A visit to Nagasaki

[Professor Smooth]

The original target of the Nagasaki A-bomb was a city called Kokura in Kitakyushu. Ironically, that's where I am living now. The cloud coverage was so bad that day that a new target had to be chosen. Avoiding disaster without knowing it is now called Kokura's Luck by many in Japan.

That picture is terrifying. Why on Earth would a weapon like that ever need to be built? What good could come of that? If you drop it on a city, you're probably looking at a million deaths. If you drop it on a large city, Tokyo, New York, LA, etc, there could be in excess of 5 million deaths. The property damage would be incalculable. Probably in the trillions of dollars range if dropped on a large city. That blast would be enough to completely obliterate a metropolis. Dropping that bomb on a populated area would probably have huge (negative) effects on the economy of not only the city, state, and country, but possibly the world. Anybody who used such a weapon against people would, I'd imagine, finally knock Hitler off of the "worst person to have ever lived" list.

How much money, time, and resources were spent creating that monstrocity? I would imagine that the money alone could have been better spent than developing the world's largest firecracker.

Also, you say that this is the largest one ever recorded on film. Does that mean that there are LARGER ones that have NOT appeared on film?

I am wracking my brain here trying to figure out a situation where such a device could ever be used. I hate to be cliche, but is that the weapon that will be fired should a similar one ever be used against its owners? Is that the doomsday device?

Ever hear the Ozzy Osbourne songs, Thank God for the Bomb and Killer of Giants?

[Hot Shot]

The original target of the Nagasaki A-bomb was a city called Kokura in Kitakyushu. Ironically, that's where I am living now. The cloud coverage was so bad that day that a new target had to be chosen. Avoiding disaster without knowing it is now called Kokura's Luck by many in Japan.

That picture is terrifying. Why on Earth would a weapon like that ever need to be built? What good could come of that? If you drop it on a city, you're probably looking at a million deaths. If you drop it on a large city, Tokyo, New York, LA, etc, there could be in excess of 5 million deaths. The property damage would be incalculable. Probably in the trillions of dollars range if dropped on a large city. That blast would be enough to completely obliterate a metropolis. Dropping that bomb on a populated area would probably have huge (negative) effects on the economy of not only the city, state, and country, but possibly the world. Anybody who used such a weapon against people would, I'd imagine, finally knock Hitler off of the "worst person to have ever lived" list.

How much money, time, and resources were spent creating that monstrocity? I would imagine that the money alone could have been better spent than developing the world's largest firecracker.

Also, you say that this is the largest one ever recorded on film. Does that mean that there are LARGER ones that have NOT appeared on film?

I am wracking my brain here trying to figure out a situation where such a device could ever be used. I hate to be cliche, but is that the weapon that will be fired should a similar one ever be used against its owners? Is that the doomsday device?

Ever hear the Ozzy Osbourne songs, Thank God for the Bomb and Killer of Giants?

Bombs and weapons will be built as long as there are people willing to use them and evils to excuse their use. The human race today has grown up with a fear for their safety and their material possessions. I am guilty of this mindset and I doubt anyone here is not. Companies cash in on this fear by making better and improved weapons for the military's, law enforcement's, and civilians' flawed idea that they constantly need a better weapon than their enemies. It's supply and demand. As long as people want bombs or guns, they will get bombs or guns(Unless there is a ban, but let's leave that in the VT shooting topic).

And that is why people produce weapons.

[Professor Smooth]

I can understand the desire for weapons. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. What I don't understand is why anybody would want a bomb that could wipe out tens of millions of people at once.

You want a Magnum to protect yourself from a neighbor's P-38? That I can understand. You want to destroy a city or small country to protect yourself from, uh, that's where ya lost me.

[Hot Shot]

I can understand the desire for weapons. I don't agree with it, but I understand it. What I don't understand is why anybody would want a bomb that could wipe out tens of millions of people at once.

You want a Magnum to protect yourself from a neighbor's P-38? That I can understand. You want to destroy a city or small country to protect yourself from, uh, that's where ya lost me.

You'll notice I mentioned military. Countries want to have retaliation weapons if they are attacked, and also to scare other countries from attacking them. You wouldn't kill the neighbors' cat if you knew they had a working cannon in their driveway, would you? It's basically to induce fear and authority.

[Professor Smooth]

What opinion would you have of your neighbor if he had a series of canons permanently aimed at your house and, every week or so, tested his stuff out in his back yard? Just curious.

[Hot Shot]

What opinion would you have of your neighbor if he had a series of canons permanently aimed at your house and, every week or so, tested his stuff out in his back yard? Just curious.

I'd hate them for their threatening and stuck-up behavior, but I sure wouldn't try to tick them off. Basically how everyone else thinks of America.

[Impactor returns 2.0]

On the subject of big bombs, his some food for thought, or pretty scary thoughts.

The 10Mgt devices show in the picture are indeed massive but the US and RUssia both experimented with larger weapons, the US reports and confirms the detenation of a 75Mgt device!

the russians are belived to have tested a 100Mgt device, buried 1000ft under the earths surface in the late 60s.

By comparisson, that bomb in the picture would be tiny! - the reason such devices were never contunied tho is that dropping a cluster of smaller devices produces the same effect as one giant bomb, yet the smaller bombs are easier to make and, and (Im quoting US sources here) cause less fall out! - who would be worried about fall out after 5 H-bombs just hit you.

To top it all off, man has invented the 'Doomsday' device, refered to as a colbalt salted Neutron Bomb, supposedly it could re-create the fission/fusion reaction of a star going nova... this device were firts theroised back in the late 40's but in the 70's I belive some scientists pretty much proved, on paper at least that such a device could be built... yay, well done mankind!

I find it amazing to think that we have evolved so far that we can concivebly at least, destroy our entire world with the press of a button!
mental!
I guess you could fight of alien invasion with it tho, or blow up asteroids, i wonder how fast we would build such a device if earth were threaterned in some way, and afterwards, would we dismantle it...

[The Last Autobot]

To top it all off, man has invented the 'Doomsday' device, refered to as a colbalt salted Neutron Bomb, supposedly it could re-create the fission/fusion reaction of a star going nova... this device were firts theroised back in the late 40's but in the 70's I belive some scientists pretty much proved, on paper at least that such a device could be built... yay, well done mankind! ...

I would use one of those bombs on Michael Bay and Don Murphy.

Just to be sure they buy it.

[Aaron Hong]

To top it all off, man has invented the 'Doomsday' device, refered to as a colbalt salted Neutron Bomb, supposedly it could re-create the fission/fusion reaction of a star going nova... this device were firts theroised back in the late 40's but in the 70's I belive some scientists pretty much proved, on paper at least that such a device could be built... yay, well done mankind! ...

I would use one of those bombs on Michael Bay and Don Murphy.

Just to be sure they buy it.

As long as you do it AFTER the movie comes out, just to get the point across.

Smooth, ever visited the Yasukini shrine?