

Ask HN: If you were to build a doomsday device, what'd it be? - lallysingh

It's Monday.<p>Rules: it has to sound moderately plausible.  And debating "no that won't work b/c of blah blah blah" is no fun.  Instead, suggest changes to help.  We're all about productivity here.<p>To get the ball rolling: build another version of the large hadron collider in space, then, when it starts making black holes, throw it into the sun.  Nothing says apocalypse like the sun dying.
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fbbwsa
high fructose corn syrup.

obesity becomes the new norm. everyone gets so fat they can't walk around,
global production grinds to a halt. Nobody can remember how to hunt or farm
since its so long since our sedentary society has engaged in such primitive
practices.

the irony is that we all die of starvation in the aftermath of our obesity.
slow acting doomsday.

~~~
knieveltech
Death by blort.

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knieveltech
Stockpile thermite. When sufficient mass is achieved, ignite the lot and burn
a hole through the earth's crust. The resulting supervolcanic eruption should
end civilization.

~~~
lallysingh
Excellent. Classic Dr. Evil. You'll probably need to keep pumping oxygen into
the area to make sure it stays on fire.

~~~
yan
Thermite is self-oxidizing

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johngunderman
Ha, my cousin plans to build a huge fleet of zepplins that play Breathe by
Prodigy as he nukes the cities of the world. I'm just hoping he's not serious.
(Though that song would be fitting for nuking cities :-) )

~~~
lallysingh
He should have some UAVs with speakers flying at lower altitude, otherwise
people won't recognize the tune. Also, some heat shielding on the zepplin and
a very well-protected cabin -- I'm not sure those things can get out of range
fast enough.

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brk
Simple. A basic worm that infects IOS-based (Cisco) devices and renders them
all inoperable at a coordinated time.

No Intarwebs would either equal doomsday, or massive social liberation.

~~~
knieveltech
The death of the internet would hardly result in the collapse of global
civilization. We'd just revert to more primal past times, like looting and
arson.

~~~
rms
...and the library.

~~~
knieveltech
Allez card catalog.

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mindviews
An acoustic device that produces high-amplitude waves at the resonant
frequency of the human cranial cavity: head goes _pop_!

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MaysonL
Dust Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Manhattan, Pasadena, Austin, and Chapel Hill
with prions.

