Bring your own Geiger counter!

Friends,

This week’s news were literally radioactive -and I’m not talking about the fallout from the Trump-Putin summit. I’m talking mutate your DNA-exciting news. I’m talking Marie Curie-worthy news. I’m talking Geiger-counter-tilting news. I’m talking… well, you get the (glow in the dark) picture.

A study about a lone wolf collared near Chernobyl and tracked on a long trek spawned the headline “Could Chernobyl Wolves Be Spreading Mutations?” While one can be forgiven for envisioning a flying wolf with laser eyes and a green aura about it, the disappointing story basically says most mutations are harmful to an animal’s health -and unhealthy animals are unlikely to travel 250 miles and mate with other wolves, contaminating the gene pool. So, much ado about nothing.
The desire to open Rocky Flats (a nuclear weapons facility turned wildlife refuge) to the public has triggered some litigation from an environmentalist group. At stake is the government’s claim that the area’s “plutonium levels are safe” for people. Which begs the question, is ANY plutonium safe? And, which regulatory body should set that threshold? (if you said it’s the FDA, you’d be wrong. It’s actually the EPA… although, I think the FCC has a claim, after all it is RADIOactive… get it? )
Nuclear test footage from the ’50s and ’60s released this week has been described by some as “beautiful”. These are presumably the same people who have naked mole rats as pets and would love to have the blue mustang sculpture at DIA decorate their front lawn. That said, the digitally restored video U.S. scientists captured to improve the design of their weapons of mass destruction does hold a morbid allure.
And, of course, Vladimir Putin bragged yesterday about his new attention-seeking nuclear capabilities. “They kept ignoring us, nobody wanted to listen to us, so listen to us now!” I’ve heard about troubled children and their need for attention, but I must admit this is a new tactic.

I’ll tell you what’s NOT radioactive (as far as I know): Donuts! If you’re in the south office this morning (yes, this is my first time here!), swing by the break room and grab one. But you might want to hurry, I only brought a dozen.

Happy Friday!

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Friday Donuts

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