Super High Res Photography of First Underwater Nuclear Detonation

[Jive Turkey]

1946 at Bikini Atoll

[u2popmofo]

That is terrifying.

[Jive Turkey]

See the black bit in the right of the water column? That's a FREAKING BATTLESHIP

[LJT]

We can never find enough money to provide free healthcare, deal with society's ills etc but damn if we don't love a good bomb.

I know's it 60 odd years ago but if that image doesn't show how our priorities are skewed, I don't know what could.

No one needs the power of a SS4 Goku.

[Jive Turkey]

America loves a big stick.
But I wonder if this is about the time speaking softly fell out of favour.

That said, I just thought it was a striking photograph.

[u2popmofo]

Think of how bad we screwed Japan over with these tests too. Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Ghidorah, etc., etc., etc. So sad.

[Jive Turkey]

Mecha Streisand

[Jive Turkey]

There's a weird dichotomy to America in the 1950s. On one hand, there's the wholesome, middle class, leave it to beaver thing going on. And on the other, there's this mysterious meddling in physics that nobody really understood. I know that's a gross simplification, but it's still fascinating

[Jive Turkey]

This goes back a little further, but is still kinda relevant.

Did you know people still can't handle Marie Curie's note books because they're so highly radioactive? That's so eerie

[u2popmofo]

I majored in International Politics / Affairs in school. I took a National Security class where we spent weeks of the class discussing different types of WMDs in depth. It was terrifying beyond belief. One unfortunate consequence (if you can call it that) of the Cold War ending, is that people probably aren't as terrified by the concept of nuclear weapons / war as they were a decade or two back. People don't seem to care quite as much about the proliferation of these types of weapons, materials, etc. It's sort of a frightening concept to know they're all still there, there's extremely solid evidence that more than a few have been "lost" in former USSR countries, more countries are trying to make or acquire them, but people aren't nearly as familiar about the consequences or realities of the weapons themselves these days.

[lemonfly]

I recall reading somewhere that back in the 50's a nuke was detonated high up in the atmosphere above Hawaii, just to see if it would fuck up the stratosphere and knock out satellites. The explosion caused the sky to light up in an artificial aurora, that lasted several hours. The local residents were reportedly cool with it, some even holding a BBQ with family and friends to enjoy the "occasion." Crazy shit. Americans of yesteryear were certainly enamoured with their white picket fences and atomic bombs.

[The Sad Punk]

Originally Posted by Jive Turkey

Mecha Streisand

As we soeak, the US are spending a bunch of money to buy Robert Smith and to turn him into a giant moth creature. So sad

[Jive Turkey]

Robert-ah Smeeth Robert-ah Smeeth

[Moony]

Incredibly sad and gorgeous at the same time. I'm currently reading a non-fiction book about the escapees from Chernobyl and it is absolutely terrifying what radiation does to people. It's one thing to read the scientific data, and it's another to read a woman's story about watching her husband die slowly from radiation poisoning.

I think I read recently that the people of the Marshall Islands still receive monetary restitution from the United States for the nuclear fallout that made several inhabited islands completely uninhabitable. Apparently women are still experiencing miscarriages and stillborns. Awful.

Thanks for the photo, OP.