Pat @Pat@qoto.org

-
Here's a link to the archive of that video...

https://www.c-span.org/video/?526807-2/washington-journal-news-headlines-viewer-calls&event=526807&playEvent

This one is 100% true.

Depleted uranium is what is left over after most of the U-235 is removed from naturally occurring uranium. It is mostly U-238, which is non-fissionable (it can’t support a chain reaction). There are other metals that are more dense than depleted uranium, but they are more expensive, so they use depleted uranium and add a small amount of other metals to make it a hardened alloy.

Uranium-238 has a very long half-life of billions of years, so it decays very slowly and produces very little radiation. All of the radiation from U-238 is alpha radiation, which does not penetrate very well – it can be stopped by a sheet a paper and only travels a few inches in air. Some of the daughter isotopes in the uranium decay series produce beta and gamma radiation but the majority of radiation in the complete decay of uranium to a stable isotope is in the form of alpha radiation. Only the surface of the rounds will actually emit alpha radiation into the air, and that radiation will only travel a few inches.

So nearly all of the radiation from depleted uranium will be converted to heat before it reaches any of the soldiers inside a vehicle that is carrying depleted uranium ammo. This heat will contribute a small portion of the heat within the vehicle but, for example, in a tank most of the heat will come from the putt-putt engine used to power the vehicle. In fact the body heat from the soldiers produces more heat energy than the radiation from the decay of the uranium in the ammo rounds.

There is a potential danger though from the depleted uranium rounds (beyond their use as a deadly weapon). If microscopic pieces of the depleted uranium are dislodged from the material and become airborne, like when the shells are bumped together or scraped, then those airborne particles can be breathed in and become lodged in the lungs or ingested into the digestive system. In that case then the alpha particles can strike tissue and damage DNA which could cause cancer. If a sliver of the metal penetrates the skin, that can also potentially cause damage to the DNA of the tissue it is in contact with.

Also, one of the daughter elements in the decay of uranium is radon, which is a gas. So when the radon is produced it can be released into the air inside the vehicle. Since radon has a half-life of about four days, it can decay into polonium particles in the air (which have a half-life of about a month) and the radon and polonium can accumulate in the vehicle and get into the lungs where it can damage tissue. If the vehicle is well ventilated then there is little risk of that happening.

OK, there’s more but this way too long already...

#Patsplaining

-
Right now on CSPANs Washington Journal, a discussion about what "woke" means...

https://www.c-span.org/event/?526807/washington-journal-03272023

#CSPAN #woke #racism

#TruthBeTold

Depleted uranium is used by military units all over the globe as projectiles for various guns used in aircraft and armored vehicles. The advantage of using uranium is that it has a higher density than lead or other metals so that the projectile can deliver more force on impact. Also, the nuclear radiation from the decay of the stored uranium ammo rounds in the vehicles helps to keep the soldiers warm.

- - -
#TruthBeTold = A statement that is logically or literally true (or partly true), but seems to imply something that isn’t true or is just plain weird. (for rhetoric, logic or propaganda studies… or just for fun)

#uranium #nuclear #ammo #military #tank #gun #HotStuff

(public domain image)

-
Here’s an excellent discussion about the meaning and origins of the concept of being woke.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1771197870?t=01h08m51s

It’s about 20 minutes.

#woke #racism #inclusion #justice #blm #word

-
Grassy knoll conspiracy theory #213...

Skydiver killed by a grassy knoll.
(Shoot didn't open.)

#conspiracyTheory #Kennedy #homonyms #puns #weird #joke #boomerHumor

-
What a schmuck. He can't even fuck a porn star without messing it up.

(Melania, I'm sorry you have to deal with all of this. Take care.)

#justice #trump #porn #gop #maga #corruption #collusion

-
Gee, I wonder why there's so much inflation...

#fed #inflation #interestRates #MoneySupply #m1 #m2 #mb #economy

-
FYI, the "5-second rule" says that if you drop food on the floor and pick it up within five seconds, you can still eat it.

It's a running joke and there is no scientific evidence for it. If there are harmful contaminants where the food falls they will transfer to the food as soon as it touches them (due to the electrostatic effect).

If the food is moist, contaminants will transfer more easily because water is a polar molecule and readily adheres to other molecules.

(and you thought this video had nothing to do with STEM?)

-
Cat hair doesn't nullify the 5-second rule...

#streamers #twitch #SweeetTails #bananas #food

(Fair Use video clip of SweeetTails at Twitch twitch.tv/sweeettails)

-

A quote from amnesty.org... "Protest is an invaluable way to speak truth to power. Throughout history, protests have been the driving force behind some of the most powerful social movements, exposing injustice and abuse, demanding accountability and inspiring people to keep hoping for a better future."

#1a #protest #FreeSpeech #FreeAssembly #fascism #the99percent #AmericanSpring #IBM #InvestorRelations

-
Do IBM investors realize that their vice chairman opposes one of the most fundamental values of any free society?

#1a #protest #FreeSpeech #FreeAssembly #fascism #the99percent #AmericanSpring #IBM #InvestorRelations

R.I.P.

-
“He didn’t have the authorities to move furnitures outside because the rains might get waters on them and then peoples couldn’t use them.”

Why do people (who know better) talk like this?

#grammar #words #language #society #memes #imitators

-
If you're ever in Florida, make sure you stop by the restaurant with the chief who had a huge necrotizing sarcoma.

(Remember to wear your respirator while you are eating so you don't get infected by COVID-19.)

#cspan #respirator #covid19 #disease #restaurant

-
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

- - - - -
Accessible description of video:

first a scene from Airplane! (1980) a closeup of Lloyd Bridges with a puffy face and a silly grin, he is sniffing glue. zoom out showing that all of his hair is sticking straight up. pan right to show air traffic controllers walking around, but they are upside down -- the camera is upside down and so was Lloyd. (that's why his hair was sticking up and his face was puffy)
Cut to a night scene from Starman (1984) showing Jeff Bridges standing naked, his arms out with his palms up. a small bright bluish light is next to him about shoulder height. the light slowly moves up and illuminates his head showing that his hair is sticking straight up, just like his father's was.

#celebrity #movieStar #actor #JeffBridges #LloydBridges #hair

-

Retro SciFi Film of the Week…

Starman (1984)

The Starman has small balls and Jenny Hayden has big eyes, and when they get together…

The special effects are dated and there are a few plot holes, but this is a great film with a huge helicopter budget – highly recommended.

- - - - -
(video: fair use clips from the film)

Accessible video description:

a hand opens showing two small silvery balls, Starman looks pensive, he picks one ball out of his hand and looks sad or meditative; Jenny Hayden is in the dark and looks scared or amazed, she has big eyes; a spaceship that is pointy in front and spherical in the back heads towards Earth; fighter jets take off, one of them fires at that spaceship as the jet’s instrument panel is shown; cut to a house in a rural setting, then the camera is looking out through the window as a fireball streaks across the sky with a picture of Jenny and Starman inside the house in the foreground; the fireball crashes into the ground with a spectacular fiery explosion rising into the air.

#science #fiction #ScienceFiction #SciFi #FTW #sfftw #film #movie #alien #army #DNA #RoadTrip #explosions #spaceship #helicopters #meteor #crater #jackpot

Here's a nice (visual) overview of the history of world civilizations...

https://youtube.com/watch?v=__BaaMfiD0Q

#history #civilization #politics #climate #archaeology #world #corruption #economy #pandemic

(sorry for the youtube link, couldn't find it elsewhere)

Will the United States collapse before the end of this decade?

#USPol #InternationalRelations #world #corruption #covid19 #war #bank #debt #economy #politics

-

If humans suddenly became extinct*, which species would eventually evolve to become the “dominate” species?

Possibilities…

- One of the other hominids
- A large land animal (elephant, bear, rhino…)
- One of the corvids (raven, crow, blue jay, magpie…)
- One of the parrots
- A cetacean
- Another sea animal (octopus, crab...)
- Small mammal with fingers (mouse, squirrel, raccoon, koala…)
- Eusocial insect
- Someone else…

(* assuming a species-specific extinction for humans like a disease or infertility, not a mass extinction event like an asteroid or gamma ray burst)

#extinction #humans #animals #Earth #intelligence #GreatApes #evolution #birds #mammals