4 ms·

> The resulting explosion packed the energy of 700 1-megaton nuclear bombs While not strictly on-topic, this wording is just weird, what's wrong with simply "7

> The resulting explosion packed the energy of 700 1-megaton nuclear bombs While not strictly on-topic, this wording is just weird, what's wrong with simply "700-megaton"?

dboreham 8y ago
Readers are likely much more familiar with the destructive power of a 1MT detonation (e.g. they can go watch one set off on YouTube). Nobody alive has seen a 700MT explosion.
jon_richards 8y ago
Most people don't realize how variable a nuclear bomb is, so they want a soundbite that makes people think "a lot of nuclear bombs". For context, nukes range from about .000001 to 50 megatons. If you combine all the nukes ever detonated, I don't think it would top 700 megatons.
- arethuza 8y ago
  Total appears to be 635 megatons - 545 Mt atmospheric and 90 underground Mt. Quite a bit more than I would have expected! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing
  - mabbo 8y ago
    As a species, we really enjoy blowing things up.
    - thanosnose 8y ago
      It's a bit unfair to blame the entire species when 2 countries are responsible for most of the nuclear tests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests
      - strictnein 8y ago
        How weird that countries that develop a new technology would test it far more than others who simply copied their work...
      - marssaxman 8y ago
        I have never been responsible for a nuclear test, but as a member of the human species, I can confirm that I really enjoy blowing things up.
JdeBP 8y ago
The use of "nuclear" unnecessarily makes this a two-step relationship, too: an equivalence to the energy of a nuclear explosion that is itself being equated to a TNT explosion. "The resulting explosion packed the energy of a 700-megaton bomb"
russh 8y ago
Because it was not 1 nuclears, but 700 nuclears! 700 nuclears AT ONCE!

> The resulting explosion packed the energy of 700 1-megaton nuclear bombs While not strictly on-topic, this wording is just weird, what's wrong with simply "700-megaton"?

dboreham 8y ago

Readers are likely much more familiar with the destructive power of a 1MT detonation (e.g. they can go watch one set off on YouTube). Nobody alive has seen a 700MT explosion.

jon_richards 8y ago

Most people don't realize how variable a nuclear bomb is, so they want a soundbite that makes people think "a lot of nuclear bombs". For context, nukes range from about .000001 to 50 megatons. If you combine all the nukes ever detonated, I don't think it would top 700 megatons.

arethuza 8y ago
Total appears to be 635 megatons - 545 Mt atmospheric and 90 underground Mt. Quite a bit more than I would have expected! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_weapons_testing
- mabbo 8y ago
  As a species, we really enjoy blowing things up.
  - thanosnose 8y ago
    It's a bit unfair to blame the entire species when 2 countries are responsible for most of the nuclear tests. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_weapons_tests
    - strictnein 8y ago
      How weird that countries that develop a new technology would test it far more than others who simply copied their work...
    - marssaxman 8y ago
      I have never been responsible for a nuclear test, but as a member of the human species, I can confirm that I really enjoy blowing things up.

JdeBP 8y ago

The use of "nuclear" unnecessarily makes this a two-step relationship, too: an equivalence to the energy of a nuclear explosion that is itself being equated to a TNT explosion. "The resulting explosion packed the energy of a 700-megaton bomb"

russh 8y ago

Because it was not 1 nuclears, but 700 nuclears! 700 nuclears AT ONCE!