This is one of those days where nothing seems to jell. I read an article about a meeting in Washington between the U.S., the European Union, Russia, Japan, S. Korea and China over the location of the world's first nuclear fusion reactor. The long range implications of this are enormous and there are essentially 2 camps. Russia, China and the E.U. want to locate it in France. The U.S., Japan and S. Korea want it in Japan. There are pros and cons for both locations. However the article (in the BBC Online News Service) indicates the rub is the U.S. against locating it in France because of their opposition to the Iraq war. Well, I don't know about that. Maybe it is true. I'm not so sure I can't blame us for thinking that way.
Just the same, the long term benefits for this type of project for the first country to host a facility can be tremendous. Certainly France has a history of scientific innovation. That's just it. It's a history. Perhaps they can lay claim to more recent scientific discoveries, I just haven't heard of them.
On the other hand, Japan is an undisputed leader in technical and electronic innovation. They have repeatedly demonstrated an ability to excel in science and technology. Japan has nuclear power plants, so does France. So they both can claim working knowledge of nuclear fission. However, fusion is a different animal.
One thing for sure.
A project of this kind will never be located in the U.S. The environmentalist wackos would have a field day tying it up in the courts. The last thing they are interested in is scientific advancement.
They can't even agree among themselves. In CA two opposing environmental groups are fighting over the wind power plants. One says they are needed because they reduce fossil fuel useage and reduce air pollution. The other group says they kill birds that fly into them.
Well, though I'm not a believer in Darwin's "theology," I have to admit, if all these dumb birds are flying into these blades and killling themselves, the ones left are the smarter ones. Survival of the fittest.
Ah well, that's enough rambling for today.