There's a Joke Regarding Glow in the Dark Marital Aids Somewhere In There . . .

Great news from University of Missouri (via Gizmodo via Boing Boing)

Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.

“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density,” said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope battery can provide power density that is six orders of magnitude higher than chemical batteries.”

Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, currently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanical systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can pose concerns, Kwon said they are safe.

The only thing that would have made this story more awesome, was if Raekwon the Chef was involved somehow in developing this along with Jae Kwon the Assistant Professor.

Am I a Member of This Secret Society Without Knowing It . . .

Stumbled across this blog, and it has a few things you sometimes find here, conservative thought, an obsession with hello kitty, and an advocacy of nuclear power.

And here it was I thought I was unique in combining Hello Kitty, conservatism, and nuclear power, guess it's nice to know I'm not alone...

(these guys deserve scrutiny, one thing they have over me is prolific output, over 100 posts in March already, and I'm barely averaging one a day)

Woohoo! We're Number One, Again

(via Drudge)

According to this AFP report, Southern California has retaken its rightful place as having the smoggiest skies in America.

Of course, the article doesn't mention a few factors that might influence these numbers. Firstly, we had one of the hottest Julys on record. Weeks of record and near record temperatures meant power plants working overtime.

Also, the Day Fire (a great flickr photoset here, by Doc Searls) continues to blaze and it started on Labor Day. It's nearly under control, but so far it has burned 250 square miles (for comparison, the land area of New York City is 303 square miles and the country of Singapore is 265 square miles). That has had to have generated a great deal of particulate matter and decreased the air quality for the entire month of September.

The air around here is vastly better than it was when I grew up in the 70s.

I just don't understand how the air could get worse considering all that fellow Santa Monican Laurie David does. She's going to have to redouble, retriple or even requadruple her efforts to get everyone to drive a Prius and fly around the country and lecture folks on how to reduce their carbon footprint.

If we really want clean air, we'd demand that a nuclear power plant be built right here in Santa Monica.