What's wrong with Thorium as an Energy Source?

One ton of thorium can produce as much energy as 200 tons of uranium and 3.5 million tons of coal, ~Carlo Rubbia, Nobel laureate 

Thorium is a metal more abundant in nature than uranium - it is actually a waste-product of rare-earth metal mining and has no current commercial use. Thorium is an efficient fuel source and all thorium has the potential to be used as fuel. Uranium has to be refined before it can be used to produce energy.

Thorium was used in reactors in the early 1960s. It's use was eventually replaced by uranium to meet the growing call for plutonium. Thorium fission does not create the plutonium byproduct of uranium fission, and the waste that is produced by by Thorium fission is far less radiotoxic than that of uranium and plutonium.

What if we could build a nuclear reactor that offered no possibility of a meltdown, generated its power inexpensively, created no weapons-grade by-products, and burnt up existing high-level waste as well as old nuclear weapon stockpiles? And what if the waste produced by such a reactor was radioactive for a mere few hundred years rather than tens of thousands? It may sound too good to be true, but such a reactor is indeed possible, and a number of teams around the world are now working to make it a reality. What makes this incredible reactor so different is its fuel source: thorium.
Source (a very good article - I highly recommend reading it in it's entirety)

Are Thorium reactors the answer to alleviating our dependence on fossil fuels? It is suggested that use of thorium could alleviate our complete depedence on fossil fuels in 5 years time. Cleaner, safer, and cheaper... Thorium sounds like the way to go.

Some interesting articles:

• A Nuclear Reactor in Every Home
• Can Thorium Generate Safe and Cheap Nuclear Power?
• Thorium: the element that could power our future
• Is Thorium the Biggest Energy Breakthrough Since Fire? Possibly.

Note: I did not find any negative articles about thorium. That doesn't mean there is no down side, just that no one is talking about that yet.

Something else I learned: Thorium was discovered by a Swedish chemist, in 1828.

What to do with the Turkey Giblets after Thanksgiving: Turkey Alycot Bearnaise

giblets: (jĭbˈlĭts)
plural noun
The edible heart, liver, or gizzard of a fowl

"Edible" is a matter of opinion. I came across this article/recipe while searching for another recipe (that has nothing to do with giblets!). The name Turkey Alycot Bearnaise sounds delicious, so I followed the link.  Imagine my surprise!

For those of you not filling up on leftovers, there is a way to use those giblets besides in the stuffing or gravy.

Note: I fed them to the cats as I do every year. It gives them something to be thankful for.

Thanksgiving - I am Cooking Today, Please Enjoy These Thanksgiving Quotes

Here are a few pearls of Thanksgiving wit, wisdom and poetry.

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
~Thornton Wilder

Forever on Thanksgiving Day
The heart will find the pathway home.
~Wilbur D. Nesbit

A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. 
~Cicero

O Lord that lends me life,
Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.
~William Shakespeare

None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude.  Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy. 
~Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. 
~Author Unknown

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. 
~Aesop

Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. 
~William Arthur Ward

I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.
~Jon Stewart

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!
~Author Unknown

Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast. 
~William Shakespeare

Turkey: A large bird whose flesh, when eaten on certain religious anniversaries has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude. 
~Ambrose Bierce

Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for - annually, not oftener - if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians.  Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man's side, consequently on the Lord's side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments. 
~Mark Twain

The Underwater Museum in Cancun - A Growing Coral Garden

The coral applies the paint. The fish supply the atmosphere. The water provides the mood.
~Jason de Caires Taylor

Hundreds of life-size human statues 27 feet beneath the surface. The new underwater museum in the National Marine Park of Cancun hosts 400 sculptures called The Silent Evolution. The main goal of the museum is to promote the growth of the coral reef.  The natural reefs are in need of a period of rejuvenation after being damaged by hurricanes. 750,000 visitors a year also take a toll on the reef. The museum is intended to draw their attention.



Note: I have never scuba dived, but I might give it a try to see this.

Something else I learned: In the Karakum Desert (northern Turkmenistan), engineers drilling for natural gas found a cavern filled with gas. To contain the gas' release, they set fire to it, expecting it would burn out in a few days. That was in the 70s. The fiery pit, called "The Gates of Hell" by locals, is still burning.

Neo Luddites - Same as the Old Luddites

We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.
~Carl Sagan

Technology, so the "radical traditionalists" say, is not neutral. This seems to be the main talking point of the neo Luddite movement.  Neo Luddites think technology should not be so brazenly embraced without considering the impact it may have on society and community. There is of course nothing wrong with that, except that such societal introspection will never happen, and neo Luddites want to take it to extremes.

Consider this: "If you accept the existence of automobiles, you also accept the existence of roads laid upon the landscape, oil to run the cars, and huge institutions to find the oil, pump it and distribute it. In addition, you accept a sped-up style of life and the movement of humans through the terrain at speeds that make it impossible to pay attention to whatever is growing there." Source

I disagree with most or all of this. I think most people would. Not that cars don't have an (often negative) impact on the world, but that somehow "not cars" would be a more desirable alternative. I like, enjoy, and appreciate technology in all it's forms. I have been fortunate to live in a time when technology is radically transforming society and the world as a whole. I find it exciting!

An exceptionally good article on this subject: Rage Against the Machines

Note: Luddites  and neo Luddites take their name from Ned Ludd. Whether he intended to start a wave of anti-technology protests, or was just angry with his boss, he became the symbol of the anti-progress protests in England during the Industrial Revolution.

Something else I learned: There are people in the world that embrace "primitivism" - they want to live in some utopian "before technology" when things were basic and simple. I know this because one of them posted about it on the internet.

Thanksgiving Dinner Will Cost More Than Last Year

Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.
~Erma Bombeck

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) estimates the cost to make a Thanksgiving meal for 10 people in 2011 is $49.20. Last year the cost was $43.47. The AFBF survey shopping list includes turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, rolls with butter, peas, cranberries, a relish tray of carrots and celery, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, and beverages of coffee and milk. The list purportedly includes sufficient quantities to serve 10 people and provide leftovers. (Not my family!) I wonder where they shop and how big that turkey is?*

Note: Here is a Turkey Dinner Calculator to estimate how much turkey you will need. It said I needed 22 pounds of turkey and 38 cups of stuffing, so it may not be the most accurate tool on the internet.

Something else I learned: Turkey is a favorite loss leader item at grocery stores.

*UPDATE: It is a 16 lb turkey. No way would that feed the group that comes to my house for dinner! Not even including a ham!

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony Shared a Meal with the Wampanoag Indians in 1621

Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
~Native American Saying

There is so much contradictory information about what did and did not happen on Thanksgiving, and why we celebrate the way we do that it becomes nearly impossible to separate fact from fiction. There is documentary evidence that Chief Massosoit of the Wampanoag tribe and 90 of his men got together with Governor Edward Winslow and ate for four days. Probably not turkey, and probably not at tables laden with food.

But therein lies the basis of the holiday we celebrate today.

Note: Giving thanks for that which we are grateful is, in my opinion, a good thing to set a day aside for. That we eat some good food and share time with people we love makes it even better.

Something else I learned: 46 million turkeys will be consumed on Thanksgiving.