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I am not at all reassured by the suggestion that hiding to one side of a door will help. I don't understand the details of the simulation, but I would have gue

I am not at all reassured by the suggestion that hiding to one side of a door will help. I don't understand the details of the simulation, but I would have guessed incoming pressure waves would bounce off back walls and create a turbulent mess of forces in the areas hidden from the initial pulse. Also ignored was the solidity of the walls. Concrete might survive, brick could possibly survive. But a partition wall with a couple of sheets of thin plasterboard nailed to weak wooden supports would be unlikely to offer much protection.

toss1 4y ago
Solidity of the walls is definitely an issue. But if the walls are sufficiently solid (they were talking about concrete buildings), the velocities were orders of magnitudes lower just to the sides of the doors and windows, so hugging the adjacent wall or just under the window will keep you from being picked up and flung downwind, as well as having the shrapnel flying past you and not into you. Big difference. I saw one post from a medic in the Ukraine war. He said 80%+ of the injuries he treated were because people didn't get flat on the ground fast enough. He then demonstrated how to do it correctly. Most people, when trying to get on the ground will first kneel, then lie down. He demonstrated how to do it in one motion, either straight like an inverse push-up or burpee exercise, or with a twist. Flat in <1sec instead of ~2-3 seconds makes the difference between "whew" and metal embdded in your body. Same can be true here. That's also why I mentioned opening your mouth, since the shockwaves bouncing around can damage tissues if air can't escape, but if it can, it just goes by. Nothing is a guarantee, but taking measures increased your odds a lot, which was the point of the study. May we never need it.
- htag 4y ago
  > Flat in <1sec instead of ~2-3 seconds makes the difference between "whew" and metal embdded in your body. Same can be true here. If you have less than 2 seconds of warning of a nuclear blast while within ~5psi shockwave distance then your warning is probably a very bright light from your window. I'd hope for several minutes of warning via public alerting.
  - kqr 4y ago
    This goes also for conventional charges and things like the Tunguska event. Since the shockwave -- by equality -- comes simultaneously with the sound, the light will be your advance warning. Unfortunately most people's reaction to a sudden bright light is to go stand by the window to see what it is. This gets you killed at distances that would otherwise be survivable with good probability.

toss1 4y ago

Solidity of the walls is definitely an issue. But if the walls are sufficiently solid (they were talking about concrete buildings), the velocities were orders of magnitudes lower just to the sides of the doors and windows, so hugging the adjacent wall or just under the window will keep you from being picked up and flung downwind, as well as having the shrapnel flying past you and not into you. Big difference. I saw one post from a medic in the Ukraine war. He said 80%+ of the injuries he treated were because people didn't get flat on the ground fast enough. He then demonstrated how to do it correctly. Most people, when trying to get on the ground will first kneel, then lie down. He demonstrated how to do it in one motion, either straight like an inverse push-up or burpee exercise, or with a twist. Flat in <1sec instead of ~2-3 seconds makes the difference between "whew" and metal embdded in your body. Same can be true here. That's also why I mentioned opening your mouth, since the shockwaves bouncing around can damage tissues if air can't escape, but if it can, it just goes by. Nothing is a guarantee, but taking measures increased your odds a lot, which was the point of the study. May we never need it.

htag 4y ago
> Flat in <1sec instead of ~2-3 seconds makes the difference between "whew" and metal embdded in your body. Same can be true here. If you have less than 2 seconds of warning of a nuclear blast while within ~5psi shockwave distance then your warning is probably a very bright light from your window. I'd hope for several minutes of warning via public alerting.
- kqr 4y ago
  This goes also for conventional charges and things like the Tunguska event. Since the shockwave -- by equality -- comes simultaneously with the sound, the light will be your advance warning. Unfortunately most people's reaction to a sudden bright light is to go stand by the window to see what it is. This gets you killed at distances that would otherwise be survivable with good probability.