You know, if I had a penny for every time I've heard the NMR/MRI story from a physicist....
Not that there's anything wrong with it, I guess. It's just one of those things that I sort of wish were an urban legend because I hear it so damn often.
(Actually, sometimes, for some people -- I'm not speaking of anyone here -- there is something wrong with it. It's generally used to dismiss the fears of the public in a disdainful, "aren't they so very stupid", manner. This sort of confusion of ignorance and stupidity is an easy trap that some scientists fall into -- moi? never -- and it's certainly not a great way to make friends.)
As I remember it, the idea that colleges want well-rounded people is largely out of date (a myth?). Well-rounded types with good grades and tons of extracurriculars are a dime a dozen. I don't have a source on me, but I think the general thing that colleges want is a broad base and a specific direction in which a student has put a lot of effort.
Or something like that.
I seem to remember reading that almost all the buyers and (hopefully all for this one) sellers of nuclear weapons on the black market are from western intelligence agencies. So, yeah, I think we are spending money on this sort of thing. We also have standing offers to rebuy stingers, IIRC.
A better question is the funding for securing nuclear material in the former Soviet Union. It seems to disappear and reappear periodically in Bush's budgets. I don't know what the situation is in the most current budget proposals.
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