Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
1–10 of 106 posts
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#2Fascinating look into the dynamic imaging capabilities at Los Alamos National Lab—essentially, how the U.S. is able to analyze nuclear-level explosive events without actually conducting nuclear tests.
The Lab uses multiple systems to image these high-speed events:
• pRad uses proton radiography to get 20–40 frames of a detonation, with material-level resolution based on density.
• DARHT uses dual-axis x-ray imaging to create 3D snapshots from two angles, ideal for testing whether the computational models built from pRad hold up.
• Scorpius (in development) will take this a step further by using subcritical plutonium in a new accelerator at NNSS, capturing multiple high-resolution frames just nanoseconds apart.
The fact that they can tailor experiments based on frame-by-frame behavior of individual materials under explosive stress feels like the real-world version of “bullet time” physics modeling. The margins of error come down to billionths of a second.
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#3Wow, this is wild. billionths of a second?!
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#4Wow, this is wild. billionths of a second?!
I'm reminded of Grace Hopper's famous nanoseconds lecture: https://youtu.be/gYqF6-h9Cvg?t=78
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#5Wow, this is wild. billionths of a second?!
Not quite. The article says hundreds of nanoseconds, which would be in the 10 millionths range. Or if you take the title literally, 143ns per image. That's in line with the fastest CCDs, so not unimaginable.
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#6Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#7Pics or it didn’t happen.
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#8Pics or it didn’t happen.
You could watch it, but you'd die of natural causes before it finished
Re: Los Alamos is capturing images of explosions at 7 millionths of a second
#9Pics or it didn’t happen.