More On That Unnamed Tsunami

I say 'unnamed' because, for some odd reason, nobody has given the tsunami a name. We name hurricanes. We name storm depressions. We don't name tsunamis, we don't name other disasters. And that is bad, I think, because naming something gives us some sort of psychological power over it.

But I digress. As usual.

DNA Identification

Hardly a new technology, but Israeli Proposed a DNA Database to Identify Tsunami Victims. Not exactly rocket science considering how long the technology has been around, but it's a good use of technology. It can give closure to families, and (guess what) can help identify issues with DNA Identification in the future.

Notably, samples will be handled in China - which, apparently, can handle the amount of samples to be dealt with.

Finally, a humane use for DNA identification.

Since a lot of people don't know how this works - the physical aspect - I can tell you, because I was one of the first group of U.S. military to have my DNA samples taken for 'identification purposes'. Always nice to know that they don't expect to find your teeth...

Basically, a family member would have samples taken - nothing invasive, a swab inside the mouth, and maybe a bit of blood. No big deal. From there, the results would be entered into a database.

Meanwhile, bodies that are unidentified would have almost the same procedures done - though scraping of skin tissue or something similar may be done. Nothing too invasive, again, and the dignity of the deceased would be maintained. This information, after analysis, would match direct relations.

I don't know how they will handle extended relations, and that will be the biggest problem, I think. But maybe they'll find a way around it. Forensics has come a long way.

Science Spending Is An Investment Against Disasters

Well, I don't agree with the wording of the title,Science spending 'is an investment against disasters'', since by definition a disaster can't be beaten. Maybe helping avoid disasters. But Lord May of Oxford makes a valid point:

..."That is much better than having to spend the money on emergency relief aid to respond to a crisis that could have been reduced or averted," said Lord May of Oxford, president of the Royal Society and former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, in a statement issued yesterday (6 January)...

Of course, the fact that the Indian Natural Hazard Map tracked Tsunami seven years ago doesn't show such an investment - since the theory was never considered in developing the region. Why? Well, maybe because governments and scientists don't mix very well. Politicians are looking for votes, and scientists (good ones, anyway) are looking for the truth.

So maybe the problem isn't really that science hasn't been used as an investment for countries - maybe the problem is that voters don't see science as an investment for countries. The same could be said for technology. There's room to improve there - but it also means that everyone, regardless of income, needs to know these things.

After all, in democracies, the majority of the people are not rich.

Then there's the Indian science 'must shift from mimicry to innovation' story which, I think, stands on it's own merit. Of course, this isn't just India. It's the world. But silently, scientists around the world are trying to unravel the same truths that have eluded us with every scientific advance.

Summit Approves Tsunami Warning

Yup, you read that right. After a tsunami hits, everyone wants a warning system and the U.N., with it's long list of A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S. (Acrobatic Creations Resembling Ostentious Names Yielding Memorable Symbols), has thought it might be a good idea to get something in place for the next tsunami.

Seems to me that Cringley actually wrote something that I agreed with. Meanwhile, I'm not sure that the next disaster will be a tsunami. And on the flip side, I wonder how many scientists in the region were asking for the very same tools before the tsunami and couldn't get funding for them. Scientists and Voters again. There are less scientists than voters. Do the math.

And then, let's remember that constant reorganization sometimes gives the illusion of progress. My glass is not half empty; it is full. I just want more water and less hot air in it.

Nothing on increasing communication ability that I have found yet. So where the rubber meets the road, what does that mean?