Slashdot Mirror
British Chicken-Warmed Nuke
darrellberry writes "During the Cold War, British researchers developed a nuclear landmine, kept operational during cold conditions by packing it full of live chickens. This story has appeared in a few UK media channels this morning. Probably an April Fools', but who knows? The bomb is supposedly on display at the National Archives in Kew, so if you live in London you can go and see for yourselves..." Also a BBC story and an older New Scientist blurb.
The BBC are running a separate 'this is true, honest' story, detailing other unlikely stories alongside... I like the fact that one of our railways cost more than a trip to the moon.
Only in the UK...
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
...good for dept?
Uhm, yes. They don't make very good boomerangs.
Or coffee filters. Or baseball gloves. (Although that one would be fun)
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This BBC story says that "Plans to fill a nuclear landmine with chickens to regulate its temperature were considered during the Cold War. Officials at the National Archives say it is coincidence the secret plan was revealed on 1 April."
I, for one, welcome our nuclear chicken overlords...
What is the diffference between April Fool's Day and every other day on Slashdot?
On April fools day, everyone knows slashdot will be full of useless information. Every other day, the editors aren't aware fo this fact.
My father worked (among the other 10,000) engineers in Oakridge, TN, during WWII and they frequently packed delicate nulcear instruments in popcorn (dry popped, no salt or butter) simply because it worked well and was easy to dispose of.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
The civil service has obviously had access to these documents for a while, so why do they have to "announce" these apparently real plans on April 1st and then get all irritable and have to deny repeatedly that its an april fools joke.
Why didn't they release the story yesterday, or couldn't they have waited until tomorrow?
Mustm orrowwwww......
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Isn't the point of a landmine to explode right under a group of people? Why does it matter if the charge is a nuclear detonation. As long as the people you are trying to nuke are withing a mile of the explosion, you're probably going to get them. Why not just do a remote control or timed device and save yourself all the hassle?
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
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Ah. I always wondered about the origin of Cluckzilla, who ravaged Leeds during the late 1960s.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Seymour Cray would've used oxen to warm his nuclear landmine.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
Most people on slashdot celebrate Valentine's Day by choking the chicken. Does that count?
If this were true, I can already imagine Soviet army personel encountering this weapon:
Soviet private: In the name of Lenin, what's that awful noise?Soviet sergeant: It sounds like... Oh no...
Soviet private: Chickens? A whole bunch of chickens?
Soviet sergeant: PULL BACK!!! Tell Dmitri to launch all ICBMs! Get me in contact with the Kremlin!
Soviet private: What? They're going to peck us to death?
Soviet sergeant: Silence, cappitalist pig! Those anglobastards witll suffer for their foul crime!
Hate me!
I think everyone's overlooking the very real possibility that these chickens were used for more than just heat.
Like styrofoam in the H-bomb, this seemingly innocuous packing material (chickens) might be converted to plasma by radiation pressure, thereby dramatically increasing the explosive yield of the device.
Just wait. I give it 20 years, and we'll see these docs declassified. Of course, then we'll have to worry about rogue states building C-bombs.
I have heard of the nuclear landmines in a non-April 1st context before, so I think the underlying story is probably true. The idea is that there are some bottlenecks which an advancing Soviet force, particularly tanks, would have to pass through (bridges etc). Why send aircraft to bomb them at great risk when you could put the bomb in place at your lesiur. 10kt is not a particularly big nuke, anyway. I don't think the radiation part was intentional - it is the reason the idea got canned. If they had a "clean" bomb, they might still be there.
It goes along with thinking at the time: they were also training troops go hide as the battlefromt passed over them, the re-emerge to harrass the enemy rear and lines of communication.
The chickens, however, are probably someone's April Fool addition.
Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
The page also shows a SADM - the nuclear demolition charge intended for use by parachute dropped saboteurs. The SADM's W54 warhead was the smallest and lightest developed by the US and was also used in theDavey Crockett 'nuclear bazooka' and the AIM 26-A nuclear air-to-air missile.
Does all the included chicken poop make this a dirty bomb?
It was a `landmine' designed to be set on a timer to ambush the Soviets as they advanced across Europe. It was based on the Blue Danube device that was the UK's first air-delivered nuclear weapon (essentially, they removed the fins).
The device had up to an 8-day timer, but could also be set off locally --- either by booby trap, incase it was discovered, or a trigger. Amusingly there was a 10 second delay when you operated the trigger, just time to duck and cover :o)
The chickens, though? That's clearly a hoax. Apart from anything else, the device was air and water tight.