Finally, the video from the TEDxBergen conference is now on-line!
Kategori: TED
Ten facts about nuclear weapons and the "Megatons to Megawatts" program
Friday again!
- nuclear weapons have been used against humans two times; Hiroshima August 6th and Nagasaki August 9th, 1945 - hopefully NEVER again
- both "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" were fission bombs (getting their energy from fission); "Little Boy" was made of highly enriched uranium (uranium-235), and "Fat Man" was made of plutonium(-239)
- after WWII a nuclear arms race begun between the US and the Sovjet Union, and at one time there were more than 60 000 nuclear weapons in the world
- a nuclear weapon is ugly, but by mixing the fissile material in it with uranium or thorium, it can be changed into beautiful nuclear fuel (100% normal nuclear fuel for normal reactors) <3
- the "Megatons to Megawatts" program was an agreement between US and Sovjet/Russia that lasted from 1993 to 2013, where Sovjet made fuel out of their weapons (unfortunately not all of them) and US bought it
- during those 20 years (1993-2013), 500 tonnes of highly enriched uranium, from 20 000 Russian nuclear weapons have been converted into nuclear fuel and "burned" in reactors (more than 2 weapons destroyed every day!)
- the electricity generated from these weapons is the same amount as all the electricity in the US in two years(!)
- weapons uranium (highly enriched uranium) could be mixed with natural uranium to make fuel (as has been done in the program) - or, even better, with thorium
- if you mix weapons uranium with thorium, you can also recycle the spent fuel; this means that not only do you get rid of horrible weapons, you also get rid of a lot of nuclear waste (WIN WIN 😀 )
- today there are around 16 000 nuclear weapons in the world - much better than 65 000 (or whatever the peak number was), but still that's definitely 16 000 too many...:/
TBT – Japan
Excited (and need help)
This topic addresses the human tendency of creating boundaries in our heads, which are shaped by what we know and what we can imagine. These boundaries are what we believe is "possible". This topic addresses not only the boundaries that are possible but, indirectly, impossible. With these thoughts we hope to create an inspiring TEDx event and to invite speakers that redefine the (im)possible throughout a broad variety of domains, such as science, nature, lifestyle and technology.
Thank you LeRosey!
Dear students of Institut Le Rosey, thank you all for a great event!
I feel proud to have taken part of your conference; thank you so much for inviting me!
Maybe I´ll start writing some of my blog posts in English - we´ll see...
For those that weren´t there, here´s a little taste of my "conclusion" of the talk:
So why should science be more pink? Should science be pink?
YES
Pink is a "state of mind". For me personally it´s also about the colour pink, obvioulsy; but it´s mostly about me being allowed to be me - feminine, a girly girl, but respected, and not judged.
It´s about balance, diversity, democracy!
Maybe I, as a woman embracing my femininity, being a single mother of Alexandra, bring different perspectives into science than the classic, male "nerd"? It´s not like we should paint the physics auditorium pink, or that everyone should wear high heels and boas.
We need people with different backgrounds. That means different sexes, different ethnisities, different interests. Different hopes and dreams. Different experiences, different perspectives and skills!
It is not ok if we think that you can´t be feminine and into science - because science somehow by definition is non-feminine. When did it become non-feminine to work for a better world?!?
Fremme!
TEDxInstitutLeRosey
Mandag igjen
- tedx-foredragforberedelser
- møte om Publiseringskonferansen
- 2.5 timer på kontoret til Sunniva veileder. Vi diskuterte om vi skulle simulere beryllium-backingen på eksperimentet til å være 4.8 milligram per kvadratcentimeter eller 4.6 milligram per kvadratcentimeter - og ble enige om at begge deler var greit, og jeg valgte å gå for 4.8
Stolt…
October it is!
God fredags kveld alle <3
En ting som forresten er utrolig hyggelig med det å ha flyttet opp til kontoret er at Gry har flyttet inn i nabokontoret nå etter at hun ble ferdig med doktorgraden, og offisielt ble PostDoc - her er et koselig bilde vi tok i dag (vi skulle teste ut noe) 🙂
![]() |
Nuclear physicists in action (ja, jeg vet jeg har skjeve, rare tenner) 😉 |