#atomic tests

[a-forger-and-a-point-man]

Don’t forget the first victims when you go see Oppenheimer this opening weekend. Unforgivable not to include them in the narrative.

We love us some Nolan and Cillian but this is also a story that should never have taken place.

For further reading:

This is what happens when the US government goes nuclear-crazy during the Cold War and mines a shit ton of uranium. Lambs born with three legs and no eyes, and human stillbirths and agonizing deformities for those that survive. For decades it was referred to as a Navajo-specific hereditary illness. No one made the link to the mines and the drinking water.

[brantzwoolsey]

Metaphor for what?

Am I doing him right?

I still don’t understand the play.

I would question whether it even is a plot.

Asteroid City is a mess. A beautiful symmetric colorful mess. Like life. There are the typical friends and players that Wes Anderson employs and old friends from past films that play parts in the show. The show makes me wonder if Anderson is dying and trying to process that or if he is processing the loss or death of someone else. Is the movie a critique of governments? Or a think piece on the chaos of life and the complexities of love and loss? I’m still trying to process what it is and I don’t know. I’m okay with that.

“Just keep telling the story.” ASTEROID CITY (2023, Wes Anderson)

[newsbites]

News from Australia, 14 June

A group of Australian nuclear survivors and relatives are calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Survivors shared their experiences of the British nuclear testing program in Western Australia and South Australia, which began in 1953. Karina Lester, daughter of a survivor, highlighted the lasting scars of nuclear weapons on the earth and on people. Survivors and advocates hope that signing the treaty will address the damage suffered by individuals and communities affected by nuclear weapons testing.

2. The Yoorrook Justice Commission in the state of Victoria, Australia, extended an invitation to non-Indigenous people to make observations about past or ongoing injustice experienced by Indigenous Australians.

Submissions were previously only open to Indigenous Victorians. The commission heard evidence from First Peoples, the government and other organizations and is scheduled to run until June 2025, making recommendations to the government. The invitation to make referrals is part of the truth-telling process, which is seen as an important part of the healing process.

3. Independent senator David Pocock has criticized fearmongering about the Indigenous voice proposal and expressed concerns about misinformation.

The debate on the Indigenous voice continues in parliament, with a final vote expected next week and a referendum scheduled between October and December.

4. Researchers at the University of Melbourne found that consuming so-called "smart drugs" to improve mental performance may lead to poorer performance on complex tasks.

Drugs like Ritalin and Modafinil are often used by people without conditions like ADHD who believe they boost cognition. Researchers gave 40 healthy participants one of three drugs or a placebo and asked them to tackle a complex task that mimicked real-life problems. Those given the drugs spent significantly more time on the task and tried more combinations, but all the extra effort didn't translate into better performance.

[humanoidhistory]

Computer room at the Nevada Test Site.

(National Archives)

[lynnbutlertron]

am i allowed to dump invincible doodles here?!!

also donald and cecil doodle im lowkey embarrassed about because it’s That Gay under the cut vvv (suggestive warning???? i think!???)

i love to make the non pathetic men pathetic-er than the pathetic ones. i’m ill

[catgirl-kaiju]

FUN FACT!

the first ever hydrogen bomb detonated (Operation Ivy: Shot Mike) completely vaporized the island it was detonated on, leaving a giant undersea crater in its place. there was an island there, and now it's just fucking gone.

The island was Elugelab in the Enewetak Atoll

Before the Ivy Mike test:

After the Ivy Mike test:

the thing about the Ivy Mike test, though, is that the bomb was too big, impractical, and heavy to carry in an airplane, afix to a rocket, or fire from a canon. still, the blast had a yield of 10.4 megatons, rivaled only by the infamous Castle Bravo test (US 15 megatons), the B-41/ Mk-41 Bomb ( US 25 megatons), and the Tsar Bomba test (USSR 50 megatons).

The rest of these bombs can be dropped from airplanes. The Tsar Bomba design was, however, never put into production as a practical weapon and was simply intended to be a one-off exercise with the goal of creating the largest yeild atomic weapon in history. (it succeeded)

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

Atomic Bomb Family

 📸 Daniel D. Teoli Jr. Archival Collection

[atomic-freezer]

Something's Not Quite Right

[johankasas]

Stay a little bit longer ~

[un-ionizetheradlab]

Oppenheimer (2023)

[histonics]

[outerspace-iiinnerspace]

the real atomic blonde

[mejomonster]

I dyed and cut my hair babyyyyy 💙💙💙

[abs0luteb4stard]

𝕎 𝔸 𝕋 ℂ ℍ 𝕀 ℕ 𝔾

[k-i-l-l-e-r-b-e-e-6-9]

First air-dropped Soviet atomic bomb test (Joe 3) Semipalatinsk Test Site USSR 1951

[deadpresidents]

Just saw Oppenheimer and I was a bit disappointed with how they portrayed Truman. He came across pretty poorly IMO. It was only one scene but I wondered what you thought.

I understand your disappointment and it certainly wasn't a very in-depth portrayal of Truman, but according to the book that the movie was largely based on -- American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (BOOK | KINDLE | AUDIO) -- the meeting that Oppenheimer had with President Truman went down pretty much as depicted in the film.

As Bird and Sherwin write in American Prometheus:

(O)n October 25, 1945, Oppenheimer was ushered into the Oval Office. President Truman was naturally curious to meet the celebrated physicist, whom he knew by reputation to be an eloquent and charismatic figure. After being introduced by Secretary [of War Robert P.] Patterson, the only other individual in the room, the three men sat down. By one account, Truman opened the conversation by asking for Oppenheimer's help in getting Congress to pass the May-Johnson bill, giving the Army permanent control over atomic energy. "The first thing is to define the national problem," Truman said, "then the international." Oppenheimer let an uncomfortably long silence pass and then said, haltingly, "Perhaps it would be best first to define the international problem." He meant, of course, that the first imperative was to stop the spread of these weapons by placing international controls over all atomic technology. At one point in their conversation, Truman suddenly asked him to guess when the Russians would develop their own atomic bomb. When Oppie replied that he did not know, Truman confidently said he knew the answer: "Never." For Oppenheimer, such foolishness was proof of Truman's limitations. The "incomprehension it showed just knocked the heart out of him," recalled Willie Higinbotham. As for Truman, a man who compensated for his insecurities with calculated displays of decisiveness, Oppenheimer seemed maddeningly tentative, obscure -- and cheerless. Finally, sensing that the President was not comprehending the deadly urgency of his message, Oppenheimer nervously wrung his hands and uttered another of those regrettable remarks that he characteristically made under pressure. "Mr. President," he said quietly, "I feel I have blood on my hands." The comment angered Truman. He later informed David Lilienthal, "I told him the blood was on my hands -- to let me worry about that." But over the years, Truman embellished the story. By one account, he replied, "Never mind, it'll all come out in the wash." In yet another version, he pulled his handkerchief from his breast pocket and offered it to Oppenheimer, saying, "Well, here, would you like to wipe your hands?" An awkward silence followed this exchange, and then Truman stood up to signal that the meeting was over. The two men shook hands, and Truman reportedly said, "Don't worry, we're going to work something out, and you're going to help us." Afterwards, the President was heard to mutter, "Blood on his hands, dammit, he hasn't half as much blood on his hands as I have. You just don't go around bellyaching about it." He later told [Secretary of State] Dean Acheson, "I don't want to see that son-of-a-bitch in this office ever again." Even in May 1946, the encounter still vivid in his mind, he wrote Acheson and described Oppenheimer as a "cry-baby scientist" who had come to "my office some five or six months ago and spent most of his time wringing his hands and telling me they had blood on them because of the discovery of atomic energy."