Why should you (not) apply Betadine?

Dear Children of God,

I guess most of you had received the text message:

BBC News: Japan govt confirms radiation leak at Fukushima nuclear plants. Asian countries should take necessary precautions. Remain indoors first 24hrs. Close doors n windows. Swab neck skin with betadine where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first. Take extra precaution, radiation may hit Phil at startng 4pm 2day. Pls send to ur loved ones.

I felt aghast of whoever started this but I pity those who bought the scam without thinking first on what to do. I have mixed emotion over this because it speaks of how scientifically literate we are as a nation. Sa mga nasing-alan kaina pasensya na. Ok, let me discuss how can one figure out that the text is a hoax and why learning basic science is important.

1. BBC News (Research 1). Your basic skill in Science Research should remind you always about sources of information. Why will you take the forwarded text message as a "primary" source of information? My goodness, we dont take news from any channel as truth. We even have to check the veracity of information and look into the different sides of the story. I think it would be more reliable if the announcement comes from DOST's Philippine Nuclear Research Institute which monitors the radiation level in air. By the way how many are you willing to take Physics-related course?

2. Plants (English 1). Plant and not plants. There is only one power plant. What they are referring to and are worried of are the reactors. See, how important is the pluralization in the context of this science news?

3. Asian countries (World History). When was the last time you checked the world map? If there was a leakage indeed then the spread would be outward. The point of reference is Japan or Fukushima plant in particular. If the spread is outward then the ones affected are within the radius several kilometers away. Why consider Asian countries when we have Asian countries which are way far from Japan?

4. Betadine (Health). Swab Betadine? Why use Betadine in this case? Why are we barnd specific? Is Betadine truin to sell more to reach its sales quota?

5. Stay indoors first 24 hours (Chemistry). Ok, the advice to stay indoors is to avoid the acid rain. Since when does radiation mix with water and produce acid rain? As far as I know only sulfur oxide and  carbon dioxide would react with water vapor in the rain to produce sulfuric acid and carbonic acid respectively.

6. Radiation brought by rain, water and air (Earth Science). The air current pattern right now is leading to the Pacific. Water and air current is northward. So if there will be a leakage then it wont hit us. It would be another story if there will be weather disturbances that would change the current weather patterns.

7. Hit Philippines at 4pm (Math). If only one knows that one cannot be definite when it comes to occurrence of rainfall. Since when did a climatologist tell us that a rain would fall at a specific time? Of course there is mathematical probability but the text message appears that s/he is definite of the time. Do I have to mention people who believe that earthquakes can be predicted in the same fashion as volcanic eruptions and tropical cyclones?

Something to ponder: Have you received any text advisory before from any of our government agencies? Maybe a GSIS greeting on your birthday. GSIS never fails to tell me to activate my UMID card as well.

Now I want you to copy the message below and send to your friends:
SIR ARIS TXT2TEACH. There is no truth to text rumors that radiation from a nuclear plant in Japan has reached the Philippines accdg to DOST & Phil. Nuclear Research Institute.The water/air current & wind pattern in Japan showed that the Philippines is unlikely to be hit by any radioactive fallout from Fukushima.

If you send to...
50 and more  friends naka UNLITXT ka lang
30-49 friends paubos na ang UNLITXT mo
20-29 friends nakickout ang isang classmate mo
10-19 friends you are saving load
1-9 friends you are suffering from love depression
no one then you are still charging your cellphone

Remember those times when people were not aware of the explanation of solar eclipse. They would panic over the occurrence of the phenomenon. They would attribute it to bad omen and would appease bad spirits. Nowadays, people would panic on a single text message. This is the quantum age but some people are still living in the world of stone age.

IF YOU INTEND TO LIVE ON THIS PLANET YOU SHOULD KNOW HOW IT WORKS.

siraris

PS: I can tolerate science illiteracy. what pisses me off more is when people would start associating tsunami and earthquake to end of the world. don't get me wrong but my faith is not founded in fear of the second coming. yes there are pre...monitions and revelations but if you have faith in Him then His second coming is what you should anticipate. You should welcome and embrace it. To one who has an unfathomable faith the end of the world equates to the second coming and second coming is meeting Him. Is this not enough for you to shout, "Jesus, I cant wait to see you face to face!"

In times like this, the strongest weapon against panicking due to ignorance is information from the reliable source. the strongest weapon against fear and uncertainty is faith in Him.

The Department of Justice has ordered the NBI to hunt down the source of the radiation text hoax. Seriously though, how can the NBI locate anonymous faceless texters when they couldn’t even locate Senator Panfilo Lacson? [Tigilan n'yo nga k...ami!]

The DOJ has ordered the NBI to investigate the source of the radiation text hoax. First stop: the manufacturers of Betadine.
- prof heckler