Tsk Tsk, History Channel

Tonight, we checked out the History Channel's "How the Earth was Made" (2009).  It was humming along until this line about Carbon dating caught my attention "Because of its molecular structure, Carbon 14 decays after a plant has died and ...."   Ouch!  Molecular structure?  First off, Carbon-14 is an atom, a radioactive isotope of regular carbon and the whole point is that is binds in molecules just like regular Carbon 12. 

This is as if a show about English history off-handedly described Shakespeare's "Othello" as a Sonnet.  Tsk Tsk...

Batteries and Charges In WIRED Magazine

It's a common misconception regarding electricity that we deal with in class all the time, but Wired Magazine got it dead wrong this month (Aug 2011 issue p.30):

"A battery works by converting chemical energy into free electrons; some of the electrons get used, and the rest return to the cell."

Forgivable is the implications that the chemical energy creates the electrons (the energy is used to free the already existing electrons).  Unforgivable is the line "electrons get used" and don't return to the cell.  For every electron that leaves a battery cell, another one enters; there are no electrons getting used up in the process.  The number of electrons in a battery or in any circuit is always constant.  Rather, it is the energy used to promote the electrons to being free in the battery that gets used up in the circuit.

This description of a battery is the same as saying "A factory works by converting breakfast foods in the morning into factory employees.  Some of the employees get used up in the factory doing work and the rest come home in the evening."

Radiation or Radioactivity?

With the Japanese crisis in the news, there is lots of bogus stuff flying about these days. 

First of all, don't tell me about some minuscule amount of radiation found anywhere that is 1000 times below the minimum standard of danger.  If I get more radiation walking in the sunshine without sunblock, then I don't need to hear about it! 

Second, please distinguish between exposure to radiation (the stuff that comes flying out of radioactive material and is only harmful if you stand in the line of fire) and radioactive isotopes (which you might ingest and thus expose yourself to its radiation for as long as the isotope exists in your body).  No one is finding radiation from the nuclear reactors miles away - it's all been absorbed by then.  What you may find is radiation coming from radioactive isotopes which may have come from the damaged power plant! 

Don't confuse an author for his book and don't confuse some words and phrases found in isolation with an entire book.