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The Future of Nukes

Most tree huggers are against nuclear energy. I consider myself a tree humper, but I am in favor of nukes. The problems in Japan are a bit disheartening. Not just because of the leaking radiation causing some minor (so far) health risks, but because of the bad PR it is giving the future of nuclear energy. The next generation of nuclear reactors will be safer, produce far less waste that is easier to handle, plants with smaller footprints, and these plants will be much cheaper to construct and maintiain. What is currently happening in Japan is blinding people to what can save us from fossil fuels and the associated environmental problems. Bill Gates explains this better in a TED talk he gave a year ago.

He talks of TerraPower, which is looking into traveling wave nuclear reactors. The other technology that is competing with this tech, and what I am more familiar with, is Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR). A commercial for LFTR is below.

I really don't  care which if these technologies leads us into the future, just so long as one of them does. Lots of politics and associated corruption to fight through, but we need to face that fight if we want to move forward.

Posted via email from Zoyx

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New cell phone battery

On St. Patrick’s day, the battery for my Droid Incredible nearly ran out. During the 7 hours I was in St. Paul, I had to put the phone into airplane mode for 3 of those hours to prevent the phone from losing power. So that prompted me to buy a new battery with double capacity. This means the battery is twice as thick. This results in needing a new back cover for the phone. The phone is now thicker, so the bumper for my phone no longer fits.

First world problem, I will survive. Won’t stop me from complaining… never will.

Picture below – from left to right, the bumper, old back cover on top, new thicker back cover below, phone with the thicker battery installed, previous thinner battery at the end. The cooking implement in the back is there for random intrigue and scale. Even further in the back is a mac-mini attached to a 19″ LCD TV.

 

Posted via email from Zoyx