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To quote Robin Williams: "The French are some of the few people who still test their bombs. And where do they test them? In the Sahara, in ze total wasteland? No, fuck off! In Tahiti, in paradise. Why? Because they're French."
The scale is not linear, but then again neither is the blast radius in a nuclear weapon. I don't know the exact numbers and I'm too lazy to look them up, but a bomb with 2x the energy (i.e. 250 vs. 125 kT) would not produce an explosion twice the size.
@nutbastard: yeah. I looked it up, it's called "equivalent megaton (EMT).
EMT = Y^2/3 where Y is in megatons.
This relation arises from the fact that the destructive power of a bomb does not vary linearly with the yield. The volume the weapon's energy spreads into varies as the cube of the distance, but the destroyed area varies at the square of the distance.
Mother of God, there's still been tests going up into 2007? Even the U.S. conducting tests on into the 90s. And that's just documented. One can only assume not every nuclear test gets announced to the public right away.
Man.....I mean, it's not like I could argue that I'd know better how to run a military (spoiler alert: I wouldn't) but.....this is just depressing.
@OCEntertainment: If you look at the locations for any post 90's test you'll see they are in locations that we have actively opposed having nuclear weapons.
As for tests in the 90's, I'm a bit ambivalent, and can understand why Bill Clinton would approve of the testing at the time.
I think as a younger group we have no clue how terrifying it was in the 50's when we realized that the USSR was further ahead of us in the nuclear arms department. Leaders in the 90's remember this and at the time Russia was still extremely unstable. I'm not saying it was the right choice, but I'm saying that if I was in that position and had the memories that the folks at NORAD and in the White House had of the Cold War, I don't think the decision would be as simple as we are making it out to be here.
@NorwoodIsMyHero: Oh, I think I agree with you. I mean, I couldn't fathom that the decision to develop nuclear arms. And I'm not sure how to take the high road when the lives of your entire country is at stake. I'm not even sure what that road is. It's simply too complex, and I have far too small a view of even today's political climate, much less the climate of history to say how it should've gone down.
Nonetheless, the fact remains. It's sad. Just universally. It's sad. More people in the future will die, and a whole lot of them don't have to.
@OCEntertainment: You can't hide a nuclear explosion on this planet. Too many ground sensors will register it. We could pinpoint it within an hour, probably less.
@barrywoods: You know that scene in Return of the King where Sam and Frodo are in Mordor, getting close to the end of their journey and Sam hands Frodo the last few drops of water?
....Your comment is comforting to know. A small comfort in a sea of bad news, but a welcome one.
Crap, I remember seeing a very similar looking gadget, with an identical list of BS claims about its funtionality on 60 Minutes over a decade ago. It was being sold to gullible hick police departments in the states. #ade651
This is basically a electronic dowsing rod. It works only by random chance. People just choose to forget about all the times it is wrong because they want to believe it works. #ade651
I remember when Tom Clancy included the DKL in the novel "Rainbow Six." It was like, "Coooool, you can detect heartbeats through walls!" He, of course, was taken in by the fraud.
And that was over TEN YEARS ago.
Man, this makes me want to sell the Iraqis magic beans. #ade651
@Tiny Iota: "Is this a bomb?" *shake shake* Ask again later. *shake shake* Concentrate and ask again. *shake shake* Cannot predict now.
...dammit. Hey, wait, where are you going? Come back! #ade651
I'm sure they can make up the difference by reselling them as ecto-repellant, or even an E-meter. I'm sure Cruise would be happy to roam about his estate searching for thetans.
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
12/08/09
well what do you mean by 'size'? blast radius?
12/08/09
EMT = Y^2/3 where Y is in megatons.
This relation arises from the fact that the destructive power of a bomb does not vary linearly with the yield. The volume the weapon's energy spreads into varies as the cube of the distance, but the destroyed area varies at the square of the distance.
12/08/09
Man.....I mean, it's not like I could argue that I'd know better how to run a military (spoiler alert: I wouldn't) but.....this is just depressing.
12/08/09
As for tests in the 90's, I'm a bit ambivalent, and can understand why Bill Clinton would approve of the testing at the time.
I think as a younger group we have no clue how terrifying it was in the 50's when we realized that the USSR was further ahead of us in the nuclear arms department. Leaders in the 90's remember this and at the time Russia was still extremely unstable. I'm not saying it was the right choice, but I'm saying that if I was in that position and had the memories that the folks at NORAD and in the White House had of the Cold War, I don't think the decision would be as simple as we are making it out to be here.
12/08/09
Nonetheless, the fact remains. It's sad. Just universally. It's sad. More people in the future will die, and a whole lot of them don't have to.
12/08/09
12/08/09
....Your comment is comforting to know. A small comfort in a sea of bad news, but a welcome one.
12/02/09
12/02/09
11/04/09
b-de-b-de-b-de that's us, folks. #ade651
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
[skepdic.com]
I remember when Tom Clancy included the DKL in the novel "Rainbow Six." It was like, "Coooool, you can detect heartbeats through walls!" He, of course, was taken in by the fraud.
And that was over TEN YEARS ago.
Man, this makes me want to sell the Iraqis magic beans. #ade651
11/04/09
Still, it works better than their previous bomb detector.
11/04/09
Ask again later.
*shake shake*
Concentrate and ask again.
*shake shake*
Cannot predict now.
...dammit. Hey, wait, where are you going? Come back! #ade651
11/04/09
I'm sure they can make up the difference by reselling them as ecto-repellant, or even an E-meter. I'm sure Cruise would be happy to roam about his estate searching for thetans.
11/04/09