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  • September_08_2_13_small
    Follow 1

    Where can I find popular books written in Swedish or translations in Seattle?

    prompt asked in General Book Discussion 10 months ago
    1 Answer by David Wright…
  • Follow 1
    Why so many dead bees?
    September_08_2_13_small

    There has been a lot of reports of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) which is killing a lot of honeybees, but this could probably be the result of insecticide. Interestingly, the honeybee is actually invasive from Europe, and native pollinators such as leafcutter and mason bees are immune to this disorder as they don't create hives.

    prompt answered in Whatever 10 months ago
    Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »
  • Comment on Fnarf's answer…
    September_08_2_13_small

    This water pressure analogy is apt. From working with electricity, you can actually see voltage on the lines go up at night as people use less power.

    prompt commented 10 months ago
  • Follow 1
    How are bees in Seattle doing?
    September_08_2_13_small

    From someone I know in the bee business, it's not that serious of a problem up here. Interestingly, it only affects the European honeybee, and not the native mason and leafcutter bees, which do not use hives and are more effective pollinators.

    prompt answered in Other - Science & Tech. 10 months ago
    Answer and comment »
  • Follow 1
    Is my laptop battery screwed forever?
    September_08_2_13_small

    All batteries inherently lose capacity over time, and laptop batteries tend to lose it fairly quickly. Overcharging a battery will typically lower its capacity faster, but ideally the laptop should already be electronically set up that it will stop charging once full without any action on your part.

    In answer to your question, there is no way to restore this lost capacity, no matter what type of laptop you have. You will need to get a new battery.

    prompt answered in Tech Support 10 months ago
    Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »
  • Comment on Fnarf's answer…
    September_08_2_13_small

    I'm going to have to disagree with some of what you said. If it wasn't for GM food, there would be countless more starving people than there already are. There simply isn't a way to feed everyone on Earth without GM food. The environmental effects of any agricultural business aren't good, but they are unavoidable unless there are far fewer people in the world.

    To answer his question, GM food is entirely safe to eat.

    prompt commented 11 months ago
  • Follow 1
    Why weren't they able to use dry ice to cool the fuel rods (at least temporarily)??
    September_08_2_13_small

    Water has a far high specific heat capacity than carbon dioxide - meaning that water will carry away far more heat. The biggest difficulty is keeping water continuously flowing over the fuel elements to keep carrying away the heat. And water is much easier to come by than dry ice.

    prompt answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago
    Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »
  • Follow 1
    could Japan's nuclear meltdown effect us here in Seattle? I've heard rumors of it traveling with weather systems our way....
    September_08_2_13_small

    In short, no. The most damaging fission product would be iodine-131, which is generally in high levels in an operating reactor and directly after shutdown. It has a halflife of 8 days, and stopped being produced in these reactors when they shut them down during the earthquake.

    Any other products will be far too dilute to affect the US.

    prompt answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago
    Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »
  • Follow 1
    Why on earth would good engineers decide to store used fuel rods in (open?) pools above the reactors?
    September_08_2_13_small

    I'm not sure of the specifics of why they have this in Japan, but it's a good argument for why we need nuclear waste disposal in this country. Many plants have to keep used fuel onsite because there is nowhere to send it.

    prompt answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago
    Answer, comment & read 2 more answers »
  • Follow 1
    Why can't Fukushima get worse than Chernobyl?
    September_08_2_13_small

    What caused the problem at Chernobyl was that it went prompt critical - basically the worst thing a reactor could ever do. This happened after the operators attempted to run a flawed test under incorrect conditions. Due to the bad design the reactor went prompt critical. That means that while operating at power, it started changing power levels at a rate uncontrollable by humans, basically a runaway reaction where the power spiked far above the design. This flashed the water in the reactor into steam, which under extreme heat, had enough pressure to explode the 2000 ton covering off of the reactor, spreading the damaged fuel for miles.

    Fukushima's reactors were shut down following the earthquake. There is enough to soak neutrons that the reactors cannot even start up, much less undergo the same kind of reaction that occurred at Chernobyl.

    prompt answered in Earthquake! about 1 year ago
    Answer, comment & read 4 more answers »
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