View Full Version : Nuclear tests
london-boy
16-May-2005, 11:37
Hey guys,
Having been in a apocalyptic mood lately, i was online last night and i started looking at nuclear tests information, pics and videos (i love nukes blasts videos, they just fascinate me)...
My main problem with all the tests that were conducted until not too long ago was, how could governments authorise such tests, knowing they totally wreck the surroundings, the weather, the atmosphere, any life in a few miles radius, everything really...
Some tests also went horribly wrong, just for "scientific measuring mistake" (they must have sprinkled a little too much plutonium all over the core, the idiots), and ended up causing even more death than they were "scientifically allowed" to. As a matter of fact, the most powerful blast conducted by the US was a 15Megaton one, purely by mistake cause it was only supposed to be a 6-7Mt one. The fallout of this blast was much bigger than expected and ended up ruining a lot of lives and a lot of the surroundings.
And let's not even start with the tests conducted in Russia, the biggest being a 57Mt one (!!!) in 1961 in Siberia, which is just out of this world, and i have no idea in what shape left those surroundings.
I was in a strange mood last night, and this didn't help.
nutball
16-May-2005, 11:56
The two space-borne tests (Orange and Teak IIRC) injected high-energy particles into the Earths magnetosphere that lasted for years. When I was doing my PhD I was reading papers by researchers trying to measure the energy spectrum of cosmic rays, and the papers often made reference to Orange/Teak radiation screwing up their measurements (this was years later, the jolly little particles were still there). The tests happened just a few years after the discovery of the Van Allen belts, and hence seriously hampered the attempts to understand them.
They were very pretty though (linky for clickage (http://www.awe.co.uk/main_site/scientific_and_technical/featured_areas/dpd/computational_physics/nuclear_effects_group/nuclear_effects_group_2/))
london-boy
16-May-2005, 12:10
The two space-borne tests (Orange and Teak IIRC) injected high-energy particles into the Earths magnetosphere that lasted for years. When I was doing my PhD I was reading papers by researchers trying to measure the energy spectrum of cosmic rays, and the papers often made reference to Orange/Teak radiation screwing up their measurements (this was years later, the jolly little particles were still there). The tests happened just a few years after the discovery of the Van Allen belts, and hence seriously hampered the attempts to understand them.
They were very pretty though (linky for clickage (http://www.awe.co.uk/main_site/scientific_and_technical/featured_areas/dpd/computational_physics/nuclear_effects_group/nuclear_effects_group_2/))
No pics though.
Anyway, it's just amazing how intelligent (!?) scientists and governments went through with this... I mean, even the Moon would have been a better place, it's not like there's anything useful on there or anyone's ever gonna go there anyway.
Here's my favourite test pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/yufan/Miscell/Nuke_Test.jpg
Oh yeah... 8MB video of nuke tests here... fascinating stuff.
http://www.big-boys.com/articles/nuclearpower.html
london-boy
16-May-2005, 12:26
Here's my favourite test pic:
*PIC*
Bloody hell, what is that? i can't really understand the structure of that, it looks like it has "layers" of stuff underneath, but it could be just the environment...
nutball
16-May-2005, 12:31
No pics though.
Really? I get pics. Maybe the Atomic Weapons Establishment doesn't like you :)
Anyway, it's just amazing how intelligent (!?) scientists and governments went through with this... I mean, even the Moon would have been a better place, it's not like there's anything useful on there or anyone's ever gonna go there anyway.
Indeed. It was the Cold War though, that screwed up a lot of peoples logic.
Another interesting story, some X-ray detectors work like Geiger counters with the voltage turned down, and these are often filled xenon gas. Xenon extracted from the atmosphere today is weakly radioactive, and causes unwanted background signals in these detectors. This radioactivity in xenon is attributed to man-made nuclear explosions. By all accounts there is a single gas cylinder full of xenon that was salvaged from a U-boat that was sunk pre-Trinity, and is therefore not contaminated. Its contents are much sought after to fill these detectors to give ultra-low background signals.
london-boy
16-May-2005, 12:32
Disturbing stuff....
london-boy
16-May-2005, 12:36
No pics though.
Really? I get pics. Maybe the Atomic Weapons Establishment doesn't like you :)
Anyway, it's just amazing how intelligent (!?) scientists and governments went through with this... I mean, even the Moon would have been a better place, it's not like there's anything useful on there or anyone's ever gonna go there anyway.
Indeed. It was the Cold War though, that screwed up a lot of peoples logic.
Another interesting story, some X-ray detectors work like Geiger counters with the voltage turned down, and these are often filled xenon gas. Xenon extracted from the atmosphere today is weakly radioactive, and causes unwanted background signals in these detectors. This radioactivity in xenon is attributed to man-made nuclear explosions. By all accounts there is a single gas cylinder full of xenon that was salvaged from a U-boat that was sunk pre-Trinity, and is therefore not contaminated. Its contents are much sought after to fill these detectors to give ultra-low background signals.
That's so stupid. This Xenon thing might be a small thing in the eyes of.. everyone except you and other scientists, but the point is that they changed forever the shape of this planet, all because of selfish power-trips.
I don't get it, but at the same time i'm totally fascinated by this, on a scientific level.
Here's my favourite test pic:
*PIC*
Bloody hell, what is that? i can't really understand the structure of that, it looks like it has "layers" of stuff underneath, but it could be just the environment...
Look at the wave break along the left; you're looking down a bank of little islands, connected together by a regions of sand.
Edit: LB - what is it with you and your anti-science views at the moment?
london-boy
16-May-2005, 12:37
Look at the wave break along the left; you're looking down a bank of little islands, connected together by a regions of sand.
Errr... Oh. :oops:
nutball
16-May-2005, 12:47
This Xenon thing might be a small thing in the eyes of.. everyone except you and other scientists, but the point is that they changed forever the shape of this planet, all because of selfish power-trips.
I wouldn't say I regard it as a little thing, the effects all these tests had, but what's done is done, you can't unscramble eggs. What I would get more worried about is a resumption in nuclear testing, and I'm not convinced that that isn't going to happen.
london-boy
16-May-2005, 13:10
This Xenon thing might be a small thing in the eyes of.. everyone except you and other scientists, but the point is that they changed forever the shape of this planet, all because of selfish power-trips.
I wouldn't say I regard it as a little thing, the effects all these tests had, but what's done is done, you can't unscramble eggs. What I would get more worried about is a resumption in nuclear testing, and I'm not convinced that that isn't going to happen.
Well the french were doing it until a few years ago... But really, as if we dont have enough weather probs already, they need to start testing again??
I would agree to it if the make britain a tropical country, but still...
Druga Runda
16-May-2005, 13:17
Here's my favourite test pic:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v255/yufan/Miscell/Nuke_Test.jpg
I have to say that this pic is amazing!
london-boy
16-May-2005, 13:35
What's that huge taurus-shaped thing? i've never seen something like that in other blasts...
london-boy
16-May-2005, 13:37
Edit: LB - what is it with you and your anti-science views at the moment?
:shock: Me?! Have i posted many things that sound anti-science lately? I didn't realise if i did :?
Oh god now i can't even remember what i say...
If anything, i've always been pro-science, even this thread is "pro-science" but "anti-stupid-scientists-and-governments"... Or the one KILER opened a few days ago about "the stupidest thing a scientist could do"...
Maybe u're mistaking me for someone else? (which would be unexcusable!! :twisted: )
Guden Oden
16-May-2005, 17:40
What's that huge taurus-shaped thing? i've never seen something like that in other blasts...
Ok, layman analysis of the pic:
Looks like a groundblast; closest to the earth there is a wall of debris (and perhaps seawater) that's been disturbed and pulled up by the shockwave. The vertical column is likely also debris; pulled up by convection air currents. The torus formation is created by moisture in the atmosphere condensing into droplets when the shockwave compresses the air. It seems to hide the "mushroom" part of the explosion by the way.
It's worth noting one can see the curvature of the earth in that pic; light from the explosion shines down on the ocean that reveals a slight bow-effect...
Scary image. Shows how crazy dumb we were back then. Well, we still are really, we just hide it slightly better. :?
PC-Engine
16-May-2005, 17:44
The two space-borne tests (Orange and Teak IIRC) injected high-energy particles into the Earths magnetosphere that lasted for years. When I was doing my PhD I was reading papers by researchers trying to measure the energy spectrum of cosmic rays, and the papers often made reference to Orange/Teak radiation screwing up their measurements (this was years later, the jolly little particles were still there). The tests happened just a few years after the discovery of the Van Allen belts, and hence seriously hampered the attempts to understand them.
They were very pretty though (linky for clickage (http://www.awe.co.uk/main_site/scientific_and_technical/featured_areas/dpd/computational_physics/nuclear_effects_group/nuclear_effects_group_2/))
No pics though.
Anyway, it's just amazing how intelligent (!?) scientists and governments went through with this... I mean, even the Moon would have been a better place, it's not like there's anything useful on there or anyone's ever gonna go there anyway.
Why do you think the moon is disposable? Because we don't know much about it?
nutball
16-May-2005, 17:54
It's worth noting one can see the curvature of the earth in that pic; light from the explosion shines down on the ocean that reveals a slight bow-effect...
I think that might be just a combination of the lighting and barrel distortion in the lens.
Oh yeah... 8MB video of nuke tests here... fascinating stuff.
http://www.big-boys.com/articles/nuclearpower.html
Can the file the downloaded?
BlueTsunami
16-May-2005, 21:59
Thats an amazing video.....I'm especially find the shots of the warships interesting. The one clip that stands out the most to me is the one on the deck of the ship with the dummy and the one inside the ship (where the nuclear blast tears the ship to shreds). Its funny that these experiments go on (we'll not really funny). Almost as if there testing viable situations where a nuclear ship would be used on a fleet of ships :?:
london-boy
16-May-2005, 22:06
Why do you think the moon is disposable? Because we don't know much about it?
More disposable than our own atmosphere, hell yeah!
If i had to choose between getting radiocative fallout on my head or getting a new crater on the moon, i'm sorry to say, it's the moon.
cleardayout
17-May-2005, 04:00
Why do you think the moon is disposable? Because we don't know much about it?
More disposable than our own atmosphere, hell yeah!
If i had to choose between getting radiocative fallout on my head or getting a new crater on the moon, i'm sorry to say, it's the moon.
Yes but the whole point is to see what these baby's can do, how much destruction they can create down here. Making a crater on the moon is old news - been going on for billions of years.
Reading this http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/world/2003/nuclear_fuel_cycle/mining/default.stm
is good stuff about the enrichment and bomb making process.
I always wondered why in here 2005 there hasn't been at least one terrorist plutonium bomb test or attack.
It must be harder than they say.
Oh yeah... 8MB video of nuke tests here... fascinating stuff.
http://www.big-boys.com/articles/nuclearpower.html
Can the file the downloaded?
Direct link:
http://media2.big-boys.com/bbmedia/nuclearpower.wmv
Not a whole bunch of movies, but alot of information and pics can be found at the Nuclear Weapon Archive (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/).
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Usa/Tests/BravoC1024c10.jpg
Cheers
Gubbi
london-boy
17-May-2005, 16:25
^^ That's from Operation Castle, the most powerful blast the US has ever made, the 15Mt "mistake".
ZoinKs!
18-May-2005, 15:32
Not a whole bunch of movies, but alot of information and pics can be found at the Nuclear Weapon Archive (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/).
Heh, I was planning to post that link. It's a great resource on history and current status of nukes. :D
I find the subject of nuclear bombs, detonations, and war to be a surprisingly interesting topic. I just hope nuclear attacks remains in the realm of theory from now on.
I recommend the documentary movie "Trinity and Beyond". It's about open air testing from 1945 to the mid-60s. There was a torrent, if you can still find it.
Oh, and l-b, sending nukes to the moon wasn't possible in that timeframe. Rockets weren't powerful enough to send a payload weighing several tons all the way there. And even if they could, it'd have been impossible to measure the results and effects which were the point of the testing. (Well, usually that was the point. Some tests, such as the 50 meg Tsar Bomb, were a political statement of power rather then a test of science and engineering.)
london-boy
18-May-2005, 15:35
(Well, usually that was the point. Some tests, such as the 50 meg Tsar Bomb, were a political statement of power rather then a test of science and engineering.)
Obviously. Just a big "My nuclear wardickhead is bigger than yours" game. At the expense of the planet. :(
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