• 1. The hipsters may just make it.

    If a 21kt nuclear device was set off in downtown New York City, the overpressure from the blast would only be strong enough to kill instantly within about a 1/3 mile radius. This means that the denizens of Brooklyn would survive the initial explosion, but would have to take shelter from the inevitable nuclear fallout. (via)

  • 2. If the blast doesn’t kill you, the heat will.

    The heat generated by a nuclear explosion can reach about 9,000 degrees, which is hotter than the surface of the Sun. The thermal component accounts for about 1/3rd of a nuclear weapons power. It’s hot enough to permanently burn an object’s shadow onto a surface behind it. (via)

  • 3. Despite popular belief, Twinkies won’t save you.

    Despite what popular culture would like us to believe, Twinkies do not have the radiation resistant, preservative-packed shelf life we would like to think they do. According to Hostess, a Twinkie stays good for about 25 days, and is as susceptible to nuclear radiation as any other food. (via)

  • 4. Cockroaches are not the only things that will survive.

    Everyone knows that a cockroach can survive higher dosages of nuclear radiation than humans, but they aren’t alone. The Mythbusters proved that a number of insects are remarkably resistant to the effects of nuclear radiation.

  • 5. The US has “misplaced” 8 nuclear weapons.

    The Defense Department has a special name for nuclear weapons that have gone missing. They are known as “Broken Arrows”. During the Cold War, the United States lost track of 8 nuclear weapons (a combined explosive force 2,200 times the bomb dropped on Hiroshima).

  • 6. It only takes about 35 lbs of enriched Uranium to make an atomic bomb.

    It takes as little as 35 pounds of enriched Uranium, and as little as 9 pounds of enriched Plutonium to construct a nuclear weapon. Luckily, the facilities required to enrich raw Uranium are expensive, and are larger than 5 football fields. (via)

  • 7. People exposed to nuclear fallout are eight times more likely to develop mutations.

    A study from 1956 found that people living in a nuclear test site in Kazakhstan were 8 times more likely to develop genetic mutations, and their children’s genetic mutation risk had increased five-fold. (via)

  • 8. Only 3 feet of water can protect you from nuclear fallout.

    After the initial attack, fallout can linger for months. Fortunately, it only takes 5 inches of steel, 16 inches of brick, 2 feet of packed earth, or 3 feet of water to protect against radioactive fallout. (via)

  • 9. A Neutrino beam could (theoretically) neutralize any nuclear weapon.

    In theory, a weapon that fires a neutrino beam could effectively neutralize a nuclear bomb anywhere on the planet, but it would need to be 1000 km wide, require 50 gigawatts of power (enough power to run a city) and would cost $100 billion dollars to construct. (via)

  • 10. Nuclear winter could potentially counteract the effects of global warming.

    The dust kicked up into the atmosphere after a big enough nuclear blast could offer enough protection from sunlight to reverse the effects of global warming. Of course, it could also plunge us into a new ice age if too much sunlight is blocked. (via)