Benjamin Dancer's Blog, page 6
June 22, 2016
Does Population Growth Effect The Environment?
Population Media Centeris one of the organizations I've partnered with to help get the word out about the hardships our growing population causes. You can download this information as a PDF here.
June 21, 2016
This Is Your Brain On War
Task & Purpose just posted an interesting piece on the psychology of combat. They teamed up with former West Point psychology professor and author Lt. Col. Dave Grossman to produce a visual guide to what happens to the mind and body before, during and after combat.Grossman is one of the experts who endorsed the realism of my novel Patriarch Run.
Patriarch Run accomplishes something few thrillers have achieved: it gets the guns right, and it gets the psychology of the gunfight right. Benjamin D...
June 20, 2016
Some Common Misconceptions about Nuclear EMP
Below is an informative paper about EMP. It addresses several common misconceptions. The author, Dr. George Baker,helped me with the research for Patriarch Run.
2012 Dupont Summit, Carnegie Institute, Washington, D.C. 2012
2012 George H. Baker
EMP Knots Untied: Some Common Misconceptions about Nuclear EMP
George H. Baker
George H. Baker Professor Emeritus, James Madison University
Principal Staff, Congressional EMP Commission
Board of Directors, Foundation for Resilient Societies
Abstract
There are...
June 16, 2016
White House Addresses the Space Weather Threat
Jason Samenow wrote an article for the Washington Post, 29 October 2015, titled,The devastating potential of an extreme solar storm and what the White House is doing about it.
A mid-level flare, an M6.5, erupted from the sun on April 2, 2014, peaking at 10:05 a.m. EDT. This video from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows the flare in a blend of two wavelengths of extreme ultraviolet light: 171 Angstroms and 304 Angstroms, colorized in yellow and red, respectively.
The article stated:
The Whit...
June 15, 2016
Population and Emissions
Population Media Centeris one of the organizations I've partnered with to help get the word out about the hardships our growing population causes. You can download this information as a PDF here.
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June 14, 2016
Why Isn't More Being Done To Protect The Grid?
This document is an argument put before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). It states:
the lifetime probability of a severe solar storm is about 1 in 2, and the chance of that storm resulting in a catastrophe is substantial, perhaps near 100 percentliability avoidance games are keeping FERC from creating standards that would protect Americans from this threathttp://www.ferc.gov/CalendarFiles/20160301082021-Popik,%20Resilient%20Societies.pdf
The Old Man RSSUNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BE...
June 13, 2016
Wall Street Journal: Bureaucratic Dysfunction Has Kept The Government From Preparing For EMP
Joe Colangelo, a former U.S. Navy officer and the executive director of Consumers’ Research, wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, 13 June 2016, titled EMPs: A Threat We’re Not Ready For.
The piece cited a recent congressional hearing to show that federal agencies have done little to prepare for the threat.
An EMP produced by solar activity could cause extended blackouts for 40 million Americans and cost as much as $2.6 trillion, according to a 2013 study by Lloyd’s of London. In 2014 the...
June 10, 2016
Did a NOAA Research Team Solve Climate Change?
I've spent several hours over the last couple weeks interviewing Sandy MacDonald and his small research team from NOAA about the proposal MacDonald thinks can solve climate change. It is a really interesting study, and it has a bipartisan appeal. For example, there is a component to the proposal that appeals to people who deny a human agency to climate change.
I'll be writing two pieces on this subject. The first of which was published in the Journal Domestic Preparednessthis week. And I'll le...
June 9, 2016
Congress Addresses the Space Weather Threat
Angela Fritz and Joe Kunches wrote an article for the Washington Post, 28 April 2016,titledExtreme space weather could cripple our infrastructure. This bill aims to prevent that.
On April 17, 2016, an active region on the sun’s right side released a mid-level solar flare, captured here by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory. This solar flare caused moderate radio blackouts, according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.
The article discussed the space weather legislation introduced in the S...
June 8, 2016
What is EMP and What is Being Done to Protect Us
Below is a rich resource for those wanting more information about EMP.You'll find the entire manuscript of Dr. Pry's testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security, including:
Dr. Pry's advocacy for proposed legislation to harden our infrastructureA thorough primer on EMPNuclear, Natural, and Non-Nuclear EMPAn explanation of how EMP would create mass casualtiesDr. Pry helped me with the research for Patriarch Run.He also endorsedthe realism of the story.
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