On reading "Fukushima shines light on U.S. problem: 63,000 tons of spent fuel", Mike M. Ahlers, CNN, 2011-03-30, I thought of this anecdote I first saw in Mad Magazine decades ago.
A well-known, respected professor is working in his lab when the village idiot comes in to sweep. The lad asks him what he is doing, but the professor says he is too busy. Once again, the sweeper comes in, asks the same question, and is brushed off. Then one day as the lad is sweeping, the professor yells, "Eureka! I've invented the universal solvent!" The lad asks, "Herr Doktor Professor, what will you keep it in?"
The last frame shows a foaming, bubbling earth.
