@Camuvingian Thanks for the compliment, Camuvingian. (In fact I'd be interested in your thoughts on the full 1 hour documentary.) And I'm very glad we agree that the claim to be able to see x-rays is nonsense. Good thing nobody actually said it.
@Camuvingian Perhaps you should read my reply more carefully. I was quoting those who held their hands in front of their eyes and claimed they could see their bones, like viewing an x-ray. No claims were made by me or anyone else of seeing the x-rays themselves.
@TheVerandaguy A very bad idea indeed, though the most damaging radiation (at least to retinas) dissipated fairly quickly. Witnesses were usually issued welder's glasses and directed to turn away from the initial blast though there were those at Trinity and elsewhere who would face the shot head-on, covering their eyes with a hand or arm. Some reported seeing the bones through their skin, like an X-ray.
If you think this video contains too much information, you should try to find a copy of U. S. Nuclear Weapons by a physicist named Chuck Hansen. He gathered information accidentally declassified by the U.S. government in a lawsuit and describes in DETAIL the nuclear reactions, energies, and structure of a hydrogen bomb. I have seen copies of this book on e-bay selling for more than $1,000.
@DTHAtrain137 ...while we (the film production team) were making pumpkins. That Halloween flashback was shot at our associate producer's house in a Toronto suburb in mid-July - not the best time of year to find real pumpkins.
This was the last scene we filmed for "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb" (using an 8mm camera and Kodachrome neg for that early 50s look) after weeks of searching for stock footage of mid-century Halloween in California. (I still can't believe we couldn't find any.)
Watching this shit. I wonder what kind of trite "This is a momentous occasion" Nazi speak we would have had if there had been motion pictures in the 1800's when we were running the Indians off their land???
The time has come for us all to seek truth and stop tolerating deception and division. Only the truth can stop the wars and make the world the paradise it can be. Search for "Truth Contest" in Google and click the 1st result, then click on "The Present" to open it. What it says will transform us and our world.
Why not simply slow down the reacton process from a couple seconds to detonation, to a couple of years (say 30 years). Got power anyone? Have they tried that, experiment yet? Now that would cool to see.
@train52000 You're describing the inner workings of a nuclear power reactor. A fission bomb (or H-bomb 1st stage - same thing) contains reflectors and other design elements to increase the rate of particle collision and generate multiple fission generations. Reactors use various dampening tools - heavy water, carbon rods etc. - to slow those same reactions, generating heat to boil water and power turbines. Fusion power remains in an extended testing phase; We'll have it eventually.
This was almost 60 years ago....seems like a long time. But we watch the from the past how our civilization will end in the future. We've come close to nuclear war.....1945 with Russia in Germany, Cuban missle crisis. Ultimatley, this will spell our end, it is just a matter of time. Compare this to the beginning of the Civil War in 1961 and what we were capable then. There are two things humans are certain to do: Developing more effecient ways to kill each other & 2. Killing each other.
@Olivierzz I understand what you're saying but admit to a more positive outlook, even when it comes to the ultimate weapon. As our film (and Dr. Teller himself) observed, the hydrogen bomb is not just the latest in a series of 'weapons too terrible to use' dating back to the crossbow, but it's the first to live up to the billing. Admittedly this legacy could end in a single fiery instant, but I believe we're more than mere neurotic apes, and that we will both outgrow and outlive our arsenals.
@sciencehighway BTW this is an awesome video, so thanks. Great high lvel look at how the first H-bombs were desgined. Most people and scientists especially, are more than Neurotic apes. But leaders, on the other hand, tend to be that with the nasty trait of uncompromising selfishness. Maybe surprisingly, I am not a pacifist and support all the wars the USA has fought, despite losing fmaily members some of the recent ones. They are the only reason we live the lives we do today.
@Olivierzz Thanks for your comments. This was one of the most difficult films we've ever done, though I have to admit that the toughest part of this particular clip was the Super-8 1950s-ish Halloween sequence, which was shot at our associate producer's house in early summer. (Ever tried to find pumpkins in July? We ended up having to make them.) I also must concur with your thoughts about the majority of today's politicians. My condolences for the brave losses your family has suffered.
Greatest waste of greatest potential of mankind. So many wonderful places to drop one. Mekka, Jerusalem, Vatican, Teheran, Pyongyang, Havana, Bogota, Kabul, Damascus, list goes on. Nukes really could help making our world a better place.
Greatest waste of greatest potential of mankind. So many wonderful places to drop one. Mekka, Jerusalem, Vatican, Teheran, Pyongyang, Havana, Bogota, Kabul, Damascus, list goes on. Nukes really could help making our world a better place.
Polish born mathematician Stanisław Ulam has to be given, as well, the credit for the working H-bomb design. In 1951, Ulam and Teller jointly presented, “Hydrodynamic Lenses and Radiation Mirrors”, an innovative idea, which was developed into the Teller-Ulam design. It kept the fission and fusion fuel physically separated from one another, using radiation from the primary device "reflected" off the surrounding casing to compress the secondary device.
@RafalsCom Thanks for pointing this out. Stanislaw Ulam's contribution (along with Dr. Teller's own attempts to minimize any reference to same over the years) is extensively covered in our film, "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb" (PBS 2007) from which this clip is excerpted. (You can Google our company, Foolish Earthling Productions, for more information about the full production.)
@RafalsCom Your comment also brings to mind one of the details that Richard Rhodes revealed about the practical 'radiation mirror' employed in Ivy-Mike - sheets of gold leaf carefully glued to the inner surface of the containment Dewer by a Buffalo NY-based glazier, I believe. Apparently he was so skillful that the result was a near-perfect two-storey inward-reflecting mirror without a single crease or seam line. Seems almost an ironic shame that such craftsmanship couldn't survive the test.
@sciencehighway Since gold reflects nearly all infrared, red and orange and absorbs blue, violet and ultraviolet light,it had to be a specific reason for keeping the heat in. The same property of gold is used in the thermal protection shields; the see-through part is gold plated by a thin layer of gold, that it's transparent. Gold has many other fine properties... the most interesting is used by the alchemists in preparation of the elixir of longevity... but it would be an interesting subject f.
@sciencehighway The triple-walled SS thermos casing was lined with lead. A layer of polyethylene, to generate plasma, was attached with copper nails to the lead. The inner most part contained the liquid deuterium. Between this and the middle part was a vacuum to prevent thermal loss. Between the middle part and the outer part was vacuum again, and a liquid nitrogen-cooled thermal shield made of copper. Finally, to reduce more the thermal leakage, the uranium pusher was lined with gold leaf.
@RafalsCom ...indeed it was. This is what happens when I reply from (rapidly-aging) memory rather than reach for the research materials at hand. Thanks for the backstop.
@PrUnEJuIcEtHeThIrD ...nor would I rule out the multiple option of a stupid troll. Oddly enough, when we made the film a few years back I was actually in touch with the FBI to verify some background details regarding Teller's testimony against Robert Oppenheimer in the 1954 AEC hearing, but that seemed too elaborate a response for Mr. Chimaera. Thanks for the back-up.
I wonder how many people were affected by this single test, from the current generation of past native inhabitants who had to leave the area, and any subsequent radiation consequences, like cancers, tumors, and birth defects. The nuclear age has brought nothing good to this Earth, even when it was used for "good" by bombing the Japanese. All this radiation fallout from the testing of nuclear energy had to go somewhere, and it might explain why cancer is so prevalent, among many carcinogens today
@raybanfandom I think this is a typical reaction from someone who knows very little of the interdependence of all science and all disciplines of human study. The nuclear age brought horrors that no one even a few years before could have imagined, but with it came ongoing progress in related areas like nuclear medicine and power generation. Nothing is free in this world. Staying in the stone age? Think of the cost of doing nothing before you speak against progress.
You are very arrogant in speech. The Stone Age is what this technology might bring us back to...oh yes, is that not a possibility? Nuclear medicine is a great advancement, I'll give you that, but I was commenting on a nuclear test, was I not? And finally, if you think nuclear power is a solution, may they dump all nuclear waste on your back yard friend, not mine. Of all the good that came of the nuclear age, we would of been better off not exploding one bomb, nor building one plant.
@raybanfandom Nuclear waste, nuclear weapons, these are all bad things, but the point of my comment wasn't to be arrogant, it was to say that science moves forward as a whole. We do not have advancements in one area without advancements in another. The world would be a better place without exploding any nuclear weapons, and without guns, and without a lot of other things but that world isn't the one we live in. Be realistic.
I get your point. I know the world we live in. All innocents who die in the crossfire know it too. May it be a domino effect brought on by science or an insatiable greed powerful men posses, or the curiosity a physicist possesses to arrive at proof to a postulate, our advancement as many would call it is overpopulating the world, destroying the planet, and making us numb at the same time. All a human needs to be happy is a roof, water, food, and family. What is the formula for that?
I do see your point though. I hope we can use science to improve human life while maintaining natures harmony, instead of using science to manipulate nature. The latter will only bring our demise. Thank you for an enlightening exchange.
What is not mentioned is that the vast majority of the yield from this device and from most fusion bombs comes neither from the primary fission weapon, nor from deuterium fusion that it triggers, but from the tertiary fission of ordinary non-enriched Uranium 238 in the cylindrical tamper surrounding the fusion device.
@markhollandmd Wondering the same thing. That is a very significant component. It should mention that the fusion process releases vast amounts of neutrons caught by the tamper.
@meronmotors Excellent question. Fortunately there's no danger of that happening. The booster fuels used in thermonuclear weapons are rare isotopes of hydrogen, usually deuterium and tritium, which are generated in nuclear reactors. The atmosphere version isn't capable of fusion - though there was some concern about this prior to Trinity, the first atomic test in 1945. Hans Bethe's calculations assured them the atmosphere probably wouldn't ignite, so they went ahead and flipped the switch.
@sciencehighway My favorite part about your comment was the "probably wouldnt ignite" Now that I think about it you are correct they use rare isotopes of hydrogen. I remember hearing that in a few articles that they use tritium. I honestly thought no one on youtube would have been able to answer. Thank you for you quick responce. I also wanted to know, how they managed to make the H bomb without the refrigerator?
@meronmotors Another great question. The refrigeration system was needed to keep Ivy-Mike's deuterium in a super-cooled liquid state, and was by far the largest part of the apparatus. The room temperature weaponized version was tested a couple of years later at Operation Castle-Bravo using a dry secondary (fusion) stage - no cooling required. At 15 megatons it was the largest H-Bomb the USA ever tested. (The USSR later tested one with four times Bravo's yield. They called it Tzar Bomba.)
@sciencehighway Thanks again for the great information. I am very familiar with the tzar bomba. From what I understand it was just an oversized ulam-teller design, My last question for you is where I can find the full video if "Dr. Tellers very large bomb". I can only find clips. Its made by a canadian named Michael Lennick I think. I have been trying to find the full videos along with trinity and beyond with no success. Thanks
@meronmotors Wow, my favorite question of all. As it happens, I am Michael Lennick. I don't think YouTube will let me post a web address but if you google Foolish Earthling Productions you'll find the company website, and most of our films are for sale there. Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb should be available in the gift shop unless it's got its own page under the Past Projects link. Most of what we've discussed today is covered in the film. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the great chat.
@sciencehighway Wow...what are the chances of that. I never buy movies. However I just saw your website, and l see you have done some very nice things for the science community. I am going to go ahead and buy the Movie. I do see there is a stolen version online lol but I didnt down load it,I want the entire dvd so I will order it. It is not in the Gift shop video section I just looked but there is a link from the past projects to buy it. ITs 24.99. How long is this video?So you are the director?
@meronmotors Yep, that's me. We've been making science & history documentaries for a while now, mostly for folks like Discovery and PBS. Dr. Teller runs 1 hour (no commercials on PBS) but most of the other films are 45 minutes. There are package deals on stuff like the space history series "Rocket Science". I think at least one of my books is there too, along with links to various articles etc. On the Dr. Teller page you'll find my direct email link. Big thanks for buying and not downloading!
@sciencehighway There are 2 other videos I really liked I saw for sale, do you guys offer any package deals or anythinglike that or not really? Do you have any books. I really want to see the moon missles one and the "we choose to go to the moon" and the x craft.
@meronmotors BTW, by coincidence we're transferring the Foolish Earthling Productions site to a new server this weekend so some of the links including DVD purchase links may not be working until the process is complete. If you've been having any difficulty ordering DVDs that's likely why. It should all be up and running by Monday morning. Sorry for any inconvenience.
It would B better to just go grab a big nickle metal rock from the asteroid belt and throw it on a target at 100k mph, don't just blow it off the surface but make hole too and when it's over it's over no radiation no particulates no chemical residue just a dead target!!
There is a very concise explanation at armscontrolcenter search 'introduction to nuclear weapons' about how nuclear weapons work. Apologies to the director/writer of 'Dr Teller's Very Large Bomb' for my small criticism of his film but I do think that a cheap graphic would have explained things. Your uppity I'm-taking-my-ball-home response to a mere pleb like me because I said that I thought that your film gave a muddled & wrong explanation of something simple gave me a really good laugh indeed!
edward teller rashly promoted escalation of the nuclear project, was denied control of the hydrogen project. other heads of testing including oppenhiemer cautioned his reckless reccomendations and he shortly later would help bring on, and testified against oppenhiemer having his clearance revoked, and when he continually shot himself in the foot and was relieved of duty he didnt have enough pride to gracefully bow out, refusing to aide. read about his artificial harbor designs
i was told that a h-bomb expolded like 10,000 megatons not 2 or 3?was i told wrong cuz ive read alott bout it saying this but al theses videos say otherwise someone please help me and send information on hydrogen boms pleeeease please
@0ieatdeadbabys Sometimes Hydrogen Bombs are measured in kilotons making it easier to compare to the fission bomb predecessor. 10,000 kilotons would be 10 megatons since it takes 1,000 kilotons to equal 1 megaton. A 12.5 kiloton bomb leveled most of Hiroshima so think of 10,000. On Earth only volcanic eruptions and meteor impacts have exceeded the power of H-bombs (excluding earthquakes which is apples to oranges). The most powerful H-bomb detonated was the Soviet's Big Ivan at 50 megatons.
I'd like to know how they went from barely able to make enough plutonium to liquid deuterium in less than 10 years? I'd like to see what the stuff looks like.
While this is amazingly incredible science i have never understood what policy or difference in ideology could possibly warrant the use of such a weapon. It basically comes down to my dick is bigger than your dick mentality. What on earth could warrant turning some countries city in to a glowing green parking lot? I think it is all kind of insane actually. It all boils down to mass murder gone berserk i don't care how you slice it.
@roquefortfiles actually radiation if anything would glow blue because of the argon in the atmosphere glowing because of the radioactive particles passing through it :O
It was meant to prevent a conventional attack, and it worked. The Soviets knew that if they invaded Europe, we would obliterate them, and we know that if we invaded the Warsaw Pact, the Soviets would obliterate us.
The Soviets had no qualms before about invading peaceful countries. They had military superiority over NATO for the entire Cold War. Why do you think they never invaded West Germany?
@roquefortfiles That is what any weapon of war is for. And, for the record, only two "nuclear" weapons have ever been used in warfare. However, you are right (again) that is would be insane to use one over different ideology. That is why it is un-nerving that Islamic extremists may end up getting some. They already kill themselves with conventional explosives (in order to kill those that do not convert). A nuke just ups the ante a whole bunch.
@kyokogodai Indeed it does!! And having looked at the way the Little Boy was constructed firing one piece of fissile material in to another one (gun assembly).. (which to me looks ridiculously easy of the atom bombs.) If they could figure that out and get Uranium i bet they could do it. The implosion device looks far more complex.
I worked out (just for fun) the amount of time it took for the shock wave to reach the Los Alamos lab. The blast was 9383.5 kilometers away. Assuming the shock wave was traveling at the speed of sound, it would have taken 7 hours and 39 minutes to reach the lab. The exact time of the blast was 19:15 GMT) This means that the sizmograph would have got the reading at 8:04 pm Oct 31st, 1952. (9:04 pm if they had daylight savings back then)
@TheZepmeister That's just one of the fun things fusion reactors (including stars and supernovae) do. All the atoms in the universe (and you) were created by fusing simple atoms together to make larger, more complex elements. A hydrogen bomb is,
essentially, a tiny, momentary star with such tremendous core pressures and temperatures that its debris remnants include all 92 naturally-occurring elements, as well as a few that can only be created artificially, like plutonium. Hope that helps.
@sciencehighway This is, however, quite inaccurate.The temperatures and pressures within a fusion bomb are insufficent to sustain several generations of fusion. The He-He fusion for example would require a temperature of roughly 10 MK which is about 3 times the amount needed to fuse two hydrogen atoms. He-He might still be in reach of fusion weapons, but when we go down the fusion generations to the last reactions: Cr + He = Fe, Fe + He = Ni the required temperatures are already over 3000 MK.
The GK scale temperatures and high pressures are only met within the core of a massive star living it's final days. When the star has fused everything into Fe the fusion reaction stops being exothermic and the energy production of the core stops. Without the fusion pressure the massive weight of the star starts collapsing on the core. This collapse brings a huge amount of neutrons into the Fe core. These neutrons are then absorbed faster than they can be beta decayed thus creating heavy elements
@sciencehighway Well, no, not quite. Nearly all the elements heavier than iron were not created through fusion of atoms, but through successive neutron capture(and free neutrons are not atoms) in either the s-process(slow process) or r-process(rapid process).
@sciencehighway You would see nucleosynthesis in a red giant, big bang or supernova, not in in nuclear weapon like this, the conditions are not extreme enough. Nuclear fusion does not produce plutonium as a by-product but fission does. The main fusion product is helium nuclei.
@dutchgoing True, but Mike was a fission-fusion-fission blast. The majority of the reaction took place when the 14-MeV deuterium neutrons encountered the U238 nuclei of the uranium pusher. U238 fissions when it absorbs neutrons with energies above 1 MeV. To quote Philip Morrison: "Uranium nuclei captured neutron upon neutron to form isotopes... all the way up to mass number 255." Included in these rapidly-decaying elements was #100, first isolated from that bomb debris and named Fermium.
@dutchgoing The challenge was to explain these incredibly complex goings-on as briefly and concisely as possible so as to not bore the lay-viewer - Rule #1 in television. The PBS film this sequence hails from is about much more than this event, and was never intended to be a textbook. Yes, corners were cut, as they always are. That said the script was vetted for accuracy at every stage, and this sequence was the most heavily debated. I hope you can forgive this small sacrifice to the TV gods.
@sciencehighway Yes I understand you. But the central subject of the film is fusion. It seems strange that they got that wrong because it sounded good to throw in some bs about creating 'all the elements' etc. The combination of two hyrdogen isotopes to give a helium nucleus, ie an alpha particle is so simple and so revealing. Helium was discovered after spectrographic studies of the sun ie Helios. I've never quite understood why these bombs were packed with celophane, any ideas?
@dutchgoing Putting aside the fact that the 'they' you refer to is me (the writer/director/editor of "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb"), the subject of the film is not fusion. This was background information in support of our main story. The complete details of the Ivy-Mike detonation could have filled our full hour. I'm willing to discuss in detail but not under YT's frustrating word count limitations. If you want to engage further please email me via the Foolish Earthling Productions website.
@sciencehighway Teller is known as the father of the Hydrogen (fusion) Bomb just as Oppenheimer is known as the father of the fission bomb. The subject of the film is Teller and obviously the thermonuclear bomb. Claiming that a fission or fusion bomb creates 'all the elements....etc' is totally incorrect. If they can't explain what a hydrogen isotope is and how combined gives you an alpha particle means they have dumbed the film down too much, not asking for complete details. I won't be mailing.
@dutchgoing Once again I must point out that the "they" you refer to is me. I wrote, directed and edited the one-hour PBS special from which this was excerpted, and wish you would watch the entire film before judging. The choices made to simplify a complicated narrative for time and impact were miine but accuracy was always a critical consideration. Re. your assertion I believe I will stick with the expert opinion of those who carefully vetted our script, as well as that of Dr. Philip Morrison.
@sciencehighway With respect, the clip here is actually very good and I make no claim to be an expert of any kind. Sorry but fusion reactions in hyrdogen bombs don't create 'all the elements etc...', that happens in stars and your failure to explain the simplicity of the fusion reaction, probably the simplest reaction there is means you didn't understand the fundamental subject matter. Amazing that you worked on a film and made no attempt to understand the basic ideas involved yourself.
@dutchgoing I must again refer you to the experts, texts and documentation consulted during the making of "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb", as cited in the closing credits. I must also point out that the sequence you're critiquing occurs about 30 minutes into the film, whereas the fusion reaction is described in detail about two minutes in. (We certainly agree on its importance.) I really wish you would watch the entire film before attacking either its veracity or my comprehension. Over and out.
@sciencehighway Except that such reactions only take place under super nova. red giant and big bang conditions, not in hyrdogen bombs. Hydrogen bombs certainly do not create plutonium via fusion reactions.
@dutchgoing Nor did I ever suggest that they did. And while I appreciate your enthusiasm for debate I'm afraid this will be my last reply as we really don't seem to be getting anywhere. Since you choose not to believe my assertions regarding the remnants found in the debris (nor even, It would seem, that Ivy-Mike was a fission-fusion-fission system) I suggest that you read Richard Rhodes's excellent and thoroughly-detailed book "Dark Sun - The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb", page 507.
@sciencehighway Fermium is made by neutron capture. You can do this in a fission reactor or fission bomb alone. Though discovered after Ivy Mike the fusion reaction was not needed to produce it, it just happened to be discovered at that point. I didn't deny that IM was a fission fusion fission device. Sorry but your film basks in the nonsense about creating the whole panoply of elements while failing to simply explain the simplest and commonest reaction in the cosmos. Other than it it is good!!
The full quote is: "Hydrogen atoms began to fuse, momentarily creating every element that had ever existed in the universe, and a couple more besides." The choice to micro-cosmically describe events taking place over millionths of a second was influenced by a similar passage in Richard Rhodes's book "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb". A challenging sequence to script and edit, though I think our narrator, Jack Senett, nailed the read perfectly. Glad you enjoyed the film.
@faffaflunkie You are correct. Ivy-Mike utilized a composite core consisting primarily of enriched uranium. No excuse to offer other than a well-remembered need to get a large quantity of exposition into a very tight space. To your credit, and despite the documentary having been screened by numerous physicists including several Manhattan Project and Ivy-Mike veterans, you're the first to spot the error. Rest assured we won't make this specific mistake in the future. Thanks again.
Teller was a Hungarian Jew who came to the U.S. in the 1930s. Many of the guys behind the nukes were Jews. I sometimes wonder if they meant for the nukes to be used against Germany.
Excelent question. We tried to cover this issue quite thoroughly in "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb". From the response to the initial PBS airings I'd have to say that was the second-most controversial element of the film.
@JimColyer There's no doubt of it--in a very real sense, the whole program was kicked off by jews (Szilard, Teller & Einstein) who were worried the German situation. This is why half the people at Los Alamos went peacenik after VE-Day and why there was so much ironic hand-wringing over Hiroshima. Had it been Munich, they would have figured they had it coming.
In fact he was one of several real-life role models Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers based the character upon - a fact that Dr. Teller made very clear he didn't want any mention of in our film "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb".
Wow 7th to view and 1st to comment on one of my favorite subjects!
I'd easily pay $1,000 for a front row seat ticket. (Provided that the 1st row is 30 miles away from ground zero, lol). Those observers in the video are some lucky bastards!
This video is better than porn.
CiaoBello21 2 weeks ago 3
@CiaoBello21 Uh, thanks...I think.
sciencehighway 2 weeks ago 5
@sciencehighway your welcome
CiaoBello21 2 weeks ago
@Sciencehighway I appreciate that dude. I'm just saying that that claim is nonsense. Great video.
Camuvingian 1 month ago
@Camuvingian Thanks for the compliment, Camuvingian. (In fact I'd be interested in your thoughts on the full 1 hour documentary.) And I'm very glad we agree that the claim to be able to see x-rays is nonsense. Good thing nobody actually said it.
sciencehighway 1 month ago
@scienchighway how can the eye 'see' X-Rays? This claim is clearly nonsense.
Camuvingian 1 month ago
@Camuvingian Perhaps you should read my reply more carefully. I was quoting those who held their hands in front of their eyes and claimed they could see their bones, like viewing an x-ray. No claims were made by me or anyone else of seeing the x-rays themselves.
sciencehighway 1 month ago
"The most power blast to ever be witnessed by human eyes" – Perhaps it isn't a good idea to stare directly at the power of several thousand Suns...
TheVerandaguy 1 month ago
@TheVerandaguy A very bad idea indeed, though the most damaging radiation (at least to retinas) dissipated fairly quickly. Witnesses were usually issued welder's glasses and directed to turn away from the initial blast though there were those at Trinity and elsewhere who would face the shot head-on, covering their eyes with a hand or arm. Some reported seeing the bones through their skin, like an X-ray.
sciencehighway 1 month ago
If you think this video contains too much information, you should try to find a copy of U. S. Nuclear Weapons by a physicist named Chuck Hansen. He gathered information accidentally declassified by the U.S. government in a lawsuit and describes in DETAIL the nuclear reactions, energies, and structure of a hydrogen bomb. I have seen copies of this book on e-bay selling for more than $1,000.
callen8000 2 months ago
Wow
Spyonetwo 2 months ago
Teller and Ulam re-invented the meaning of "peace"...
soberek 2 months ago
while kids were making "hell" during Halloween, Men were making hell with their hands... and a couple tons of uranium/plutonium/deuterium.
DTHAtrain137 3 months ago
@DTHAtrain137 ...while we (the film production team) were making pumpkins. That Halloween flashback was shot at our associate producer's house in a Toronto suburb in mid-July - not the best time of year to find real pumpkins.
This was the last scene we filmed for "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb" (using an 8mm camera and Kodachrome neg for that early 50s look) after weeks of searching for stock footage of mid-century Halloween in California. (I still can't believe we couldn't find any.)
sciencehighway 3 months ago
Interesting how the primary was unboosted.
TheMaxx111 3 months ago
We had a sun.... his name was Mike.
MEATYOKERRable 3 months ago
Watching this shit. I wonder what kind of trite "This is a momentous occasion" Nazi speak we would have had if there had been motion pictures in the 1800's when we were running the Indians off their land???
MEATYOKERRable 3 months ago
momentarily creating every element in the universe....holymoly
YuorMomFcuk 3 months ago 5
@YuorMomFcuk ...yep, and a few more besides.
sciencehighway 3 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
The time has come for us all to seek truth and stop tolerating deception and division. Only the truth can stop the wars and make the world the paradise it can be. Search for "Truth Contest" in Google and click the 1st result, then click on "The Present" to open it. What it says will transform us and our world.
jchijan 3 months ago
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1:30 - you couldn't be more wrong guy! This can't end well...
blarnburns1 3 months ago
Comment removed
blarnburns1 3 months ago
Good narration.
TheFinlandnator 4 months ago
Why not simply slow down the reacton process from a couple seconds to detonation, to a couple of years (say 30 years). Got power anyone? Have they tried that, experiment yet? Now that would cool to see.
train52000 4 months ago
@train52000 You're describing the inner workings of a nuclear power reactor. A fission bomb (or H-bomb 1st stage - same thing) contains reflectors and other design elements to increase the rate of particle collision and generate multiple fission generations. Reactors use various dampening tools - heavy water, carbon rods etc. - to slow those same reactions, generating heat to boil water and power turbines. Fusion power remains in an extended testing phase; We'll have it eventually.
sciencehighway 3 months ago
This was like Vegeta's Big Bang Attack and Final Explosion.
matthardyrulez25 5 months ago
This was almost 60 years ago....seems like a long time. But we watch the from the past how our civilization will end in the future. We've come close to nuclear war.....1945 with Russia in Germany, Cuban missle crisis. Ultimatley, this will spell our end, it is just a matter of time. Compare this to the beginning of the Civil War in 1961 and what we were capable then. There are two things humans are certain to do: Developing more effecient ways to kill each other & 2. Killing each other.
Olivierzz 5 months ago
@Olivierzz I understand what you're saying but admit to a more positive outlook, even when it comes to the ultimate weapon. As our film (and Dr. Teller himself) observed, the hydrogen bomb is not just the latest in a series of 'weapons too terrible to use' dating back to the crossbow, but it's the first to live up to the billing. Admittedly this legacy could end in a single fiery instant, but I believe we're more than mere neurotic apes, and that we will both outgrow and outlive our arsenals.
sciencehighway 5 months ago
@sciencehighway BTW this is an awesome video, so thanks. Great high lvel look at how the first H-bombs were desgined. Most people and scientists especially, are more than Neurotic apes. But leaders, on the other hand, tend to be that with the nasty trait of uncompromising selfishness. Maybe surprisingly, I am not a pacifist and support all the wars the USA has fought, despite losing fmaily members some of the recent ones. They are the only reason we live the lives we do today.
Olivierzz 5 months ago
@Olivierzz Thanks for your comments. This was one of the most difficult films we've ever done, though I have to admit that the toughest part of this particular clip was the Super-8 1950s-ish Halloween sequence, which was shot at our associate producer's house in early summer. (Ever tried to find pumpkins in July? We ended up having to make them.) I also must concur with your thoughts about the majority of today's politicians. My condolences for the brave losses your family has suffered.
sciencehighway 5 months ago
Drop that shit in the middle east
bigbull223 5 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Greatest waste of greatest potential of mankind. So many wonderful places to drop one. Mekka, Jerusalem, Vatican, Teheran, Pyongyang, Havana, Bogota, Kabul, Damascus, list goes on. Nukes really could help making our world a better place.
soberek 5 months ago
Greatest waste of greatest potential of mankind. So many wonderful places to drop one. Mekka, Jerusalem, Vatican, Teheran, Pyongyang, Havana, Bogota, Kabul, Damascus, list goes on. Nukes really could help making our world a better place.
soberek 5 months ago
gibt es diese dokumentation auch auf deutsch?
sprengmeister00 5 months ago
I KABLEW ET!!!
crayzbotzz700 5 months ago
so... this explosion could quit possibly help explain the big bang theory?
b20002003 5 months ago
-1 from Russia
3li0n 6 months ago
Polish born mathematician Stanisław Ulam has to be given, as well, the credit for the working H-bomb design. In 1951, Ulam and Teller jointly presented, “Hydrodynamic Lenses and Radiation Mirrors”, an innovative idea, which was developed into the Teller-Ulam design. It kept the fission and fusion fuel physically separated from one another, using radiation from the primary device "reflected" off the surrounding casing to compress the secondary device.
RafalsCom 6 months ago 2
@RafalsCom Thanks for pointing this out. Stanislaw Ulam's contribution (along with Dr. Teller's own attempts to minimize any reference to same over the years) is extensively covered in our film, "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb" (PBS 2007) from which this clip is excerpted. (You can Google our company, Foolish Earthling Productions, for more information about the full production.)
sciencehighway 6 months ago
@RafalsCom Your comment also brings to mind one of the details that Richard Rhodes revealed about the practical 'radiation mirror' employed in Ivy-Mike - sheets of gold leaf carefully glued to the inner surface of the containment Dewer by a Buffalo NY-based glazier, I believe. Apparently he was so skillful that the result was a near-perfect two-storey inward-reflecting mirror without a single crease or seam line. Seems almost an ironic shame that such craftsmanship couldn't survive the test.
sciencehighway 5 months ago
@sciencehighway Since gold reflects nearly all infrared, red and orange and absorbs blue, violet and ultraviolet light,it had to be a specific reason for keeping the heat in. The same property of gold is used in the thermal protection shields; the see-through part is gold plated by a thin layer of gold, that it's transparent. Gold has many other fine properties... the most interesting is used by the alchemists in preparation of the elixir of longevity... but it would be an interesting subject f.
RafalsCom 5 months ago
@sciencehighway The triple-walled SS thermos casing was lined with lead. A layer of polyethylene, to generate plasma, was attached with copper nails to the lead. The inner most part contained the liquid deuterium. Between this and the middle part was a vacuum to prevent thermal loss. Between the middle part and the outer part was vacuum again, and a liquid nitrogen-cooled thermal shield made of copper. Finally, to reduce more the thermal leakage, the uranium pusher was lined with gold leaf.
RafalsCom 5 months ago
@RafalsCom ...indeed it was. This is what happens when I reply from (rapidly-aging) memory rather than reach for the research materials at hand. Thanks for the backstop.
sciencehighway 5 months ago
Your IP-adress is now on an FBI-list.
You're welcome. :)
Chimaera242 6 months ago
@Chimaera242 A very odd and puzzling comment. Am I to thank you for informing me, or for informing on me?
And why on earth would the FBI be interested in a historical documentary which presents facts that have been in the public record for decades?
sciencehighway 6 months ago 9
@sciencehighway Whoever just made the FBI comment is either a troll or just plain stupid.
The contents of this video is stuff that's been taught in HIGH SCHOOL, much less college physics classes.
PrUnEJuIcEtHeThIrD 6 months ago 3
@PrUnEJuIcEtHeThIrD ...nor would I rule out the multiple option of a stupid troll. Oddly enough, when we made the film a few years back I was actually in touch with the FBI to verify some background details regarding Teller's testimony against Robert Oppenheimer in the 1954 AEC hearing, but that seemed too elaborate a response for Mr. Chimaera. Thanks for the back-up.
sciencehighway 6 months ago
I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. ” —Albert Einstein
Socalsway 7 months ago 32
I wonder how many people were affected by this single test, from the current generation of past native inhabitants who had to leave the area, and any subsequent radiation consequences, like cancers, tumors, and birth defects. The nuclear age has brought nothing good to this Earth, even when it was used for "good" by bombing the Japanese. All this radiation fallout from the testing of nuclear energy had to go somewhere, and it might explain why cancer is so prevalent, among many carcinogens today
raybanfandom 8 months ago
@raybanfandom I think this is a typical reaction from someone who knows very little of the interdependence of all science and all disciplines of human study. The nuclear age brought horrors that no one even a few years before could have imagined, but with it came ongoing progress in related areas like nuclear medicine and power generation. Nothing is free in this world. Staying in the stone age? Think of the cost of doing nothing before you speak against progress.
Strykenine 8 months ago
@Strykenine
You are very arrogant in speech. The Stone Age is what this technology might bring us back to...oh yes, is that not a possibility? Nuclear medicine is a great advancement, I'll give you that, but I was commenting on a nuclear test, was I not? And finally, if you think nuclear power is a solution, may they dump all nuclear waste on your back yard friend, not mine. Of all the good that came of the nuclear age, we would of been better off not exploding one bomb, nor building one plant.
raybanfandom 8 months ago
@raybanfandom Nuclear waste, nuclear weapons, these are all bad things, but the point of my comment wasn't to be arrogant, it was to say that science moves forward as a whole. We do not have advancements in one area without advancements in another. The world would be a better place without exploding any nuclear weapons, and without guns, and without a lot of other things but that world isn't the one we live in. Be realistic.
Strykenine 8 months ago
@Strykenine
I get your point. I know the world we live in. All innocents who die in the crossfire know it too. May it be a domino effect brought on by science or an insatiable greed powerful men posses, or the curiosity a physicist possesses to arrive at proof to a postulate, our advancement as many would call it is overpopulating the world, destroying the planet, and making us numb at the same time. All a human needs to be happy is a roof, water, food, and family. What is the formula for that?
raybanfandom 8 months ago
@Strykenine
I do see your point though. I hope we can use science to improve human life while maintaining natures harmony, instead of using science to manipulate nature. The latter will only bring our demise. Thank you for an enlightening exchange.
raybanfandom 8 months ago
I think if I were present at that test, I would need a clean pair of underwear. LOL
Xytan4 8 months ago
1:21.... small scale test??????? wtf
TiAmoGroup1 10 months ago
What is not mentioned is that the vast majority of the yield from this device and from most fusion bombs comes neither from the primary fission weapon, nor from deuterium fusion that it triggers, but from the tertiary fission of ordinary non-enriched Uranium 238 in the cylindrical tamper surrounding the fusion device.
markhollandmd 10 months ago
@markhollandmd Wondering the same thing. That is a very significant component. It should mention that the fusion process releases vast amounts of neutrons caught by the tamper.
philritter21 9 months ago
@philritter21 It's still "classified". I think that most of the people who understand the reaction can't talk about it.
markhollandmd 6 months ago
4:43 ... he doesn't look to well!
MatthewTelles 10 months ago
Why dont these ignite our hydrogen on earth?
meronmotors 10 months ago
@meronmotors Excellent question. Fortunately there's no danger of that happening. The booster fuels used in thermonuclear weapons are rare isotopes of hydrogen, usually deuterium and tritium, which are generated in nuclear reactors. The atmosphere version isn't capable of fusion - though there was some concern about this prior to Trinity, the first atomic test in 1945. Hans Bethe's calculations assured them the atmosphere probably wouldn't ignite, so they went ahead and flipped the switch.
sciencehighway 10 months ago
@sciencehighway My favorite part about your comment was the "probably wouldnt ignite" Now that I think about it you are correct they use rare isotopes of hydrogen. I remember hearing that in a few articles that they use tritium. I honestly thought no one on youtube would have been able to answer. Thank you for you quick responce. I also wanted to know, how they managed to make the H bomb without the refrigerator?
meronmotors 10 months ago
@meronmotors Another great question. The refrigeration system was needed to keep Ivy-Mike's deuterium in a super-cooled liquid state, and was by far the largest part of the apparatus. The room temperature weaponized version was tested a couple of years later at Operation Castle-Bravo using a dry secondary (fusion) stage - no cooling required. At 15 megatons it was the largest H-Bomb the USA ever tested. (The USSR later tested one with four times Bravo's yield. They called it Tzar Bomba.)
sciencehighway 10 months ago
@sciencehighway Thanks again for the great information. I am very familiar with the tzar bomba. From what I understand it was just an oversized ulam-teller design, My last question for you is where I can find the full video if "Dr. Tellers very large bomb". I can only find clips. Its made by a canadian named Michael Lennick I think. I have been trying to find the full videos along with trinity and beyond with no success. Thanks
meronmotors 10 months ago
@meronmotors Wow, my favorite question of all. As it happens, I am Michael Lennick. I don't think YouTube will let me post a web address but if you google Foolish Earthling Productions you'll find the company website, and most of our films are for sale there. Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb should be available in the gift shop unless it's got its own page under the Past Projects link. Most of what we've discussed today is covered in the film. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the great chat.
ML
sciencehighway 10 months ago
@sciencehighway Wow...what are the chances of that. I never buy movies. However I just saw your website, and l see you have done some very nice things for the science community. I am going to go ahead and buy the Movie. I do see there is a stolen version online lol but I didnt down load it,I want the entire dvd so I will order it. It is not in the Gift shop video section I just looked but there is a link from the past projects to buy it. ITs 24.99. How long is this video?So you are the director?
meronmotors 10 months ago
@meronmotors Yep, that's me. We've been making science & history documentaries for a while now, mostly for folks like Discovery and PBS. Dr. Teller runs 1 hour (no commercials on PBS) but most of the other films are 45 minutes. There are package deals on stuff like the space history series "Rocket Science". I think at least one of my books is there too, along with links to various articles etc. On the Dr. Teller page you'll find my direct email link. Big thanks for buying and not downloading!
sciencehighway 10 months ago
@sciencehighway There are 2 other videos I really liked I saw for sale, do you guys offer any package deals or anythinglike that or not really? Do you have any books. I really want to see the moon missles one and the "we choose to go to the moon" and the x craft.
meronmotors 10 months ago
@meronmotors BTW, by coincidence we're transferring the Foolish Earthling Productions site to a new server this weekend so some of the links including DVD purchase links may not be working until the process is complete. If you've been having any difficulty ordering DVDs that's likely why. It should all be up and running by Monday morning. Sorry for any inconvenience.
ML
sciencehighway 10 months ago
@meronmotors i know why!!! because... uhm... wel.... -.- wrong isotopes and not enough energy... oh yeah and not enough hydrogen in the air....
RisingAtheists 10 months ago
"It's a boy"
yeah! pimp slap those bitches, Hungarian style!
migkillertwo 11 months ago
will it blend?
hitlersucks101 11 months ago
It would B better to just go grab a big nickle metal rock from the asteroid belt and throw it on a target at 100k mph, don't just blow it off the surface but make hole too and when it's over it's over no radiation no particulates no chemical residue just a dead target!!
theantiredneck 11 months ago
The U.S.S. Testes?? huh??
Kg277 11 months ago
There is a very concise explanation at armscontrolcenter search 'introduction to nuclear weapons' about how nuclear weapons work. Apologies to the director/writer of 'Dr Teller's Very Large Bomb' for my small criticism of his film but I do think that a cheap graphic would have explained things. Your uppity I'm-taking-my-ball-home response to a mere pleb like me because I said that I thought that your film gave a muddled & wrong explanation of something simple gave me a really good laugh indeed!
dutchgoing 11 months ago
edward teller rashly promoted escalation of the nuclear project, was denied control of the hydrogen project. other heads of testing including oppenhiemer cautioned his reckless reccomendations and he shortly later would help bring on, and testified against oppenhiemer having his clearance revoked, and when he continually shot himself in the foot and was relieved of duty he didnt have enough pride to gracefully bow out, refusing to aide. read about his artificial harbor designs
carpetmonk 1 year ago
I ONLY HAVE 3 LETTERS TO SAY ABOUT THIS.... " WTF" AND OH YEAH THE GUY WHO THOUGHT OF THIS BOMB SOUNDS RUSSIAN!! LMAO
llllcod6mw2jjjj 1 year ago
@llllcod6mw2jjjj
Hungarian actually, but thanks for playing.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
I ONLY HAVE 3 LETTERS TO SAY ABOUT THIS.... " WTF"
llllcod6mw2jjjj 1 year ago
Amazing. They already had the ability to kill thousands with one bomb.
They tested them on their own people, and the Japanese.
And now they seek seek to make them kill hundreds of thousands....LOL!
Evil personified.......
Procharmo 1 year ago
Castle Bravo just sounds cooler.
ChazZeromus 1 year ago
i was told that a h-bomb expolded like 10,000 megatons not 2 or 3?was i told wrong cuz ive read alott bout it saying this but al theses videos say otherwise someone please help me and send information on hydrogen boms pleeeease please
0ieatdeadbabys 1 year ago
@0ieatdeadbabys Sometimes Hydrogen Bombs are measured in kilotons making it easier to compare to the fission bomb predecessor. 10,000 kilotons would be 10 megatons since it takes 1,000 kilotons to equal 1 megaton. A 12.5 kiloton bomb leveled most of Hiroshima so think of 10,000. On Earth only volcanic eruptions and meteor impacts have exceeded the power of H-bombs (excluding earthquakes which is apples to oranges). The most powerful H-bomb detonated was the Soviet's Big Ivan at 50 megatons.
aardvark9100 1 year ago
I'd like to know how they went from barely able to make enough plutonium to liquid deuterium in less than 10 years? I'd like to see what the stuff looks like.
TheZepmeister 1 year ago
While this is amazingly incredible science i have never understood what policy or difference in ideology could possibly warrant the use of such a weapon. It basically comes down to my dick is bigger than your dick mentality. What on earth could warrant turning some countries city in to a glowing green parking lot? I think it is all kind of insane actually. It all boils down to mass murder gone berserk i don't care how you slice it.
roquefortfiles 1 year ago
@roquefortfiles actually radiation if anything would glow blue because of the argon in the atmosphere glowing because of the radioactive particles passing through it :O
phillipdogyface 11 months ago
@phillipdogyface Alright a glowing BLUE parking lot. You get the idea though!!
roquefortfiles 11 months ago
@roquefortfiles
It was meant to prevent a conventional attack, and it worked. The Soviets knew that if they invaded Europe, we would obliterate them, and we know that if we invaded the Warsaw Pact, the Soviets would obliterate us.
The Soviets had no qualms before about invading peaceful countries. They had military superiority over NATO for the entire Cold War. Why do you think they never invaded West Germany?
migkillertwo 11 months ago
@migkillertwo Exactly right on! M.A.D. made the difference. Still does, in many ways.
kyokogodai 11 months ago
@roquefortfiles That is what any weapon of war is for. And, for the record, only two "nuclear" weapons have ever been used in warfare. However, you are right (again) that is would be insane to use one over different ideology. That is why it is un-nerving that Islamic extremists may end up getting some. They already kill themselves with conventional explosives (in order to kill those that do not convert). A nuke just ups the ante a whole bunch.
kyokogodai 11 months ago
@kyokogodai Indeed it does!! And having looked at the way the Little Boy was constructed firing one piece of fissile material in to another one (gun assembly).. (which to me looks ridiculously easy of the atom bombs.) If they could figure that out and get Uranium i bet they could do it. The implosion device looks far more complex.
roquefortfiles 11 months ago
I worked out (just for fun) the amount of time it took for the shock wave to reach the Los Alamos lab. The blast was 9383.5 kilometers away. Assuming the shock wave was traveling at the speed of sound, it would have taken 7 hours and 39 minutes to reach the lab. The exact time of the blast was 19:15 GMT) This means that the sizmograph would have got the reading at 8:04 pm Oct 31st, 1952. (9:04 pm if they had daylight savings back then)
crushnkill 1 year ago
I'll be damned if I woulda wanted to be there watching that.How can they tell it created every element that existed in the univererse?
TheZepmeister 1 year ago
@TheZepmeister That's just one of the fun things fusion reactors (including stars and supernovae) do. All the atoms in the universe (and you) were created by fusing simple atoms together to make larger, more complex elements. A hydrogen bomb is,
essentially, a tiny, momentary star with such tremendous core pressures and temperatures that its debris remnants include all 92 naturally-occurring elements, as well as a few that can only be created artificially, like plutonium. Hope that helps.
sciencehighway 1 year ago 16
@sciencehighway This is, however, quite inaccurate.The temperatures and pressures within a fusion bomb are insufficent to sustain several generations of fusion. The He-He fusion for example would require a temperature of roughly 10 MK which is about 3 times the amount needed to fuse two hydrogen atoms. He-He might still be in reach of fusion weapons, but when we go down the fusion generations to the last reactions: Cr + He = Fe, Fe + He = Ni the required temperatures are already over 3000 MK.
Menelgor 1 year ago
The GK scale temperatures and high pressures are only met within the core of a massive star living it's final days. When the star has fused everything into Fe the fusion reaction stops being exothermic and the energy production of the core stops. Without the fusion pressure the massive weight of the star starts collapsing on the core. This collapse brings a huge amount of neutrons into the Fe core. These neutrons are then absorbed faster than they can be beta decayed thus creating heavy elements
Menelgor 1 year ago
@Menelgor In a nutshell... WTF?! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!! :P
darkfox900 1 year ago
@sciencehighway Well, no, not quite. Nearly all the elements heavier than iron were not created through fusion of atoms, but through successive neutron capture(and free neutrons are not atoms) in either the s-process(slow process) or r-process(rapid process).
soylentgreenb 1 year ago
@sciencehighway You would see nucleosynthesis in a red giant, big bang or supernova, not in in nuclear weapon like this, the conditions are not extreme enough. Nuclear fusion does not produce plutonium as a by-product but fission does. The main fusion product is helium nuclei.
dutchgoing 1 year ago
@dutchgoing True, but Mike was a fission-fusion-fission blast. The majority of the reaction took place when the 14-MeV deuterium neutrons encountered the U238 nuclei of the uranium pusher. U238 fissions when it absorbs neutrons with energies above 1 MeV. To quote Philip Morrison: "Uranium nuclei captured neutron upon neutron to form isotopes... all the way up to mass number 255." Included in these rapidly-decaying elements was #100, first isolated from that bomb debris and named Fermium.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
@sciencehighway The commentary says that the fusion reaction produced all the other elements known, it did not.
dutchgoing 1 year ago
@dutchgoing The challenge was to explain these incredibly complex goings-on as briefly and concisely as possible so as to not bore the lay-viewer - Rule #1 in television. The PBS film this sequence hails from is about much more than this event, and was never intended to be a textbook. Yes, corners were cut, as they always are. That said the script was vetted for accuracy at every stage, and this sequence was the most heavily debated. I hope you can forgive this small sacrifice to the TV gods.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
@sciencehighway Yes I understand you. But the central subject of the film is fusion. It seems strange that they got that wrong because it sounded good to throw in some bs about creating 'all the elements' etc. The combination of two hyrdogen isotopes to give a helium nucleus, ie an alpha particle is so simple and so revealing. Helium was discovered after spectrographic studies of the sun ie Helios. I've never quite understood why these bombs were packed with celophane, any ideas?
dutchgoing 1 year ago
@dutchgoing Putting aside the fact that the 'they' you refer to is me (the writer/director/editor of "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb"), the subject of the film is not fusion. This was background information in support of our main story. The complete details of the Ivy-Mike detonation could have filled our full hour. I'm willing to discuss in detail but not under YT's frustrating word count limitations. If you want to engage further please email me via the Foolish Earthling Productions website.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
@sciencehighway Teller is known as the father of the Hydrogen (fusion) Bomb just as Oppenheimer is known as the father of the fission bomb. The subject of the film is Teller and obviously the thermonuclear bomb. Claiming that a fission or fusion bomb creates 'all the elements....etc' is totally incorrect. If they can't explain what a hydrogen isotope is and how combined gives you an alpha particle means they have dumbed the film down too much, not asking for complete details. I won't be mailing.
dutchgoing 1 year ago
@dutchgoing Once again I must point out that the "they" you refer to is me. I wrote, directed and edited the one-hour PBS special from which this was excerpted, and wish you would watch the entire film before judging. The choices made to simplify a complicated narrative for time and impact were miine but accuracy was always a critical consideration. Re. your assertion I believe I will stick with the expert opinion of those who carefully vetted our script, as well as that of Dr. Philip Morrison.
sciencehighway 11 months ago
@sciencehighway With respect, the clip here is actually very good and I make no claim to be an expert of any kind. Sorry but fusion reactions in hyrdogen bombs don't create 'all the elements etc...', that happens in stars and your failure to explain the simplicity of the fusion reaction, probably the simplest reaction there is means you didn't understand the fundamental subject matter. Amazing that you worked on a film and made no attempt to understand the basic ideas involved yourself.
dutchgoing 11 months ago
@dutchgoing I must again refer you to the experts, texts and documentation consulted during the making of "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb", as cited in the closing credits. I must also point out that the sequence you're critiquing occurs about 30 minutes into the film, whereas the fusion reaction is described in detail about two minutes in. (We certainly agree on its importance.) I really wish you would watch the entire film before attacking either its veracity or my comprehension. Over and out.
sciencehighway 11 months ago
@sciencehighway Except that such reactions only take place under super nova. red giant and big bang conditions, not in hyrdogen bombs. Hydrogen bombs certainly do not create plutonium via fusion reactions.
dutchgoing 1 year ago
@dutchgoing Nor did I ever suggest that they did. And while I appreciate your enthusiasm for debate I'm afraid this will be my last reply as we really don't seem to be getting anywhere. Since you choose not to believe my assertions regarding the remnants found in the debris (nor even, It would seem, that Ivy-Mike was a fission-fusion-fission system) I suggest that you read Richard Rhodes's excellent and thoroughly-detailed book "Dark Sun - The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb", page 507.
sciencehighway 11 months ago
@sciencehighway Fermium is made by neutron capture. You can do this in a fission reactor or fission bomb alone. Though discovered after Ivy Mike the fusion reaction was not needed to produce it, it just happened to be discovered at that point. I didn't deny that IM was a fission fusion fission device. Sorry but your film basks in the nonsense about creating the whole panoply of elements while failing to simply explain the simplest and commonest reaction in the cosmos. Other than it it is good!!
dutchgoing 11 months ago
what does the narrarator say at 3:45? sounds something like "every something that ever existed plus a few more in the universe" ?
excellent documentary by the way! & i'm choosy
freedo333 1 year ago
@freedo333
The full quote is: "Hydrogen atoms began to fuse, momentarily creating every element that had ever existed in the universe, and a couple more besides." The choice to micro-cosmically describe events taking place over millionths of a second was influenced by a similar passage in Richard Rhodes's book "Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb". A challenging sequence to script and edit, though I think our narrator, Jack Senett, nailed the read perfectly. Glad you enjoyed the film.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
It's doubtful they would have bet the project on a "plutonium" core. From the size of the device I would guess the primary was enriched Uranium.
faffaflunkie 1 year ago
@faffaflunkie You are correct. Ivy-Mike utilized a composite core consisting primarily of enriched uranium. No excuse to offer other than a well-remembered need to get a large quantity of exposition into a very tight space. To your credit, and despite the documentary having been screened by numerous physicists including several Manhattan Project and Ivy-Mike veterans, you're the first to spot the error. Rest assured we won't make this specific mistake in the future. Thanks again.
sciencehighway 1 year ago
Narrator has a good dramatic voice..
ZXLNT 1 year ago
Teller was a Hungarian Jew who came to the U.S. in the 1930s. Many of the guys behind the nukes were Jews. I sometimes wonder if they meant for the nukes to be used against Germany.
JimColyer 2 years ago
Excelent question. We tried to cover this issue quite thoroughly in "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb". From the response to the initial PBS airings I'd have to say that was the second-most controversial element of the film.
sciencehighway 2 years ago
@JimColyer There's no doubt of it--in a very real sense, the whole program was kicked off by jews (Szilard, Teller & Einstein) who were worried the German situation. This is why half the people at Los Alamos went peacenik after VE-Day and why there was so much ironic hand-wringing over Hiroshima. Had it been Munich, they would have figured they had it coming.
jeselmira2 1 year ago
Its amazing now how they can fit six 1.5 megtaton thermonuclear fusion bombs into a single missile like the minuteman III
o0tinerz0o 2 years ago
I tell you, building a bomb that can vaporize any city on Earth. Dr. Teller is our own Dr. Strangelove.
virtualquark 2 years ago
In fact he was one of several real-life role models Stanley Kubrick and Peter Sellers based the character upon - a fact that Dr. Teller made very clear he didn't want any mention of in our film "Dr. Teller's Very Large Bomb".
sciencehighway 2 years ago
Wow 7th to view and 1st to comment on one of my favorite subjects!
I'd easily pay $1,000 for a front row seat ticket. (Provided that the 1st row is 30 miles away from ground zero, lol). Those observers in the video are some lucky bastards!
CMLaneLV 2 years ago