News and Issues

Some of these tests — particularly tests involving plutonium — did not vaporize the material in a nuclear blast. It remained in tunnels and containers, in forms that could be recovered and recycled into a bomb. In addition, the Soviet Union discarded equipment that included high-purity plutonium that would have provided materials and information that could lead to a relatively sophisticated nuclear device if it had been found. more »

Joan L. Cannon writes: “If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.” George Elliot, Middlemarch. Are we in a time when we forget that the silence at the end of a disaster of whatever kind hides a roar that only saints and philosophers have the stomach for? more »

Why did I resign? I was one of only seventeen Democrats in the 50 member North Carolina State Senate. After this discouraging and disheartening session, I realized I could contribute more to turning this tide by leaving the North Carolina Senate and starting a voter ID project to make sure that every voter has the proper ID and correct precinct they vote in. To assure that thousands of voters will not have their ballots counted, the types of photo identification required is so narrow that it could prevent 160,000 people from voting. more »

In an attempt to answer prevailing questions about our moon, NASA plans to launch a probe on Friday, Sept. 6. The small car-sized Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere. While at the NASA site, ask an expert about Climate Change, such as how scientists know changes seen in recent decades are the result of human activities, not natural causes? more »