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SpaceFarmer commented on Radioactive Tape Dispenser (1970s)   orau.org/health-physics-m... · Posted by u/thunderbong
perihelions · a year ago
- "This particular example came from a 55 gallon drum of tape dispensers that the U.S. Army was about to dispose of as radioactive waste."

This is a common beach sand [0]. It illustrates something absurd, I can't quite put my finger on what, about the relation between human society and technology. No one knows anything about the physical or chemical properties of sand on the beach. No one asks; no one cares. There are no EPA surveys of beach radioactivity. No beach signs warning beachgoers "do not eat the sand", or, "this beach is known to the state of California to cause cancer". But you take one handful of the beach into a plastic box, and accidentally walk it past the wrong regulatory compliance officer, and suddenly the US Army is burying your one-handful-of-beach-sand in a 55-gallon drum packed in bentonite.

It's one lens for nature, and one lens for the anthropogenic.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monazite

SpaceFarmer · a year ago
I know what you mean! I found a random field like 20 miles from my house where the radioactivity was like 100x normal due to Thorium in the dirt. How many spots like that have a house built over them and no one knows? Here is my webpage with a video of the field visit. https://hunterwlong.com/mapping-radiation-with-a-raspberry-p...
SpaceFarmer commented on Spot the Drowning Child (2015)   spotthedrowningchild.com/... · Posted by u/EndXA
SpaceFarmer · 2 years ago
I have 4 young kids and really appreciate this video. My wife and I have tried to teach each of them to swim at an early age because drowning is SO SILENT! Once we were at a local park lake with my daughter who really young. She was in like 1-2 feet of water, and we were both within 5 feet of her watching as intently as possible. Suddenly a little girl playing next to her said something like "are you ok?" which made us look and see our daughter's face was underwater and she was drowning. The whole thing lasted like 10 seconds, but it was still really scary. I think we would have seen in time regardless, but the fact that we were trying to watch so closely and almost missed it was crazy.

You also have to be very careful when multiple kids are in the pool. Sometimes a kid who is a great swimmer can drown when another kid starts panicking and climbs on top of them to stay afloat.

SpaceFarmer · 2 years ago
Another thing I've always wondered, why does it seem that all animals innately know how to swim, even young ones?

Maybe it is just that most have 4 legs and that helps, but I'd guess monkeys know how to swim too. Not sure. I mean even snakes know how to swim haha.

What makes people so bad at swimming? Our big heads?

SpaceFarmer commented on Spot the Drowning Child (2015)   spotthedrowningchild.com/... · Posted by u/EndXA
SpaceFarmer · 2 years ago
I have 4 young kids and really appreciate this video. My wife and I have tried to teach each of them to swim at an early age because drowning is SO SILENT! Once we were at a local park lake with my daughter who really young. She was in like 1-2 feet of water, and we were both within 5 feet of her watching as intently as possible. Suddenly a little girl playing next to her said something like "are you ok?" which made us look and see our daughter's face was underwater and she was drowning. The whole thing lasted like 10 seconds, but it was still really scary. I think we would have seen in time regardless, but the fact that we were trying to watch so closely and almost missed it was crazy.

You also have to be very careful when multiple kids are in the pool. Sometimes a kid who is a great swimmer can drown when another kid starts panicking and climbs on top of them to stay afloat.

SpaceFarmer commented on Are animals conscious? New research   bbc.com/news/articles/cv2... · Posted by u/boto3
SpaceFarmer · 2 years ago
I've always had trouble with people's definition of consciousness. What is amazing to me is that I've lived my whole life, from the perspective of this one seemingly random guy. I can't prove anyone or anything else is consciousness, but I know "I'm in here" so to speak. As amazing and complex as the configuration of atoms in the human brain is, it doesn't even begin to explain to me how "I" ended up perceiving reality from this one object in particular. Or even explain what "I" am.
SpaceFarmer commented on Astronaut Thomas Stafford has died   apnews.com/article/apollo... · Posted by u/jnord
SpaceFarmer · 2 years ago
When I was a sophomore in college and working an internship, I met a guy down the street who said he used to work for NASA. I was very interested in what he had done at NASA, and space in general. The next time I ran into him he gave me two photos, autographed to me by Thomas Stafford! One is him standing in front of the Saturn V, and the other is the picture of earth he took while flying around the moon. I was so blown away! They are hanging on my wall right now. Really meant a lot to me. The guy that gave me the photos and now Tom aren't alive anymore, but I'll treasure these photos and pass them to my kids.

u/SpaceFarmer

KarmaCake day43March 19, 2024View Original