concerning the first para of the note by roger, not only the enrgy of the sun , all atoms in ou body, and arround other than hidrogen (i.e. carbon, oxigen, iron, etc etc) have at some point been cooked in the nulceus of a star, we are made of star debris, some of it reorganized in complicated organic molecules, cells and organisms by long chains of metabolic conversations.
some of these organisms have teamed up to produce more or less controlled fusion and fision reactions. modelling and measuring the atmospheric and marine transport of isotopes resulting from nuclear tests was the base of large scale environmental modelling and monitoring widely used today for many substances. Also many of the measuring tools and methods develpped to measure isotopes have been later used for general identification of small amounts of complex substances in the environment and people.
r
--- On Tue, 6/2/09, roger malina <rmalina@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
> From: roger malina <rmalina@alum.mit.edu>
> Subject: [Yasmin_discussions] art and atoms: fission and fusion
> To: "YASMIN DISCUSSIONS" <Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr>
> Date: Tuesday, June 2, 2009, 8:31 AM
> Yasminers
>
> As Guillermo points out all life on earth results from the
> process
> of nuclear fusion at the center of the sun, that leads to
> solar energy
> which is the source of all life on earth. As an astronomer,
> i know that
> what a problem it was to understand how the sun functioned
> until
> fusion energy was realised at the source of energy
>
> Arthur Eddington for instance
> http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2006astro.ph..8178M
> worked a great deal on this problem.
>
>
> As pointed out by Avi Rosen its impossible not to
> discussion fission
> and fusion without
> reference to the work of Paul Virilio, who has argued
> forcefully that all
> new technologies can be seen through the new kinds of
> accidents that
> they inevitably bring into possibility.
>
> See in addition to Avis' references for Virilio , the
> Cartier Museum
> of Accidents
>
> http://www.onoci.net/virilio/pages_uk/accidents/liste.php?th=1&rub=1_3
>
> I have always been uneasy with Virilios line of argument,
> after all
> some technologies
> with large potential desrutrutive power have become
> culturally
> contained. The work
> of artists is important in this process. Fusion and Fission
> energy are
> recently used
> in society, as annick bureaud mentions through medical
> technologies
> use of radioactive
> istopes.
>
> Arts Catalyst organised an interested conference recently
> described below
>
> Roger
>
> Nuclear: art & radioactivity
> New commissions by Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington
> & Kypros Kyprianou
>
> http://www.artscatalyst.org/projects/darkplaces/nuclear.html
>
>
> Nuclear power is re-emerging as a concern for our times,
> both as a
> generator of energy and as part of a defence strategy.
> Today it seems
> to stand for the failed utopian promises of modernism and a
> fresh hope
> for a carbon-free future. The contradictions that lie at
> its core have
> provided a rich source of questioning for artists,
> scientists,
> ecologists and activists for many years.
>
> The Nuclear exhibition explores these intricacies through
> two new
> commissioned works by Chris Oakley and Simon Hollington
> & Kypros
> Kyprianou.
>
> Last year, high court judge Jeremy Sullivan caused an
> apparent setback
> to the government's nuclear energy ambitions by ruling that
> public
> consultation into the creation of a new fleet of nuclear
> power
> stations was "misleading" and
> "seriously flawed".
> Soon after these
> events, Simon Hollington & Kypros Kyprianou started
> a residency at The
> British Atomic Nuclear Group as part of a public
> perceptions
> programme. Hollington & Kyprianou's work in Nuclear
> is the outcome
> from this residency, particularly their work within
> B.A.N.G's
> wide-ranging public consultation into the possibility of
> siting a
> nuclear power facility in the heart of London. Their new
> installation,
> 'The Nightwatchman' traces changing perceptions of the
> nuclear power
> industry over its 50 year history through a single
> immersive narrative
> environment, blending fact and fiction into a darkly
> humorous journey
> through hard-nosed PR and spin to a logical hysteria.
>
> Video and photo archive of The Nightwatchman:
> http://www.electronicsunset.org/node/82
>
> Chris Oakley's new film 'Half-life' looks at the histories
> of Harwell,
> birthplace of the UK nuclear industry, and the new
> development of
> fusion energy technology at the Culham facility in
> Oxfordshire. Oakley
> gained the cooperation of both these organisations in his
> research and
> filming. The film examines nuclear science research through
> a
> historical and cultural filter. With the recent widespread
> acceptance
> of the reality of climate change driven by carbon dioxide
> emissions,
> the work explores the realities and myths surrounding the
> nuclear
> sciences.
> _______________________________________________
> Yasmin_discussions mailing list
> Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
> http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
>
> Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
>
> HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to
> subscribe to. In the page that will appear ("info page"),
> enter e-mail address, name, and password in the fields found
> further down the page.
>
> HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way
> down and enter your e-mail address in the last field. Enter
> password if asked. Click on the unsubscribe button on the
> page that will appear ("options page").
>
> HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page,
> find the "Set Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or
> off.
>
_______________________________________________
Yasmin_discussions mailing list
Yasmin_discussions@estia.media.uoa.gr
http://estia.media.uoa.gr/mailman/listinfo/yasmin_discussions
Yasmin URL: http://www.media.uoa.gr/yasmin
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE: click on the link to the list you wish to subscribe to. In the page that will appear ("info page"), enter e-mail address, name, and password in the fields found further down the page.
HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE: on the info page, scroll all the way down and enter your e-mail address in the last field. Enter password if asked. Click on the unsubscribe button on the page that will appear ("options page").
HOW TO ENABLE / DISABLE DIGEST MODE: in the options page, find the "Set Digest Mode" option and set it to either on or off.
