
In southeastern Colorado, robots carefully disarm WWII-era chemical weapons - Tomte
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/02/in-southwestern-colorado-robots-carefully-disarm-wwii-era-chemical-weapons/
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ams6110
Pretty sad. We made all these weapons for WWII that were illegal by convention
since 1925, never used them, and now have to destroy them at huge expense.
Such a waste.

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jballanc
Well, there's the other interpretation: Such a government jobs program!

I mean, in many cases most of that "huge expense" is going to be salary for
the people that manufacture and then dispose of these arms. Of course, that
puts the automation of such disposal in an interesting light: the robots are
taking our jobs! Admittedly, as in most cases of "robots taking our jobs",
these aren't really the sorts of jobs that most people would want to do
anyway, but it does change the economic calculus of the whole military-
industrial complex.

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cbanek
I recently drove near Walker Lake, in Nevada. This place is pretty much in the
middle of nowhere, between Reno and Las Vegas. Then suddenly, I see thousands
of those little igloo bunkers start popping up, just dotting the landscape in
strange patterns.

I was amazed at the simple engineering put into them, the spacing was perfect,
they had been buried, but like a pill, a line had been cut into them with a
door, to prevent the blast going through the door unprotected.

I later found out that I had driven past the Hawthorne Army Depot, which has
one of the largest reserves of ammunition in the world. Very neat and strange.
Something I would expect out of Nevada.

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refurb
I had a similar experience driving through northern Oregon. Little bunkers
dotting the landscape as far as you could see. It was the Umatilla Chemical
Weapons Depot. It took maybe 30 minutes of driving at 70 mph to traverse it
north to south. Massive complex again in the middle of nowhere.

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lambdadmitry
Why do they need such protection against mustard? If I understand the article
correctly it's a liquid that is only dangerous on contact. Why simpler
protection akin to what Ebola responders wear (face shield, respirator, apron,
gloves and boots) wouldn't do?

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gonzo
I was just in Pueblo a few weeks ago. It seems to be thriving selling pot to
college kids in New Mexico and the panhandle of Texas.

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brettfarrow
That is its best hope for economic growth, but I don't think anyone in the
area would refer to Pueblo as "thriving."

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chmaynard
Department of Defense motto: "Hold the mustard."

