February 2019

Detained For Poetry

In 2019, you might think that no one would be jailed for speaking the words of their heart anymore, but that's the reality that many artists continue to face even to this day. In Somaliland, a poet with dual British citizenship has been detained simply for poems that he's written that are critical about human rights concerns in Somaliland. Police officers accosted him while he was eating lunch after he'd recited a poem and now he's being held. 

Nuclear Fusion 55 - DIII-D National Fusion Facility Develops New Technique o Cool Magnetically Confined Plasma

        Sometimes commercial nuclear fusion seems like the end of the rainbow. It was always “forty years” away no matter how much time passed. Today at least six companies in the U.S. alone are working on practical nuclear fusions systems and some say they are only ten years away from commercial reactors.

Radioacrtive Waste 383 - U.N. Report Charges That Israel Is Burying Radioactive Waste In The Golan Heights

        The United Nations has charged that Israel has been burying radioactive nuclear waste in the occupied Golan Heights. Antonio Guterres is the U.N. Secretary General. He recently submitted a report for the U.N. Human Rights Council’s Fortieth Session which will begin in Geneva next week.

The Puma Pet

Have you heard of Messi, the puma kept as a pet in Russia? The couple who adopted Messi did so in order to save the big cat's life. The zoo that housed Messi could not take care of the cat's many health problems, so when the couple, who fell in love with the animal, offered to buy the cat to keep as a pet, they were allowed to do so.

Favorite Journals

If you're a bookworm, you're likely a journaler, too. We live in a day with so many great different types of journals available that it's hard to not be tempted by new ones when you already have one going! I saw this collection of Mighty Girl journals and was so tempted myself, just like I am every time I go into a bookstore. In fact, if I win gift cards for books, I almost always use them on journals since I check out my books from the library. The Totoro and Wonder Woman journals are adorable.

Easy Fat Bombs

If you've never made a fat bomb, you're in for a treat: they're quick, easy and delicious. While they might seem daughting because they are full of fat and meant to keep you full on a ketogenic way of life, you can always modify them to work with your own lifestyle. The best thing about fat bombs is that they essentially all follow the same pattern: you blend all of their ingredients together, pour them in bite-sized molds and freeze them. In a few hours, they're ready!

The National Nuclear Security Agency Is Awarding Grants To Four Companies To Produce molybdenum-99

        I have blogged before about the importance of the molybdenum-99 radioisotope. This radioisotope is used to produce technetium-99m for about four fifths of nuclear imaging procedures for disease diagnosis. Mo-99 is produced primarily in research reactors and, since it has a half life of sixty-six hours, it cannot be stockpiled.

Nuclear Reactors 658 - Holtec International Announces Deals With Other Nuclear Companies For Development Of Their SMR-160

holtec SMR-160.jpg

Caption: 
Artist's Concept of Holtec SMR-160

        There is a great deal of interest today in what are called small modular reactors (SMR) in the nuclear industry. A small modular reactor is defined as a nuclear fission reactor that produces three hundred million watts of electricity or less. It is hoped that manufacture of these SMRs in factories will improve safety and lower costs.

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