Nuclear warfare is on many people's minds these days as the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continues to develop. Tensions on the world stage have been higher than ever and plenty of analysts have posited that we're all experiencing a throwback to what it was like to live during the Cold War era.
Of course, none of us want to deal with the possibility of a nuclear strike because the use of even one bomb could trigger widespread nuclear warfare. There's a reason why the principle of mutually assured destruction (MAD) has successfully kept the possibility of nuclear war in check.
That said, it's always worth learning more about any topics–including nuclear weapons.
People shared their knowledge with us after Redditor glasas007 asked the online community,
"What is a weird fact you know about nuclear bombs?"
"54%..."
"54% of the US's deterrent nuclear weapons are on board nuclear powered submarines capable of prowling the ocean for 70 days at a time, their exact locations known only to their crews. Their mission is to remain hidden so as to assure second strike retaliatory capability."
penny_can
And they are typically commissioned with enough uranium to power them for 20 to 30 years. They can be resupplied at sea for various crew requirements if really necessary.
"Don't use conditioner..."
"Don’t use conditioner in your hair in the wake of nuclear particles. It’ll bind the radioactive material to the hair shaft."
DubiousAxolott
So you're telling me I have to face the aftermath of a nuclear detonation AND have dry hair?!
"Before the first one..."
"Before the first one was detonated, there was some concern that runaway nuclear fission reactions would continue as a result of the bomb, until the Earth's atmosphere was destroyed completely. This was found to be 'unlikely' before the first bomb was tested."
Anticyclonic_Comrade
So what you're telling me is that they just said, "F*ck it, just try it."
"The Castle Bravo test..."
"The Castle Bravo test ended up being WAY bigger than the scientists predicted. The video is on youtube and it's crazy."
Deimi_05gs
It also wrecked a lot of equipment and buildings it wasn’t supposed to! Its fallout heavily irradiated a Japanese fishing vessel, which was quite "uncomfortable" in a diplomatic sense.
"There's a website..."
"There's a website where you can superimpose a nuclear blast over various cities. Helps give perspective on the scale of the blast."
https://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/
Thirty_Helens_Agree
Really puts it in perspective when you see the size of one on your hometown!
"During the Cold War, for the U.S. alone, 32 nuclear weapons were lost due to accidents, six of which were never recovered."
johndenverspilot
Nice to know they're just chilling out somewhere. So reassuring.
"That thermonuclear devices..."
"That thermonuclear devices consist of a primary fission in the 5kt range that starts fusion in the secondary by means of focusing the xray burst into heating the secondary material. The shape of the xray lens is classified and if you were a physics student and you wrote a paper describing how to do it, it instantly became classified as well."
Carorack
Damn, imagine spending so much time figuring out how to make it only for the government to classify it!
"Depending on how high..."
"Depending on how high the fallout is it can be blown around the Earth by winds affecting everybody."
Kittem85
Freaky, huh? Again, sooo reassuring.
"Fun fact..."
"Fun fact: if one can intercept a nuclear missile the odds of a nuclear explosion is extremely low."
Badjib
Unfortunately, the odds of successful interception are also rather low.
"Once the chain reaction..."
"Once the chain reaction with the uranium is initiated, neutrons bounce around inside the device triggering more atoms to release their energy. Early designs exploded before much of the nuclear material had even been triggered, leading to wasted uranium and smaller explosions."
"The most effective designs contain this chain reaction for as long as possible like a pressure cooker to maximize the size of the explosion."
KnowsHair
Another fun fact: They used beryllium around the nuclear material to reflect the neutrons back into the material. It was called a tamper.
Hopefully you've come away from this a little more knowledgable about nuclear weapons, and it's worth checking out more authoritative sources!
Have some more facts of your own to share? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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Parents Take Daughter Out Of Rehab Believing They Can Heal Her, Sister Raises Her Concerns
There is no shame in accepting help from outside the family.
Redditor treblegetting2reddit has some serious family issues that could really use a good amount of advice because they have no idea idea what to do. They reached out to Reddit My (20f) parents have decided to bring back my mentally ill sister (33f) out of rehab to come stay with them because they're convinced that they can cure heal themselves Here is how the story goes...
My sister has schizophrenia and bipolar. I'm not really sure how because for the majority of her illnesses coming up I was a kid and didn't know what was happening. Since I was 13, I've had to room with her and I've had to deal with her long unending stories (some about her life and later on they became ramblings about things that never happened), her tampering with (and sometimes destroying or throwing away) my things, her claims of how things that belonged to me are actually hers and her little exercise routines that went on from 2 in the afternoon to 12 in the night complete with blaring music all in addition to telling me how to eat and calling me fat and stupid and whatnot. All of this with minimal intervention from my parents. The only times I had any sort of peace was when it got really bad and they'd have to admit her in the hospital a few times.
Everytime they bring her out, it's obvious that my parents feel guilty about putting her in a mental health care facility because it feels like they're abandoning her. But everytime she comes back it's like I have to deal with all her shenanigans and outbursts while they try to "heal" her. This healing ranges from them taking her to doctors, priests, shamans and sometimes messing with the doses of her medicine (lowering them gradually with no improvement at all and with no input from a doctor). It just stresses me out everytime I come back home from school because its horrible having to deal with your older sister basically acting like a child and then trying to exert her power over you because she's older and then having your parents yell and argue with you because you dared to yell at your older sister after she trashed your things. I always have to be understanding and giving and everytime there's a choice between things, I'm always asked to let her choose first.
Lately, she's been in a mental health care facility in another city and my parents visit her now and then (despite her asking them not to because she says it'll make her want to go home). Even though she hated it at first, she got used to it and later started enjoying living there. They gave her work to do to keep her busy and she was getting the help she needed. My dad kept hinting at bringing her back because apparently she was doing so well and obviously she was "healed" (I'm putting this in quotes because there's no way she's getting healed of her schizophrenia, it's impossible). I'd tell him that it was not very likely and she was probably faking being better so that she'd be able to come home and my dad would get irrationally angry and argue with me till I just backed out and said that she's your daughter, your problem not mine.
I'd been having a horrible few months because I have college and I'm stressed with a bunch of work and I come home late because I live out on the outskirts of the city and I travel by bus everyday. I've been exhausted and discouraged because I haven't been able to pursue any of my hobbies. I'm including this to show that I'm basically exhausted all the time and I'm not in the best state of mind as it is.
They went to visit her this weekend and they brought her back. They made some dumb claim about the doctor saying that "she needs to be around normal people so that it'll make her normal" therefore she was free to go. I basically gave up at this point. The first thing she told me the minute she walked into the house was that I've become fatter than I was. I just gave up my room because I knew I'd have argument after arguememt about how she treated my stuff and again when I mention how this isn't going to fix anything, my mom says I have to deal with it because she's family and she deserves to have a life too.
I brought up having to not have my own room anymore and my mom basically said fine she'll sleep with me (my mom) and my dad will sleep on a spare bed in the living room. This makes me feel horrible because I'm giving my parents (both of whom are in their 60s) shit about having to share a room with her and then inconveniencing them more. I know they feel guilty about leaving her in another city and I feel for them but I don't want to have to keep sacrificing my stuff because they have these big delusions that they can fix her. I just want to get out of this situation, I'd like to move out but my daily routine doesn't even leave me time for myself much less being able to find and work at a job without basically dying by the second day. I have no money and I don't know how to deal with this situation. I've been stressed for months on end already about college and this has just made everything much worse than it was. I have no place that I can feel safe and it sucks so hard.
Your immediate response people?