2007 — Day 69 - diamonds may be forever
But cubic zirconia (the oxide) isn't. Zircon (in its non-spy satellite form) has been tried, and found wanting, as a natural ceramic to contain radioactive waste. It seems that, when mixed with those chemical charmers plutonium, uranium and thorium, the atomic structure is disrupted some five times faster than expected. So a Zircon canister used to store such waste could start leaking in as little as 1,400 years. (By then, of course, I confidently predict the planet will be in such a mess that nobody will notice.)
Trust the daily dose that is The Guardian to cheer me up!
I host a couple of related quotations here. And (being a sucker for post-apocalyptic yarns) I also recommend Hiero's Journey by Sterling Lanier. There's a well-written review of it here.
So, what else is new?
This afternoon's fresh air and exercise (in between quite a lot of rain) just happened to take me past Jonathan's Arcade Books. It would have been rude not to pop in, which led more or less directly to:
- Imperial Ambitions by Noam Chomsky, though taking the form of transcribed interviews between him and David Barsamian. Mr C is a
devastating critic (or should that be "unraveller of accredited lies"?) of America's relentless pursuit of power. One tiny example:
It takes a minute's thought to see that there is no possible way that the United States and Britain would permit a sovereign, democratic Iraq
— you'll find that minute transcribed on page 148. - Funny you should say that by Andrew Martin. Yet another collection of jokes, quips and quotes "from Cicero to the Simpsons" (now that would be an interesting conversation).
- Grayson Perry subtitled "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Girl". Again, this takes the form of transcribed interviews turned into a form of biographic magic (though my edition also advertises a "Foreword by Martin Gardner" that [unsurprisingly] is absent).
Anything else to report?
Oh yes. Mr Postie recently popped three DVDs through the box. (Technically four, as the first title is a double disc set.)
- Pornography: the secret history of civilisation which, you may remember, caused a minor stir when it was first shown on Channel 4 in 1999, though I notice it has since been propping up late-night UK TV History schedules regularly without a murmur
- Thinking XXX which is the HBO documentary "behind" the (fascinating) book of portraits and essays by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders
- A cock and bull story which, I suppose, might almost have been thought to be continuing a theme here. (Actually, I've taken several runs at Tristram Shandy but have always stalled, even when tackling Martin Rowson's amazing cartoon variant.)