The Cannikin Bomb

The Cannikin bomb was the largest thermonuclear bomb ever detonated underground by the United States.

From the Youtube video:

Cannikin was detonated on November 6th, 1971 on Amchitka island, Alaska. The announced yield was 5Mt. The explosive force, almost 400 times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, lifted the ground by 6m. The explosion caused a seismic shock of 7.0 on the Richter scale. 





It is extremely unnerving that already 40 to 50 years ago humans could create bombs that could unleash such energy. With today's 30 minute delivery and weapon miniaturization one can only hope that calm and sane men control the important buttons.

For similar material check out this previous post.

All Nuclear Weapons Detonations Ever Conducted

Today I learned that since 1998 the only country to have conducted nuclear tests (3 to be exact) is North Korea.

Between 1945 and 1998, however, there had been a total of 2053 nuclear explosions/tests (of different yields, different types of bombs, underwater, underground, on the surface, in the atmosphere, etc., if there is etc.). The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT, of which North Korea is not a signatory, as well as Pakistan and India) is mainly responsible for the halt in nuclear tests.

Below is a video made by Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto showing where each nuclear test was conducted and by whom between 1945 and 1998. Apart from the two in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which were used during war, all the rest are nuclear weapons tests.





This video made me interested in finding videos of some nuclear explosions.
I found quite a few on user's atomcentral's account on Youtube.

First off, here is the Trinity test, the first ever detonation of a nuclear device in July 1945.





Here's one from 1951 in Nevada, as seen from above.





In 1953, they even made an atomic cannon. But, it was soon made obsolete by advances in rocketry. Here you can also see the effects on nearby houses and vehicles. It appears as if the paint on vehicles evaporates.



Of course, as we know from that movie where they rape Indiana Jones (I'm looking at you "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"), all you need to do to survive a nuclear blast is go inside a fridge (a sturdy one, like the ones made in the 50s).

In 1954, the Castle Bravo test involved the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States, a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 15 megatons of TNT. It happened at Bikini atoll in the Pacific ocean. 





Here we see five guys in 1957 enjoying themselves far too much as they stand at ground zero, while a nuclear weapon (in the form of an air-to-air missile) is detonated 10.000ft above their heads.





Finally, in 1958 an underwater detonation at Enewatak atoll in the Pacific ocean.




For no particular reason, I only used detonations by the United States here.
You can easily find ones from other countries on Youtube too.
Let's hope we never witness one first-hand.

Internet on the Air

Warning. There might be legal repercussions from doing what is described below.

"The next time you find yourself on a plane, sitting next to someone who cannot resist chattering to you endlessly, I urge you to quietly pull your laptop out of your bag, carefully open the screen (ensuring the irritating person next to you can see it), and hit this link."