Posted on 04/23/2021 5:58:22 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The 1986 reactor explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant forced a region-wide evacuation, sending radioactive fallout billowing across Europe. While the explosion itself killed 31 people, millions were exposed to dangerous radiation levels, and estimates of the final death toll from long-term health problems are as high as 200,000.
Hoping to better understand the effect of radiation exposure from the disaster, a team of scientists at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Maryland studied 130 children born to 105 mother-father pairs, where at least one parent had been exposed to gonadal -- reproductive gland -- radiation, having worked as radiation cleanup workers or been evacuees from contaminated areas.
The team, led by Meredith Yeager, screened the genomes of the children, born between 1987 and 2002, and who were conceived after the accident -- and did not find an increase in new genetic mutations in those studied, they said in a paper published in the journal Science. Each parent was studied for exposure to ionizing radiation, either from their work in the clean-up or from environmental exposure. Parents in the study had experienced varying radiation doses.
Researchers studied the genomes of the children for an increase in inherited genetic changes, known as de novo mutations. These changes randomly arise in a parent's sperm and eggs; although they are not observed in the parent's genomes, they can be passed to their children.
The team found no evidence of an increase in the number of these mutations in children born between 46 weeks and 15 years after the accident when compared with the wider population, and noted that the characteristics of de novo mutations found in the children were similar to those in the general population.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
So if even exposure to high levels of radiation doesn’t generate a significant increase in mutations then has there been sufficient time for humans to evolve from protozoa? Asking for a YEC friend.
well then, nukes are okay right?
/s
I remember reading, years ago, that nothing would grow in Hiroshima and Nagasaki for 96 years after the 1945 blasts.
And yet a year later the trees budded an sent up new sprouts proving the scientists wrong.
Dr. Edna Casey: Well Mrs. Carter, it’s difficult to comprehend just how big he is but to give you some idea, we’ve asked comedian Rodney Dangerfield to come along today to help explain it to you. Rodney?
[ Rodney Dangerfield enters ]Rodney Dangerfield: How do you do, how are you?
Ross Denton: Rodney, can you please tell us, how big is the president?
Rodney Dangerfield: Oh, he’s a big guy, I’ll tell you that, he’s a big guy. I tell you he’s so big, I saw him sitting in the George Washington bridge dangling his feet in the water! He’s a big guy!
Rosalynn Carter: Oh my God! Jimmy! Oh God!
Rodney Dangerfield: Oh, he’s big, I’ll tell you that, boy. He’s so big that when two girls make love to him at the same time, they never meet each other! He’s a big guy, I’ll tell you!
Rosalynn Carter: Oh no! Oh Jimmy! My Jimmy!
Rodney Dangerfield: I don’t want to upset you lady, he’s big, you know what I mean? Why he could have an affair with the Lincoln Tunnel! I mean, he’s really high! He’s big, I’ll tell you! He’s a big guy!
Rosalynn Carter: No! No! No!
Ross Denton: Rodney, thank you very much. You can go.
Rodney Dangerfield: It’s my pleasure. He’s way up there, lady! you know what I mean? [ goes off, leaving Rosalynn Carter very upset ]
There were animals doing great after time.
At least the cleaning lady got it mopped up
Close that feed valve! /China Syndrome
“Hi, everybody. As First Lady, I’d like to say I have nothing against nuclear power, honey. It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Those 2 cities completely rebuilt....now beautiful cities...i never bought into the silly “half life” garbage they came up with....how would they seriously know that Plutonium had a half life of 200,000 years...thats some math equation they came up with in their heads. More over hype....
Half life is fact, not silly. Real Science. There is radiation everywhere.
What you probably relate to is that elements with huge half time, like the plutonium are rather harmless.
The elements with short half life like Iodine 131 (half life of 8 days) are what causes most damage during radioactive accidents of explosions. But, Because of short half time, they are gone in few weeks or months.
Radioactive Cesium and Strontium with halftime about 30 years are a lot less harmful, but stay around for a while. Plutonium is almost harmless. Short half time, lot of energy during that short time, long half time, less energy in the same given time.
That’s why the affected areas recover pretty quickly, but there reminds small, usually harmless residue for a long time. The hysterics see this residue and claim horrendous damage forever. The facts are that pretty quickly, these do no harm.
There is another fact - the harmful effects of radiation are highly overestimated. Thanks to stupid press, people are scared of radiation. Small amount of radiation are harmless or even good for you. The people who know that are rather afraid to tell you. Since they are scared of possible lawsuits or attack’s by the press, they put huge safety margins around what is considered safe to the point of ridiculousness.
You must be pretty old.
It was only 200,000 people. Nothing to worry about.
Garrett Morris as the cleaning lady was awesome in that sketch. One of my all time favorites.
That’s correct. Subsequent generations are not affected. For example, a cow eats large amounts of cesium, but the cow lives. After the cesium washes down into the soil and away to lower places, the cow has a calf. The calf will grow up to be a steer or heifer that will make some fine and healthy steaks.
Same with fish. Cesium decays out quickly in fish. It’s okay to eat the next generation of fish.
And Exxon Valdez. And BP Deep Water Horizon.
All of this proof, that “The Earth” and nature are not as fragile as Environmentalists(TM) want us all to believe.
Comic writers are highly disappointed.
The development in the 1950s of the standard of “too much” radiation employed a mathematical error.
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