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Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

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Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#201

Post by nkrisc »

ASalazarMX wrote: post #196
nkrisc wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think they meant literally destroy the Earth. Nothing we have could possibly do that. But it could easily destroy our world here on Earth. I have to imagine the world as we know it would cease to exist after such an attack. Everything we take for granted today would probably be gone pretty quickly, the collapse of civilization in much of the world. It’s a fun bit of research you did, but I think it’s disingen…

While a complete nuclear war would cause radioactive waste to reach all the globe, humanity and civilization will likely survive, in the form of countries that were not primary targets. For example, in North America USA would be severely crippled, but Mexico would be mainly unscathed. Canada probably too, as it officially has no nuclear capabilities.

I mean, maybe, maybe not. Depends on a lot of factors. The entire collapse of a major superpower could potentially have a lot of knock-on effects on otherwise unscathed countries.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#202

Post by nkrisc »

sandworm101 wrote: post #171
nkrisc wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think they meant literally destroy the Earth. Nothing we have could possibly do that. But it could easily destroy our world here on Earth. I have to imagine the world as we know it would cease to exist after such an attack. Everything we take for granted today would probably be gone pretty quickly, the collapse of civilization in much of the world. It’s a fun bit of research you did, but I think it’s disingen…

>> Nothing we have could possibly do that. There is some credibility to melting of permafrost triggering runaway greenhouse scenarios that would turn Earth into something more akin to Venus. If we really wanted to destroy the world I think we could do it.

I meant compromise the physical integrity of the planet, which is what I assumed was the metric the commenter I was replying to was using, based on their comment that the Earth would retain its roughly spherical shape.

We can't physically destroy a planetary body yet, not even close to it.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#203

Post by nkrisc »

mnw21cam wrote: post #86
jhgb wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But destroy the world? If by "world", it meant "human world", not "the planet", and your intention were to bring our civilization into total chaos, post-Roman-Empire-style, then you'd think that killing a billion people in just the right places would be a pretty good start.

This link definitely deserves to be referenced here: https://qntm.org/destroy "You've seen the action movies where the bad guy threatens to destroy the Earth. You've heard people on the news claiming that the next nuclear war or cutting down rainforests or persisting in releasing hideous quantities of pollution into the atmosphere threatens to end the world. "Fools. "The Earth is built to last. It is a 4,550,000,000-…

If you kill all humans then who cares if the planet is still around or not?

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#204

Post by salt-thrower »

chipsa wrote: post #200
formvoltron wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious problem with mutual assured destruction is that an insane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all of current and future humanity. How about not strike back, just try to survive & show future generations of the world how to be. Go live in that other country that isn't radioactive.

"Mutual Assured Destruction" isn't a policy of anyone. It's a game theoretical idea that requires pre-conditions that don't necessarily apply. I mean, you hit on one of them: insane people. Most of the large nuclear powers have checks on that: the guy at the top can order the launch, but there's a bunch of relaying of the order. So the guys who turn the keys can refuse. So you need a bunch of insane people to make it…

Source on that last bit? How close to reality did that plan really get?

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#205

Post by hypertele-Xii »

jaywalk wrote: post #172
formvoltron wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The obvious problem with mutual assured destruction is that an insane person could get ahold of the weapons, launch first, and kill all of current and future humanity. How about not strike back, just try to survive & show future generations of the world how to be. Go live in that other country that isn't radioactive.

"Turn the other cheek" doesn't work for nukes.

Why not? Japan surrendered. They're fine.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#206

Post by jaywalk »

hypertele-Xii wrote: post #205
jaywalk wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Turn the other cheek" doesn't work for nukes.

Why not? Japan surrendered. They're fine.

Nobody else had nukes back then, so the calculus was completely different.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#207

Post by crate_barre »

salt-thrower wrote: post #204
chipsa wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Mutual Assured Destruction" isn't a policy of anyone. It's a game theoretical idea that requires pre-conditions that don't necessarily apply. I mean, you hit on one of them: insane people. Most of the large nuclear powers have checks on that: the guy at the top can order the launch, but there's a bunch of relaying of the order. So the guys who turn the keys can refuse. So you need a bunch of insane people to make it…

Source on that last bit? How close to reality did that plan really get?

I’d imagine world war 2 ending just 2-3 years early prevented nuclear holocaust. Certainly the Nazis and Soviets were not going to have any reluctance pushing that button.

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#208

Post by pelasaco »

celticninja wrote: post #59
pelasaco wrote: post #53

"For protection against enemy divers, dolphins will swim up to the infiltrator, bump into them and place a buoy device on their back or a limb using their mouth. The buoy then drags the outed diver to the surface for easy capture." I mean come on, "enemy divers" will just kill the dolphins or avoid contact with them..

I think you are overestimating how well a diver can maenouver under water in comparison to a dolphin.

Except the divers are probably Marines. Enemies which are probably well trained and armed. No Dolphin will bump on them and place a device on their back...

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#209

Post by pelasaco »

throwanem wrote: post #118
pelasaco wrote: post #53

"For protection against enemy divers, dolphins will swim up to the infiltrator, bump into them and place a buoy device on their back or a limb using their mouth. The buoy then drags the outed diver to the surface for easy capture." I mean come on, "enemy divers" will just kill the dolphins or avoid contact with them..

Dolphins can and do ram sharks to death. "Bump into" might be a euphemism here.

Nope, it's not. "bump into them and place a buoy device on their back or a limb using their mouth." I'm quite sure they could bump some one violently. But bump into an elite soldier squad - i.e US Marines - and place a buoy device on their back or limb using their mouth? Lol

Re: Militarized Dolphins Protect Almost a Quarter of the US Nuclear Stockpile

#210

Post by pelasaco »

slingnow wrote: post #150
pelasaco wrote: post #53

"For protection against enemy divers, dolphins will swim up to the infiltrator, bump into them and place a buoy device on their back or a limb using their mouth. The buoy then drags the outed diver to the surface for easy capture." I mean come on, "enemy divers" will just kill the dolphins or avoid contact with them..

I love that you think a human can "just kill" a dolphin on their home turf. And not just any dolphin, a trained dolphin. And I'd love to hear an explanation about how a human just "avoids contact" with a sea-based animal with built-in echolocation.

while a Dolphin is placing a buoy on your back or limb? We are not talking about you and me, but probably a small US marine squad.
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