The Original Alternative Energy Source

Ugh. I still owe a final article about Chechnya to my parallel writing endeavour editors, but my feet are still killing me (trust me, you don't want to know). Lately, in addition to the spy novels (and I have a few awesome ideas for those), I've decided that I want to do a series on nuclear technology, to include nuclear weapons. Really, though, I want to attempt to remove the mystique and the "burn the witch" factor for anyone who should happen upon my articles. I briefly studied nuclear energy during my days as a Navy midshipman, and it's been very interesting in the last couple of days to review topics relating to nuclear energy that cover some of the topics that were introduced in that course. For example, nuclear energy doesn't just appear by magic; it uses the heat from a controlled nuclear reaction to create heat, which makes steam, which is fed through a closed steam system (independent of the radioactive stuff) to drive a standard turbine. Thus I looked up "steam cycle," and I swear that this is the exact image that was in my Naval Engineering textbook. Now, if you add a nuclear reactor diagram to the area of the "steam drum" (in the section marked "A - Generation"), you've got yourself a nuclear reactor. In addition to the wealth of information on the undisputed and infallible source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, the BBC has an excellent guide to nuclear energy and weapons, from mining to enrichment to processor to bomb. It even explains the difference between Uranium and Plutonium. I would have liked a little bit more information on types of nuclear weapons (the section on uranium bombs is a bit ambiguous), but you can't have everything - and that's where the Fly comes in!

Need a laugh? Check out Russell Peters. The clip's a bit long at forty-five minutes, but worth your time if you can squeeze it in.



In a demonstration of just how excellent satellite imagery can be for interests such as mine: Libya's naval base. You know, when I read Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts, he quoted an American military officer (who was training Yemenis at the time) as saying that most countries in the world have coast guards, not navies. I think today's satellite picture is living proof.

Okay, folks, have a great day, stay out of trouble, and remember: only a real man drives a Jeep Grand Cherokee.