So, the bad news is that radiation levels were slightly (SLIGHTLY) higher in Gunma today than they have been in the past few days. The good news is that thanks to XKCD, everyone’s favorite Webcomic of Romance, Sarcasm, Math and Language, I know that the levels are about the same as eating 1 banana (or is it one per hour? Hmm…this business is still a bit confusing.) Either way, I definitely won’t eat any bananas today. In related news, bananas are (very, very slightly) radioactive? Who knew? (Click the pic to embiggen!)

If you’re still wondering about the Fukushima situation, this video is a few days old now but sums the situation up in a way that is adorable, a tiny bit gross, slightly heartbreaking, and extremely Japanese. Don’t think that this is some sort of joke or in some way minimizes the troubles. Instead, think of how you might explain such a situation to children–not such an easy task, when many adults have had trouble understanding it! This is a surprisingly elegant and amusing way of doing it, and not gonna lie, I might have even got a little choked up at the end. As our good friend Sarah said, “Who knew a video about stinky poop would make me cry?”