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The lack of details in the obituary make me think he took his own life. Regardless of how he died, Hahn's story taught me it was possible to learn and build wi

The lack of details in the obituary make me think he took his own life. Regardless of how he died, Hahn's story taught me it was possible to learn and build without the latest and greatest tools and equipment. His approach to safety was concerning (to say the least), and he stole a lot of the nuclear material he used, but I think it's important to realize that amazing work can be done without millions in funding. This is probably not a huge revelation for the field of computer science, as even a powerful computer can be bought for relatively little. However, it's easy to look at the equipment used in the physical sciences and think that you need the same equipment to make a meaningful contribution to science. A world of possibilities opens up once you have the idea that you can make the equipment you need to run the experiments yourself. One of the things I love about the internet is that we can share our experiments and hacks with each other. There are a lot of great YouTube channels that are spiritually aligned with mentality behind Hahn's reactor. I'd personally recommend Applied Science, as well as Cody's Lab, and I'd be interested in hearing about any channels that other people find interesting.

tptacek 10y ago
His story is very sad. He joined the Navy after an young adulthood set adrift after the suicide of his mother. He was discharged and diagnosed schizophrenic. Ten years ago, he was arrested for stealing smoke detectors, and the court proceedings implied he'd gone off his medications.
- Declanomous 10y ago
  I'd heard parts of that story. He reminds me of one of the people who I went to school with. We shared a lot of hobbies, but his antisocial and self-destructive tendencies meant that I never could really consider him a friend. He was incredibly smart and capable, but he always acted like he had something to prove. He was expelled from high school for hacking, which unlike a lot of "expelled for hacking" stories, was entirely legitimate. He was doing some pretty impressive exploits on the network computers, but then he was also downloading information he had no business possessing. I was interviewed by the FBI about it, because I was president of the cs club, and he had been using our computers. During his expulsion he took the classes needed for college and applied to the CS program at a prestigious state school rather that coming back to high school. It was really impressive -- between the grades he had skipped before, and the grades he skipped going to college, he got in before he was old enough to drive. I don't think he ended up graduating from college. He is very capable, but he needed a mentor who was operating on the same level as him to help him develop emotional and social skills on par with his intellectual talents.

tptacek 10y ago

His story is very sad. He joined the Navy after an young adulthood set adrift after the suicide of his mother. He was discharged and diagnosed schizophrenic. Ten years ago, he was arrested for stealing smoke detectors, and the court proceedings implied he'd gone off his medications.

Declanomous 10y ago
I'd heard parts of that story. He reminds me of one of the people who I went to school with. We shared a lot of hobbies, but his antisocial and self-destructive tendencies meant that I never could really consider him a friend. He was incredibly smart and capable, but he always acted like he had something to prove. He was expelled from high school for hacking, which unlike a lot of "expelled for hacking" stories, was entirely legitimate. He was doing some pretty impressive exploits on the network computers, but then he was also downloading information he had no business possessing. I was interviewed by the FBI about it, because I was president of the cs club, and he had been using our computers. During his expulsion he took the classes needed for college and applied to the CS program at a prestigious state school rather that coming back to high school. It was really impressive -- between the grades he had skipped before, and the grades he skipped going to college, he got in before he was old enough to drive. I don't think he ended up graduating from college. He is very capable, but he needed a mentor who was operating on the same level as him to help him develop emotional and social skills on par with his intellectual talents.