Soaring, Cryptography and Nuclear Weapons

Google Tech Talk
May 7, 2009

ABSTRACT

Presented by Martin Hellman

Nuclear weapons are the elephant in the room that almost no one talks about. This presentation therefore approaches the subject from the much less threatening -- actually downright attractive -- perspective of soaring. Risk analysis is the glue that ties the two subjects together, while my experience in developing public key cryptography provides an important lesson on the positive side.

Related links: http://nuclearrisk.org/soaring_article.php is an article that is closely related to the talk. Another link of interest is http://nuclearrisk.org/paper.pdf.

Martin Hellman is Professor Emeritus at Stanford University and co-inventor of public key cryptography.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• google
• tech
• talk
• nuclear
• weapons

[exenrontexas]

I recall speeches by the then SAC commander, Curtis LeMay, that we should nuke China and Korea during the Korean war, Cuba during the Bay of Pigs and Vietnam during that war. When the N. Koreans seized the USS Pueblo, the carrier that I was on waited until a Soviet recon plane came from Valdivostock and then put the nukes on the flight deck, as a warning. There were many who wanted to nuke North Korea. My warning is there are many in the military who are eager to nuke someone.

[GliderGuy50]

"Wilson's Ghost," by McNamara and Blight (2003), p 85-86: Secretary of State [James Baker] ... asked Gorbachev, Would you prefer to see a united Germany outside of NATO and with no U.S. forces, perhaps with its own nuclear weapons? Or would you prefer are a united Germany to be tied to NATO, with assurances that NATOs jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position?"

[bmecher]

Yeah, Most Americans are worried about Tickle Me Elmo, and other similar "I-Phoness" that they are surprised when this crap comes up. I think a lot of the media needs to be paying better attention to their "newsworthiness" criteria. It is their duty to keep the public informed right? The Internet is vastly making up for this deficiency.

[Ignare]

54:22

[SebastienBoisson]

"Because we have made an US and THEM game. And as long as we have that instead of understanding that it is US, the humans, until then, nothing will change."

Exactly! This philosophy applies to so many conflicts.

[ewsflys]

As of today, the USA spends as much for military as the rest of this world, only the USA has actually bombed with nuclear weapons killing hundreds of thousands, still is the leading arms exporter of the world. Exporting death and misery. All while lecturing the rest of the world what they should do, while they do Nothing. Why hate and fear ? Because we have made an US and THEM game. And as long as we have that instead of understanding that it is US, the humans, until then, nothing will change.

[cdrikari]

There may have been. A lot has changed in the 40 years since the Pueblo incident.

Assuming that the present = the past doesn't work well.

[Sciolist321]

His point about ringing Paulo Alto with a thousand nuclear reactors makes no sense. It carries the same risk as ringing the city with reactors - what risk is that? He doesn't quantify it, it's just playing on the bad press of nuclear energy

[luckige]

warm applause, yeah right

[GliderGuy50]

To read the article on which this talk is based, do a Google search on

hellman nuclear risk glider

and it should be the top one.

[Qulopuaa]

Actually in a game like WoW a droprate of 1/1000 is acceptble and the drop will actually happen- that really easy- so I guess a nukelear diaster is really fesable today.