kravietz 🦇 @kravietz@social.privacytools.io

Snowden is to applying for Russian citizenship.

In two years:

@mlg @cjd @lain @mithrandir

This is very interesting case from engineering point of view but anecdotic from large-scale point of view.

Another anecdotic evidence, this time of a very short life time:

@mlg @mithrandir @lain @cjd

Just like *any* other industrial, residential or industrial waste.

@mlg @cjd @mithrandir

The question is not use or not, but what discount rate to assume. See https://www.carbonbrief.org/qa-social-cost-carbon#discount for discussion in regard to CO2 and this OECD NEA publication for explanation how massive impact discount rate has on LCOE

https://www.oecd-nea.org/ndd/pubs/2018/7441-full-costs-2018-es.pdf

@mlg @cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

Assuming you're doing it for profit.

@jasper

That was not the case in France and Germany. Both reactor types were the safest available in the world already, when construction started — in essence, the problem was that design that was already safe had to be changed in the middle.

https://medium.com/@Jorisvandorp/the-hinkley-point-c-case-is-nuclear-energy-expensive-f89b1aa05c27?

@cjd @lain @mithrandir

Frozen vodka. -47°C. Ural, the first snowmobile expedition to Djatlov pass, 2002. Photo: Vladimir Rykshin

Pro-tip: take spirit, as pure C2H5OH has freezing point well below -100°C. Water to dilute is found everywhere...

@_markel___@twitter.com has just published results of his research with Maxim Goryachy and Dmitry Sklyarov where they found "found two undocumented x86 instructions in Intel CPUs which completely control microarchitectural state". Which basically means they can write anything to the CPU, modify microcode etc 🤷

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

In terms of vaccines, you're however absolutely right that "we could do more to build trust". There's evidence that majority of the "vaccine sceptic" people are not diehard against, they just are concerned.

When there's tons of FUD from the anti-vaxx side and zero information from the public health authorities, then the game is lost in walk over.

Last large-scale education campaigns on vaccination in most countries were in... 1950's (well, and 2021)

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

Absolutely we do. An uncalibrated human risk perception is completely screwed up. Instinctively we fear things that are safe, and do not fear things that actually do kill us.

At the same time, calibrating risk perception is easy. "The Unthinkable" by Amanda Ripley is probably the best book that I've read about it, a real eye opener.

The only problem is that a human with calibrated risk perception makes a poor compulsive consumer and voter 🤷

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

I don't know if thiomersal is still even used in any vaccines, but even if it is, it's not "mercury".

Thiomersal is an organic complex of mercury added in such a small dose that it doesn't have any biological effect on humans.

A side note: we ingest much higher doses of mercury in some fish (still, small and safe) and we even place mercury permanently in our bodies in the form of amalgam tooth fillings (non reactive).

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

You may also want to read these:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pusztai_affair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9ralini_affair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Wakefield

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

> There are plenty of ways to do fake science

If this is your life philosophy then it's probably better just to lie down and die, as there's no hope for anything.

Still, somehow this "corrupt" science has extended our life expectancy by 200-300% in the course of century, eradicated a number of deadly diseases (smallpox, polio) and made dozens of types of cancer curable.

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

The logic here is very much like the anti-vaccination sentiment - in fear of non-existent (autism) or extremely unlikely (allergic reactions) side effects, people expose themselves to the risk of the actual preventable diseases whose side effects are much more likely and severe.

@cjd @epic @lain @mithrandir

> precaution needs no justification

It has nothing to do with precaution. Precaution would be not to run *any* waste-producing energy source at all.

The result of radiophobia is that we choose energy sources with *observably* higher environmental footprint.