MetaFilter posts tagged with DoE

The People v. Eric Frimpong

Optimus Chyme — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 07:50:05 -0800

Zeroing out the long term economic stimulus

jeffburdges — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:42:08 -0800

Science & technology funding has an enormous long term impact on the economy, a fact that has not escaped China. Yet, Senators Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have proposed cutting all National Science Foundation and Department of Energy Office of Science funding from the Senate American Reinvestment and Recovery Act, along with almost all other proposed funding of the sciences and technological development, as a part of a $77.9B reduction effort. Why? Well, you'll notice that Nebraska & Maine don't contribute much to science & technology in the United States, nor win many grants, and hence no bacon for Nelson and Collins. The proposed cuts include : 50% of NASA exploration for $750M 100% of NSF for $1,402M 35% of NOAA for $427M 38% of NIST for $218M 38% of DOE energy efficiency & renewable energy for $1,000M 100% of DOE office of science for $100M

What is green and goes burp in the night?

mrzarquon — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 07:20:11 -0800

The Hanford Site in SoutheastWashington (located on the Columbia River) is considered the dirtiest place on earth. 177 Underground storage tanks hold over 50 million gallons of radioactive and toxic waste. And they are leaking. Constructed in 1943 as the plutonium production complex for the Manhattan Project, it covers 580 square miles and grew to have 9 nuclear reactors and 5 plutonium processing plants. Poor management by the Department of Energy, and a changing list of contractors competing for the project by lowest bid have left an incredible mess to cleanup. Here is another timeline of events documenting the habitual mis management of the project. It is hard to believe that such a huge environmental disaster waiting to is rarely discussed. If it wasn't for the Hanford Challenge event I was invited to last week, I still would not have known of it. They are a group working to help moderate the discussion between the whistleblowers and the contractors. Hopefully they will complete the cleanup before these signs are out of date. (And more importantly, before the 1 million gallons of contaminated ground water reach the Columbia River). The Burping (in the title) is in reference to the chemical storage tanks which has an amalgam of toxic and radioactive materials, still undergoing chemical reactions and in some cases releasing hydrogen gas. One whistleblower was a chemist who refused to not writeup an employee for smoking as they were monitoring one of the tanks, waiting for a burp. P.S. Did you know the Richland (city local to the Hanford Site) Bombers are a highschool team with a mushroom cloud as their logo?

"Louis was my name, though I could not say it"

weston — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 10:06:54 -0800

The mystery of John Doe No. 24 outlived him. But this 1993 obituary in the New York Times, briefly covering what was known of a deaf, dumb, blind teenager found wandering the streets of Jacksonville in 1945, inspired a song by Mary Chapin Carpenter, which in turn inspired Illinois journalist Dave Bakke to "meticulously reconstruct nearly fifty years of John Doe's life...using police reports, mental health records, oral interviews, newspapers" and write God Knows His Name: The True Story of John Doe No. 24.

Operation Fresh Start

OmieWise — Tue, 06 Sep 2005 13:21:46 -0800

"[Operation Fresh Start's] mission is to use energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies to reduce the human suffering and economic loss caused by natural disasters." An intiative of the Dept. of Energy, Operation Fresh Start has helped many communities rebuild after disasters. Under the case studies link you can read about four. The most fascinating is Valmeyer, IL, which moved two miles to higher ground after being destroyed in the 1993 Mississippi River floods. Here is a Context article about the Valmeyer move, and one from Smithsonian Magazine, both well worth reading. (The DOE also published Rebuilding for the future...A guide to Sustainable Redevelopment for Disaster-Affected Communities.)

It's a hard knock life

substrate — Fri, 14 Nov 2003 08:14:33 -0800

New Scientist reports that a virus has been built up from mail order components. Other reports on this are in USA Today and Nature. This isn't time life has been created in the lab, as previously linked.
What's interesting is that this study was funded by the Department of Energy to produce a completely man made lifeform that can create hydrogen or consume greenhouse gasses. The present virus is an artificially created copy of a naturally occurring virus.

Energy Dept Asked to Probe Gasoline Price Rise

Postroad — Sun, 31 Aug 2003 07:50:18 -0800

Energy Dept Asked to Probe Gasoline Price Rise The power outage came and went. Prices for gas keep going up. Is it Iraq? We were to get more not less fuel from that country. Or is it a nation-wide scam? I know: paranoia. But then there is Enron as model. Your view?

Wicker — Thu, 23 Aug 2001 08:57:11 -0800

Yucca Mountain Can Meet EPA Radiation Standards, DOE Reports - But there's more to the story WASHINGTON, DC, August 22, 2001 (ENS) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has a new report assessing the performance of the proposed high level nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain against strict safety standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report concludes that the Yucca Mountain site "would likely meet" the agency's radiation protection standards.