A few years after the United States unleashed the horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Soviet Union tested their first nuclear warhead ever. They appropriately called it "First Lightning," the opening of a series 456 atomic tests that brought Hell to Earth sixty years ago. For all of us, that summons terrifying, but beautiful images into our brains:

Sadly, to more than one million innocent people living near the Semipalatinsk Polygon—the Soviet nuclear testing site in the northeast of Kazakhstan—it means this:

For three generations, and more to come, those tests mean deformed babies. They mean premature aging, and countless diseases caused by radiation poisoning. The bombs' ghosts still live in the dead steppe, their invisible fangs ready to suck seven years off the life of every person living around that place. That's the difference in life expectancy with the rest of Kazakhstan.

Of course, it's not the only horror inflicted by weapons in the Soviet Union—or in the rest of the world. I recently read all about them in a fascinating book by Ryszard Kapuściński, one of the best journalist and writers of our time. The book, called Imperium, talks about the Soviet Union through a series of adventures and trips that reach all the corners of the Red Empire. The mosaic is a frightening view of the deadliest, most insensitive killing machine that has ever existed, all through the eyes of the people who suffered it. Not even Hitler matched the horrors of Stalin and his cohorts.

Imperium's raw stories moved me to tears many times, and these images by Ed Ou are a perfect summary of the atrocities inflicted upon hundreds of millions that Kapuściński describes in his book.

However, as I watch through glassy eyes how Mayra Zhumageldina massages her daughter Zhannoor, or how 29-yo Berik Syzdykov sings and plays piano despite being deformed and blind since birth—he was exposed to a nuclear blast while he was inside his mom's womb—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. [Adventures With Light and Getty Images via Big Picture]

That includes every single nuclear weapon, every one of the Russian Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles in ground silos, nuclear submarines, and heavy bombers around the world. Scary stuff indeed.

But fear not, fellow humans, because the Dead Hand system is not completely automatic. The actual red button is apparently activated by a soldier hidden in some underground bunker.

Yes, I feel so much safer now. [gradremstroy—in Russian via DRB]

The point of the system, he explains, was to guarantee an automatic Soviet response to an American nuclear strike. Even if the US crippled the USSR with a surprise attack, the Soviets could still hit back. It wouldn't matter if the US blew up the Kremlin, took out the defense ministry, severed the communications network, and killed everyone with stars on their shoulders. Ground-based sensors would detect that a devastating blow had been struck and a counterattack would be launched.

The technical name was Perimeter, but some called it Mertvaya Ruka, or Dead Hand. It was built 25 years ago and remained a closely guarded secret.

The scary thing is that Perimeter still works today. At least according to Valery Yarynich, a former Soviet colonel now 72 years old. Yarynich should know, though: He worked 30 years at the Soviet Strategic Rocket Forces and Soviet General Staff helping to build it.

US Officials won't even like to mention it, but with the Cold War over and Russia being more or less a friend, why risk having such a system in place? I really don't like the idea of something going wrong in a rusty 25-year-old piece of Soviet-era technology.

Not when it can automatically launch a nuclear attack capable of taking out Humanity out of the map. [Wired]

That's exactly what happened to Tsutomu Yamaguchi back in 1945. He was on a business trip in Hiroshima, where he suffered serious burns to his upper body after the US dropped a nuke on the city. He spent the night in the city then returned home to Nagasaki, just in time for the second bomb to drop. [AP]

New Scientist has a full gallery, but my favorite is definitely the aforementioned truck. The Bomb Containment Vessel can be used to transport a live bomb safely, and it's strong enough to have the bomb explode in its belly if need be. It won't be used, in all likelihood, but it sure is fun to know it's there. [New Scientist via Dvice]

With a geek's typical hubris, Oppenheimer assumed that since the laws of physics were universal, very little could stop anyone in getting a nuclear weapon, given the time and resources. Alas, the time and resources needed are indeed scarce, so to this day, only nine countries are nuclear-equipped—the United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel. Here we see these links visualized, starting with the Manhattan project and fanning out over the last six decades (click here for the full-size popup).

Instead, three proliferation experts demonstrate how nuclear capabilities were passed as political bargaining chips, stolen via espionage, and limited with diplomacy. Both books seem like fascinating reads. Check out much more at the Times: [NYTimes]

[The WROMP] is a weaponized version of the Remotely Operated Mobile Platform. The operator can "drive" the vehicle and fire the weapon although it is out of visual range. WROMP can also be used for reconnaissance and bomb investigation and remote detonation

As you can see, the weapon in this case is just a paintball machine gun. Enough for me, although Chris says the platform has been designed for any use, "including remote surveillance, security patrolling and bomb investigation." The system uses an audio/video system linked to an VR headset for control, aiming, and firing. [Coroflot via Dvice]

Like the Batman system, the more phones on the ground, the better, since it would be able to triangulate the source of radiation more accurately. Phones closest to the deadly stuff as they pass by would give off stronger signals, pinpointing where it's at, or how it's moving in real time. Also, the larger the scale of the project, the less the system would cost per phone—right now it's around $50-$100 a phone. Blown up to a hundred million phones, the price would plummet.

Obviously, there are some major civil rights issues here, especially if you're legally required to be a constantly lo-jacked, walking bomb detector for the Man. Newsweek suggests a more diplomatic and less creepy solution, where government agencies would pay you to opt-in. I think that's one paycheck I'd have to pass on. [Newsweek]

Luckily for warlords such as myself, experts at the University of Munich have developed new types of bombs using the compounds HBT and G2ZT, bombs that only produce ammonia when detonated. That'll leave target areas nice and clean with no acid rain to pour down on the charred remains of my victims. And people say I'm evil!

To be fair, the same compounds may be used in rocket fuels in the future, which are less destructive than bombs and have legitimate reasons to be eco friendly. But initially, at least, it's all about the bombs. [American Chemical Society via io9]

Yes, they've got a bubblegum bomb that skips like a stone across water to knock down your door. And land between your legs, no doubt. Still not exploded? How 'bout a guidance system that'll chuck six rubber bullet bombs your door, for some Bomberman-style chain booms. Actually, that sounds awesome: a dude in a Bomberman suit chucking bombs at stuff would own everything. [Danger Room, Danger Room]

Another analyst, from the Center for Defense Information, says at best its blast is just 50 percent bigger than our MOAB. The list just keeps going: It wasn't dropped from a bomber (as implied in the video, but check the cut when the bay doors open), but probably shoved out the side of a cargo plane, which is almost kind of cute in its quaintness. But regardless of its actual size or power, we still wouldn't want one dropped in our backyard. [Wired]

The company literally trains bees as a police force might train dogs. Using Pavlovian principles, the bees are given a food reward when they sniff, let's say, cocaine. Over time, the bees are conditioned to stick out their tongues in hunger over the smell of this substance.

Then, in a highly scientific operation, the bees are taped to your measurement device. A camera closely tracks the bee tongues while the you pray that the SWAT team really is on their way (lest you need to release your "measurement device" for self-defense).

We're planning on going back to bed now. And when we wake up, we'd better not see any more bee bomb detectors. [product via geekologie]

Quick and Easy Explosive Detector Kit [Crave]

Oh no! A bomb has been embedded in our webpage!! WHAT HAVE THE CARTOON HACKERTERRORISTS DONE NOW??

Comment before it's too late! Meanwhile, I will heroically jump on my laptop to save you all.–Mark Wilson

Thanks Brian!

Video Page [redban]

Gallery

Inside the "Baghdad Bomb Squad" [DefenseTech]

The device includes a transmitter that mimics a cell phone base station and a metal horn to concentrate the signal from a 10 milliwatt power source in a single direction. Scanning... a concealed phone... with the tool... tricks it into thinking it is in range of a new network base station and blocks it from any genuine stations in the vicinity.

It seems that the overhead would be a little high to create a full cellphone jammer and, according to folks in Iraq, most IEDs use cordless phones instead of relying on Iraq's spotty cell network.

Phone Bomb Interceptor on the Line? [DefenseTech]