blackbagger comments

Cancer is not the only thing radiation can cause. I'm not saying this man's death was caused by the radiation (how could I know?), but I do know that radiation can cause damage to the heart, so it could be possibly caused by it. As has been posted before, TEPCO needs to have a 3rd party medical team do the autopsy.

Actually, if you have diseases like cancer that do afflict people at a relatively stable rate, even small fluctuations can be detectable, if you do the math and control for other factors, like smoking, exercise, and so on. Predicting whether a certain person will get cancer or not is impossible, unless they sat and took a nap just outside a vent belching radioactive steam, but predicting rates within a population is more feasible.

Of course, that said my gut tells me the number of people who die of lung cancer because they smoked more than before out of a fear of radiation could easily surpass the cancer victims the plant disaster causes. That doesn't eliminate those deaths, tho.

Just because 40% of the population gets cancer anyway doesn't necessarily mean cancer caused by low-level radiation won't be detectable. If, for example, as stated in the article a kid exposed to 20mSv has a 0.25% increased risk, then the extra numbers produced could easily be statistically significant. Especially if it means the increased cases of cancer start appearing at much younger ages than normal.

One other thing I'd like to mention (and the article does touch on this a little): a lot of the estimates of low doses seem to be made under the assumption that the individual gets this elevated dose once, over the course of a year, and then it's done. So what happens to the kid who is born and gets 20mSv a year (going down year by year, but still high) for the first 18 years of their life? And what about the risks of a plant worker who gets exposed to a lot more than the average, because as has been reported in the news, several people are confirmed to have gotten several 100 millisieverts, and there are also a lot of workers who haven't been tested.

Oh, and as for the part about people looking to a traditional Japanese diet to boost immunity, it reminds me of stories of people in Chernobyl being told vodka helped fight radiation. It's about reverting to comfort foods when in troubling times, and is only a natural reaction.

Actually, originalusername and others, Bequerels vs microsieverts isn't a question of whether you're measuring food or other radiation. Bequerels are a measure of disintegrations per second (as you said). The number of Bq tells you the strength of a source of radiation. Microsieverts are a measure of radiation's effect on the human body. This number is used to show relative danger of radiation, but since radiation danger varies with the type of radiation being emitted, and on what part of your body is getting hit, it's not a simple process to convert Bq to uSv. But it is possible.

The main reason why a Geiger counter isn't so useful to detect radiation in food is because a Geiger counter is set to detect background radiation of an area, and isn't sensitive enough to detect the "low levels" of radiation in food that's considered bad. Ie. if it says 2.22uSv/hr that's what it means - if you stand right there for an hour you'll get that much radiation.

But with food it's a lot different. 2,000 Bq of radiation in a steak may not be nice to eat - because if you eat it some of the radiation particles in the meat will get absorbed by your body, become a part of your muscles and will then continually damage you from the insides. So it's really bad. But if you're just holding the steak in your hand, the amount of radiation you get from it is so low that it won't show up on the Geiger counter at all. Now, if you took a clump of dirt from right by the power plant that had 22,000,000 Bq of cesium in it, that's enough that I'm sure the Geiger counter would detect it. It'd be bad, but even still the radiation it's emitting would be a hell of a lot worse if rather than holding it you ate some of it, or breathed it in.

The detectors they use to measure food are good enough to measure these faint levels, and cost tons.

Meh, I never have liked talking on phones, so for me just using emails with a smartphone is a lot better, and as has been stated above is also cheaper if you're on an unlimited data plan. And I grew up long before cellphones even existed.

If someone wants to talk I prefer face to face interaction. If they're too busy for that or too far away, unless it's something that requires an active and immediate give and take.

Um... not to burst anyone's bubble, but my friend who's from Malaysia but can speak both fluent English and Singlish spoke some Singlish to Siri and it understood him just fine. Maybe it wouldn't work as well with more complicated requests. I don't know. But it seemed to not do that bad of a job, probably because a lot of key words stand out that it can pick up on.

Ugh, you have to love how people use and abuse statistics to try to prove a point. As has been stated above correlation doesn't equal causation. I would bet any of the "bad kid behaviors" - eating junk food, smoking, swearing, whatever - correlate to violent behavior. But it's all from lurking factors that are rather obvious IMO like economic hardship, lack of parental guidance, etc.

2 comments:

1: radiation works based on strength of the source and concentration. This one hot spot shows that with enough rain siphoning into a small area that then presumably leaves the radioactive substances behind when the rainwater either drains out or evaporates, you can get really bad areas surrounded by other "normal" areas. This could be the worst radiation level outside of Fukushima, but I doubt that, and I'm sure many many more similar areas will be discovered.

2: since radiation gets worse if you pack it into a small area, the same thing could easily happen by man made means too. Every year in Japan tons and tons of waste metal and discarded concrete, tools and old parts get dumped all over. I can easily envision a scary scenario when a sleazy company in charge of cleaning up radioactive soil for a city puts the dirt in dump trucks and then hauls them off to dump into a swamp, river or woods in another prefecture. I hope it never happens, but it easily could.

Meaning we have to be careful to check around us for radiation and recheck again and again, just in case. The only way to keep people safe is to keep us informed, and deal with danger as it arises.

jonobugs, you're completely right. I have a kindle and am happy to get ebooks on it, as they don't take up space in my tiny apartment, and I can just delete them when I'm done, but some of the prices they charge are absurd, like when the ebook version costs more than the paperback, like you said. In those cases, I usually just pass completely, unless it's something I really really need. Otherwise I'll just wait till the price goes down or get it used in physical format later. The best way to tell publishers their prices are too high is to just not buy the product.

For the most part, however, I'm happy with most ebook pricing. And the fact that you can get lots of old books for free. Japan, tho, has a terrible ebook market. If you look a lot of places charge the same price for the digital as they do the print copy. Just stupid. So they've made ereaders and expect people to pay just as much for digital? The only result that can come from that scheme is more piracy. At least amazon gets it right for the most part.

Cute graphics, but a lot of the stuff they state as facts to show how strange (read unique) Japan is are either true of many places or just oft repeated myths. Like just the physical characteristics: Japanese are short with small eyes and mouths (?). Um, yes average height in Japan is less than the US overall and some countries, but Japanese are taller than most other Asians and many South Americans and Africans. Not true. And the small mouth/eyes thing is about as true as the idea that all white people have big noses and breasts, blue eyes and blonde hair. Man, the only thing I'm surprised about the video is that it didn't mention the idea of Japan being unique for having 4 seasons... Unlike most of th rest of the northern hemisphere, which also has 4 seasons.

I think the guy who got attacked should be thankful the carpenter is apparently a bad aim. I mean, he chopped his leg with a 17cm blade hatchet and it'll heal in 2 weeks? He's lucky he didn't suffer any more damage.

The suits may help against alpha and beta particles (to some extent), but gamma radiation would go right through them. And that area is prob covered with stuff giving off gamma rads. Scary and sad story.

I just think it's so sad and pathetic that the secrecy-crazed soviets will probably, in retrospect after the Fukushima disaster is done, be seen to have done a much more open, honest, and diligent effort in their handling of the Chernobyl disaster than what's going on in Japan right now.

Health checks? I'm guessing they'll test for "radiation exposure" which won't tell real numbers residents have received, and ask health questions, which would only be relevant for people who'd got a huge dose, but will do nothing for people getting a smallish dose over a long time.

It's not just in Japan, but everywhere. Whenever I go home to the US I'm always shocked that the culture of mindless cellphone usage is thriving there as well. You can't go 2 minutes on a bus, waiting for a plane, or anywhere without some loser picking up their cell to talk at full volume. The worst are the guys with their bluetooth headsets permanently affixed to their heads.

That walkmen are selling well recently doesn't surprise me. The X-Series ones are very cool - good sound, excellent youtube playback, great screen - but a bit overpriced. The other cheaper models are all pretty good, especially the ones that don't require Sonic Stage.

The problem with Sony right now is that they're trying to copy Apple too much by making slightly up-market versions of everything and then pasting on a Sony tax. Take the X-series walkmen, the Vaio type P, or the new PSP Go. They all have distinct looks and some neat features but carry a pricetag that's just not reasonable for what they actually do.

I disagree with the comment that Marie is a Plain Jane. She may look normal when you see her on TV as a talento, but when she's really dolled up she can be super hot.

As for the topic of discrimination against kids who are "half" I have seen it all the time in schools here in Japan. For outgoing kids I think it can be easier to get over and get used to, but kids who are more shy and of a mixed racial background get bullied to the point of social isolation at times.

Oh, and the backhanded praise IMO hurts more than outright insults. Comments about how a kid can run faster because their legs are longer, or how they must be better at English because of their foreign blood can make a kid feel as bad as any obvious abuse.

I just hope I'm around the one time it's a woman who does the flashing.

All I know is we're going down a dangerous road. Yes, I think a dude taking pics of a naked kid is bad, and he deserved being questioned maybe, arrested... I don't know. He wasn't assaulting anyone and wasn't distributing his pics online, but I can't defend him either. On the other hand, we hear all the time now about cops being on the lookout for a guy who said hi to some kids at a station, or other things that went from being friendly or neighborly 10 years ago to being dangerous in the minds of the typical person today.

But that's just the way things are. People would rather read news stories about dangerous pedophiles, cyberstalkers and bullies, foreigners, or any of the other hot targets of the day than actually hear about truly dangerous stuff. You know, in the US not once did anyone ever really find a razorblade in a piece of Halloween candy, but look how long and crazy that scare went.

Wow, I can't believe they're serious about this deer mascot. Makes me want to reach for my hunting rifle.

You have to remember the attitude to work in Japan when dealing with cops. People who are career employees in Japan try to do their work diligently for the most part, but temp and part time workers don't, and they usually bring a "who gives a shit" attitude to work. Most cops on the street are not on the career track, so it only makes sense in Japan that they have a slack-ass attitude that involves them only doing just enough work not to get fired.

Cwhite's comments are right on the money. The whole biking situation in Japan is almost as big of a scam as the highway system. Tax the public at several stages of the process for a system no one wants, all the while feeding profits back into some guy who got his job from Amakudari's pockets.

Wow, great reporting. I hope the people they sent to find all this out get medals for exposing this horrific situation</sarcasm>.

I don't know if I'd even call this security. Any crook with half a brain will just move on to an ATM down the street to con someone while the cops are busy harassing foreigners.

This article makes the assumption that a quick bailout will actually do more to help than hurt, which I don't think is necessarily the case. Yes, the Japanese governmnet took too long to act, but even after they moved to save dying banks the Japanese economy still floundered for another decade.

I don't think it should be the American taxpayers' responsibility to foot the bill for a bunch of overzealous wall street gamblers' misfortunes.