
‘We are poorer for the things you are looking at in these pictures’ - blueatlas
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/in-sight/wp/2016/11/30/we-are-poorer-for-the-things-you-are-looking-at-in-these-pictures
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cyberferret
"By the mid ’80s, the two superpowers possessed a combined sum of more than
70,000 nuclear warheads, a number sufficient to put 357 warheads, each with
yields far exceeding that of the Hiroshima bomb, onto every capital city of
every country on the entire globe."

That one line from the article scared me more than most things I've read in my
life. The fact that humanity once wielded the weapons capacity to wipe
everyone off the face of the earth hundreds of times over. Staggering.

~~~
avar
Much of Hiroshima wasn't fully destroyed, and there were many survivors. Aside
from the concerns about dud or destroyed missiles, you need a lot of missiles
to destroy infrastructure that's more spread out.

You're also not just trying to destroy the 200 or so world capitals, but
strategic assets in the US or the Soviet union. Between cities, military
bases, power plants, factories and other infrastructure pertinent to waging
war that 357 per capital number starts sounding a lot more reasonable.

This comparison is just another arbitrary irrelevant number journalists like
to come up with that ultimately just serves to obscure the issue. It's like
describing the amount of concrete in the Hoover dam in terms of the volume of
VW beatles.

~~~
talmand
>> It's like describing the amount of concrete in the Hoover dam in terms of
the volume of VW beatles.

Don't leave us hanging, what's the answer?

~~~
toomuchtodo
I'm using a concrete VW on the ocean floor as a reference. Its supposedly 8
tons.

[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/8589222/A...](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/8589222/A-concrete-
Volkswagen-Beetle-is-parked-underwater-amongst-the-sculptures-off-Cancun.html)

> How much concrete is in the Hoover Dam?

Three and one-quarter million cubic yards. (Normal weight concrete weighs
about 4000 lb. per cubic yard, so 3,250,000 cubic yards weighs 6,500,000 US
tons).

[http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/damfaqs.html](http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/faqs/damfaqs.html)

There are ~812,500 VW bugs worth of concrete in the Hoover Dam.

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DannyB2
> At the height of the Cold War, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev boasted

> that the Soviets were manufacturing nuclear missiles “like sausages.”

> His bravado underscored early strategic posturing that turned on the

> assumption that more was better.

> The Kennedy administration responded in kind, referring to the perceived

> shortage of American nukes as a runner would imagine trying to pass the

> leader of a race.

Maybe it's just me. But maybe it would be nice if world leaders were more
careful and thoughtful about what they say? Less bluster. Less inapproprate
humor about starting bombing even if you think your mic is turned off.

Not to pick on certain political parties. Just a general observation that
could apply to all politicians of any party. Most could probably agree that
this would be a good thing.

~~~
mavelikara
> But maybe it would be nice if world leaders were more careful and thoughtful
> about what they say?

Not as long as we keep electing such politicians.

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Outpox
Wonderful pictures if I may say so

