Author Archives: Ponderer

About Ponderer

Ponderer also writes science fiction and science-inspired rhyming poetry. Check her out at katerauner.wordpress.com/ She worked at Rocky Flats for 22 years - you may know her as Kathy London.

Nuclear Waste Leak Caused by a Typo

Posted on by

man-using-computer-mdThe title is a simplification. A drum of nuclear waste did leak after organic material was mixed with acidic waste because of a typo in a procedure. However, the fiasco began with pressure to meet a deadline related to renewal of a multi-billion dollar contract.

Los Alamos Laboratory was well on its way to meeting a mid-2014 deadline to ship radioactive waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico when workers came across a batch of waste that was “extraordinarily acidic” (pH 0) and therefore unsafe to ship. Guidelines called for a rigid set of reviews to determine how to properly treat the waste before proceeding. That time-consuming process apparently jeopardized the deadline. Instead, neutralizer and kitty litter were added, and the drum was shipped to WIPP. The documents accompanying the drum made no mention of the original acidity, neutralizer, or type of kitty litter.

The campaign to clear waste from Los Alamos was more than 90 percent complete when the contents of the drum reacted and the drum’s lid breached in the underground WIPP disposal area. The exothermic reaction of the contents threatened dozens of nearby drums. One source says 21 workers “…were contaminated with what federal officials have described as low levels of radiation.” A statement from LANL “…said scientific testing has eliminated the explosive nature of the waste as the cause of the radiation leak.”

As a retired worker from Rocky Flats’ plutonium area, at this point I was thoroughly puzzled.  Continue reading →

Why We Remember the Alamo

Posted on by
My own tourist picture of the Alamo chapel, with Crockett Hotel in the background

My own tourist picture of the Alamo chapel, with Crockett Hotel in the background

I ran across this week’s phrase while reading an article by Jeff Wagg about the legend of the Alamo. The article discusses several variations in the story from conflicting sources, as does the official Alamo website. I had only a vague notion of the Texan/Spanish/Mexican history behind the famous siege and battle. Texas belonged to Mexico at the time and many of the Anglos defending the fort were, in essence, illegal aliens invading Mexico. That terminology from Wagg is provocative (imagine the outrage if a high school text book used it), but pre-Civil War America was pursuing its Manifest Destiny. Texas joined the Union as part of that era.

What really intrigued me in Wagg’s article was speculation on why the Alamo became the quintessential piece of Texan history when other battles were at least as important. The official website calls the Alamo a shrine; that’s quite a commemoration. Continue reading →

Line in the Sand

Posted on by

Wikipedia says “a line in the sand” is a metaphor referring to a point beyond which no one can proceed, or an act with consequences that are permanent and irreversible. The article states the origin is unknown.

A suggested Biblical link seems like a stretch to me. (John 8:6 reads: This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. [NKJV] I don’t see the current meaning of “a line in the sand” here.)

Wikipedia lists instances of an “actual line being drawn in several historical, or legendary, military events” even if the phrase wasn’t used.

A National Geographic article says “one of the earliest recorded instances of anyone drawing a line in the sand took place in ancient Rome around 168 B.C.” when a Roman envoy “drew a line in the sand around [the opposing king] and told him he had to decide [if he would accede to Roman demands] before he crossed it.” Continue reading →

Biology is Undeniably Fascinating

Posted on by

UndeniableBill Nye recently participated in a controversial debate with young-Earth creationist Ken Ham. In his new book, Undeniable, Nye writes “For those readers who might be deeply religious, welcome… I did not disparage anyone’s religion.” He notes that “many people… see no conflict between their spiritual beliefs and their scientific understanding of evolution.” This fact always makes me wonder how individuals can be so sure they speak for God. When someone makes an assertion in science, scrutiny across the world and over time weeds out falsehoods. Similarly, in religions wisdom accumulates over time. Why some individuals cling to the past puzzles me.

Nye writes that “evolution is one of the most powerful and important ideas ever developed in the history of science,” with “essential practical applications.” He fears that if the “pseudoscience of creationism” makes inroads into education, it “is an assault not just on evolution but on the whole public understanding of science.”

Nye refutes creationism. For example, Ham claims that 7,000 kinds of animals were on Noah’s ark – there are 16 million species known today, so eleven new species would have come into existence every day under Ham’s vision of the Great Flood to reach today’s total. Surely someone would have noticed if that happened. Kangaroos would have had to climb down from snowcapped Mount Ararat and hop to Australia without leaving any sign they passed through. No recorded sightings, no bones in Tibet, and across a land bridge that left no trace of its existence. There’s loads of Internet information available on the debate, for example, here and Nye returns to Creationism at several places in the book. Continue reading →

Outlaw Capitalism in Chicago, How People Survive

Posted on by

Gang LeaderYou’ve probably heard of Freakonomics, a book that has expanded to an empire that looks at how economics drives human behavior in unexpected and sometimes troubling ways. One of their most memorable topics was Chicago drug gangs. Most gang members earn less than minimum wage and stand a good chance of being killed or severely injured, all for a slim chance to become one of the few rich upper-level bosses. They’d be better off with a “legit” job and a lottery ticket.

The man behind the gang data is Sudhir Venkatesh. His book Gang Leader for a Day, A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets, tells the story of six years at Robert Taylor Homes, which in 1962 became “the largest public housing project in the United States” with thirty-thousand residents. By the 1980s when Venkatesh began work, it was “the epitome of an ‘underclass’ urban neighborhood, with the poor living hard and virtually separate lives from the mainstream” and over 90% of the residents receiving government welfare.

He began his study carrying ridiculous survey forms into the projects for his sociology professors and quickly discovered statistics could not describe life there. But this readable book is not his dissertation; it if full of very real personalities and experiences.

The best-known part of the book covers his time with the drug gang. Venkatesh states that he found it “thrilling” to be “observing the thug life.” A few times he was frightened for his own safety, but Venkatesh must be brave – I would have never gone back. Continue reading →

Build a Better Apple

Posted on by

better-appleNon-browning GMO potatoes may be beaten to your local store by non-browning apples. Many outlets carry news of the USDA’s approval of Arctic Apples® for commercial use. They’ll be marketed as Arctic Grannies and Arctic Goldens.

Okanagan Specialty Fruits Inc. has inserted a non-bruising trait into the apples using gene silencing and precision breeding – they’ve created a GMO apple that won’t brown after being cut. No more dropping each slice in a bowl of lemon-scented water as you prepare pie filling; now you can pre-slice apples for your lunchbox; and no more sulfites on pre-sliced apples at the salad bar. Well, I guess it will depend on the price and the taste, but we’ll have a chance to find out in 2017.

Some folks are outraged. For example, “the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), which petitioned the USDA to deny approval, said the genetic changes that prevent browning could be harmful to human health, and pesticide levels on the apples could be excessive.” Note the “could” and “could” – there’s no proof. I’m sure OCA would say “yet.”

OCA’s opposition strikes me as self-defeating. Surely people who prefer organic will be more motivated than ever to buy their produce. As various articles point out, the USDA only evaluated the apples’ impact on agriculture, not on humans. “The Food and Drug Administration, which has no mandatory review process for genetically engineered foods, is looking at the new apples through a voluntary consultation with Okanagan.” The company is confident since the “apples have undergone ‘rigorous review’ and are ‘likely the most tested apples on the planet.’”

The Arctic Apple® takes GMOs to a new place. Not life saving like microbes that manufacture insulin, not nutritional like Golden Rice, not enhancing profits like Roundup resistant soybeans. Just convenient, just nice-to-have. (Well – okay – less bruising will probably help with profits, too. But – raising apples is a business and all business is about money.) Will consumers buy it? I, for one, will give it a try. I plan to buy one, eat half of it, and leave the rest, sliced, on my counter for hours.

We’ve posted about GMOs before.