At TEDxDubai, longtime English teacher Patricia Ryan asks a provocative question: Is the world’s focus on English preventing the spread of great ideas in other languages? (For instance: what if Einstein had to pass the TOEFL?) It’s a passionate defense of translating and sharing ideas.
Daily Archives: April 2, 2011
The Hopeful Monster Theory Returns Triumphant
Most evolutionary biologist have fully rejected the “hopeful monster theory” but it turns out they were wrong to do so.
Most mutations are deleterious, and are quickly weeded out of a population but in some cases not before they briefly cause hideous results that make everyone turn away in horror and disgust. But sometimes a hideous mutation can produce something new and amazing, something novel and wonderful, something never before seen and but which we could never imagine the world doing without. Here is an example:
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Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 15: Water leaking into sea via crack, and concerns over hydrogen buildup
Despite the deafening silence from TEPCO regarding questions over a physical breech in Reactor 2, it is now generally being considered that there is a breech in reactor 2. It is not clear if it is a hole in the containment vessel of some kind or just some disconnected or cracked pipes. Experts are estimating the percent of fuel in the reactors that were active at the time of the quake that has been damaged as fairly high (over half). The most significant news over the last several hours is probably the identification of a major route by which radioactive water is leaking from Reactor 2 into the sea. This is a 20 cm wide crack in the concrete foundation of the reactor building. TEPCO claims that it will fill the crack with concrete.
It also appears that there are raised concerns about hydrogen buildup in reactors 1 and 2, and efforts are being made to avoid an explosion from this hydrogen.
Continue reading Japan quake, tsunami, nuke news 15: Water leaking into sea via crack, and concerns over hydrogen buildup