50 megatons of TNT? When fat man and little boy were 15 and 20 kilotons respectively? This was really 3,000 times as big? I guess I didn't realize there was such a difference.
Tsar Bomba
11–20 of 28 posts
Re: Tsar Bomba
#12I've always wondered what evidence remains at the test site. Has nature completely covered up what happened once there? Or is the destruction too indelible? Has any reporter gone and explored that site?
Looks like it, albeit, it's so remote nothing was really there before it was used [0].
[0]: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tsar+Bomba+hypocenter/@73....
Re: Tsar Bomba
#13It's unfortunate that we are so good at making weapons, and that we expend so many resources and so much brain power to the endeavor. The space race was military based, but at least it was somewhat wholesome in the outward appearance of trying to better humanity. We need another one of those.
The Green Energy race perhaps? I think its absolutely magical if we can run on 100% renewable energy.
I think it would genuinely take magic, but I'll be happy if they can prove me wrong.
Re: Tsar Bomba
#14Dear HNers, when kids study Cold War as part of the history lessons in schools of your country, is Tsar Bomba mentioned?
Not in Singapore. Nuclear weapons that it was used against Japan, but not cold-war developments in that respect.
Maybe it's because it makes the militaries of non-nuclear states feel small.
Re: Tsar Bomba
#15It's unfortunate that we are so good at making weapons, and that we expend so many resources and so much brain power to the endeavor. The space race was military based, but at least it was somewhat wholesome in the outward appearance of trying to better humanity. We need another one of those.
>>>It's unfortunate that we are so good at making weapons How else do you think we became apex predators? We sure as hell didn't keep packs of wolves at bay with our fists. Security is a key requirement to enable all the eggheads to do egghead stuff without getting eaten.
Except at this point humans are unquestionably the apex predator. What animals are we going to need nukes for? This is humans fighting humans.
Unless your argument is that there’s a distinction between classes of humans comparable to that between species, which is a... problematic position, so I hope that’s not what you’re claiming.
Re: Tsar Bomba
#16While this is about the largest nuclear bomb ever produced, I also find the stories of the smallest interesting. Project Orion was a classified effort by the US to produce minituarized nukes for use in dropping out the bottom of a spacecraft to accelerate to insane top speeds.
Wicked pollution but I think they could also get to Alpha Centuri at like 10% c or something like that. Human-lifetime achievable. Project was cancelled for a number of reasons, the top likely being the Atmosphere and Space Test Ban.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Orion_(nuclear_propuls...
Re: Tsar Bomba
#17Dear HNers, when kids study Cold War as part of the history lessons in schools of your country, is Tsar Bomba mentioned?
Went to New York city public schools and nope
Re: Tsar Bomba
#18It's unfortunate that we are so good at making weapons, and that we expend so many resources and so much brain power to the endeavor. The space race was military based, but at least it was somewhat wholesome in the outward appearance of trying to better humanity. We need another one of those.
The Green Energy race perhaps? I think its absolutely magical if we can run on 100% renewable energy.
Well, people were doing that with horses and natural resources like wood, sperm oil and others for centuries before us. I do love our modernity but as far as being sustainable, there is no way on earth we are not going to destroy this planet with all the plastic packaging and the short-term throwaway mentality of modern electronics. All-electric from renewable sources is such a small part of that equation that it is mostly lip service. After all, you will still need batteries with all the pollution that implies.
Re: Tsar Bomba
#19Dear HNers, when kids study Cold War as part of the history lessons in schools of your country, is Tsar Bomba mentioned?
In Venezuela as part of the universal history subject that starts with the Greeks all the way to the modern age, there is no mention of specific bombs but nuclear bombs overall and Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I do remember that at the time they had a picture in the book of a nuclear submarine and I thought, sure it has nuclear weapons therefore a nuclear submarine :)
Re: Tsar Bomba
#20Right now there are 14 Ohio class submarines in the water, each with up to 24 ICBMs, each missile with up to 14 warheads of 100 kilotons.
As of 2014 there were 488 cities in the world with over a million people. If somehow even half of that arsenal was unleashed: 7x12x7=588 city centers (2 mile radius) could be wiped out instantly.
It's scary to think about anything that possibly can happen, will happen.. eventually..