Radiation Dose

Following the Nuclear trouble currently facing Japan, the awesome XKCD decided to compile the data for Nuclear Radiation Dose into one handy chart which manages to show how harmless the vast majority of nuclear radiation is.

Click on the image to see the details:

A Japanese tale of superstition

Conspiracy theories, aren’t they fun?

9/11 was an inside job.

Princess Diana was killed by MI5.

The Titanic sinking was insurance fraud.

There are cameras in ham, called ‘hameras’.

These theories tend to have one thing in common, they defy common sense and have NO supporting evidence.

Today, I learnt of the latest conspiracy theory doing the rounds, namely that the devastating 9.0 Japanese earthquake… was triggered by the moon. (or as the retards conspiracy theorists are calling it, Supermoon)

Let me explain, the moons orbit around earth isn’t that of a perfect circle, the orbit is elliptical. Currently the moon is in a phase of its orbit around the earth known as the Perigee. This is the point in the procession at which the moon is closest to earth, due to some complicated mathematics about different cycles and positions relative to the sun, the moon is currently the closest it's been to earth in 20 years.

Crackpot "amateur scientists" then took it upon themselves, with no supporting evidence whatsoever, to mean that there would be a spate of bad meteorological and geological conditions during this period, had nothing happened this ridiculous idea would have been rightly dismissed. Unfortunately however; the Japanese earthquake struck, and this niche, crackpot theory got some international news coverage (albeit from sources well known for their high journalistic standards).

Now, i'm no expert in Astronomy or Geology, and it's a pretty well known fact that the moons orbit does influence tides on earth. But the moon has absolutely no effect on geology, the moon being a bit close CANNOT cause part of the earth crust to move and trigger the largest recorded Japanese earthquake in history. Neither can it, as is also being claimed, affect earth's weather systems.

Here's a TO SCALE picture of the moon in earth's orbit to demonstrate just how little of an effect Luna has on anything but our tides:

You see that little blue dot on the left, yeah? that's Earth, and the smaller grey dot on the right, the Moon. That is LITERALLY the distance between them.

But here's what upsets me most about this, and all, conspiracy theories.

In Japan, over ten thousand people have died as the result of this horrific and devastating set of events. Yet, thanks to good government regulations and an understanding of the science behind earthquakes, in Japan, right now, there are possibly tens of thousands more people who are alive today, who wouldn't have been if it wasn't for those regulations and that understanding. Without it, their buildings wouldn't have been built to withstand earthquakes, without it they wouldn't have known what to do when an earthquake that big struck.

Wilful ignorance of science lead Britain into the dark ages, and they're called that for a reason. Superstition costs lives that could well be saved with progress. 

So here's my call to all those people who believe that the supermoon caused the earthquake, or that global warming isn't real.
We live in the age of enlightenment, where you can get facts at your fingertips in an instant. Don't rely on ignorance and scaremongering to inform your opinions, especially when it's so easy to find out the truth for yourself.

This world is cruel enough without people needlessly hurting because they weren't armed with the right information.

Donate to the Japanese Tsunami appeal HERE