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The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
Get Nervous: Rusty Soviet Doomsday System Still Turned On
The Bomb Vase is a Hippie's Secret Weapon
93-Year-Old Japanese Man Certified as Double A-Bomb Victim
The Fancy Security Gear the FBI Busted Out for the Inauguration
How Each Nuclear-Capable Country Got Its Bombs, Visualized
Low Cost Robot On Wheels Can Spy Baddies, Paint Them to Death
Everyone Will Be a Walking Nuclear Weapon Detector
New Army Cluster Bomb Rains Down Thousands of Deadly Darts

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Pope John Peeps II
11/10/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
I try to smile.

I try to smile and be a bit optimistic because, no matter how monstrous some men and women can be, the human spirit always seems to find a way to survive.

This isn't meant as a specific criticism, more like an artistic critique: the end of that post was really not good. I mean... I think it takes away from the reporting, the gallery and the linking to this great book to end off with a sort of pedestrian "oh but I FEEL human spirit triumph adversotragedy tears kittens fuzzwarm ME." #nucleartest
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Jesus Diaz
11/10/09

@Pope John Peeps II: I wasn't tried to report. The Big Picture guy already did that. This was about what this makes me feel, that's all. It may be clichéd, but I'm not going to stop saying what I feel and think just because it sound clichéd. #nucleartest
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Pope John Peeps II
11/10/09

@Jesus Diaz: It just would have made this post way stronger to have left it with the clean idea of a great tragedy, instead of trying to sort of mollify it. After all the talk of the great Stalinesque killing machines and the atomic war plague, why am I supposed to feel that the human spirit is indomitably cheerful? I mean. When Troy burned, nobody ever said "well, at least we're warm". #nucleartest
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Jesus Diaz
11/10/09

@Pope John Peeps II: Hahaha. Didn't you read The Iliad? They spend a hundred verses talking about how warm they were. #nucleartest
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Pope John Peeps II
11/10/09

@Jesus Diaz: I'm not sure if that's a joke or not? They didn't burn Troy in the Iliad.

@macserv: THIS blog is all about writing for an audience. It's not specifically anything personal. So they're writing to please US. And if I find that something pretty cheeseball ruins a good post, then why wouldn't I say so? That's what these comments are for, right? #nucleartest
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scarbrtj
11/09/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
I'm a radiation medicine physician. First off, those are some very sad images. But keep in mind, orphanages anywhere are generally going to have their fair share of unfortunate children with birth defects, retardation, etc., regardless of whether the orphanage is near previous nuclear test sites.

But, that said, the consequences of radiation exposure in utero are relatively well-studied. To over-simplify, exposure in the 0 to 4 week timeframe usually leads to outright death of the embryo, or the embryo survives unharmed (it's a pretty sensitive developmental time, and usually the radiation insult will be survivable, or 100% not survivable). In the 8 to 15 week timeframe, radiation exposure of a harmful enough level will usually lead to serious organ damage and a newborn which will have a very limited survival. In the 8 to 30 week timeframe, mental retardation/microcephaly and perhaps growth stunting are possible, but the most sensitive timeframe is 8 to 16 weeks for retardation. Past 30 weeks, the fetus has about the same risk profile as an adult: either you survive the radiation exposure, or you don't; but either way, no harmful structural abnormalities will result. Cancer risks (leukemia, thyroid e.g.) are increased substantially later in life (childhood, adulthood). Again, in general, substantially increased risks of remarkable, unsightly birth defects is rare; this is based on the Hiroshima/Nagasaki data, and the emerging Chernobyl data.

So, my opinion on the pictures is: the child with macrocephaly (large head) was not a radiation-associated case. The children with retardation and microcephaly could be radiation-associated. The young man that looks the most deformed probably has a case of large facial angiomatous malformations, and those are almost certainly not radiation-related. #nucleartest
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InsidiousTuna
11/09/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
Well, I was looking forward to picking up my copy of Modern Warfare 2 and unleashing the tactical nuke in multiplayer, but this just makes me sad for the innumerable lives lost and affected by the advancement of nuclear technology. #nucleartest
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PN - gooapplesoft
11/09/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
wow. truly a sad images that destroyed my bubbly day. Now i really want to go on a rant but ill let it go because I have a lot of work to get done.

Truly the least you can ask for is a safe testing of nuclear technology. There are SO MUCH space in russia its ridiculous... they couldn't have chosen a better place to do this? #nucleartest
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x@ck3D
11/09/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
I hope our world leaders will take a good hard look at these pictures and strengthen their resolve to honor these victims by pursuing peace and preventing nuclear proliferation. #nucleartest
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Sticks Calhoun
11/09/09

In reply to The True, Heartbreaking Faces of the Nuclear Era
There are many stunning photos on Ed Ou's site. And I can feel a future Gizmodo post on the "Inanimate Love" series (not work safe). #nucleartest
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VimalCachu
09/25/09

In reply to Get Nervous: Rusty Soviet Doomsday System Still Turned On
We cannot allow a mineshaft gap!!!
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InsertBullets
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
What's the big deal, That red button was made in the heyday of USSR "quality". If he presses it all that will happen is a lightblub will turn off somewhere in siberia.
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bobdobbs
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
Let's not ignore the fact that these things would be lucky to get three feet into the air before exploding.
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UnderLoK
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
Now you all know why I have so much free time to spend around.
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Strega07
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
Russian stuff always looks like crappy stuff you would see in a road side display of junk we had in the 70’s.
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SJRNWT
09/25/09

@Strega07: It's because they're not nearly as concerned about the cosmetics of their army as the USA. Their GDP is half of France's, a tenth of America's, and yet they have the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, along with the strongest army.

While I don't agree with pumping the majority of a nations money into defense, many nations do it (including the USA). Russia is way ahead of any other nation considering their GDP. Personally I think they need to get their priorities straight and learn how to take care of their people better.
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Hiphopopotamus
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
While they will probably live with a lifetime of remorse and doubt should the moment every come, I would venture that Anachronistic-Red-Button-Decision-Maker is probably the sweetest job in the Russian army.
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Hiphopopotamus
09/25/09

@Hiphopopotamus: Silver-lining... VERY BRIEF lifetime of remorse and doubt.
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monoverb
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
All I can think of here...
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GitEmSteveDave_ForgotNametag
09/25/09

@monoverb:
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Kaiser-Machead
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
The explanation from an actual Russian engineer is much better than this.

Eet go op! *makes falling whistle noise - POW* then eet com down!
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JoshuaDiomedes
09/25/09

In reply to How a Soviet Doomsday Master Missile Looks and Works
Thankfully the dude in the underground bunker is surrounded by women, vodka, and a constant stream of bacon to keep him happy

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Kaiser-Machead
09/25/09

@JoshuaDiomedes: Ugh, but it's tactical bacon.
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IN THE FACE!
09/25/09

@Kaiser-Machead: i.e. the pre-cooked, irradiated and hermetically sealed stuff you can keep indefinitely at room temperature, it tastes like salty shoe-leather...
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