Chernobyl and Waukesha

Althouse caught this. Seems that radiation isn't necessarily bad for "living things."

There is a distinction to be made between animals which stay in one place, such as mice, and larger animals - elks, say - which move in and out of contaminated land as they range over large areas.

The animals that wander widely end up with a lower dose of radiation than animals stuck in a radiation hotspot.

The elk population has boomed in the absence of human interferenceBut there are signs that these unfortunate creatures can adapt to their circumstances.

Sergey Gaschak has experimented on mice in the Red Forest, parts of which are slowly growing back, albeit with stunted and misshapen trees.

"We marked animals then recaptured them again much later," he says.

"And we found they lived as long as animals in relatively clean areas."

Where else but Chernobyl...

Actually, University of Pittsburgh research indicates that some radiation is actually GOOD for you. That explains the attraction of Waukesha's fabled "spring water" spas back in the early 1900's, where bathing in the (radiation-heavy) water seemed to cure a number of ills.

Silly Waukesha. If it hadn't been for the Goodness of Our Federal Government, those folks out there would STILL be drinking that water. Instead, the City of Waukesha can now pay $$bazillions to import water from Milwaukee, drill deeper wells, etc., etc.

All to avoid the fate of the critters at Chernobyl.