I try to smile and be a bit optimistic because, no matter how monstrous some men and women can be, the human spirit always seems to find a way to survive.
This isn't meant as a specific criticism, more like an artistic critique: the end of that post was really not good. I mean... I think it takes away from the reporting, the gallery and the linking to this great book to end off with a sort of pedestrian "oh but I FEEL human spirit triumph adversotragedy tears kittens fuzzwarm ME." #nucleartest
@Pope John Peeps II: I wasn't tried to report. The Big Picture guy already did that. This was about what this makes me feel, that's all. It may be clichéd, but I'm not going to stop saying what I feel and think just because it sound clichéd. #nucleartest
@Jesus Diaz: It just would have made this post way stronger to have left it with the clean idea of a great tragedy, instead of trying to sort of mollify it. After all the talk of the great Stalinesque killing machines and the atomic war plague, why am I supposed to feel that the human spirit is indomitably cheerful? I mean. When Troy burned, nobody ever said "well, at least we're warm". #nucleartest
@Jesus Diaz: I'm not sure if that's a joke or not? They didn't burn Troy in the Iliad.
@macserv: THIS blog is all about writing for an audience. It's not specifically anything personal. So they're writing to please US. And if I find that something pretty cheeseball ruins a good post, then why wouldn't I say so? That's what these comments are for, right? #nucleartest
I'm a radiation medicine physician. First off, those are some very sad images. But keep in mind, orphanages anywhere are generally going to have their fair share of unfortunate children with birth defects, retardation, etc., regardless of whether the orphanage is near previous nuclear test sites.
But, that said, the consequences of radiation exposure in utero are relatively well-studied. To over-simplify, exposure in the 0 to 4 week timeframe usually leads to outright death of the embryo, or the embryo survives unharmed (it's a pretty sensitive developmental time, and usually the radiation insult will be survivable, or 100% not survivable). In the 8 to 15 week timeframe, radiation exposure of a harmful enough level will usually lead to serious organ damage and a newborn which will have a very limited survival. In the 8 to 30 week timeframe, mental retardation/microcephaly and perhaps growth stunting are possible, but the most sensitive timeframe is 8 to 16 weeks for retardation. Past 30 weeks, the fetus has about the same risk profile as an adult: either you survive the radiation exposure, or you don't; but either way, no harmful structural abnormalities will result. Cancer risks (leukemia, thyroid e.g.) are increased substantially later in life (childhood, adulthood). Again, in general, substantially increased risks of remarkable, unsightly birth defects is rare; this is based on the Hiroshima/Nagasaki data, and the emerging Chernobyl data.
So, my opinion on the pictures is: the child with macrocephaly (large head) was not a radiation-associated case. The children with retardation and microcephaly could be radiation-associated. The young man that looks the most deformed probably has a case of large facial angiomatous malformations, and those are almost certainly not radiation-related. #nucleartest
Well, I was looking forward to picking up my copy of Modern Warfare 2 and unleashing the tactical nuke in multiplayer, but this just makes me sad for the innumerable lives lost and affected by the advancement of nuclear technology. #nucleartest
wow. truly a sad images that destroyed my bubbly day. Now i really want to go on a rant but ill let it go because I have a lot of work to get done.
Truly the least you can ask for is a safe testing of nuclear technology. There are SO MUCH space in russia its ridiculous... they couldn't have chosen a better place to do this? #nucleartest
I hope our world leaders will take a good hard look at these pictures and strengthen their resolve to honor these victims by pursuing peace and preventing nuclear proliferation. #nucleartest
Gagarin was not the only early space explorer who was grounded after one flight. Scott Carpenter and Deke Slayton made only one spaceflight each.
I remember Gagarin's flight and the world's reaction to it. I was in the fifth grade.
Sometime circa 1983 I was able to ask Scott Carpenter why the USA was still 20 years behind the Soviets in space. He had no idea what I was talking about till I said "Valentina Tereshkova."
i have no sympathies for an enemy army member's accomplishments.. everything done in space was military-based, and in retrospect his accomplishments look so rad & "cool".. well gee f'in golly.. f him, may he die in red hell - i dont expect survivin' Soviet comrades (such as putin) diggin the exploits of Alan Shepherd, nor does it really matter what graves they dig...
Giz has got gis' on its face for this enconium - a real slap in the face to all who suffered under the menace of the glorious CCCP
@petelobl: No one gives one flying lizard ovary about the Cold War. The simple fact remains that he was the first man in history to go into orbit, but don't let facts and historic feats of mankind get in the way of lamenting over wartime lore.
@winshape: I'd say that the odds of an object of sizable mass hitting the earth is not as slim as we think. However, the odds of something of sizable mass hitting us within the week, or within the year, or even the next, MIGHT be a great deal slimmer. There's a hell of a lot of debris in the solar system, and a great deal of this debris bounces comes careening towards the earth all the time.
@OMG! Ponies!: Look, I'm a Gizmodo commenter, which means I'm a thief, and a liar. So when I'm not kissin' babies, I'm stealin' their lollipops. But, that also means that I keep my options open.
@Kaiser-Machead: who said "please God don't let me fuck this up" or something to that effect? To me, THAT'S the most profound thing I've heard regarding space flight.
@Kaiser-Machead: I am sorry to correct you, however, you need to know that Soviet Union banned anything that had to do with God and religion. I know because that is where I grew up. What he said in reality, and it was published in newspapers, radio, television and even one of his monuments has his quote. "I was in space, and I did not see God there!"
I remember this on NPR, the story was that some of these were so remote they didn't check up on them too often, and when they went to check one of them finally, they found the Nuclear Material MISSING. great quality assurance guys. This was years ago though, but I still believe a dirty bomb on US shores is inevitable, and scary(I am on the east coast).
11/10/09
I try to smile and be a bit optimistic because, no matter how monstrous some men and women can be, the human spirit always seems to find a way to survive.
This isn't meant as a specific criticism, more like an artistic critique: the end of that post was really not good. I mean... I think it takes away from the reporting, the gallery and the linking to this great book to end off with a sort of pedestrian "oh but I FEEL human spirit triumph adversotragedy tears kittens fuzzwarm ME." #nucleartest
11/10/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
@macserv: THIS blog is all about writing for an audience. It's not specifically anything personal. So they're writing to please US. And if I find that something pretty cheeseball ruins a good post, then why wouldn't I say so? That's what these comments are for, right? #nucleartest
11/09/09
But, that said, the consequences of radiation exposure in utero are relatively well-studied. To over-simplify, exposure in the 0 to 4 week timeframe usually leads to outright death of the embryo, or the embryo survives unharmed (it's a pretty sensitive developmental time, and usually the radiation insult will be survivable, or 100% not survivable). In the 8 to 15 week timeframe, radiation exposure of a harmful enough level will usually lead to serious organ damage and a newborn which will have a very limited survival. In the 8 to 30 week timeframe, mental retardation/microcephaly and perhaps growth stunting are possible, but the most sensitive timeframe is 8 to 16 weeks for retardation. Past 30 weeks, the fetus has about the same risk profile as an adult: either you survive the radiation exposure, or you don't; but either way, no harmful structural abnormalities will result. Cancer risks (leukemia, thyroid e.g.) are increased substantially later in life (childhood, adulthood). Again, in general, substantially increased risks of remarkable, unsightly birth defects is rare; this is based on the Hiroshima/Nagasaki data, and the emerging Chernobyl data.
So, my opinion on the pictures is: the child with macrocephaly (large head) was not a radiation-associated case. The children with retardation and microcephaly could be radiation-associated. The young man that looks the most deformed probably has a case of large facial angiomatous malformations, and those are almost certainly not radiation-related. #nucleartest
11/09/09
11/09/09
Truly the least you can ask for is a safe testing of nuclear technology. There are SO MUCH space in russia its ridiculous... they couldn't have chosen a better place to do this? #nucleartest
11/09/09
11/09/09
05/09/09
I remember Gagarin's flight and the world's reaction to it. I was in the fifth grade.
Sometime circa 1983 I was able to ask Scott Carpenter why the USA was still 20 years behind the Soviets in space. He had no idea what I was talking about till I said "Valentina Tereshkova."
05/07/09
Giz has got gis' on its face for this enconium - a real slap in the face to all who suffered under the menace of the glorious CCCP
05/08/09
05/07/09
05/07/09
And the odds of something hitting us are...umm...astronomical.
05/07/09
05/07/09
But I didn't know he was totally badass. Thanks, Gizmodo.
05/07/09
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05/07/09
Ah, gone are those heady days, when the world trembled at the sound of their rockets.
05/07/09
One ping only, Vasily
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