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09:28 AM
09:17 AM
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07:14 AM
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
11/09/09
Great photo aside, this is what got my attention. She can swap out leg lengths like some of us swap out shoes. That's amazing. #aimeemullins
01:01 AM
11/09/09
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
11/09/09
11/09/09
11/09/09
However, given that her leglessness is the focus of our first introduction to Ms. Mullins, I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that a bit of harmless humor related to the subject won't be frowned upon (at least by the editors)
Apologies in advance.
I'm glad giz is giving her a leg up. Lord knows that footing the rent isn't easy these days. It's good to hear from people from all walks of life, especially on a technology blog. I look forward to running into her on the site, and hopefully she will set the pace for more female bloggers in tech.
and yes, i know that was just about as tasteless as a Styrofoam sandwich, but then again, at least i got it over with, and she won't be surprised at my absence of class and lack of comedic boundaries.