nuclear

Nuclear Fuel Cell

While Kathy was working on some top-secret project involving a giant robot I decided to tear apart an old laser printer that was in the junk pile at the shop. Inside I found a wonderfully green drum, which I thought would make a nice “Nuclear Fuel Cell” prop. Of course it needed some vinyl added to it…

Silhouette

I used Inkscape to design my labels. I prefer to use Inkscape to design things, then export a DXF and import that into the Silhouette software. If you design things in the Silhouette software (at least the free version) you can’t export it for use elsewhere.

Silhouette

Oddly enough, the circle part of the radiation symbol got lost. (It’s on the back, so you can’t see it in the photo above.) By the time I noticed it was too late to redo it because I wanted to crank this out in fast.

Anyway, if you stop by Maker Faire Milwaukee on September 26th & 27th, 2015 at State Fair Park, you might just see this Nuclear Fuel Cell in action…

After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident happened, I made a comment about the safety of nuclear energy. I’ll freely admit I am not an expert on such things, and a few friends called me out with some numbers, pointing out that more people died from coal mining disasters. (Though I’m still not sure that long-term, that’s true.) The difference in my mind, was that typically coal miners (and their families) are affected by coal mining disasters, while nuclear disasters have a greater chance of affecting the environment more, not just people, but animals, plants, and the world we live in.

After reading How I spent my Sunday in Fukushima by Sean Bonner, and seeing the fallout from this nuclear accident, I don’t know how anyone can think that nuclear energy is safe.

Again, I’m no expert, so if I’m missing something, please let me know.

The only good to come out of this disaster is the rise of Safecast, which is a global project working to empower people with data, primarily by building a sensor network and enabling people to both contribute and freely use the data collected. I’m a fan of data, and sensors, and sharing information, and if it can help people live safer lives, then all the better.