I remember reading of research by British Ministry of Transport in the '50s or so that confirmed this and lead to the standard of writing road signs in upper/lower case and sans serif so that they could be read faster and from greater distance by drivers going quickly

and a little guidance to what is dangerous: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/bio-effects-radiation.html

the levels in the hotspots are very low (though above threshold) and a wall or glass pane would protect you pretty well see http://boingboing.net/2011/10/14/at-a-tokyo-radiation-hotspot-weirdness-abounds.html Best advice is wash the mud away and get on with life.

GM often (but not always) uses genes from a completely different species. Monsanto's Soy has an insect gene inserted to make it resistant to Round-up (Gramoxone). This makes it fundmentally different from selective breeding which was what drove the 'Green Revolution' in the 60's producing today's high yield, low waste crops of rice, wheat and others. However genetic researchers are now finding that there is some natural cross-infection between very different species, though it appears to be rare and I don't believe the mechanisms are well understood.

Careful what you wish for. Margaret Thatcher was a Chemist. Her preparation for the miners strike, the routing of the unions and the subsequent efforts to privatization made for major changes; recovering the economy, yes, but the social issues contiue to this day.

"There are millions and millions of stars" "They call 'em billions" Sort of Sagan-ish, but with apologies to 'Treasure of the Sierra Madre'

This graphic comparing costs and life expectancy (and doctor visits) is interesting: http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.html and appears to be well researched.

I ship porcelain vases and pottery regularly. About 100 packages a year (all high value > $1000) and get 1 or 2 breakage claims a year. I double box (external is double wall), use lots of peanuts, airbags, egg carton Yes, UPS ground insurance claims are automatically denied 1st time round, but they pay up eventually. Ground gets more breakages that air (ground is handled more often) and 'fragile' labels are not worth anything. A few international shipments each year get sent FedEx 'cos they handle the export paperwork better! Get the UPS guy out to train you how to pack fragile stuff - it's worth the embarrassment. Overall the results from this test are exactly what I'd expect.

Step 5. is invalid. since a=b, then a-b = 0. You are dividing both sides by 0 which makes the next equation indeterminate. Just for those who don't do algebra...