Weighing the Costs

The Planned European Pressurized Water Reactor Framatome ANP (GNU Free Documentation License)

Also in today's links: synaesthesia and sea horses.

• Data suggests that a new model of nuclear plants are less likely to have an accident, but that any accidents that occur may be much more dangerous.
• Crops bred by conventional methods to display certain traits such as resistance to pesticides may be more harmful to the environment than genetically modified crops. Good thing to know, because the debate over GM crops wasn't heated enough.
• Does mathematics exist if there are no mathematicians to do it, and no disgruntled 10-year-olds to resent it? Where did it come from and why is it here?
• I find synaesthesia so fascinating that I tried to convince myself that the fact that I occasionally confuse "2" with "D" and "4" with "F" might mean I have this condition. Not likely, but scientists have identified chromosomal regions linked to synaesthesia. Presumably they will put this knowledge to better use than weeding out impostors like me, but if not, I'm available.
• I will never get tired of reading about newly discovered sea creatures, and these five new species of pygmy seahorses are gorgeous -- and also look delicious.