Her death at the age of 18 is noted on chessbase. No cause of death is given, but she is from Minsk. I’m wondering if her death at such a young age is related to increased mortality rates caused by the Chernobyl accident.
RIP.
Chernobyl happened more than 18 years ago, didn’t it? Still, the incident might have caused genetic mutations in her parents.
Bill Smythe
It did. However, there are still residual toxins all over a wide area. There are increased genetic mutations but also a higher level of cancers for all living in the area–Minsk being one of them.
Take a look at:
guardian.co.uk/world/2006/ap … heobserver
cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/papers/TORCH.pdf
greenpeace.org/international … -reveals-d
There are enough high-energy radionuclides with half-life measured in years (or even decades) that will persist in the area at a dangerous level for quite a while. Even children being born now are being effected - first-hand.
In fact, it is less likely that what you said would be the cause - as genetic mutations typically require doses that are lethal or near-lethal. Of course I can’t speak to the current health of her parents.
(It can happen, yes - but the first-hand damage is a more likely scenario.)
Amazingly, most Americans (and maybe others as well?) are largely unaware of the magnitude of that disaster - and by contrast, tend to think Three Mile Island was a much bigger event than it really was. The difference between the two is so stark that it is hard to even describe - except in terms of ‘orders of magnitude’. At least seven powers of ten would apply to that contrast. In fact, it would be hard to argue that any other man-made disasters (except perhaps elements of war) were ever more devastating than Chernobyl.
The 2009 photo of her on chessbase looks like she’s been through chemotherapy. Her hair looks like it’s growing back in and she appears to have lost weight. Very sad.
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I was in Russia the day that Chernobyl melted.
Without knowing of the crisis, the next day we flew from Moscow to then Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
On the plane a group of us had a brief conversation that the clouds or the sky looked odd or interesting; but I will never know whether those perceptions were merely a coincidence.
Is Leningrad another tourist or a foreign journalist walked up to us and asked if we had heard about the nuclear accident — What??
It was creepy that the government could keep news of such a crisis from the millions of Russian citizens.
When we left Leningrad to return home to the USA, it was obvious that tons of foreigners/tourists were in a hurry to leave Russia. The normally slow dour customs agents were summarily letting people through/out.
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Hey, Gene_M, did you know that Google Chrome reacts to the URL in your signature with a malware warning?
The Chernobyl accident occurred on April 26, 1986, nearly 24 years ago.
Your point is??