Questions tagged [nuclear]
For questions about atomic nuclear phenomena and their effects on the world. For heat and power generation applications of nuclear phenomena, use [nuclear-power]. For weapons relying on nuclear phenomena, consider [nuclear weapons] and [weapon-mass-destruction]. Compare [radioactivity], [weak-force] and [strong-force].
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Could there exist a quantum virus which breaks someone's body down to fundamental particles?
In the Animorphs series K.A. Applegate mentions:
A quantum virus. It breaks down the very forces that holds subatomic particles together. It can take weeks or even months of agony as your body ...
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What would generate barrels full of toxic (radioactive) liquid waste
I've a setting where some abandoned facility that was run by a joint venture of the military and a high-tech company, has its direct surrounding, outside the facility, littered with barrels full of a ...
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Are nuclear weapons useful in space?
On Earth, nuclear weapons can wreak enormous damage to a country and for that reason, large-scale wars between nuclear powers don’t happen. But what would happen if humanity progressed just enough to ...
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Could nuclear fallout melt the ice caps and cause an accelerated sea level rise?
I'm writing a story where a total nuclear WWIII occurs in the early 21st century. in a matter of minutes all of the world's nuclear powers unleashed their entire arsenals on each other in an event ...
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Could we reach the earth's core using today's nuclear arsenal?
The setting is basically earth. Our planet is unfortunately on a collision course with a large asteroid. However, humans have discovered and decoded a message from an ancient, advanced alien race (our ...
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How realistic is Metro 2033 [closed]
In the universe of Metro 2033 by Dmitri Alexejewitsch Gluchowski the whole world got destroyed in a nuclear war. It's set in the year 2033 and the war was "over 25 years ago". The two original books ...
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Light Emitting Animals - What happens to the food chain? [closed]
In my world, an event has happened, some nuclear fall-out caused every animal to grow a special organ that emits light, but I'm wondering what effect that would have on the Food Chain?
The world I'm ...
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Nuclear explosion from nuclear waste?
Is it possible for nuclear waste to somehow naturally cause a nuclear explosion? (with no human input, other than dumping the nuclear waste)
The yield of the explosion would preferably be enough to ...
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How many "HEMP satellites" in LEO to disable electrical equipment planet-wide and how to put them in the right position
Here we found out that, in some way, we can put an EMP device in a fake satellite on a low earth orbit.
A Web search revealed that a large device detonated at 400-500 km over Kansas would switch-off ...
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Mountains and Nuclear Bombs
I am building an apocalyptic world, and I am wondering about the effects of mountains on nuclear bombs. I'll start by defining what I am talking about.
Mountains:
For arguments sake lets say this ...
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Is this an appropriate manned interstellar mission profile?
My idea was to use 2 stages for an interstellar spacecraft (particularly the Orion Drive) and use it in a way similar to Project: Daedalus. Phase 1 would involve accelerating to cruising speed ...
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On the immediate effects of a periodic table composed of its elements [closed]
It has come to my attention that some people collect the elements, and even go so far as to put them in grids shaped like the periodic table. Some of these are incredibly unstable, highly corrosive, ...
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Is outrunning a nuclear mushroom cloud feasible? [closed]
Okay, I was one of the lucky ones. I was in a windowless concrete building when the bomb went off, and I was far enough away to survive the shock wave and super-heated winds.
Even luckier, I am a ...