An Ignoble Experiment: What happens when a nuclear bomb explodes?

Created for ignoble.experiment@arconati.us | Web Version

March 10, 2022

CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE

Amazing science every day

Top Science News

What happens when a nuclear bomb explodes?

(Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened the risk of a nuclear conflict. What would a nuclear bomb blast look like for those on the ground, and what would happen in the aftermath?

The answer depends, of course, on how many weapons are dropped. Russia and the United States have 90% of the world's nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists. Russia has 1,588 weapons deployed on intercontinental missiles, which have a range of at least 3,417 miles (5,500 kilometers) and heavy bomber bases, which host aircraft capable of carrying and dropping a nuclear payload, and the U.S. has 1,644 weapons poised in the same way. (The two countries also have another nearly 5,000 active bombs between them that are functional and simply awaiting launchers.) A full-scale nuclear war could easily represent an extinction event for humanity — not just because of the initial deaths but also because of the global cooling, so-called nuclear winter, that would follow.

Full Story: Live Science (3/10)

Russia-Ukraine War

UN atomic watchdog loses contact with second nuclear plant in Ukraine

(Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

A Ukrainian nuclear power plant which caught fire during a siege by Russian forces last week has had its communication lines cut, the UN's atomic watchdog has warned.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that data transmission has been lost at the active nuclear plant at Zaporizhzhia, which was taken over by Russian forces on March 4, Live Science previously reported. Without technical measures in place to keep track of nuclear material at the plant, the UN agency has no way of knowing how it is being handled or its current location, increasing the possibility that it could fall into the wrong hands.

Full Story: Live Science (3/10)

Children's hospital destroyed by Russian bombs in 'atrocious' civilian attack, Ukraine says

(Volodymyr Zelenskyy via Twitter)

Russian forces bombed and destroyed a hospital complex – including a 600-bed maternity hospital and a children's ward – in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Wednesday (March 9), according to Ukrainian officials.

At least 17 civilians have been reported injured in the bombing, while further details about potential casualties are "being clarified," according to CNN. Video of the building after being bombed shows the interior of the hospital in shambles, with windows blown out, walls riddled with holes and hallways strewn with mangled hospital beds and debris.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hospital patients and children remain trapped under the wreckage.

Full Story: Live Science (3/9)

History & Archaeology

Incantation bowls covered with 'magic' spells recovered by police in Jerusalem

(Photo by Yoli Schwartz/Israel Antiquities Authority)

Hundreds of artifacts, including crafted ivory and three "incantation bowls" decorated with ancient magical spells, have been recovered by police in Jerusalem.

However, it's unclear whether all of the artifacts are authentic. Live Science talked with a number of scholars, who provided insight into the artifacts and cautioned that some of them may be forgeries.

Full Story: Live Science (3/10)

Your Health

Thick, black 'hairs' coated a man's tongue. Here's why.

A man went to a dermatology clinic after the top of his tongue became coated in a dense carpet of hairlike fibers. His doctors quickly diagnosed him with a surprisingly common medical condition: "black hairy tongue," known medically as lingua villosa nigra.

Three months prior to his examination, the man, who is in his 50s, had a stroke that caused paralysis on the left side of his body, and his left side still remained weak at the time of his dermatology appointment, according to a new report of the case, published Wednesday (March 9) in the journal JAMA Dermatology. After the stroke, the man was put on a diet of pureed food and liquids, and about two and a half months later, his caretakers noticed "black pigmentation" covering the surface of his tongue.

Full Story: Live Science (3/9)

That's Strange!

Man caught at Mexican border allegedly had more than 50 reptiles stuffed into his clothing

(U.S. Customs and Border Protection)

U.S. border officers have caught an accused wildlife smuggler allegedly attempting to cross from Mexico to the United States with more than 50 reptiles concealed in his clothing, just one day after he had been charged with trafficking up to 1,700 animals into the U.S.

The man, a U.S. citizen, was arrested on Feb. 25 on charges of attempting to drive across the border at the San Ysidro Land Port of Entry linking Tijuana, Mexico, to San Diego. Border officers stopped the man, and a personal search revealed 52 live reptiles — nine snakes and 43 horned lizards — inside bags that were concealed in the man's jacket, pants pockets and groin area, according to a statement from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

Full Story: Live Science (3/9)