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Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

theintercept.com

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Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#21

Post by HenryKissinger »

aswanson wrote: post #9
monocasa wrote: post #6

This makes you wonder if we might see a resurgence in old school control systems without processors, and def no networks. The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. All else being equal it's more expensive, but not compared to being unable to keep your network safe from attack. You need to reconfigure the line? Send eight techs down one by one to set new parameter…

Analog is the future. Steampunk nuke ops.

There is truth in this comment.

Parts of the Russian government have reverted to using mechanical typewriters in lieu of computers, which are too susceptible to malicious hacking.

Also, the US Navy started instructing enlisted seamen how to navigate at sea by the stars, in case GPS stops working.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#22

Post by cambalache »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

Sorry for the pedestrian comment, but, watching the cyberwars happening is surreal. Nuclear material production being attacked by Stuxnet, this current event, others I'm sure, is amazing. The cyberwars of disinformation as well - completely surreal to see this all play out. Sorry I don't have more to add. It's hard to describe how it feels to see the future arrive like this. Pandemic. Rocket milestones, Mars plans. N…

> ... is amazing.

Amazing because so far the big attacks have come from what the western powers consider the good guys. The day North Korean hackers leave Seoul without power or Iranian hackers fuck a reactor in France people will scream bloody murder.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#23

Post by avar »

dragontamer wrote: post #12
monocasa wrote: post #6

This makes you wonder if we might see a resurgence in old school control systems without processors, and def no networks. The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. All else being equal it's more expensive, but not compared to being unable to keep your network safe from attack. You need to reconfigure the line? Send eight techs down one by one to set new parameter…

> The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. By enlisting thousands of young women to watch the knobs and dial buttons. https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/articles/women-who-buil... They didn't even know they were building the bomb. They just had to enter the room, dial knobs back-and-forth for 8-hours/day, and then go home. Today, that sort of stuff SHOULD be a…

The youth unemployment rate in Iran is ~25%, overall rate is 10%. They issue their own fiat currency, and their GDP per capita is comparable to Thailand and Botswana.

So yes, they can probably afford to have a bunch of people tweak knobs in a factory all day.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#24

Post by hctaw »

monocasa wrote: post #6

This makes you wonder if we might see a resurgence in old school control systems without processors, and def no networks. The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. All else being equal it's more expensive, but not compared to being unable to keep your network safe from attack. You need to reconfigure the line? Send eight techs down one by one to set new parameter…

My understanding is that Iran needs high performance centrifuges to enrich Uranium as they do not have an abundance of the stuff, unlike the Manhattan Project. They were able to pile up 50 tons of uranium and light up a lightbulb while other experiments were carried out in parallel to enrich uranium and synthesize plutonium.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#25

Post by everdrive »

nullserver wrote: post #19

Israel is fighting for its existence. Iran leadership routinely makes threats to destroy America and Israel. This often get ignored or dismissed. But like waving a gun in a cops face. Well bad things happen. One nuke will piss America off. One nuke and Israel will just be gone, completely. Iran is probably capable of this, or close. From Israel standpoint the logical step is to bomb Iran military into the Stone Age.…

>One nuke and Israel will just be gone, completely. Iran is probably capable of this, or close.

It's not clear that they could actually deliver a nuclear weapon, of course. And certainly not all the way to America.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#26

Post by reilly3000 »

cryptoz wrote: post #3

Sorry for the pedestrian comment, but, watching the cyberwars happening is surreal. Nuclear material production being attacked by Stuxnet, this current event, others I'm sure, is amazing. The cyberwars of disinformation as well - completely surreal to see this all play out. Sorry I don't have more to add. It's hard to describe how it feels to see the future arrive like this. Pandemic. Rocket milestones, Mars plans. N…

The fiction-to-reality pipeline is getting scary fast!

I'm with you on all of the things except for flying cars. I don't want some drunk driver(pilot?) flying over my house, but I want to be able to land at home. There are twice as many regulatory issues as tech challenges in my book.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#27

Post by Daho0n »

nullserver wrote: post #19

Israel is fighting for its existence. Iran leadership routinely makes threats to destroy America and Israel. This often get ignored or dismissed. But like waving a gun in a cops face. Well bad things happen. One nuke will piss America off. One nuke and Israel will just be gone, completely. Iran is probably capable of this, or close. From Israel standpoint the logical step is to bomb Iran military into the Stone Age.…

If much of the world wants you dead (your words, not mine) then maybe it's time to look in a mirror.

Edit: HN commenters are so thick. First of all GP says everyone hate Israel. So that must include you the reader of this comment. If you actually take that shit serious and then have a problem with my comment instead all I can say is that you should look in a mirror too. It's a fat lie. Not everyone hates Israel. Actually most on HN loves Israel and always heavily upvote pro-israel stories.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#28

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

dragontamer wrote: post #12
monocasa wrote: post #6

This makes you wonder if we might see a resurgence in old school control systems without processors, and def no networks. The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. All else being equal it's more expensive, but not compared to being unable to keep your network safe from attack. You need to reconfigure the line? Send eight techs down one by one to set new parameter…

> The Manhattan project was able uranium purified to get a bomb working without PLCs and networks. By enlisting thousands of young women to watch the knobs and dial buttons. https://outrider.org/nuclear-weapons/articles/women-who-buil... They didn't even know they were building the bomb. They just had to enter the room, dial knobs back-and-forth for 8-hours/day, and then go home. Today, that sort of stuff SHOULD be a…

such an activity would also be a lot harder to hide today with eyes in space capturing everything in high-res

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#29

Post by pcbro141 »

> it appears the facility’s main power distribution equipment was taken out with explosives

How do the Israelis keep managing to get explosives into Natanz? They blew up a hall last July. I would have thought everyone entering the premises goes through a body scanner like an airport to make sure you're not carrying bombs, spy cameras, etc.

Re: Israel may have destroyed Iranian centrifuges simply by cutting power

#30

Post by ortusdux »

yummypaint wrote: post #15
cryptoz wrote: post #3

Sorry for the pedestrian comment, but, watching the cyberwars happening is surreal. Nuclear material production being attacked by Stuxnet, this current event, others I'm sure, is amazing. The cyberwars of disinformation as well - completely surreal to see this all play out. Sorry I don't have more to add. It's hard to describe how it feels to see the future arrive like this. Pandemic. Rocket milestones, Mars plans. N…

Just the other day i was watching a video of protestors taking down a drone with hundreds of laser pointers. People are literally having laser battles in the streets with police robots. https://duckduckgo.com/?q=drone+lasers+protestors&t=fpas&iar...

I knew someone with plans to protest traffic ticket cameras by aiming a directional photocell at the flash and wiring it to activate a laser aimed at the camera for a few seconds. I wonder if they ever got around to it.
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