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Interactive Nukemap Now In 3D

Posted by samzenpus on from the want-to-play-a-game? dept.

Lasrick writes "The brilliant Alex Wellerstein has an interactive map that shows the effects of a variety of atomic bombs on whatever city in the world you choose (you can designate the yield or choose from a wide variety of pre-programmed yields, like Fatman, Little Boy, or what the Soviets had at time of the Cuban Missile Crisis). Compelling in a scary sort of way. A 3D version is available."

9 of 192 comments (clear)

  1. Funny game. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The only way to win is not to play.

  2. Getting better at what we do. by Riddler+Sensei · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Christ, it really puts into perspective the rate at which these things have gained destructive power since their inception. The difference between the effects of "Little Boy" and the Tsar Bomba on Hiroshima are...jarring.

  3. So outdated by manu0601 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is so outdated; Today's significant threat to US is a 30 years old person hidden in a Moscow airport.

    1. Re:So outdated by metrix007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You seem to of the opinion that the ends justifies the means, at least concerning the actions of the NSA.

      I don't often say this, but your opinion is flat out wrong. We have no evidence that the NSA was not abusing the information they collected without congressional oversight. We have no evidence that their intruding into the lives of citizens from the US and other countries helped stop anything.

      All we have evidence of is that the NSA lied to congress and was illegally surveying a large percentage of the world, without authorization.

      Snowden did everyone a favor, and while he should perhaps be punished, it should be with time served for having to be on the run. He did the people of the US a favor, and that is not treason or espionage.

      --
      If you ignore ACs because they are anonymous - you're an idiot.
  4. Re:I chose the largest we ever tested by amiga3D · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually one reason they went to smaller bombs is because they're more effective. Two 500 Kiloton bombs actually do more damage than one 1 Megaton bomb.

  5. Re:They had these during the Cold War, slow news d by ebno-10db · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Now Russians and Chinese are our business partners.

    So were Germans and Japanese in 1939.

  6. So I "nuked" Detroit... by DG · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...and the simulation reported a 40% increase in property values inside the blast radius.

    I had no idea the sim was that accurate.

    (I kid. I kid because I love. 519 represent! )

    DG

    --
    Want to learn about race cars? Read my Book
  7. Re:They had these during the Cold War, slow news d by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My expectations are simpler than all out war. At some point a terrorist group will manage to get their hands on a nuke. The easiest delivery method is cargo container. One day, one of our ports is going to disappear. I hope I'm wrong...

    You are wrong. The worst a terrorist is ever going to be able to do is a dirty bomb - basically a bunch of C4 next to the radioactive material. The bomb will spread radiation across one or two city blocks and that's about it.

    The reason that they will never actually detonate a real nuke is that they are complicated and extremely delicate. The shape of the bomb must be absolutely perfect and the timing of the charge detonations must be accurate to within microseconds, else nothing happens. Getting the shape right is so important that people working on at least one major nuclear programat Los Alamos had to classify all spheres, including oranges.

    It will take the resources of a nation-state to blow up a nuke on US soil and no matter what any war-mongering politicians have said, no actual nation-state is stupid enough to do that because it means the end of that country. Not Iran, not North Korea. Not going to happen.

    --
    When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  8. Fallout by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only way to win is not to play.

    Actually the only way to win is for nobody to play. Even if you don't play yourself the fallout from the idiot playing next door may still get you.