around the contraption by a thumb-activated lever.
Reverting to the old-style machines would, of course, save a lot of electricity, but saving power is not enough. This is where my plan comes in. The pachinko balls are made of steel. At 4 yen per ball (on average) in a 27 trillion-yen industry, you can imagine that there are millions of balls pouring through the machines for many hours every day in more than 14,000 locations around the country.
What we need to do is magnetize the balls. They flow from top to bottom in the machines, so they could turn a rotor by their action, powering small generators which then could be plugged into the national grid. In this way, people who sit stupidly in front of the machines could be put usefully to work. Their thumbs would get exercise and a new source of energy would be developed.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Poli-Soporifia: The New Zen
Japan has made many important contributions to world culture. Think of sushi, anime, game software, and maid coffee shops, just to name a few. Japanese meditative arts are also well-known around the world. Young people from foreign countries come to Japan to study Zen and follow the contemplative, centering activities of this spiritual quest. Tea ceremony, flower arrangement, and even the martial arts sustain this revered aspect of Japanese culture that has been passed down through the centuries.
This long tradition is not limited to temple and shrine, however. Even in the political arena, Japanese cultivate this ancient tradition. Japanese politicians of the highest rank seem to require proficiency in this art in order to make it on the national stage.
Here we can see former Prime Minister Koizumi as well as other top members of his Cabinet practicing this venerable discipline. Democratic Party bigwig Ozawa also shows his capability alongside another disciple of this traditional pursuit of inner calm and assurance. Former Prime Minister Hatoyama also proved that he could meditate with the best of them in the National Diet. And the current Prime Minister, Kan Naoto, is regarded in the media as an accomplished master of this extreme regimen.
I had thought that only Japanese politicians had the persistence and inner strength to perform this ritual at such a high level, so you can imagine my surprise in reading that Vice-President Biden had also picked up this training and exhibited it during President Obama's deficit speech on April 13 this year. It is my understanding that the Vice President has never visited Japan, so I was curious as to how he gained this capability, a technique that – as with Zen training – can only come through discipline and persistent effort.
What my extensive research and off-the-record interviews revealed was that the Vice President has been practicing this at home for many years, by using a DVD called Meditative Boot Camp. In his relentless pursuit of transcendental bliss, he has already achieved high levels of spiritual clarity. His colleagues, for example, testify that it is not uncommon for him to center himself during after-dinner conversations with family and friends or to have transcended to a higher state during meetings when he was a Senator. The Vice President shares this discipline with Senator John McCain and former President Clinton, demonstrating the broad bipartisan appeal of traditional Japanese arts. He is even said to have learned some tips from the Chinese during his 2001 trip to China while he was in the Senate. Chinese leaders use a bootlegged version of this DVD and are assiduously trying to catch up with the meditative leaders in Japan.
While Japan has been shocked by earthquake and tsunami recently, it must be reassuring to know that government figures around the world still recognize the power of meditation and are eager to adopt this noble feature of Japan's ancient culture.
This long tradition is not limited to temple and shrine, however. Even in the political arena, Japanese cultivate this ancient tradition. Japanese politicians of the highest rank seem to require proficiency in this art in order to make it on the national stage.
Here we can see former Prime Minister Koizumi as well as other top members of his Cabinet practicing this venerable discipline. Democratic Party bigwig Ozawa also shows his capability alongside another disciple of this traditional pursuit of inner calm and assurance. Former Prime Minister Hatoyama also proved that he could meditate with the best of them in the National Diet. And the current Prime Minister, Kan Naoto, is regarded in the media as an accomplished master of this extreme regimen.
I had thought that only Japanese politicians had the persistence and inner strength to perform this ritual at such a high level, so you can imagine my surprise in reading that Vice-President Biden had also picked up this training and exhibited it during President Obama's deficit speech on April 13 this year. It is my understanding that the Vice President has never visited Japan, so I was curious as to how he gained this capability, a technique that – as with Zen training – can only come through discipline and persistent effort.
What my extensive research and off-the-record interviews revealed was that the Vice President has been practicing this at home for many years, by using a DVD called Meditative Boot Camp. In his relentless pursuit of transcendental bliss, he has already achieved high levels of spiritual clarity. His colleagues, for example, testify that it is not uncommon for him to center himself during after-dinner conversations with family and friends or to have transcended to a higher state during meetings when he was a Senator. The Vice President shares this discipline with Senator John McCain and former President Clinton, demonstrating the broad bipartisan appeal of traditional Japanese arts. He is even said to have learned some tips from the Chinese during his 2001 trip to China while he was in the Senate. Chinese leaders use a bootlegged version of this DVD and are assiduously trying to catch up with the meditative leaders in Japan.
While Japan has been shocked by earthquake and tsunami recently, it must be reassuring to know that government figures around the world still recognize the power of meditation and are eager to adopt this noble feature of Japan's ancient culture.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Penis Research
BLOG WARNINGS!
1. this entry is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
2. this entry does not add any additional radiation exposure to your normal computer use.
3. this entry will not enhance your junk.
- - - - - - - - - -
I am sure every man on the planet who reads English has seen this information from around the world about penis sizes. It's hard to ignore, and – frankly – it sneaks in and draws attention to something we men take very seriously.
A Hard Hitting News Hound, however, does not read this and then wallow in self-pity and hopelessness, rocking back and forth and sucking his thumb.
No! Far from it!
A Hard Hitting News Hound sucks it up and tries to get to the bottom of the issue, to investigate the background to the news.
Through rigorous investigation, I discovered who conducted this vital research and got an interview with the "people on the spot".
It wasn't easy.
You can imagine that a survey of this dimension would require enormous resources. Traveling to Chad, for example, and doing all that measuring; it requires stamina and persistence, not to mention lots of rubber gloves! This is research of the most involved type.
I was able to meet with two organizers of this effort, Ms. Bea Lowe-Jobs (no relation to Steve Jobs of Apple Computer fame), the Director of Operations for the project, and her assistant, Ms. Anita Hump.
Here below is the transcript of this interview.
HHNH (Hard Hitting News Hound): Good evening Ms. Jobs and Ms. Hump. Thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Ms. Jobs: Thank YOU.
Ms. Hump: We always appreciate media appreciation of our work.
HHNH: So... the question on every man's mind right now is, are the numbers you have generated for your map based on sizes of... er... penises in repose, or penises that are – say – expressing interest?
Ms. Jobs: You don't need to beat around the bush with us, Mr. Hound. We call a spade a spade. The measurements are based on fully erect penises.
HHNH: I see... so then... the next question we all have is... um... how did you actually go out into the field and collect this information? The country with the "largest representatives", Sudan, for example, must have been a real challenge!
Ms. Jobs: I am delighted you asked that question, Mr. Hound, because information collection in research projects is always the most difficult aspect. Everyone sees the results, but nobody thinks about the process involved in acquiring the data.
Anita was one of our researchers in the field.
You were involved in acquiring information from Sudan, weren't you?
Ms. Hump: Yes. I was in Sudan.
HHNH: So how did the research take place in such an area? As we all know Sudan is not politically stable... the Darfur problem, civil war and so on. How did you get into the country and conduct this important survey?
Ms. Hump: Getting into the country was no problem, but it was troublesome, obtaining the support of tribal leaders. As you know, Sudan is divided north and south, and while there are religious differences, most of the difficulties can be resolved by making a tribal approach.
HHNH: So you investigated the members of all the tribes?
Ms. Hump: Well, we had to have a representative sample, so this required the usual diversity scales, identifying typical populations and taking appropriate samples.
HHNH: So the population of Sudan is reported to be around 25 million people. What was a representative sample?
Ms. Hump: Getting a representative sampling is of course the hardest part of any research of this type. We considered a "cluster sampling" of the populations involved, but decided that a "systematic sampling" would be more accurate. Does this answer your question?
HHNH: Um... so how many men did you "sample" for your research?
Ms. Hump: Maybe Bea can explain the process better than I can...
Ms. Jobs: Yes. Because of the complications of ethnic diversity in Sudan, we decided we needed to go with a higher level of accuracy than might be required in a more homogeneous country like Japan. So we went for 95% accuracy rather than the 90% which was the standard we used for many other countries. This meant that we needed to survey 600 men.
HHNH: So the question, burning in every man's mind right now is how did you survey the 600 men?
Ms. Jobs: Well, obviously an erect penis was what we wanted to measure, since it is a well known fact that nothing can be determined about penis size from a flaccid penis.
Speaking from personal experience, I know that some penises that look small at first can grow to truly epic proportions under the proper ... er... guidance.
There was this one guy in Santa Monica... OMG!... his penis was like a freaking midget! I mean... it was so small it was lost in his pubic hair; you could barely see it poking out! I am NOT kidding! But then, when I...
Ms. Hump: Ms. Jobs? I think he wants to hear about the research?
Ms. Jobs: Oh... sorry...yes.
So we needed to walk around the selected communities and talk to village elders about our project, explaining to them that we needed to have men who would be willing for us to make them erect and then measure them for our project. One of the interesting aspects of the process was that almost all of our volunteers were the village elders themselves.
It saved us an enormous amount of time.
HHNH: And what did you do exactly to ... um ... make sure you were getting the full measure of their dimensions?
Ms. Jobs: HA HA HA!! I know what you are thinking and no... we did not give them all blow jobs, only some of the slower respondents.
HHNH: And how many was that?
Ms. Jobs: No more than... hmmm... how many WAS it in Sudan, Anita?
Ms. Hump: Nowhere NEAR as bad as China... no more than 50? Maybe 60, tops?
HHNH: I see... and what prompted you to do this research in the first place – to organize this level of international cooperation and raise the funds and so on...
Ms. Jobs: Well... the funding came from...
Ms. Hump: Bea! That's secret!! Hush UP!
Ms. Jobs: Oh... right.
I am sorry, but we are not allowed to reveal that aspect of the program. But as for the impetus to do the research, of course men all over the world want to know how they "measure up", so there is a compelling 3-billion-person pressure out there to obtain this data.
HHNH: So... er... for example... in the case of the people in the US, did you do expats?
Ms. Jobs: Expats? We didn't get into any kinky things, Mr. Hound. This was a straight up sort of research project.
Ms. Hump: Er... Bea? Expats means people who live away from their country of origin.
Ms. Jobs: Ohhhhhh! Um...no. I don't think we did any special survey of people living outside their home countries.
HHNH: So you don't know if they might have skewed the results....
Ms. Jobs: No. I don't actually know of any expats or whatever, so ... no... we didn't survey them or include them in our research. How many of these "expats" might there be?
HHNH: Millions.
Ms. Jobs: No way! All from America?
HHNH: Yes.
Ms. Jobs: We may need to check them out. What do you think Anita?
Ms. Hump: Obviously the research results might be tainted by excluding this population.
Ms. Jobs: So where do we meet these "expats"?
HHNH: Well...actually I am an expat.
Ms. Jobs: No way! This is like the village elders. Maybe you can save us a lot of time?
. . . . . . . voice recorder shut down . . . . . . .
1. this entry is not intended for readers under the age of 18.
2. this entry does not add any additional radiation exposure to your normal computer use.
3. this entry will not enhance your junk.
- - - - - - - - - -
I am sure every man on the planet who reads English has seen this information from around the world about penis sizes. It's hard to ignore, and – frankly – it sneaks in and draws attention to something we men take very seriously.
A Hard Hitting News Hound, however, does not read this and then wallow in self-pity and hopelessness, rocking back and forth and sucking his thumb.
No! Far from it!
A Hard Hitting News Hound sucks it up and tries to get to the bottom of the issue, to investigate the background to the news.
Through rigorous investigation, I discovered who conducted this vital research and got an interview with the "people on the spot".
It wasn't easy.
You can imagine that a survey of this dimension would require enormous resources. Traveling to Chad, for example, and doing all that measuring; it requires stamina and persistence, not to mention lots of rubber gloves! This is research of the most involved type.
I was able to meet with two organizers of this effort, Ms. Bea Lowe-Jobs (no relation to Steve Jobs of Apple Computer fame), the Director of Operations for the project, and her assistant, Ms. Anita Hump.
Here below is the transcript of this interview.
HHNH (Hard Hitting News Hound): Good evening Ms. Jobs and Ms. Hump. Thank you for agreeing to this interview.
Ms. Jobs: Thank YOU.
Ms. Hump: We always appreciate media appreciation of our work.
HHNH: So... the question on every man's mind right now is, are the numbers you have generated for your map based on sizes of... er... penises in repose, or penises that are – say – expressing interest?
Ms. Jobs: You don't need to beat around the bush with us, Mr. Hound. We call a spade a spade. The measurements are based on fully erect penises.
HHNH: I see... so then... the next question we all have is... um... how did you actually go out into the field and collect this information? The country with the "largest representatives", Sudan, for example, must have been a real challenge!
Ms. Jobs: I am delighted you asked that question, Mr. Hound, because information collection in research projects is always the most difficult aspect. Everyone sees the results, but nobody thinks about the process involved in acquiring the data.
Anita was one of our researchers in the field.
You were involved in acquiring information from Sudan, weren't you?
Ms. Hump: Yes. I was in Sudan.
HHNH: So how did the research take place in such an area? As we all know Sudan is not politically stable... the Darfur problem, civil war and so on. How did you get into the country and conduct this important survey?
Ms. Hump: Getting into the country was no problem, but it was troublesome, obtaining the support of tribal leaders. As you know, Sudan is divided north and south, and while there are religious differences, most of the difficulties can be resolved by making a tribal approach.
HHNH: So you investigated the members of all the tribes?
Ms. Hump: Well, we had to have a representative sample, so this required the usual diversity scales, identifying typical populations and taking appropriate samples.
HHNH: So the population of Sudan is reported to be around 25 million people. What was a representative sample?
Ms. Hump: Getting a representative sampling is of course the hardest part of any research of this type. We considered a "cluster sampling" of the populations involved, but decided that a "systematic sampling" would be more accurate. Does this answer your question?
HHNH: Um... so how many men did you "sample" for your research?
Ms. Hump: Maybe Bea can explain the process better than I can...
Ms. Jobs: Yes. Because of the complications of ethnic diversity in Sudan, we decided we needed to go with a higher level of accuracy than might be required in a more homogeneous country like Japan. So we went for 95% accuracy rather than the 90% which was the standard we used for many other countries. This meant that we needed to survey 600 men.
HHNH: So the question, burning in every man's mind right now is how did you survey the 600 men?
Ms. Jobs: Well, obviously an erect penis was what we wanted to measure, since it is a well known fact that nothing can be determined about penis size from a flaccid penis.
Speaking from personal experience, I know that some penises that look small at first can grow to truly epic proportions under the proper ... er... guidance.
There was this one guy in Santa Monica... OMG!... his penis was like a freaking midget! I mean... it was so small it was lost in his pubic hair; you could barely see it poking out! I am NOT kidding! But then, when I...
Ms. Hump: Ms. Jobs? I think he wants to hear about the research?
Ms. Jobs: Oh... sorry...yes.
So we needed to walk around the selected communities and talk to village elders about our project, explaining to them that we needed to have men who would be willing for us to make them erect and then measure them for our project. One of the interesting aspects of the process was that almost all of our volunteers were the village elders themselves.
It saved us an enormous amount of time.
HHNH: And what did you do exactly to ... um ... make sure you were getting the full measure of their dimensions?
Ms. Jobs: HA HA HA!! I know what you are thinking and no... we did not give them all blow jobs, only some of the slower respondents.
HHNH: And how many was that?
Ms. Jobs: No more than... hmmm... how many WAS it in Sudan, Anita?
Ms. Hump: Nowhere NEAR as bad as China... no more than 50? Maybe 60, tops?
HHNH: I see... and what prompted you to do this research in the first place – to organize this level of international cooperation and raise the funds and so on...
Ms. Jobs: Well... the funding came from...
Ms. Hump: Bea! That's secret!! Hush UP!
Ms. Jobs: Oh... right.
I am sorry, but we are not allowed to reveal that aspect of the program. But as for the impetus to do the research, of course men all over the world want to know how they "measure up", so there is a compelling 3-billion-person pressure out there to obtain this data.
HHNH: So... er... for example... in the case of the people in the US, did you do expats?
Ms. Jobs: Expats? We didn't get into any kinky things, Mr. Hound. This was a straight up sort of research project.
Ms. Hump: Er... Bea? Expats means people who live away from their country of origin.
Ms. Jobs: Ohhhhhh! Um...no. I don't think we did any special survey of people living outside their home countries.
HHNH: So you don't know if they might have skewed the results....
Ms. Jobs: No. I don't actually know of any expats or whatever, so ... no... we didn't survey them or include them in our research. How many of these "expats" might there be?
HHNH: Millions.
Ms. Jobs: No way! All from America?
HHNH: Yes.
Ms. Jobs: We may need to check them out. What do you think Anita?
Ms. Hump: Obviously the research results might be tainted by excluding this population.
Ms. Jobs: So where do we meet these "expats"?
HHNH: Well...actually I am an expat.
Ms. Jobs: No way! This is like the village elders. Maybe you can save us a lot of time?
. . . . . . . voice recorder shut down . . . . . . .
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Radiation Made Simple
The news is full of reports these days on the dangers of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. Confusing are the results of radiation monitoring. How can we make sense of the reports and take appropriate precautions when the measurements appear in different units?
This is where I come in. I have been doing a lot of research into the nuclear issue over the past couple of weeks and this combined with my innate intelligence and quick grasp of scientific reporting enables me to provide this convenient and easy-to-use Guide to Radiation for the layperson (defined as someone who lays or is laid, especially if Roman Catholic).
First a little history.
The original measurement of radioactivity was the "curie", named after the famous French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie. The most common unit we see in the press today, however, is the Sievert. You will hear the word "Milli-Sievert" bandied about on the news every evening. This is named after Millie Sievert who worked as a maid in the house of the Curies, credited with inventing radioactivity (thank you very much, Curies). Her job also involved cleaning up the lab after their experiments. How much radiation she was exposed to during her cleaning efforts became the standard we still use today! Isn't that an interesting anecdote?
Some example doses:
1 Millie Sievert (hereafter abbreviated to MS) is the harmless equivalent of about 10 chest X-rays or about 15 flights from Tokyo to the West Coast of the United States.
100 MSs, about how much you would get from eating six tons of Fukushima spinach in 24 hours, is the equivalent of 5 space shuttle flights with 2 space walks. Another more down-to-earth way to assess this measure would be to say that it is equivalent in danger to eating a whole 1 kg bag of marshmallows.
Let's move on to some of the other measures that appear in the press. The water off the coast of the nuclear power station in Fukushima has been contaminated with radioactivity. This is measured in becquerels.
First another very interesting anecdotal reference to history.
The becquerel is named after Lewis Becquerel who was the butler in the Curie's house. Interestingly enough he and Millie Sievert carried on a torrid affair under the very noses of the Curies for 15 years before being discovered in – shall we say – an indelicate position in a closet only because both of them glowed in the dark. Becquerel's job included bringing and removing water that the Curies used for bathing and other activities, hence its continued association with water even today!
Some example dose comparisons:
1 becquerel is equal to about 600 chest X-rays done all at once. Of course nobody gets that many X-rays all at once, so this comparison doesn't really help you, the layperson, understand what the implications of exposure are. A more easy-to-understand comparison would be to say that exposure to 1 becquerel would have the same effect as – say – dropping an anvil from a 10 story building onto your head.
Let's consider some of the other measurements we hear on the nightly news.
The nanogray is one measurement used at monitoring stations around the country. They are probably not using this measurement instead of the more common Millie Sievert to confuse the public.
First a little history about the nanogray. As everyone knows, the grays are the aliens with the big eyes that are seen coming from UFOs and abducting humans to conduct salacious invasions of their body orifices. Nano, of course, means very, very small, so putting these two together, we can understand that the monitors are measuring very, very small aliens. While this is an extremely important effort whose results should not be dismissed out of hand, it has almost nothing to do with radioactivity unless the nanograys are bringing it with them by passing through irradiated areas.
Finally, we need to discuss the REM. The REM has largely fallen out of favor in recent years, mostly because of its dated 1970's appearance. Like bell bottomed pants and platform shoes, fashions fade and nobody wants to be reminded of what they wore in those days, because they can't believe it themselves. Such it is with the REM. Nobody wants to be reminded that we used old-fashioned 1970s words like that.
Convenient comparisons:
Exposure to 1 REM of radioactivity has no effect on human females, but will instantly turn a man into Michael Jackson (if you get my drift).
I hope that this review of the language surrounding the nuclear news is helpful. I realize that my broad-stroke descriptions of these terms may not be immediately grasped by some of you (such is the nature of techno-explanations to laypeople), so do not hesitate to ask questions if you need clarification.
- - - - - - - - - -
For those of you who like to look at the data directly, check out this page:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/
This is where I come in. I have been doing a lot of research into the nuclear issue over the past couple of weeks and this combined with my innate intelligence and quick grasp of scientific reporting enables me to provide this convenient and easy-to-use Guide to Radiation for the layperson (defined as someone who lays or is laid, especially if Roman Catholic).
First a little history.
The original measurement of radioactivity was the "curie", named after the famous French scientists Pierre and Marie Curie. The most common unit we see in the press today, however, is the Sievert. You will hear the word "Milli-Sievert" bandied about on the news every evening. This is named after Millie Sievert who worked as a maid in the house of the Curies, credited with inventing radioactivity (thank you very much, Curies). Her job also involved cleaning up the lab after their experiments. How much radiation she was exposed to during her cleaning efforts became the standard we still use today! Isn't that an interesting anecdote?
Some example doses:
1 Millie Sievert (hereafter abbreviated to MS) is the harmless equivalent of about 10 chest X-rays or about 15 flights from Tokyo to the West Coast of the United States.
100 MSs, about how much you would get from eating six tons of Fukushima spinach in 24 hours, is the equivalent of 5 space shuttle flights with 2 space walks. Another more down-to-earth way to assess this measure would be to say that it is equivalent in danger to eating a whole 1 kg bag of marshmallows.
Let's move on to some of the other measures that appear in the press. The water off the coast of the nuclear power station in Fukushima has been contaminated with radioactivity. This is measured in becquerels.
First another very interesting anecdotal reference to history.
The becquerel is named after Lewis Becquerel who was the butler in the Curie's house. Interestingly enough he and Millie Sievert carried on a torrid affair under the very noses of the Curies for 15 years before being discovered in – shall we say – an indelicate position in a closet only because both of them glowed in the dark. Becquerel's job included bringing and removing water that the Curies used for bathing and other activities, hence its continued association with water even today!
Some example dose comparisons:
1 becquerel is equal to about 600 chest X-rays done all at once. Of course nobody gets that many X-rays all at once, so this comparison doesn't really help you, the layperson, understand what the implications of exposure are. A more easy-to-understand comparison would be to say that exposure to 1 becquerel would have the same effect as – say – dropping an anvil from a 10 story building onto your head.
Let's consider some of the other measurements we hear on the nightly news.
The nanogray is one measurement used at monitoring stations around the country. They are probably not using this measurement instead of the more common Millie Sievert to confuse the public.
First a little history about the nanogray. As everyone knows, the grays are the aliens with the big eyes that are seen coming from UFOs and abducting humans to conduct salacious invasions of their body orifices. Nano, of course, means very, very small, so putting these two together, we can understand that the monitors are measuring very, very small aliens. While this is an extremely important effort whose results should not be dismissed out of hand, it has almost nothing to do with radioactivity unless the nanograys are bringing it with them by passing through irradiated areas.
Finally, we need to discuss the REM. The REM has largely fallen out of favor in recent years, mostly because of its dated 1970's appearance. Like bell bottomed pants and platform shoes, fashions fade and nobody wants to be reminded of what they wore in those days, because they can't believe it themselves. Such it is with the REM. Nobody wants to be reminded that we used old-fashioned 1970s words like that.
Convenient comparisons:
Exposure to 1 REM of radioactivity has no effect on human females, but will instantly turn a man into Michael Jackson (if you get my drift).
I hope that this review of the language surrounding the nuclear news is helpful. I realize that my broad-stroke descriptions of these terms may not be immediately grasped by some of you (such is the nature of techno-explanations to laypeople), so do not hesitate to ask questions if you need clarification.
- - - - - - - - - -
For those of you who like to look at the data directly, check out this page:
http://xkcd.com/radiation/
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