Nukes aren't so bad
 

Another article on the end of the world got me frustrated so I'm here to spread some intelligence.

Go to the Worst Case Scenario's web site and find the article on "How to Survive a High-Yield Nuclear Bomb". It will lessen your fears quite a bit. Most of it is just common sense, but we just never thought of it.

Basically it says that if you don't see the flash (because if you see the flash, and gamma rays travel at the speed of light, you'd already be dead) and are standing behind something sturdy at least one mile away from ground zero, you'll be perfectly fine :)

*cough*

Whatever you say

Dang. Beat me to the punch. Great site, that place - though reading it all can leave you feeling a little twitchy afterwards. Nothing quite like realizing utter catastrophe may pop-up at any given moment.

This reminds me of something my mother told me a while back about air raid drills her school used to have in the 60's...apparently all the kids were herded into the gym where they sat in rows and covered their heads. It always seemed kind of comical, as if any of them actually believed covering their heads with their arms would ward of a Russian A-bomb. It must be a comfort thing...as long as people are told they can't be harmed, they won't panic.

Actually, if they aren't in the kill-zone from the gamma radiation, then they might still be hit by the shockwaves. Shockwaves do the same thing to a building whether they are a-bomb shockwaves or earthquake shockwaves. It is a well *known* fact that large chunks of roofing released by a shockwave can't hurt you if you cover your head with your hands or get under a thin weak table. Though it really will keep the dust out of your eyes.

I heard that if you were standing one mile away from an atomic detonation, after a few seconds a 265 mph. wind would be sustained for three seconds. This would comfortably put you to rest.

Okay, fine.

That's the one. Nukes are scary, scary things, and don't you forget it. Not only do they pack more lethal force into one package than anything else we can do, they are POISON. Sure, you can get more destructive power with conventional bombs, if you try (Dresden), but the area around Hiroshima and Nagasaki still has a significantly high cancer and mutation rate. So, yes. Nukes ARE so bad.

Er, that out of the way, what was the article that pissed you off about this? And where did this information that nuclear bombs are not terrifying doomsday weapons after all come from, specifically? I wandered around the WCS scenario some, and couldn't find anything pertaining to nukes.

The article that pissed me off was linked to through the thread "What could happen in 2036?". It was all prophecy and doomsday crap from a guy who doesn't exist (they claim he's a time traveler... :o )

I forget where exactly on the site I got that info. It was a worst case scenario site though, that's all I remember. I got to it through a Google search.

Heh, the thing about such crazy prophecies and conspiracy theories and so on, I think, is that just because something is used in a ridiculous context does not invalidate whatever issue the ridiculous thing used as a seed. Just cuz some guy predicts we manage to destroy the world then rebuild it enough to discover time travel before the end of the century, doesn't mean we can't turn the Earth into a charred lifeless rock. Meh.

People who claim to be time travellers a) should be immediately disbelieved until they accurately and clearly predict a couple world events, with said prediction taking place and being well documeted BEFORE the event in question, and b) shouldn't be talking anyway because by all rights, any real time traveller would be keeping their bloody mouths shut to minimize the (likely already substantial) effect they're having on the future in completely unpredictable ways. Buut, that's offtopic. Eheh.

That doomsday prophet has nothing on me fellas.

Ok, so here's the deal:

1) A nuke goes off. You are either in the blast radius and die, slightly outside the blast radius and die, are well outside of the blast radius and just suffer the effects of the shockwave, thus maybe surviving with a horrible maiming.

2) Very good, you survived the initial blast. If you were looking at it, however, you are blind for a long time. And exposed to gamma radiation, but we're getting to that. Soon radioactive debris falls from the sky to wherever you are. If you are in a safe place (Bunker, bomb-shelter) it will be a LONG time before the earth around you is safe to go onto. If you're not in a bomb shelter, you're screwed. Water supplies will be poisoned, plants and animals will die, and yes, so will you.

Nukes ARE bad buddy, no matter what they say.