Timeline of International Nuclear Weapons Testing

Japanese artist Isao Hashimoto has created a beautiful, undeniably scary time-lapse map of the 2053 nuclear explosions which have taken place between 1945 and 1998, beginning with the Manhattan Project's "Trinity" test near Los Alamos and concluding with Pakistan's nuclear tests in May of 1998. This leaves out North Korea's two alleged nuclear tests in this past decade (the legitimacy of both of which is not 100% clear).

Each nation gets a blip and a flashing dot on the map whenever they detonate a nuclear weapon, with a running tally kept on the top and bottom bars of the screen. Hashimoto, who began the project in 2003, says that he created it with the goal of showing"the fear and folly of nuclear weapons." It starts really slow — if you want to see real action, skip ahead to 1962 or so — but the buildup becomes overwhelming.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• nuclear
• weapons
• bombs
• animation
• art
• japanese
• destruction
• power
• atomic
• timeline
• international
• testing
• durbanzanrik

[MANGSCHEUONiCS]

and people wonder why cancer is so widespread

[durbanzanrik]

@MANGSCHEUONiCS I showed this video to someone the other day. And he said, "Gov'ts wouldn't be testing so many bombs if they already knew it might cause cancer right? No.. No, I don't think they would." Then his eyes glazed over. That's how deep his disconnect was with what he saw, and what he was willing to believe.

[OutbackAL]

It's a wonder people can still live in the USA with all that radioactive fall out.

[durbanzanrik]

@OutbackAL I often wonder what the radioactive output is on nuclear weapons compared to powerplant diasters like Chernobyl & Fukushima. Especially with slow decaying isotopes that take millions of years to dissapate.

[limetang]

What was the point of all these tests?

Did it really have to take the Americans 1000 goes at it to realise that these things worked?

[puncheex]

@durbanzanrik: Hmmmm... Have you noticed people dying like flies around you? Are you really convinced that if they're not that is the sign of a conspiracy to keep the truth from you? Feel paranoid enough yet? Perhaps everything doesn't as you think it does.

[puncheex]

@OutbackAL: Well, I'll tell ya, AL. At Yucca Flats they exploded about 200 air, land and cratering blasts with attendant fallout. About 15 miles NE is the Groom Lake AFB (Area 51!), built in 1955 and in constant use since. Nevada's largest city, Las Vegas, is 65 miles south. At Yucca Flats a couple hundred people show up for work every day, most of them miners, construction people, scientists and techs. Spooky, huh?

[alexgets98]

truly amazing, very scary animation. thanks for sharing!

[zacassume]

@durbanzanrik its really sad i know, judgement day will come.

[zacassume]

@OutbackAL i sure dont want 2 go 2 live in california anymore.