Earlier quoted context omitted.
You might be interested in reading more about "Davy Crockett" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_%28nuclear_devic... ) and the Fulda Gap ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fulda_Gap ). In short, for much of the Cold War the USSR had such a numbers advantage over NATO when it came to tank forces that the only chance NATO had to hold off a full-scale tank invasion by the USSR would have been the use of tactical…
> In short, for much of the Cold War the USSR had such a numbers advantage over NATO when it came to tank forces that the only chance NATO had to hold off a full-scale tank invasion by the USSR would have been the use of tactical nukes. Would it be effective against a tank invasion? I would have thought tanks were solid enough that you'd almost need a direct strike to destroy them, if the tanks were spread out it wou…
Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
21–30 of 34 posts
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
> In short, for much of the Cold War the USSR had such a numbers advantage over NATO when it came to tank forces that the only chance NATO had to hold off a full-scale tank invasion by the USSR would have been the use of tactical nukes. Would it be effective against a tank invasion? I would have thought tanks were solid enough that you'd almost need a direct strike to destroy them, if the tanks were spread out it wou…
https://www.quora.com/How-effective-would-a-tactical-nuclear...
Thanks, I didn't know about these ones:
> The second category, no longer in use, were low-yield weapons that produced high doses of radiation that would incapacitate the crews of the tanks. The Enhanced Radiation (ER) warheads, commonly referred to as ‘neutron bombs’ were a sub-category. Four 1 kt ER warheads would incapacitate the crews of the battalion.
It's scary that humanity ever actually produced devices like that.
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#23As a non-American, while I do see the need for such tests during the Cold War, the way America ruined pristine pacific islands just saddens me. They should’ve been held accountable for that but alas better them than the USSR
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Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#24As a non-American, while I do see the need for such tests during the Cold War, the way America ruined pristine pacific islands just saddens me. They should’ve been held accountable for that but alas better them than the USSR
If you’re just talking about the islands themselves, I’d say that falls under the umbrella of aesthetics: are the islands more or less beautiful now? We’ll never have an aesthetics court to argue such things, sadly.
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think, in most cases, the sound is omitted, since it's often the least interesting aspect of the event, and being a little underwhelming, almost detracts from the visuals. They aren't like loud, irregular rolling thunderclaps, with interesting sweet spots and curious deviations or oddities. They don't rumble and crackle or anything. One bang, a trail off of distant reverberation, and not much else. You have to figu…
The truth is that the only way to really appreciate the sound of a nuclear detonation is to be blown away by it. Literally. When you see tanks being flipped over, and bridges being collapsed, that’s the “sound” in the form of a mach stem trashing it. If you’re close enough to really appreciate it, you’re already dead.
I don't think this is actually true. As long as you don't get vaporized in the immediate detonation radius or killed by shrapnel, the acute survival rate is actually very good (that's why cold war PSAs always show people getting under blankets and desks; if you're alive after the blast, you have to worry about flying glass).
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think, in most cases, the sound is omitted, since it's often the least interesting aspect of the event, and being a little underwhelming, almost detracts from the visuals. They aren't like loud, irregular rolling thunderclaps, with interesting sweet spots and curious deviations or oddities. They don't rumble and crackle or anything. One bang, a trail off of distant reverberation, and not much else. You have to figu…
The truth is that the only way to really appreciate the sound of a nuclear detonation is to be blown away by it. Literally. When you see tanks being flipped over, and bridges being collapsed, that’s the “sound” in the form of a mach stem trashing it. If you’re close enough to really appreciate it, you’re already dead.
Lots of people survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki, including this poor fucker that survived both: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsutomu_Yamaguchi?wprov=sfla...
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#27As a non-American, while I do see the need for such tests during the Cold War, the way America ruined pristine pacific islands just saddens me. They should’ve been held accountable for that but alas better them than the USSR
If you’re just talking about the islands themselves, I’d say that falls under the umbrella of aesthetics: are the islands more or less beautiful now? We’ll never have an aesthetics court to argue such things, sadly.
I expect most people would agree that an unbombed island is more aesthetically appealing than a bombed one. I don't need a court to decide which one I prefer.
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
I spent a summer (intern) working at the Nevada Test Site and visited the Sedan crater when I was there (my supervisor gave me the 'nickel tour' as he called it). He said that one of the goals of the Sedan test was to test the feasibility of using nuclear weapons to create a replacement for the Panama canal across the lower part of Mexico "in a hurry." I don't know what their conclusion was but I remain skeptical tha…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare Among other things, they were investigating the use of nuclear bombs to create artificial harbors (probably a lot more feasible than digging a canal across Mexico, but it sure would make one hell of a mess.) The Soviets had their own version of this program: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Explosions_for_the_Nat...
Interestingly, the plan to create harbours using nuclear detonations was seriously considered by Lang Hancock (The mining magnate) in Australia during the 70's, as well as a method for extracting Iron Ore...
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#29As a non-American, while I do see the need for such tests during the Cold War, the way America ruined pristine pacific islands just saddens me. They should’ve been held accountable for that but alas better them than the USSR
If you’re just talking about the islands themselves, I’d say that falls under the umbrella of aesthetics: are the islands more or less beautiful now? We’ll never have an aesthetics court to argue such things, sadly.
There are a couple islands which have massive holes in them now. We're not talking about small craters. You can see them on Google Maps.
Re: Hundreds of nuclear blast videos show explosions in the ocean and Nevada desert
#30I’m sure lots of folks have already seen this, but the aftermath is still visible from the air. https://goo.gl/maps/bHEEVZKKK1B2
I spent a summer (intern) working at the Nevada Test Site and visited the Sedan crater when I was there (my supervisor gave me the 'nickel tour' as he called it). He said that one of the goals of the Sedan test was to test the feasibility of using nuclear weapons to create a replacement for the Panama canal across the lower part of Mexico "in a hurry." I don't know what their conclusion was but I remain skeptical tha…
Might seem crazy but there was a huge effort around repurposing these weapons for construction. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Plowshare