3 ms·
Related: the "nuclear manhole cover" [1] (actually a 900 kg piece of armor plate) which may have accelerated to several times Earth's escape velocity over the c
by Sharlin 4y ago
Related: the "nuclear manhole cover" [1] (actually a 900 kg piece of armor plate) which may have accelerated to several times Earth's escape velocity over the course of a few meters (tens of millions of g's which is definitely impressive for such a heavy object). It was likely vaporized due to compressive heating before escaping Earth's atmosphere, however.
(I'm rather amused by the idea that some manager type evidently thought that a hunk of steel might contain a nuclear explosion in what was in essence a very large cannon!)
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plumbbob#Missing_steel_bore_cap https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Plumbbob#Missing_ste...
- kragen 4y agoA big enough hunk of steel can certainly contain a nuclear explosion.
- _carbyau_ 4y agoIf were going off on a tangent to nuclear explosions why not supernova: XKCD What if: https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/ Quotable quote: "However big you think supernovae are, they're bigger than that." The following paragraph to that quote is a great demonstration of that point.