Now, after initially jumping on the band wagon, many mainstream media have thought about it for a while, did the minimum amount of research, and backtracked.
One earless rabbit does not make for proof of massive nuclear contamination. Earless rabbits are born all the time.
(By the way, so are mutated plants and flowers that were first described in 1790 by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe in Metamorphosis of Plants.)
MSNBC has linked to my article as part of the proof that it is a huge stretch of the imagination to think that one earless rabbit constitutes a nuclear fallout catastrophy for our DNA.
From MSNBC, Nuclear Bunny? Now That's Too Big a Leap:
The YouTube clip has been viewed nearly 2 million times since it was uploaded two weeks ago, and it's sparking all sorts of speculation about the mutation risk to other living things due to the radiation leak. The problem is, you can't really tell anything about genetic risks from one mutant rabbit — particularly when the mutation has been seen lots of times before, without any connection to radiation exposure. There's this run-of-the-mill earless rabbit from Britain, for example. And this rabbit. And these rabbits. (LINK TO THIS VERY BLOG!)
And ... well, we could pile on the cute bunny pictures all day. Rabbits have even been known to lose their ears due to overgrooming rather than genetic causes. So it's way too big a leap to blame this one on Fukushima's radiation leak, let alone suggest that humans might suffer a heightened incidence of birth defects.
That MSNBC has written about this problem and confirmed what I wrote over 10 days ago is quite satisfying as a blogger (being ten days ahead of mass media is cool!) It is even more satisfying for me when I consider that many punters criticized me and called me a "stooge for the nuclear industry."
I wish I were a stooge for the nuclear industry. I hear they pay well.
No, I am not a stooge and they don't pay me (wish they would). I just do a bit of research. That a major news outlet would link to my story and conclusion almost two weeks after I first wrote about it just goes to show that I do have a good idea as to what I am doing and that this blog has a healthy dose of skepticism for whatever the news whether that be left, right or center.
Neither pro nor anti any particular view, this blog will always be skeptical of what is printed in the mass media. That's why this blog kicks ass and good folks like you come to read it.
I promise to never let you down. If I do, I will be the first to admit it.
"I wish I were a stooge for the nuclear industry. I hear they pay well."
ReplyDeleteMe too.
Have you seen the independent research that was done by a few scientists? They did a show on NHK following them for 2 months as they accumulated their data. It shows more detail than what MEXT had shown at their site. MEXT at the time didn't even list the locations. Their data was submitted to the government and that is what led them to increase the evacuation zone distances.
ReplyDeleteThe conclusion was that a larger (28km+) radius, than what was said, is contaminated with very high levels of radioactive material, that has a life of over 45 years. In some areas more than Chernobyl.
In the cities with many paved areas the radioactive material is low because it cannot adhere. Areas closer to the plant actually had less material in the town than farm lands further away.
Tested samples of vegetation had absorbed the radiation and are now radioactive.
Basically, considering current data, many areas of Fukushima prefecture is too contaminated to live or work at and will be for over 40 years. Japan will have a continued problem of radiation for decades.
Fukushima plant still needs at least 7 months to even come close to under control, as all three reactors exploded and melted down. Far as I remember at least one melted through the floor of the containment vessel.
I do not see how this cannot be considered worse than Chernobyl, as that was only one reactor.