4 ms·
Well, we're likely one strong magnetic pulse away from having only paper books as a source of information, so there is that.
by dsego 6y ago
Well, we're likely one strong magnetic pulse away from having only paper books as a source of information, so there is that.
- onion2k 6y agoElectromagnetic pulses can't wipe CDs or DVDs, so we'd definitely still have anything stored on those, and most data centres are designed with EM shielding so we could still have data stored in the cloud unless it was a massive pulse. I think we'd be OK.
- Retric 6y agoCD’s and DVD’s require players which are susceptible to EM pulses. It seems extremely unlikely for that kind of global EM pulse to happen, but I can’t exactly say it’s impossible.
- ryder9 6y agofires destroy books, and there are more fires than EMPs more fires have destroyed entire libraries than EMPs have destroyed storage or digital storage reading devices
- dividedbyzero 6y agoI'm no EM-pulsicist, but I believe an EM pulse capable of inducing destructive currents in conductors as relatively short as those you'd find in an (unplugged) CD/DVD player, and doing that all over the globe, such a pulse would have to be ridiculously, absurdly massive. Are there any events or things we know about that could do this without also, say, sterilizing the planet?
- depressedpanda 6y agoCoronal mass ejections can cause geomagnetic storms that will mess with electronics globally. It happened back in 1859, but it's effects were limited as the only susceptible tech was telegraph systems. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
- iso1631 6y agoOn the other hand of all the books I'd like to save, the Ikea catalogue isn't top of the list.