I'm reminded of a fairly recent -- or recently released -- demonstration where researchers (in Idaho, IIRC) programmed a large engine/generator to self-destruct

I'm reminded of a fairly recent -- or recently released -- demonstration where researchers (in Idaho, IIRC) programmed a large engine/generator to self-destruct. It was then pointed out that latent inventory on such items is practically non-existent and replacement time is several months. I believe that replacement is also increasingly dependent upon China; North America essentially doesn't make the item, or critical components, any more. Knock out several of those in critical locations, and you start to grind the U.S. economy to a halt. You don't need to go nuclear. And destroying the engine was a fairly simple task of pushing it well outside its performance envelope. EDIT: Looks like pnathan already cited this event -- see the last link in this comment: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3035909 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3035909 It's a bit older than I remembered. The article is dated September, 2007. I note incidentally that for one "catastrophic" scenario they describe, with an estimated "cost" of $700 billion, the damages figure now pales in comparison to what the U.S. economy has been through in the last few years. A bit of a lesson of its own regarding the rhetoric that surrounds the actual topic.