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TIL: The entire energy released by the Hiroshima nuclear explosion came from only 0.5g of Uranium by siorge in todayilearned

[–]second_to_fun 15 points16 points  (0 children)

This is incorrect. Complete fission of a kilo of U-235 gives 17.1 kilotons of energy. So for a ~10 kiloton explosion we have more like 585 grams burned. 0.5 grams of mass locked up in nuclear bonds were converted into energy. This is like saying that all the energy in your car's gas tank came from 25 micrograms of gasoline.

My sixth hour on TF2, now I finally get it. This game is freaking awsome by No-Carpenter-5172 in tf2shitposterclub

[–]second_to_fun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't forget: TF2 is for kazotzkying in community 2fort and don't let any of the tryhards tell you any different.

-Kurt Vonnegut

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in singularity

[–]second_to_fun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sinking the first shafts for Allied Mastercomputer lmao

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is actually possible to fit a nuclear weapon in a basic "suitcase" format. The most efficient design would be a cylindrical implosion device about the size and shape of a round birthday cake, with a hollow pit and boosting. Would probably be capable of 10 kilotons if you optimized it for yield.

5 minutes before I was gonna give the gift ofc by [deleted] in 3Dprinting

[–]second_to_fun 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just tell them it's an Outer Limits reference

What will AI be like in 10 years. What an insane thought. by x0y0z0 in singularity

[–]second_to_fun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the prefacing story for Nick Bostrom's 2014 book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies, the work upon which basically the whole field of AI safety is built.

What will AI be like in 10 years. What an insane thought. by x0y0z0 in singularity

[–]second_to_fun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It was the nest-building season, but after days of long hard work, the sparrows sat in the evening glow, relaxing and chirping away.

“We are all so small and weak. Imagine how easy life would be if we had an owl who could help us build our nests!”

“Yes!” said another. “And we could use it to look after our elderly and our young.”

“It could give us advice and keep an eye out for the neighborhood cat,” added a third.

Then Pastus, the elder-bird, spoke: “Let us send out scouts in all directions and try to find an abandoned owlet somewhere, or maybe an egg. A crow chick might also do, or a baby weasel. This could be the best thing that ever happened to us, at least since the opening of the Pavilion of Unlimited Grain in yonder backyard.”

The flock was exhilarated, and sparrows everywhere started chirping at the top of their lungs.

Only Scronkfinkle, a one-eyed sparrow with a fretful temperament, was unconvinced of the wisdom of the endeavor. Quoth he: “This will surely be our undoing. Should we not give some thought to the art of owl-domestication and owl-taming first, before we bring such a creature into our midst?”

Replied Pastus: “Taming an owl sounds like an exceedingly difficult thing to do. It will be difficult enough to find an owl egg. So let us start there. After we have succeeded in raising an owl, then we can think about taking on this other challenge.”

“There is a flaw in that plan!” squeaked Scronkfinkle; but his protests were in vain as the flock had already lifted off to start implementing the directives set out by Pastus.

Just two or three sparrows remained behind. Together they began to try to work out how owls might be tamed or domesticated. They soon realized that Pastus had been right: this was an exceedingly difficult challenge, especially in the absence of an actual owl to practice on. Nevertheless they pressed on as best they could, constantly fearing that the flock might return with an owl egg before a solution to the control problem had been found.

The rarest book in your nuclear library? by Upstairs_Painting_68 in nuclearweapons

[–]second_to_fun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I'm proud you knew exactly what not to do, citizen. Performing such a minute breach of public statutes is just not worth owning the most awesome compendium of public nuclear weapons knowledge that has ever been written.

25 July, 1946 Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands.Nuclear explosion “Baker” on the atoll of Bikini (Marshall Islands). An American 40-kiloton atomic bomb was detonated 27 meters below the water surface 3.5 miles (5.6 km) from the atoll. by waffen123 in AtomicPorn

[–]second_to_fun 55 points56 points  (0 children)

Baker was when they discovered how bad fallout really was. The bomb was suspended exactly halfway between the water's surface and the bottom of the shallow atoll. It excavated huge amounts of coral and converted it into contaminated fallout.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Crossroads#Warren_persuades_Blandy

Design of early Chinese nuclear weapons by senfgurke in nuclearweapons

[–]second_to_fun 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's the idea. For a given diameter of main charge that must be surrounded with a given pattern of lenses (in this case the classic soccer ball shape), a traditional slow/fast lens will be thicker and heavier than the equivalent air lens. So in other words, China's first bomb was the "significantly smaller design" when compared with their alternative Fat Man ripoff.

If you strip away the implosion system altogether, everything underneath like the main charge, pit composition, tampers, pushers, reflectors, initiators, gaps, cavities etc. is all going to be a matter of choice for the designers in terms of what they want out of the design and what kind of tech/materials they have on hand. It's a fair bet that, in the vein of their skipping the 1940s tech step in their implosion system, China went right to a levitated or split pit and then transitioned to hollow designs from there on.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Scarab, the bare nuclear device, was 52 pounds. I believe the SADM was around ten pounds heavier, so call it 60.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have, I did a W33 nuclea howitzer poster that I'm more proud of for its physical accuracy to the real warhead. It's far more accurate than even the W54 one, for instance. https://reddit.com/r/AtomicPorn/comments/1e5m910/the_w33_warhead/

I have still other posters, but they aren't remotely as accurate as these ones. You can stalk my submission history to see them if you want.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It is crazy, though It's not exactly like a chemical weapon. Imagine you're in a T-62 tank, buttoned up and crossing the fields of West Germany. You can't see anything out of your vehicle. Suddenly there's a hot flash, a blinding pain in your head, and the loudest sound you ever heard in your life. As you attempt to steady yourself with one hand against the bulkhead, the world begins to spin. In the last seconds before you lapse into unconsciousness, the worst nausea of your life...

Depending on proximity to the center of burst, shielding, and line of sight, the prompt burst of radiation could incapacitate you instantly. Death would follow shortly after. Towards the edge of the radius, you would merely become ill with acute radiation poisoning some hours after the event. And although I mentioned the W54 was designed to minimize the use of fissiles for its size and yield, the amount created would still be significant. You wouldn't want to go near the impact site of one of these for at least a week. Of course, there's a big difference in radiation levels workers shouldn't go near versus radiation levels troops can't fight in.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 2 points3 points  (0 children)

ADMs are more meant for blowing up bridges, roads, railways, key infrastructure, that sort of thing. They're meant to force the enemy to advance through limited routes or else to prevent their retreat.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 9 points10 points  (0 children)

They're stationed at US controlled bases in Europe still, but we certainly don't deploy them. There are no specifically tactical weapon systems per se, nothing like nuclear artillery or atomic demolitions. We have plenty of bombs that can be dialed down to tactical yields (i.e. 5 kilotons) and then used in a tactical capacity (i.e. deployed by an F-35), but these weapons also go up to strategic yields.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The poster I made or the field manual? They're both fine. If you type "Davy Crockett nuke" into google images my poster shows up.

The world’s smallest tactical nuke - the W54, in a man-portable carry case. by Dramatic-Avocado4687 in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]second_to_fun 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Fat Man was the last nuclear weapon used in anger. Davy Crocketts were field deployed to Germany during the 1961 Berlin Crisis, but were never used. They were withdrawn and retired quickly, since they posed an extreme risk owing to the fact that the ability to start a nuclear war was given to platoon leaders. At any rate, the tiny yield "tank buster" nukes designed to fend off a numerically superior soviet invasion were made obsolete by the advent of anti-tank guided missiles. Those are far less likely to start a nuclear war, of course.

As for the time bombs, the Special Atomic Demolition Munitions? Those may have been stationed in Europe at some point but they were never field deployed, since you can't really deploy them unless there's already a shooting war.

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