cjua2803 I'd rather focus on the TPP. That's a MUCH bigger issue than any other right now and instead we're talking about a flag or some shit. Yes,the flag has grounds in racism, but it's not about racism they are talking about, it's about the stupid flag.
Yes it would make a great headline once but you can see if they push topics like this or other problems in the world there would be a spotlight on it. An example was the case of Ferguson last year; it got everyone around the country riled up and made them care but this was because of constant thorough coverage. If news stations decided to make all international problems constant stories people might just think about it just enough to start caring. The problem isn't about how interesting it is but how much exposure there is
cjua2803 Fortunately, at least we now have TH-cam that allows us to promote the news stories and the scientific education that the media is failing to deliver.
TheRecreator Yeah good luck getting the U.S. to sign it. As much as it's stereotyping, this is exactly the kind of obnoxious behaviour the rest of the world expects from them.
We have to get into outer space as soon as possible. Not only because I want the realization of giant space robot battles, but also because putting all of our eggs in one basket like this... too risky man. Too risky. We don't want to end up like the dinos.
thetubeaccount A stable and self-contained Lunar base or perhaps Martian base is surprisingly easy to do. We generally have all the technology (somewhat untested), so the last thing we need for a go-ahead is a sufficiently powerful rocket to send the actual people and equipment to their destinations. That's a matter of money and oh-so-fickle politics. But my money is definitely on a sustainable extraterrestrial base happening before a nuclear war happening. And thus humanity survives. I don't think nuclear war is likely to happen, at least not anymore. Ten years ago? Maybe. Twenty years ago? Probably. Thirty years ago? Oh heck yes definitely! But we've managed to shamble through the last seventy years of threat of Armageddon without actually causing it, and that was when tensions were rising and it was quite, quite likely. These days, not so much.
***** The entire Curiosity program cost ~$2.5 B USD, from R&D to launch to other expenses. The US spent $718 B on military and defense in 2011. NASA receives less than 0.5% of the federal budget. Just food for thought.
Vladimir Zharkov Indeed. I found it interesting when people complained about how hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted when the Mars Climate Orbiter suffered an unexpected rapid disassembly in the Martian atmosphere. Sure, it was a waste of a lot of time and effort, but since the project was funded with US taxpayers' money, the average person contributed only a few cents to the project. That's the difference between buying a candy bar one day or NOT buying a candy bar one day. I'm not a federal defense engineer, so I don't know how much of the military budget is truly necessary, but I reckon $25B or so could be pulled from there and put into NASA (and other organizations) without affecting our security too too much.
Throughout the history of the cold war, there were numerous cases where early warning detection systems falsely indicated that a nuclear attack was underway, and almost prompted a retaliatory nuclear strike by mistake.
And North Korea says they tested an H-Bomb... So I find myself coming back to this video to see if it actually would have happened. And as it turns out, there was a 5.1 seismic activity in northeast north korea... Yay...
+Genki Dama Can't possibly be a weak h-bomb, if it was weaker than a-bombs. h-bombs are so much more powerful that they would be more powerful, even at their weakest.
One thing that's important to keep in mind is that tests of nuclear bombs helped us to understand the structure of the atom. This is because the exact nature of the atom and its constituent parts determine the exact size of the explosion a particular bomb will make. So you make a bomb with particular traits, predict how big the boom will be, actually blow it up to see how big the boom was, and then you work the math to figure out why your predictions were off. I'm not saying that we should test nukes, or that the test ban treaty is a bad thing, or even that science is the reason for countries not signing it. I'm just pointing out that test detonations of nukes has had positive effects on our understanding of the world as it exists, and just generally pointing out that the situation is more complex than it might seem.
Erm... no it didn't. The structure of the atom was discovered by firing alpha particles at matter; and solving the schrodinger equation for multiple electrons in a spherical electric field. It was not discovered by nuclear bomb tests.
I didn't say "discovered", I said "helped us to understand". Perhaps using the word "structure" was inaccurate, and perhaps my understanding of it all is inaccurate (I'm not a nuclear physicist after all), but the nature of, and relative strengths of, the strong and weak nuclear forces have direct impact on the yields of nuclear explosives as well as the specific structure of the atomic nucleus, which is a fundamental part of the structure of the atom as a whole. Perhaps that information could have been collect in other ways, and perhaps it was just corroboration of other date, and perhaps it was just "yep, that was the size we expected", but the data from test detonations /helped/ with understanding the subatomic world to the level that we understand it today.
GildedBear Well, when I hear "structure of an atom", I would think of the structure of the electron orbitals in the atom, considering they take up the vast majority of its volume. But talking about the structure of the nucleus, yes, knowledge of the nature of nuclear forces do have a direct impact on the yields of nuclear explosive. But that just means that knowledge of the nucleus is necessary to create nuclear bomb tests, not that nuclear bomb tests are needed to acquire knowledge of the nucleus. Why? Well, firstly, a nuclear bomb is a bit of a blunt instrument. The more controlled process of nuclear reactors is far more useful for scientific research. Secondly, nuclear bomb explosions are only really interested in isotopes of plutonium and uranium. To construct a proper model of the nucleus you need knowledge of the full range of radioactive (and stable) isotopes. The Semi-empirical mass formula of the nucleus was discovered (before the trinity test even happened) by looking at the masses of all the different nuclear isotopes. The shell model was discovered by looking at the stability of isotopes with "magic numbers" of protons and neutrons. Uranium and Plutonium are not magic.
I find the rise and fall of nuclear tests a fascinating topic, if only because of this situation: Imagine an advanced alien civilization has been monitoring our technological progress from afar to see whether or not we blow ourselves up. Signs of our first nuclear detonation spark a lot of interest; this is our turning point; the next few years will determine our ultimate fate. Then another detonation detected, then another. So far so interesting! Over the next few decades, the rate of detonation detection grows exponentially to several per month. And then, in 1996, it all stops. No more detonations. Suddenly. The civilization (incorrectly) concludes that we've gone and blown ourselves up. They don't know where the blasts are happening, only that they are. The pattern of nuclear signals we've blasted into space indicate that nuclear weapons were invented, detonated, and over the course of the next five decades, used to annihilate our species. If there is an alien race monitoring us, I wouldn't be surprised if they come check on us, expecting our civilization to be completely wiped out, and are rather surprised by our state of things. I certainly am.
***** That would make for an awesome sci-fi novel. Then again, if there are aliens monitoring us, they could probably detect our presence by others means than just counting the nuclear detonations.
***** It's possible that these aliens are monitoring many developing species simultaneously, and they don't have the time and resources to observe any one of them in greater detail. And since they figure (or observed) that nuclear weapons are the biggest single contributor to whether a species lives or dies, that's what they look for.
IamGrimalkin Radio signals are obvious only if the species is blasting them into space. We did, but only just before and during the nuclear age. These days, our communication methods have gotten much more direct and much quieter, almost to the point where they'd be indistinguishable from the radio output of our parent star. I don't know how easy it is to recognize a nuclear explosion from interstellar distances, but I think it might be easier than checking their radio signals for signs of obvious communication.
***** Recognizing nuclear explosions from space would be far from obvious. You can't measure seismic waves in space, so the measurement of it will be either a small change in the gamma radiation given off by earth (which is already a very small amount); or looking at the mushroom cloud in the UV/IR/Visible spectrum. The second is far more practical, but if they can see mushroom clouds, they can also see cities, dammed rivers, signs of deforestation, signs of anthropogenic climate change and so on. I don't think you understand what "almost indistinguishable from the radio output of our star means". That means, in radio output, the earth's brightness is comparable to the SUN. That certainly isn't true for gamma rays. Or visible/IR/UV, come to that.
***** Really? It's "embarrassing"? Then leave. I agree with ILpars, you have no idea what you're saying. Is the US number 1 still? Sadly, with much remorse, no. But an embarrassment? Move to Europe then, hopefully you won't be so embarrassed.
***** I can't even try to explain how life quality in the US is better. I mean, health, security, education, purchasing power(not sure if this is the right expression in english, so sorry if it sounds weird), basically everything is better than in underdeveloped countries. I live in Brazil. I know it. You can't compare the US, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia to underdeveloped countries.
I've heard of tiny nuclear tests performed in very specific conditions. From those tests, one can mesure how a ''real'' explosion would be like. Which is very practical because they can continue the tests, without having anybody noticing. In any case, with the tactical nuclear weapons, improved ballistic missiles and the militarization of space, the field of nuclear weapons might not be as it was in people's mind back in the cold war, but without a doubt, it's even more deadly.
Jordan O'C Because, while we don't test nuclear weapons any more, and don't have any reason to have nuclear weapons, and don't have any enemies which might conceivably require the use of nuclear weapons, we don't want anybody telling us we can't test nuclear weapons. Because freedom, I guess?
TheYxxy The US has signed most treaties that have come across its table, including this one. However, it has not ratified this treaty thanks to the consultations of the Senate. Every Senate since the treaty was presented to the United States has decided it would take too much sovereignty from the US and so refused to ratify it. And while I believe world peace would be much better assured if everyone was a signed and ratified member of this treaty, I can certainly understand the Senates' reasonings against ratification. I'll also make it clear that just because the US hasn't ratified the treaty doesn't mean it's going to start a nuclear war any minute now. The Executive of the United States -- the President -- signed the treaty. And since the President is the only one who can launch nuclear weapons, it's highly unlikely he would do so since that would invalidate the US's claim to the treaty and seriously wound the country's international standing.
I love how mining explosions are sometimes of equal power to several kilotons of tnt using high explosives...but because they are a staggered series of shorter explosions (they don't all go off at once) you can tell from the seismograph that it was a "slow burn" rather than one giant whollop to the earth.
Signing treaties of this nature does almost nothing, unfortunately. Most of the countries that have signed aren't capable of creating/delivering a nuclear weapon in a meaningful capacity and/or would break the treaty the moment it suited their protection or interests.
true dat. i currently live here and our own intercountry problems are bad enough. it's so infuriating that, it's like, some poor kid in the playground getting his ass kicked and punched and then he slaps one of the bullies next thing you know his parents are called to the principles office for being "physically brutal with the other kids." what the actual fuck?
+PIMKAMINA2 It seems to me that the nuclear weapons haven't been effective at intimidating the nearby countries, so I'm still hoping that more countries will sign the treaty. Of course, Israel's situation of not being able to retaliate is tragic.
+PIMKAMINA2 Ah, elections. I'm fine that I'm not the president. The problem is that someone else is. Is there some part of the contract when given power that binds you to be incompetent?
Pablo Griswold well you know how some jobs require taking an "honesty test" or some shit? apparently being a woodworker that need to go into the Kneset™ requires it. you know what doesn't? *being a politician.* that is some of stupidest bullshit i ever learned.
It boggles my mind why the US still hasn't gotten on top of this yet, seriously, we're the ones who would probably be the first responders to a nuclear blast because of how overblown our military is.
PajamaMan Maybe because the US pretty much has no enemies willing to go to war against it? Russia isn't evil anymore. China doesn't want your asses. The middle East might not like you very much, but they can't do anything against the US anyways.
Lutranereis But not ratified, which is the problem. If congress would get on the important stuff, like ratifying the treaty, rather than bitching about how the confederate flag is racist, then we might be able to get somewhere.
+MatteV2 yeah but i think it's more of a deterrent, i mean im not sticking up for the cunts but i dont think we'll see that signed by the US until north korea and china sign it
After the treaty banning nuclear testing in atmosphere was signed by the US and USSR, the US Air Force launched the VELA satellite Program, which can also be used to detect underground and underwater nuclear explosions. It ain't international, but it has been working for about 50 years.
Awesome video! Of course I will have to talk about it a bit(a lot) in school. This is important. And a good argument in disscuions about critical things like nuclear bombs(and hydrogen bombs. Detectable the same way as i would suspect, since it use same mechanics and resources). Keep up the great work mate
Isn't the process of finding the source of a nuclear test based on the time it takes sound waves to reach sensors in different locations trilateration, not triangulation as stated in the video?
I knew that we looked for nuclear explosions, but I never knew that it was specifically the CTBTO. And I gotta say, they sound pretty damn cool. Especially after looking through the website a bit.
TronCrusher Literally nothing. It doesn't matter how long time was stopped for, no-one would know during or after the fact. Literally nothing can happen while time is stopped. If you stopped time (somehow) you wouldn't be able to do anything. You wouldn't be able to move, you wouldn't be able to see (because photons would stop moving), and most importantly your brain couldn't function. Nothing could possibly happen. Literally nothing.
TronCrusher They already did, but since time was stopped you couldn't watch it. They also did a follow up but, again, because time was stopped, you couldn't watch that either. Stopping time happens all the time, and you can even buy time stopping devices on eBay, but because every time anyone pushes the button, no-one is 'unfrozen' to notice, no-one notices - not exactly the most impressive party trick. It's like listening to music with the pause button held down. Enjoy.
I know you guys have a minuteearth but you should also do minute-philosophy videos. you guys make it so simple and easy to understand physics and I feel no one can make philosophy seem simple to understand other than you guys :)
As far as India goes, it is said that the CTBTO wasn't accepted as it didn't lay down a timeframe within which already-nuclear weapons are to dump their weapons.
Theoretically, could the underwater detectors differentiate earthquake/tsunami acoustics from blast acoustics, in a deep water detonation, or series of escalating detonations?
What about the network of satellites orbiting the planet with gamma-ray detectors on them? You'll have to detonate a nuclear device 2 miles underground or even deeper under water to prevent gamma rays from getting out and being detected, so it seems like a very effective method to leave out.
Can you please do an episode on how water doesn't go into your ear please? Obviously air pressure stops it if you get into a pool of water fast, but what if you go in slowly?
Alien: OH NO! EARTH HAS NUKES! Alien 2: don't worry, they have it pointed at themselves. Alien 3: but they ain't afraid to detonate it anywhere else. They tried to explode one on the moon. ...this is some good facts.
If a nuke was detonated in space, near earth, how would that effect earth? At what distances could that detonation be detected. This video reminded me of Battlestar Galactica season 2 finale when a space ship was nuked and the cylons found them because they detected the radiation signature. Also, in that series, nukes can easily be detected on enemy ships when activated. I'm just curious, how accurate is that science?
That raises a good qeustion: "How many nuklear bombs need to explode at the same time / in a sertain sequence to make the earth uninhabitable?" and "Do we have that many?"
HistoricaHungarica That is a harder question to answer than you might think. For instance, the Chicxulub impact, which caused the mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary, released *7000 times* the energy available in the nuclear arsenals of the US and Russia. And clearly, Earth didn't become uninhabitable, since we're here. However, most experts agree that a full-scale nuclear exchange would lead to the extinction of the human species.
Matthew Prorok This is why i asked. :) You see everybody is against nukes and i wanna know why. I mean... we can wipe out humanity with guns or smaller bombs and most people assume that the nuclear arsenal we have already is enough to make our species extinct. But i saw some calculations that suggest the only thing that would kill the remaining humans after a full-scale exchange is the nuclear winter. Or maybe 0.01% would survive EVEN THAT. So yeah. Data varies so much i don't know which one is real. And i don't want to test those theories in reality. :)
Matthew Prorok Probably not. Sure, it could be a factor in the extinction of humanity, but it probably wouldn't be the only cause. A nuclear war couldn't kill every single person on the planet; there will always be a town in the middle of nowhere, or just a suburb which doesn't get hit, or a tribe in the Amazon. Remember, it'll be the major cities which will get bombed; if you don't live in a major city, you're probably in the clear.
HistoricaHungarica Well, the nuclear winter is not really deserving of an "only" there. It's kind of a significant effect, and whatever kills us kills us. But it's true that we probably can't blow up everyone directly, and we probably won't catch the atmosphere on fire. A full nuclear exchange would kill us more slowly, but it probably would kill us. It would almost certainly kill our society, even if our species technically continued.
***** Well, yes, not everyone will die from the detonations directly. But the destruction of infrastructure that those small towns rely on to survive is important, as is the nuclear winter that follows. "In the clear" is a relative term; if you survive the bombs, you're just one of the lucky ones who gets to die of a lack of food, water, electricity, etc.
I was amused when at 1:58 in you use an estimate of 3000 kilotons as an example of a nuclear explosion. That's a 3 Megaton explosion and I don't think anyone's going to be able to hide those very well.
Some vulcanic eruptions are many times more powerful than any Nuclear bomb detonated so far, so I wouldn't say a signal from a vulcano is less powerful, it's just different.
Hundreds and hundreds of these have been detonated in the past - I'm almost surprised that Russia's Tsar Bomba (which resulted in 3rd degree burns 60 miles from the detonation zone) didn't blast a hole straight through the atmosphere. Our atmosphere is one tough cookie.
fun fact that it is said in egypt it didn't ratify the treaty although it don't have any nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants :p which makes me doubt why it hasn't ratified it
I'm not saying I agree with the USA's decision not to sign the CTBT, but the thing is, it's a far more complicated issue than simply stating that signing = good, not-singing = bad.
Im curious. Detonating nuclear bombs underground, wouldnt there be enough power and shock that possibly cause sudden movements of tectonic plates and therefore earthquakes in other countries?
0:33 why does a shockwave move faster in ground than air? that seems counter intuitive to me... but the air is less dense so less atoms transfer the energy so the process goes slower? correct or no?
To detect a nuclear test you should visit the military's research facilities and ask them to provide ultra high definition recordings of the event for entertainment purposes. That should eliminate all American economic difficulties.
It still blows my mind that we have actually detonated these destructive weapons in our own environment.
xisumavoid
Probably would've been a good idea, it would save the earth from your existence.
xisumavoid "blows" hehe. But dont worry, there are lots of things we do that are much more destructive to earth than nuclear blasts.
Xisuma :D
xisumavoid Had to double check to see if i was on the hermit craft channel....
xisumavoid XISUMA! Glad you hate nukes!
"Retrodict"
Never heard that word til today.
Good word.
I really wish this is the type of news that was focused on
cjua2803 "These Few Countries Still Have Not Ratified the CTBT" would make an interesting headline only once.
cjua2803 I'd rather focus on the TPP. That's a MUCH bigger issue than any other right now and instead we're talking about a flag or some shit. Yes,the flag has grounds in racism, but it's not about racism they are talking about, it's about the stupid flag.
Yes it would make a great headline once but you can see if they push topics like this or other problems in the world there would be a spotlight on it. An example was the case of Ferguson last year; it got everyone around the country riled up and made them care but this was because of constant thorough coverage. If news stations decided to make all international problems constant stories people might just think about it just enough to start caring.
The problem isn't about how interesting it is but how much exposure there is
cjua2803 Fortunately, at least we now have TH-cam that allows us to promote the news stories and the scientific education that the media is failing to deliver.
cjua2803 It is in the news, but only in relation to Iran.
Yeah good luck getting North Korea to sign it.
TheRecreator Yeah good luck getting the U.S. to sign it. As much as it's stereotyping, this is exactly the kind of obnoxious behaviour the rest of the world expects from them.
Or the USA.
Or Amerikkka
TheRecreator North Korea is not the problem if only USA, China and India signed it it will be enought that tehy couldnt oppose to an expection
TheRecreator i bet North Korea sign it before USA + North Korea got 5-6 Bombs US about 4000 so NK is much less like to use one for testing.
This is about as good as a sponsored video can get! You might not read this but you're great at making these, Henri. Absolutely great.
We have to get into outer space as soon as possible. Not only because I want the realization of giant space robot battles, but also because putting all of our eggs in one basket like this... too risky man. Too risky. We don't want to end up like the dinos.
thetubeaccount A stable and self-contained Lunar base or perhaps Martian base is surprisingly easy to do. We generally have all the technology (somewhat untested), so the last thing we need for a go-ahead is a sufficiently powerful rocket to send the actual people and equipment to their destinations. That's a matter of money and oh-so-fickle politics. But my money is definitely on a sustainable extraterrestrial base happening before a nuclear war happening. And thus humanity survives.
I don't think nuclear war is likely to happen, at least not anymore. Ten years ago? Maybe. Twenty years ago? Probably. Thirty years ago? Oh heck yes definitely! But we've managed to shamble through the last seventy years of threat of Armageddon without actually causing it, and that was when tensions were rising and it was quite, quite likely. These days, not so much.
thetubeaccount Are you on crack?
***** The entire Curiosity program cost ~$2.5 B USD, from R&D to launch to other expenses. The US spent $718 B on military and defense in 2011. NASA receives less than 0.5% of the federal budget. Just food for thought.
thetubeaccount Funny thing is... we would have been all over our solar system already if they hadn't banned nuclear tests...
Vladimir Zharkov Indeed. I found it interesting when people complained about how hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted when the Mars Climate Orbiter suffered an unexpected rapid disassembly in the Martian atmosphere. Sure, it was a waste of a lot of time and effort, but since the project was funded with US taxpayers' money, the average person contributed only a few cents to the project. That's the difference between buying a candy bar one day or NOT buying a candy bar one day.
I'm not a federal defense engineer, so I don't know how much of the military budget is truly necessary, but I reckon $25B or so could be pulled from there and put into NASA (and other organizations) without affecting our security too too much.
Throughout the history of the cold war, there were numerous cases where early warning detection systems falsely indicated that a nuclear attack was underway, and almost prompted a retaliatory nuclear strike by mistake.
Eugene Khutoryansky wow, i never knew you watched minutephysics as well! you make great videos BTW, big fan.
And North Korea says they tested an H-Bomb... So I find myself coming back to this video to see if it actually would have happened. And as it turns out, there was a 5.1 seismic activity in northeast north korea... Yay...
smaller than the last time though. so either it is an A-bomb and they lied or they make a shitty h-bomb
+Genki Dama Even a crappy H bomb would ruin my day. Just saying.
+videolabguy yup
+Genki Dama Can't possibly be a weak h-bomb, if it was weaker than a-bombs. h-bombs are so much more powerful that they would be more powerful, even at their weakest.
+Suitaloo I like that North Korea is basically saying "We tested a slightly less terrible bomb, it's fine."
One thing that's important to keep in mind is that tests of nuclear bombs helped us to understand the structure of the atom. This is because the exact nature of the atom and its constituent parts determine the exact size of the explosion a particular bomb will make. So you make a bomb with particular traits, predict how big the boom will be, actually blow it up to see how big the boom was, and then you work the math to figure out why your predictions were off.
I'm not saying that we should test nukes, or that the test ban treaty is a bad thing, or even that science is the reason for countries not signing it. I'm just pointing out that test detonations of nukes has had positive effects on our understanding of the world as it exists, and just generally pointing out that the situation is more complex than it might seem.
Erm... no it didn't. The structure of the atom was discovered by firing alpha particles at matter; and solving the schrodinger equation for multiple electrons in a spherical electric field. It was not discovered by nuclear bomb tests.
I didn't say "discovered", I said "helped us to understand". Perhaps using the word "structure" was inaccurate, and perhaps my understanding of it all is inaccurate (I'm not a nuclear physicist after all), but the nature of, and relative strengths of, the strong and weak nuclear forces have direct impact on the yields of nuclear explosives as well as the specific structure of the atomic nucleus, which is a fundamental part of the structure of the atom as a whole. Perhaps that information could have been collect in other ways, and perhaps it was just corroboration of other date, and perhaps it was just "yep, that was the size we expected", but the data from test detonations /helped/ with understanding the subatomic world to the level that we understand it today.
I don't know if that's true! But all they big words make me think it is :)
No, that's what colliders are for.
GildedBear Well, when I hear "structure of an atom", I would think of the structure of the electron orbitals in the atom, considering they take up the vast majority of its volume.
But talking about the structure of the nucleus, yes, knowledge of the nature of nuclear forces do have a direct impact on the yields of nuclear explosive. But that just means that knowledge of the nucleus is necessary to create nuclear bomb tests, not that nuclear bomb tests are needed to acquire knowledge of the nucleus.
Why? Well, firstly, a nuclear bomb is a bit of a blunt instrument. The more controlled process of nuclear reactors is far more useful for scientific research. Secondly, nuclear bomb explosions are only really interested in isotopes of plutonium and uranium. To construct a proper model of the nucleus you need knowledge of the full range of radioactive (and stable) isotopes.
The Semi-empirical mass formula of the nucleus was discovered (before the trinity test even happened) by looking at the masses of all the different nuclear isotopes. The shell model was discovered by looking at the stability of isotopes with "magic numbers" of protons and neutrons. Uranium and Plutonium are not magic.
I find the rise and fall of nuclear tests a fascinating topic, if only because of this situation: Imagine an advanced alien civilization has been monitoring our technological progress from afar to see whether or not we blow ourselves up. Signs of our first nuclear detonation spark a lot of interest; this is our turning point; the next few years will determine our ultimate fate. Then another detonation detected, then another. So far so interesting! Over the next few decades, the rate of detonation detection grows exponentially to several per month. And then, in 1996, it all stops. No more detonations. Suddenly.
The civilization (incorrectly) concludes that we've gone and blown ourselves up. They don't know where the blasts are happening, only that they are. The pattern of nuclear signals we've blasted into space indicate that nuclear weapons were invented, detonated, and over the course of the next five decades, used to annihilate our species. If there is an alien race monitoring us, I wouldn't be surprised if they come check on us, expecting our civilization to be completely wiped out, and are rather surprised by our state of things. I certainly am.
***** That would make for an awesome sci-fi novel. Then again, if there are aliens monitoring us, they could probably detect our presence by others means than just counting the nuclear detonations.
Why would they be monitoring for signs of nuclear explosions instead of the much more obvious indicators like radio signals?
***** It's possible that these aliens are monitoring many developing species simultaneously, and they don't have the time and resources to observe any one of them in greater detail. And since they figure (or observed) that nuclear weapons are the biggest single contributor to whether a species lives or dies, that's what they look for.
IamGrimalkin Radio signals are obvious only if the species is blasting them into space. We did, but only just before and during the nuclear age. These days, our communication methods have gotten much more direct and much quieter, almost to the point where they'd be indistinguishable from the radio output of our parent star. I don't know how easy it is to recognize a nuclear explosion from interstellar distances, but I think it might be easier than checking their radio signals for signs of obvious communication.
***** Recognizing nuclear explosions from space would be far from obvious. You can't measure seismic waves in space, so the measurement of it will be either a small change in the gamma radiation given off by earth (which is already a very small amount); or looking at the mushroom cloud in the UV/IR/Visible spectrum. The second is far more practical, but if they can see mushroom clouds, they can also see cities, dammed rivers, signs of deforestation, signs of anthropogenic climate change and so on.
I don't think you understand what "almost indistinguishable from the radio output of our star means". That means, in radio output, the earth's brightness is comparable to the SUN. That certainly isn't true for gamma rays. Or visible/IR/UV, come to that.
It's embarrassing to live in the U.S. when we haven't sided important treaties like Kyoto or this.
***** "It's embarrassing to live in the U.S. "
I live in an underdeveloped country and you don't have an idea of what you're saying.
***** Why do you say that?
***** Really? It's "embarrassing"? Then leave. I agree with ILpars, you have no idea what you're saying. Is the US number 1 still? Sadly, with much remorse, no. But an embarrassment? Move to Europe then, hopefully you won't be so embarrassed.
TheAscendancy2010 The US surely is not the country with the best life standards, but it still light years ahead of underdeveloped countries.
***** I can't even try to explain how life quality in the US is better. I mean, health, security, education, purchasing power(not sure if this is the right expression in english, so sorry if it sounds weird), basically everything is better than in underdeveloped countries. I live in Brazil. I know it. You can't compare the US, Western Europe, Japan, South Korea and Australia to underdeveloped countries.
These are the kind of sponsorships that I like: the organization is relevant to the channel and has a positive impact on the world.
The problem is when scientist can detect nuclear weapon tested, but government can't do anything about it
WuTang Klan They wouldn't dare, see 'mutually assured destruction'.
***** not quite,
***** The Perimeter system and the Emergency Rocket Communications System look it up, there is no sneaking a nuke through that.
***** i like your positive attitude. But sadly we are not live in ideal world.
***** im sorry i should have stated my comment clearer. What i meant your 1st comment about how gov can do something about nuke control
This is probably my favourite MinutePhysics video I've watched so far.
That guy in the ad with the ferrari and lamburgini is anoying.
A&H SESLIKAYA Either install adblock or shut up about it.
Just brought myself a nee lambooo fun to drive in the hoolwooods hills
***** Hence the "shut up about it".
A&H SESLIKAYA "lamburgini" shows you mature you are.
***** how did i fuck up?
One of your best videos yet. Good Job
So the world is waiting for practically every nuclear nation the world to sign the treaty?
Russia signed it. Which is saying something
I've heard of tiny nuclear tests performed in very specific conditions. From those tests, one can mesure how a ''real'' explosion would be like. Which is very practical because they can continue the tests, without having anybody noticing.
In any case, with the tactical nuclear weapons, improved ballistic missiles and the militarization of space, the field of nuclear weapons might not be as it was in people's mind back in the cold war, but without a doubt, it's even more deadly.
Why hasn't the "all mighty" MURIKA signed it? -___-
Jordan O'C Because, while we don't test nuclear weapons any more, and don't have any reason to have nuclear weapons, and don't have any enemies which might conceivably require the use of nuclear weapons, we don't want anybody telling us we can't test nuclear weapons. Because freedom, I guess?
Jordan O'C Because Murica never negotiates with terrorists. And everything other then MURRICAN is terrorist.
They did
Jordan O'C same with america not following rules of war because they didn't sing treaty on Geneva Conventions
daidabus
Singing the whole Geneva Convention is very difficult, it requires a lot of memorization and water to make sure the voice doesn't get tired.
Here I'm trying to study for my geophysics exam. Thanks for reminding me how awesome this subject is and for what its worth
Awesome video! Quite shocking to see that the USA has not yet signed this treaty...
TheYxxy The US has signed most treaties that have come across its table, including this one. However, it has not ratified this treaty thanks to the consultations of the Senate. Every Senate since the treaty was presented to the United States has decided it would take too much sovereignty from the US and so refused to ratify it. And while I believe world peace would be much better assured if everyone was a signed and ratified member of this treaty, I can certainly understand the Senates' reasonings against ratification.
I'll also make it clear that just because the US hasn't ratified the treaty doesn't mean it's going to start a nuclear war any minute now. The Executive of the United States -- the President -- signed the treaty. And since the President is the only one who can launch nuclear weapons, it's highly unlikely he would do so since that would invalidate the US's claim to the treaty and seriously wound the country's international standing.
One of your best videos. So enlightening! :)
the world shall wait forever!
I love how mining explosions are sometimes of equal power to several kilotons of tnt using high explosives...but because they are a staggered series of shorter explosions (they don't all go off at once) you can tell from the seismograph that it was a "slow burn" rather than one giant whollop to the earth.
i love pancakes
S.A alkhater good because I am onee
S.A alkhater I like trains.
i like turtles
S.A alkhater bacon is tasty
Wtf waffles are better than pancakes *grabs waffles*
Fantastically explained. Thank you!
Signing treaties of this nature does almost nothing, unfortunately. Most of the countries that have signed aren't capable of creating/delivering a nuclear weapon in a meaningful capacity and/or would break the treaty the moment it suited their protection or interests.
Every time you bring a new video, you make me more curious about the world.
*Israeli person whistling in the corner of the room*
true dat. i currently live here and our own intercountry problems are bad enough. it's so infuriating that, it's like, some poor kid in the playground getting his ass kicked and punched and then he slaps one of the bullies next thing you know his parents are called to the principles office for being "physically brutal with the other kids." what the actual fuck?
+PIMKAMINA2 It seems to me that the nuclear weapons haven't been effective at intimidating the nearby countries, so I'm still hoping that more countries will sign the treaty. Of course, Israel's situation of not being able to retaliate is tragic.
yeah. i swear i hope by the time i can vote our leaders would be more competent.
+PIMKAMINA2 Ah, elections. I'm fine that I'm not the president. The problem is that someone else is. Is there some part of the contract when given power that binds you to be incompetent?
Pablo Griswold well you know how some jobs require taking an "honesty test" or some shit? apparently being a woodworker that need to go into the Kneset™ requires it. you know what doesn't? *being a politician.* that is some of stupidest bullshit i ever learned.
It boggles my mind why the US still hasn't gotten on top of this yet, seriously, we're the ones who would probably be the first responders to a nuclear blast because of how overblown our military is.
Suitaloo Why would we sign this treaty?
PajamaMan Maybe because the US pretty much has no enemies willing to go to war against it? Russia isn't evil anymore. China doesn't want your asses. The middle East might not like you very much, but they can't do anything against the US anyways.
PajamaMan We already have signed this treaty.
Lutranereis But not ratified, which is the problem. If congress would get on the important stuff, like ratifying the treaty, rather than bitching about how the confederate flag is racist, then we might be able to get somewhere.
Lutranereis Really? Well I guess I should be asking: Why did we sign this treaty?
Just in time for Fallout 4.
Retrodict? That is one of the funniest words I think I've ever heard! Just...the imagery it evokes...
Wait, has Russia signed this thing, but not the US?
+MatteV2 yeah but i think it's more of a deterrent, i mean im not sticking up for the cunts but i dont think we'll see that signed by the US until north korea and china sign it
Awesome video (as always), Henry. :)
This treaty is only as strong as the countries' wills to enforce it. In other words, it is meaningless.
After the treaty banning nuclear testing in atmosphere was signed by the US and USSR, the US Air Force launched the VELA satellite Program, which can also be used to detect underground and underwater nuclear explosions. It ain't international, but it has been working for about 50 years.
India might sign it, if Pakistan and China signs it with them...
Awesome video! Of course I will have to talk about it a bit(a lot) in school. This is important. And a good argument in disscuions about critical things like nuclear bombs(and hydrogen bombs. Detectable the same way as i would suspect, since it use same mechanics and resources). Keep up the great work mate
Please don't lump America with North Korea.
Except that they each haven't signed the treaty, so they automatically are categorized.
Wow, you got ctbto to sponsor your work, that is amazingly cool!
Finally, a sponsor I could get behind.
Isn't the process of finding the source of a nuclear test based on the time it takes sound waves to reach sensors in different locations trilateration, not triangulation as stated in the video?
Very well made video, Good Job
Awesome video! Reminds me of the older ones with only drawing and no animations
I knew that we looked for nuclear explosions, but I never knew that it was specifically the CTBTO. And I gotta say, they sound pretty damn cool. Especially after looking through the website a bit.
Awesome, thanks for that video!
Henry, you are the best!
I like how the U.S. who has nukes didn't ratify the pact but the U.K. and France did
I get a little excited any time someone talks about mechanical wave signal processing and analysis.
This reminds me a lot to GI Joe 2, which I watched yesterday.
Henry ! Really like your videos.
You inspired me to love physics ..
If u see this just smile nd think u r awesome!
The dictpictions displayed for this presentation are perfect. Lol. Very adorable & great explanation.👍
Thats what I call a awesome sponsorship!
Retrodict, that's a new one for me.
Sounds like something Disco Stu would use in a pickup line.
Our progress in technology still surprises me
Best. Sponser. Ever.
You got featured on CBTO's website!
Well done Europe, South America and Australia. I'm proud to be a citizen of one of you
very interesting the CTBTO seem like quite good guys
Awesome video!
“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”
- Yoda
Murrica affraid of not being #1 is
Can you make a video on what would happen if you stopped time completely
TronCrusher 'Not much.'
TronCrusher Literally nothing. It doesn't matter how long time was stopped for, no-one would know during or after the fact. Literally nothing can happen while time is stopped. If you stopped time (somehow) you wouldn't be able to do anything. You wouldn't be able to move, you wouldn't be able to see (because photons would stop moving), and most importantly your brain couldn't function. Nothing could possibly happen. Literally nothing.
TronCrusher They already did, but since time was stopped you couldn't watch it. They also did a follow up but, again, because time was stopped, you couldn't watch that either. Stopping time happens all the time, and you can even buy time stopping devices on eBay, but because every time anyone pushes the button, no-one is 'unfrozen' to notice, no-one notices - not exactly the most impressive party trick. It's like listening to music with the pause button held down. Enjoy.
Shna_na "It doesn't matter how long time was stopped" What do you mean, "how long"? No such thing, you just stopped time.
Andrew Meyer My point exactly. The "length" of time that time would be stopped for is always infinitely zero.
this episode was like a fever dream.
I know you guys have a minuteearth but you should also do minute-philosophy videos. you guys make it so simple and easy to understand physics and I feel no one can make philosophy seem simple to understand other than you guys :)
nice video that i was able to follow without getting lost
Surprised there's no mention of the Vela Incident. Or how we discovered gamma ray bursts because we were looking for nuclear explosions.
As far as India goes, it is said that the CTBTO wasn't accepted as it didn't lay down a timeframe within which already-nuclear weapons are to dump their weapons.
the shark yelling into the mic made me lol
Theoretically, could the underwater detectors differentiate earthquake/tsunami acoustics from blast acoustics, in a deep water detonation, or series of escalating detonations?
What about the network of satellites orbiting the planet with gamma-ray detectors on them?
You'll have to detonate a nuclear device 2 miles underground or even deeper under water to prevent gamma rays from getting out and being detected, so it seems like a very effective method to leave out.
You can also use neutrinos, though statistical certainty might not be great
With the improved development of particles detectors, neutrino detectors might be used to confirm nuclear tests.
Can you please do an episode on how water doesn't go into your ear please? Obviously air pressure stops it if you get into a pool of water fast, but what if you go in slowly?
Alien: OH NO! EARTH HAS NUKES!
Alien 2: don't worry, they have it pointed at themselves.
Alien 3: but they ain't afraid to detonate it anywhere else. They tried to explode one on the moon.
...this is some good facts.
This is awesome!
Do an episode on negative energy.
If a nuke was detonated in space, near earth, how would that effect earth? At what distances could that detonation be detected. This video reminded me of Battlestar Galactica season 2 finale when a space ship was nuked and the cylons found them because they detected the radiation signature. Also, in that series, nukes can easily be detected on enemy ships when activated. I'm just curious, how accurate is that science?
I'm surprised, that so many people are surprised by the fact that the US hasn't signed it.
That raises a good qeustion: "How many nuklear bombs need to explode at the same time / in a sertain sequence to make the earth uninhabitable?" and "Do we have that many?"
HistoricaHungarica That is a harder question to answer than you might think. For instance, the Chicxulub impact, which caused the mass extinction at the K-Pg boundary, released *7000 times* the energy available in the nuclear arsenals of the US and Russia. And clearly, Earth didn't become uninhabitable, since we're here. However, most experts agree that a full-scale nuclear exchange would lead to the extinction of the human species.
Matthew Prorok
This is why i asked. :) You see everybody is against nukes and i wanna know why. I mean... we can wipe out humanity with guns or smaller bombs and most people assume that the nuclear arsenal we have already is enough to make our species extinct. But i saw some calculations that suggest the only thing that would kill the remaining humans after a full-scale exchange is the nuclear winter. Or maybe 0.01% would survive EVEN THAT. So yeah. Data varies so much i don't know which one is real. And i don't want to test those theories in reality. :)
Matthew Prorok Probably not. Sure, it could be a factor in the extinction of humanity, but it probably wouldn't be the only cause. A nuclear war couldn't kill every single person on the planet; there will always be a town in the middle of nowhere, or just a suburb which doesn't get hit, or a tribe in the Amazon. Remember, it'll be the major cities which will get bombed; if you don't live in a major city, you're probably in the clear.
HistoricaHungarica Well, the nuclear winter is not really deserving of an "only" there. It's kind of a significant effect, and whatever kills us kills us. But it's true that we probably can't blow up everyone directly, and we probably won't catch the atmosphere on fire. A full nuclear exchange would kill us more slowly, but it probably would kill us. It would almost certainly kill our society, even if our species technically continued.
***** Well, yes, not everyone will die from the detonations directly. But the destruction of infrastructure that those small towns rely on to survive is important, as is the nuclear winter that follows. "In the clear" is a relative term; if you survive the bombs, you're just one of the lucky ones who gets to die of a lack of food, water, electricity, etc.
I was amused when at 1:58 in you use an estimate of 3000 kilotons as an example of a nuclear explosion. That's a 3 Megaton explosion and I don't think anyone's going to be able to hide those very well.
Some vulcanic eruptions are many times more powerful than any Nuclear bomb detonated so far, so I wouldn't say a signal from a vulcano is less powerful, it's just different.
How "small" can a nuclear explosion actual be ?
Possible to put a nuclear bomb in a handpistol ?
I wish those awesome videos is captioned.
I like how you added my country, Iran to that list. A country which does not own nuclear weapons.
Hundreds and hundreds of these have been detonated in the past - I'm almost surprised that Russia's Tsar Bomba (which resulted in 3rd degree burns 60 miles from the detonation zone) didn't blast a hole straight through the atmosphere. Our atmosphere is one tough cookie.
A great piece of citizen based activism, and most informative....
Retrodict - what a great word!
fun fact that it is said in egypt it didn't ratify the treaty although it don't have any nuclear weapons or nuclear power plants :p which makes me doubt why it hasn't ratified it
Would the burst of neutrinos from an underground test be noticeable in the current detectors?
I'm not saying I agree with the USA's decision not to sign the CTBT, but the thing is, it's a far more complicated issue than simply stating that signing = good, not-singing = bad.
"HAHA we just found out you set of a nuke" Is a great thing to say when your face has been blown through your head.
Oh cool, thanks CTBTO =)
Im curious.
Detonating nuclear bombs underground, wouldnt there be enough power and shock that possibly cause sudden movements of tectonic plates and therefore earthquakes in other countries?
Aren't satellites also used to detect overground tests? With the characteristic double flash and stuff?
The Beirut port explosion was a tactical nuclear weapon. Look it up.
It still blows my mind that these videos are MORE than a minute long....
0:33 why does a shockwave move faster in ground than air? that seems counter intuitive to me... but the air is less dense so less atoms transfer the energy so the process goes slower? correct or no?
I never knew that Trump knows physics XD
Plazma Dolphin QUESTION ME?!? SAD
I like to imagine CTBTO is actually an anti-Metal Gear organization run by Snake and Otacon
I dont know why but it always makes me feel good when people say nuclear right :)
To detect a nuclear test you should visit the military's research facilities and ask them to provide ultra high definition recordings of the event for entertainment purposes. That should eliminate all American economic difficulties.