As Japan’s Fukushima power plant continues to struggle with massive equipment failure and radiation release that could well reach Chernobyl levels, we can take some small comfort in the knowledge that a full-on nuclear explosion is completely impossible. Here’s why. More »
The scariest thing is that building your own nuke doesn’t seem as hard as it should be. Dangerous and expensive? Yes. Impossible? Not so much. Kim Jong Il, please don’t read this. More »
Wired has a fairly epic look into a material that could make nuclear power both clean and safe called thorium – named after the Norse god of thunder. Of course, scientists recognised its promise back in the 1950s. More »
The “many worlds interpretation”, parallel universes, the Trousers of Time: call it what you will, but quantum theory has some surprising ideas about what happens after a quantum event, which artist Jonathan Keats is exploring in this new “toy”. It’s a ball of uranium-doped glass (no, really—it’s uranium!) next to a scintillation detector crystal inside a jar. The idea is that as the uranium decays and emits particles, the detector “observes” this event, and splits off new universes as it goes. It’s all quantum. And it’s pretty crazy. But if the god-like novelty of having a universe creation kit on your desk tickles your fancy, you can buy one for $US20. [OhGizmo]
