

10 times the explosive power of all explosives used in WWII - kyriakos
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba

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tdicola
It created a fireball 5 miles in diameter, destroyed all buildings up to 34
miles away, and could give 3rd degree burns to people 62 miles away. I can't
even comprehend how one bomb could do so much damage.

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lloeki
its ground zero is readily findable _by sight_ on Google Maps:

<http://goo.gl/maps/w9teB>

Notice the scale by zooming out ever so slightly. Also, _time_ scale, because
it happened _decades_ ago.

This has to be the only man-made _de_ struction that can bee seen with the
naked eye from space.

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four12
"This has to be the only man-made destruction that can bee seen with the naked
eye from space."

No, you can see Los Angeles from space.

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iuguy
Here's a segment from a Discovery channel documentary on the Tsar Bomba[1]. It
is pretty difficult to visualise the kind of impact this bomb would have if
actually dropped on a city. It would obliterate London (and large parts of
England), as well as Paris, Madrid, Athens, Berlin, Vienna and countless other
cities around the world if dropped.

I also read somewhere (but can't find the link) that although the Soviet
pilots had special shutters and goggles to keep the flash out, when the bomb
exploded they claimed they could see their bones through their hands.

Of course, the damage from this bomb (in terms of fallout) was much less than
that resulting from the Castle Bravo test[2].

[1] - <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGk90-zvWOo>

[2] - <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Bravo>

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four12
I read this headline with the narrator's voice from "Dr. Strangelove" (who had
a similar line).

"Each B-52 can deliver a nuclear bombload of 50 megatons, equal to 16 times
the total explosive force of all the bombs and shells used by all the armies
in World War Two."

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hythloday
"10 times the combined power of all the conventional explosives used in WWII,
or one quarter of the estimated yield of the 1883 eruption of Krakatoa."

Looks like we still have a way to go.

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PostOnce
Well, that's the most powerful ever _detonated_ , not necessarily the most
powerful ever designed or built. Also I assume the current best is classified.
We've probably surpassed that by a margin, given that FIFTY years have passed.
The time between the first nuke and Tsar Bomba was 15 years. Now we have
better science, more money, computers, and a 50 year lead.

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cli
However, as the "analysis" section of the wikipedia article mentions, ever
since the invention of ICBMs and other more accurate and faster methods of
delivering nuclear bombs, the trend has been towards carpeting the target area
with smaller and more numerous bombs. Since the energy of the explosion is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance, for destroying a
specific area I suspect having multiple smaller explosions would be more
effective than one large explosion.

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tomwalker
I just hope that the work that resulted in this device will produce many
benefits to nonweaponary nuclear science.

~~~
frzn
Main designer became firm opponent of weaponized nuclear energy and
advocate/researcher for peaceful use of nuclear power

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linker3000
HN or Digg?

