DailyDirt: Modern Swords To Plowshares
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
As technology advances, it’s increasingly obvious that almost any piece of hardware can be used as a weapon, if put in the wrong hands. We can’t exactly ban people from brewing their own beer at home because it’s possible that they could also incubate a bioweapon with the same equipment. But how about re-purposing weapons for peaceful missions? NASA has inherited a couple pretty nice spy telescopes, and there could be plenty of other scientific uses for certain military hardware.
- A Chinese guided rocket named the SY-400 (aka the Heavy Sword) was fired into a typhoon — for science. This shot didn’t deliver an explosive payload, but a scientific one filled with sensors to collect atmospheric data. [url]
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gets the same very bad suggestion a LOT, so it has publicly posted its official answer. The tl;dr version — it is a VERY bad idea to try to stop a hurricane with a nuclear bomb. The slightly longer answer: the amount of energy needed to stop a hurricane is far greater than any weapon at our disposal; plus, the nuclear fallout would be insanely bad for everyone and everything. [url]
- NASA uses Global Hawk unmanned aircraft to study various atmospheric phenomena. Drones can fly day and night to study hurricanes, and NASA operates a variety of aircraft equipped for scientific missions. [url]
After you’ve finished checking out those links, take a look at our Daily Deals for cool gadgets and other awesome stuff.
Filed Under: drones, global hawk, hurricanes, military hardware, missiles, nuclear bomb, rocket, sy-400, typhoon, weapons, weather
Companies: nasa, noaa
Comments on “DailyDirt: Modern Swords To Plowshares”
New suggestion for NOAA: Stop a hurricane with FIFTY nuclear bombs!
As a bonus it gets rid of those pesky nuclear stockpiles! No need to store spent uranium/plutonium either!
Re: Ummmmmm...no.
Re: Ummmmmm...no.
I think we’re doing fine by using the bomb payloads to power cities for a while.
I’d rather the fallout stowed nicely in a hole in a rock than scattered all over the Atlantic, thanks.
Nice try but not really
Humans will never be able to truely accomplish this on their own. Soon, but not today.
Re: Nice try but not really
Sure they can – the Chinese ALREADY launched that missile into the hurricane. Or were you referring to one of the other stories? 😀
Be more specific about what you’re replying to. 😉
“Weaponry” Without The Weapons
No actual warheads, or bullets, or bombs. In other words, actually constructive tools rather than destructive weapons.
I thought it was odd seeing the nuclear bomb question.
I was researching HAARP and weather modification so that I could talk to some tinfoil hatters about it and encountered the FAQ question about nuking hurricanes and was like WTF?
We did consider nuclear depth charges since water is marvelous as absorbing the radiation from a nuke, but even then our conventional anti-sub weapons are adequate enough without causing an international nuclear incident.
Re: I thought it was odd seeing the nuclear bomb question.
There was a time they seriously considered bombarding the Van Allen belts with nuclear warheads (which they started, by the way – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_Prime) a sensible, peacetime use for atomic weapons…
Didn’t the US once do a high altitude detonation over New England, to try and seed rain, which actually succeeded in producing these huge rain clouds, with the unfortunate side-effect of being radioactive?
Then that pesky Nuclear Test Ban Treaty came along and ruined everything.
I don’t suggest using nuclear weapons for anything, but I’ve always wondered if a large, non-nuclear explosive would be effective at dispersing a tornado.
Re: Using explosives to disperse tornadoes
This FAQ (USA Today) suggests that using explosives to disperse tornados (or thunderstorms) been considered many times since the 18th century, but generally dismissed.
Despite tornadoes being sudden and unpredictable systems, there’s also the matter that explosives would be adding a lot of heat to a system that is fueled by heat, so the blast may disrupt a part of system for the moment (the eye, for a well-guided shot) but the newly heated and destabilized air would only ensure that the storm would resume and be stronger for the blast.
Even a MOAB (the largest American conventional weapon) would be a momentary hole in a tornado / super-cell system. Our puny human weapons only make the beast stronger.