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The meme-ification of the “Demon Core”
- Topfi 2y agoI'd argue Kyle Hill [0] should have been mentioned since his coverage appears instrumental in this trend. Also, if you are so inclined, there are also Chernobyl memes [1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z497lu4t5XI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z497lu4t5XI [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQeC06SdicI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQeC06SdicI
- blueflow 2y agoMy spouse works in a nuclear research facility. Everytime they talk about radiation or something i make jokes from the HBO "Chernobyl" series like "3.6 Röntgen, not good, not terrible". Some years ago i gifted them a snow globe for birthday, but not one with a snowman and white particles, but one with a little chernobyl plant and black particles. Their coworkers found it funny. It is still at their desk these days.
- MisterTea 2y ago> but one with a little chernobyl plant and black particles. Now I want one. Where did you buy it from if you don't mind me asking?
- blueflow 2y agoFrom Ukraine via eBay. It shipped within 2 weeks despite the ongoing war. It is apparently a popular tourist souvenir.
- antononcube 2y ago[flagged]
- antononcube 2y agoIt is very interesting that my comment above was downvoted!
- noman-land 2y agoNo one wants to read someone else's AI generated stuff. We can all do this ourselves. It's like linking to a search result page.
- antononcube 2y agoAgain, good to know. Although, my AI-generation was a response to an interesting comment. You do not think readers are interested to see how the Chernobyl snow-globes look like?! (Looking at AI generated images or store links.)
- andrewflnr 2y agoBut we wouldn't know what it looks like, we would only know what your AI thinks it looks like. So no, we're not interested in filling up our heads with vaguely related AI slop. If you had actually posted the store link that would be an entirely different question, which you've somehow tried to conflate with generated images.
- antononcube 2y agoIt is wrong to assume/state that people do not want to see these AI-generated images. At this point, ≈40 people have seen that _hidden_ Imgur post.
- blueflow 2y agoI clicked on it at least twice and found it disgusting. If more people were like you, thinking this is a good idea, i would stop posting my IRL stories to the internet.
- thewanderer1983 2y agoSorry to hijack this thread. I'm using a Dec Vt220, 420 and 510. You posted a git link back in 2020 with your improvements to making it useful. The link no longer works. Are you able to provide an updated link?
- blueflow 2y agoI have a site named yin at neocities, from the index page, bottom-most link. I'm not linking directly because it redirects to weeb trash if there is a social site in the referrer. Also if you have questions about the VT520, you could join ##asm on libera IRC.
- thewanderer1983 2y agoThanks, found it.
- Ferret7446 2y agoThis meme easily predates Kyle Hill's coverage. This is from 2016 https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/55580841 https://www.pixiv.net/artworks/55580841 and I'm pretty sure there are examples from earlier years.
- Semaphor 2y ago> Because it’s a meme derived from human suffering. It’s meant to be in bad taste — that’s the source of the humor. I don’t agree. To me, it’s derived from many things, like juxtaposing something incredibly stressful and dangerous, with something else. I’d go further and say the suffering that happened is only important in that it made the demon core popular and well-known, but the memes would still work if it somehow became well-known without the death and suffering because no accident happened.
- jonathrg 2y agoThe source of the humor is that what Slotin did is extremely funny. So obscenely reckless.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- lenerdenator 2y agoPart of me thinks he'd laugh his ass off at the memes. Hell, when the accident happened, he said, "Well, that does it."
- Forgeties79 2y agoYeah I’ve always thought the juxtaposition of 1) these high level experts with 2) one of the most dangerous objects we’ve ever created against the ways 2 was treated by 1 is part of the entertainment. Like its own unique and wildly unexpected category of the Darwin awards. Yeah it’s sad but it is almost difficult to believe, so it ends up being kind of funny
- vundercind 2y agoYep. It's like someone chain-smoking cigarettes while working with gasoline. There's a "yo, WTF?" humor to how reckless it is. Off-primary use of a mundane hand tool being the only thing preventing a minor nuclear disaster is simply funny. Like God forming man from mud not with the fine tools of a master clay-worker, but a child's play-doh plastic carving tools and a couple toothpicks.
- jchw 2y agoThe first time I saw the Demon Core as a "meme" is from the Japanese creator からめる, a person most known for short absurdist humor animations. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIjbX1gj88 https://youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIjbX1gj88 I'm not sure if this is the genesis of the demon core meme (probably not), but it definitely came fairly early on.
- cdchn 2y agoI was going to comment that I'm disappointed there is no mention of Demon core-kun.
- thih9 2y agoIf anyone is interested, there are more animations like this e.g.: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZnfbl_Z7M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNZnfbl_Z7M , https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Od_RTVirPCo https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Od_RTVirPCo , https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyl3WQCttQ8 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyl3WQCttQ8 . Sadly I see english subtitles only in the last one.
- jchw 2y agoIf you scroll far enough in the comments of most of からめる's videos, there will almost always be a English-translated transcript somewhere. Of course, in many cases you barely need them, since most of their videos don't really need much explanation, or maybe more accurately, utterly defy attempts at being explained.
- RajT88 2y agoI feel like this had to emerge on 2ch. The mix of cute/death is very much that community.
- wruza 2y agoWhat is going on here? I am not exceptionally well-versed in anime or manga tropes, but I think the “obvious” reading of this is a classic case of “unexpected juxtaposition creates humor.” That is, moving something from one context (“Demon Core,” radiation experiment, horrible death) into another (cute, anime, girls) creates something that feels novel and unusual Ah, sir, I guess you’re completely unfamiliar with anime tropes. From absurd brutality to dark drama (much worse than your Titanic Ending and Futurama Dog), everything can be found in anime. Thinking that these are cute animations for teens and children is a big mistake. I, a grown up adult, usually dread when an anime plot is too nice to its actors and think if I want to watch it further. This juxtaposition is well-expected.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- bitwize 2y agoThere's a lot of light and fluffy fare in anime. Even back in the 90s when I was used to sex, violence, drama, and strong character lore in my anime, I discovered You're Under Arrest and was a bit surprised to discover that it pretty much went nowhere, just an episodic series full of funny things for the characters to do. Especially surprising for a show about police officers, which in American media usually means it's a "procedural" with particularly dangerous criminals and high stakes. But in YUA the officers mainly deal with petty criminals and get up to wacky hijinks. More recent series, like Azumanga Daioh and Lucky Star, are pretty much just schoolgirls doing cute things. And maybe that's just the energy you need sometimes rather than, say, the horror and drama of Attack On Titan. To paraphrase Brad Bird, anime is not a genre. It's a broad art form that encompasses all genres. This is a common mistake for Western viewers of anime; even in the 90s it was marketed to us as being all dark, twisted Liquid Television stuff. But yeah, actually, most anime is created for and marketed to kids and teens. In Japan, if you're an adult consumer of anime, your peers may wonder what the hell is wrong with you and why won't you grow up. (Manga is different; plenty of manga are produced for adult consumption, and these are fairly serious in tone, and may lack the fantastic settings or big-eyed character designs Westerners associate with the medium.) Adult anime otaku in Japan are viewed with the same bemusement and contempt we might have for, say, the grown-ass men who are fans of My Little Pony. This may have changed more recently, as the Japanese government has leaned into the idea of anime and manga being important cultural exports through its "Cool Japan" publicity program.
- cr3ative 2y agoI feel like some conclusions of the intent here are born from being very well versed in the actual outcomes, including what I can only assume was a very painful end to someone's life. But on the surface level of it, it's a scientist doing something knowingly incredibly dangerous and dumb for no particularly justifiable reason. We've all felt a bit like that at some point. We just probably didn't have a core and a screwdriver.
- vundercind 2y agoIt's a master-tier Darwin Award win. That's why it's funny. Same reason should-have-known-better accidents often get a laugh even when the consequences were pretty grave. "I'm a highly-trained scientist who helped develop the bombs that leveled two cities and usher in the nuclear era... yeah, lemme just fuck around with this bomb core and a screwdriver such that I'm one muscle-twitch from killing everyone around me, that seems fine."
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- KameltoeLLM 2y ago[flagged]
- PaulHoule 2y agoOddly the art is largely Japanese in style, not just the musume (e.g. "girl") images but that first one. Between that accident and the year 2000 there were about 60 criticality accidents causing about 20 fatalities https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ml0037/ML003731912.pdf https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ml0037/ML003731912.pdf After a software project failure that overturned my life I got interested in the quality movement, Deming, Toyota Production System and all that. I was also interested in nuclear energy, actually opposed to it at that time, an opinion I have changed. Before the Fukushima accident I became aware that Japan was leading the world in nuclear accidents, especially this criticality incident https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/tokaimura-criticality-accident https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-sec... as well as the comedy of errors at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monju_Nuclear_Power_Plant which I could summarize as "makes Superphenix look like a huge success" Causes floated for that were that (1) Japan was more aggressive at developing nuclear technology post-1990 more than any country other than Russia (who is making the FBR look easy today) and (2) the attitudes and methods that served Japan well in cars and semiconductors served them terribly in the nuclear business. Workgroups in a Japanese factory, for instance, are expected to modify their techniques and tools to improve production but takes detailed modelling and strict following of rules to avoid criticality accidents.
- marcosdumay 2y ago> Workgroups in a Japanese factory, for instance, are expected to modify their techniques and tools to improve production If you go through the Fukushima disaster handling, that doesn't seem to have happened at all. In fact, people seemed to be super inflexible and actions seemed to have a long authorization chain. The Toyota Production System wasn't actually that free, it expected people to report the changes before they happen and had plenty of opportunities for a manager to step in and stop it. Anyway, I'm not sure how widely it was adopted in Japan, the system famously came from there, but the country isn't famous for applying it.
- fwip 2y agoI feel like it's a totally different scenario. In usual times, you can afford to innovate - trade some risk for potential improvement. In disasters, you want to follow the established procedure, to minimize risk in an already confusing and unusual situation.
- shdh 2y ago> So perhaps if anybody has a “right” to make jokes in poor taste about the “Demon Core”… it might be the Japanese? > I’m not here to be the humor police, or to say things should be “off limits” for comedy, or that it’s “too soon,” or make any other scolding noises. Dark humor, in its own strange and inverted way, is arguably a sort of coping mechanism — a defense against the darkness, a way to tame and de-fang the horrors of the world.
- moate 2y agoI am always of the opinion that as long as the joke lands with the audience or does what the teller intended, it's a good joke. Comedy is about a give and take between the comedian/artist/whatever and their audience. The problem arises when people think they are an intended audience when they are not (the pope going to a Bill Hicks show), or when a comedian thinks that they're in front of their intended audience when they are not (a conservative comic at the Appolo). A lot of people need to learn this on both sides, and more importantly need to stop complaining when they come to this realization.
- shdh 2y agoYeah, I concur. I know someone who saw a Carlin skit where he jokes about prisoners escaping... Basically the person got triggered. Either way, I don't believe in censoring humor in most cases.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoFun fact - if you eat the demon-core, at 124 trillion calories, it will provide enough energy for the rest of your life.
- cainxinth 2y agoAll 30 seconds of it.
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoI can count on the fingers of one hand, the number of times I've been to Chernobyl
- kstrauser 2y agoEight?
- ndsipa_pomu 2y agoClose enough
- Hamuko 2y agoYou won't die in 30 seconds unless you shoot yourself in the head afterwards (which may be the preferable option).
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- SoftTalker 2y agoWell plutonium metal aside from the radioactivity is actually poisonous, like most heavy metals. I wonder which would kill you first?
- saagarjha 2y ago
- caseyy 2y agoFor comedy one needs to subvert expectations, and this is why making light of grave events (Black Comedy) is a big phenomenon. There are many examples from WW2 comedy to 9/11 memes. Sometimes the examples are more indirect, like in film: American Psycho, American Beauty, Wolf of Wall Street, The Big Short, Fargo, Don't Look Up, Fight Club, Quentin Tarantino's stuff, etc. All of them deal with dark themes in a light way. Given the prevalence of this in our culture, the author seems a bit surprised. Maybe they didn't connect it to dark comedy.
- ziddoap 2y ago>Maybe they didn't connect it to dark comedy. I think they made the connection to dark comedy: >this somewhat kawaii rendering of the Slotin experiment, along with the “I love science” phrasing, was a form of dark humor. And later >Dark humor, in its own strange and inverted way, is arguably a sort of coping mechanism — a defense against the darkness, a way to tame and de-fang the horrors of the world.
- caseyy 2y agoOh yeah. My bad. I maintain the author reads as surprised though.
- derektank 2y agoYeah, in spite of the author's claims to not want to be the humor police, this really just reads as someone who takes their work as a historian of nuclear weapons 'very seriously' and doesn't want it to be joked about. The SNL joke he identified as being particularly offensive ("Having received the Novel Peace Prize, the survivors of the nuclear bombings called the award the second biggest surprise of their lives") is ... pretty anodyne? It's not making fun of the survivors or glorifying cruelty, it's just contrasting the banal things people say when receiving awards with the extreme reality of having endured one of the most awful events in human history. That kind of juxtaposition is pretty par for the course in comedy, let alone dark comedy. And when it comes to engaging with the reality of awful events, not everyone wants to or has the capacity to treat them with the grave solemnity the author seems to expect.
- itishappy 2y agoNo mention of the earlier XKCD mentioning the demon core? It's what set in motion my particular interest in nuclear accidents. I don't agree with the author's analysis here. I think the demon core is simply memorable. It has a scary name and the beryllium sphere is iconic in a way the Kelley and SL-1 accidents simply aren't. https://xkcd.com/1242/ https://xkcd.com/1242/
- Vecr 2y agoWhat's the Helvetica Scenario? Just a joke? I know all the other ones.
- dole 2y agohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y-yKmzP-4U https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y-yKmzP-4U A bit from Look Around You, a (fantastic) British comedy show made to look like retro science classroom educational videos, from the minds of Peter Serafinowicz and Robert Popper
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- coremoff 2y agoExplain XKCD to the rescue: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1242:_Scary_Names https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1242:_Scary_Names
- dale_glass 2y agoDespite it being so famous, and the memes, I still don't understand what Slotin was doing. So I get it, it was a demonstration of how to perform an experiment. But I can't understand how the screwdriver makes any sense at all. What's being measured? What does success and failure look like? What does the experiment produce, what data in what format? Because in my head, a proper experiment has data collection and precise measurements. Somebody's working on a data table that says "At position X, we measured value Y". But randomly wiggling stuff around with a screwdriver, I can't see how one can do anything of the sort. And I figure at this level, "more coverage = more radiation" is kind of a trivial point that doesn't really need to be demonstrated.
- sho_hn 2y agoMy understanding is that he was demonstrating a technique for how to bring the system to near supercriticality, without causing it. I.e. the objective was to look at the measurement devices they had and monitor them, and build an understanding of what the data was showing. This would then (in principle) be repeated by others with more specific objectives later. Obviously they should've built a rig for that (at least), but I guess there was a "ain't nobody got time for that" attitude.
- dale_glass 2y agoRight, but shouldn't distance be a critical part of such a measurement? Like if we measure the amount of noise a device makes, we do it in a quiet room and at a standard distance. Without precision there's no useful data being generated. So that's the part that I don't get. Shouldn't there be a screw being turned precise amounts, precisely made shims, or at least calipers be involved?
- sho_hn 2y agoI think it was more about being able to understand/read what the measurement devices were showing. The exact distance probably wasn't as important as the criticality could also vary with other variables (e.g. geometry). As in, you're trying to understand the situation as "shouldn't they have precisely nailed down all the parameters, if the goal is to measure when X starts happening". But it seems Slotin was more demonstrating "this is what you're going to see on the monitors when stuff is close to going boom". It wasn't about "this specific distance is a safe gap" and more "here's how you can tell whether the gap is safe". He was about to be reassigned out of the lab, and was demonstrating equipment to his designated successors.
- mensetmanusman 2y agoI still can’t believe that there exists rocks on this world that will make a room glow blue and kill everyone in the room if the rocks are brought close together.
- lm28469 2y agoHeavily processed rocks that very few nations can produce. A bit like your cpu is just sand, heavily processed sand
- jayrot 2y agoRight? Also there are an awful lot more totally boring and simple things that “if brought together” make exciting stuff happen. Sodium and Chlorine? Potassium and water?
- BobaFloutist 2y agoSodium and chlorine are kind of the opposite, they're two very exciting things that if brought together, after some chaos, make something pretty boring.
- vanderZwan 2y agoHonestly, we don't spend enough time feeling appropriately amazed at the processed sand we're using to communicate right now either.
- giraffe_lady 2y ago"A computer is a rock we tricked into thinking."
- krisoft 2y agoI likewise “can’t believe” we have CPUs. The two things are equally wild to me. Sometimes i imagine how I would explain our current tech to someone clever and curious from the past. Like what would Jules Verne, Edison or John von Neumann do if you took your iphone out of your pocket and show them as you unlock it with your face, click youtube and search their name. (Just as an example of something super pedestrian and mundane which might just blow their minds.) We are trully living in an age of wonders.
- vanderZwan 2y agoThe author mentions 2019. That was the year that the "Demon Core Kun" videos were put on YouTube[0]. There's no mention of them in the article, which is a bit odd. I don't know if that was the first to "memeify" the demon core, but it certainly is one of the most popular memeifications, with each of the eight videos having somewhere between three to six million views. This also would explain the relatively large presence of anime memes in particular, since the "main" meme is a series of Japanese animations. EDIT: knowyourmeme.com actually has an article about the Demon Core and its popularity in Japan as a meme[1]. Apparently the latter predates the Demon Core Kun series by about a year at least. Still, the latter being on YT made it a lot more accessible to non-Japanese people which might explain the spike in meme popularity in 2019. [0] https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjjzx95hXRLvbVeHuE8fTcaUsM0pTrEyu https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjjzx95hXRLvbVeHuE8fT... [1] https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/demon-core https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/demon-core
- anilakar 2y agoMemes are fun. Crossover memes doubly so. There's no need to overanalyze.
- niemandhier 2y agoPart of the reason why we slowed down in our progress in science is that we do not take risks like that anymore. Now the risk takers are at private companies.
- thfuran 2y agoWould science have progressed more slowly if they had spent a few hours building a decent rig for that that can't slip like a screwdriver instead of losing a scientist?
- haccount 2y ago[dead]
- bigstrat2003 2y agoYes, but not in the way you're implying. Safety measures don't exist in a vacuum, they exist in a whole system of other similar safety measures. In aggregate, this system of safety measures does slow science down (or anything else). One might argue that it's worth it to slow down output for the sake of safety, but I don't think one can reasonably argue that output doesn't slow down.
- thfuran 2y agoIt is possible to construct a system of safety measures so absolute that almost no work can get done, and it is possible (in a sufficiently dangerous field) to be so reckless that injuries to and deaths of would-be contributors stymie progress. Even ignoring the value of avoiding death and injury for its own sake, it is likely that optimal productivity lies somewhere in between.
- coldpie 2y agoWhat? We're making incredible progress. mRNA vaccines, CRISPR, access to space research, materials sciences, the upcoming AI-driven research boom. It's crazy out there, and as a bonus, we're not irradiating anyone due to clumsy screwdriver techniques. Stop paying attention to whatever source is leading you to believe scientific progress has slowed down. They're lying to you.
- jayrot 2y agoAs Shaw said, “Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.” Things can be, and often are, both at the same time.
- numpad0 2y agoOh they still haven't figured this one out at knowyourmeme? Demon Core meme came from KanColle(2013) communities in Futaba, and permeated to nicovideo.jp as well as to Twitter. That's why it is predominantly image based with few GIFs inbetween, why it is Demon Core and Demon Core only, and why there are few comical non-girl versions created years after inception. I'd guess overlap between outspoken (ex-)Futaba users AND HN readers(hops_max=3) OR knowyourmeme users is exactly 1.0f, and this won't ever go on record anywhere unless someone say it somewhere, so here you go.
- guerrilla 2y agoCan you elaborate? What's the context? I have no idea what those communities are.
- numpad0 2y agoThe Crossroad trio was ~2015 addition to the game so it doesn't quite date back to 2013, but I doubt others enjoy inevitable wall of text for complete context at this time. I suspect it will take few more years until enough with Anglosphere background gains enough Japanese literacy to document this. For now I'd leave just pointers here.
- throwaway37387 2y agoFutaba Channel is a Japanese imageboard website originally born as a mirror backup for the textboard website 2ch (now 5ch). You may be aware of 4chan, which was directly based on Futaba and from which it took much of its culture. Nico Nico Douga is a video hosting website that was created soon after YouTube's boom. It's famous for having user comments scrolling across videos and for being one of Japan's biggest meme factory from 2007 to 2012. Forcing users to login to watch videos, the push for premium accounts, and a rough transition from FLASH to HTML5 are considered some of main reasons of its decline.
- Dalewyn 2y ago>some of main reasons of its decline. Also Youtube, and justifiably so for once. NicoNico was simply obnoxious to use even in its heyday, while you could just open a Youtube vidja and watch. Once Youtube incorporated livestreaming and chat, it was over for NicoNico.
- philipkglass 2y agoThere's also this one from last year: https://old.reddit.com/r/nuclearweapons/comments/12x9rxi/the_spicy_ball/ https://old.reddit.com/r/nuclearweapons/comments/12x9rxi/the... Based on The Ol' Spicy Keychain: https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-ol-spicy-keychain https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/the-ol-spicy-keychain
- louthy 2y agoDidn’t read it, just went for the memes. The kinder surprise one is absolute genius!
- frozenlettuce 2y agoAs per Aquinas, every joke is a disguised form of sadness. You can only laugh at something that is sad.
- willis936 2y agoThey didn't include my favorite example. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbal-banging_monkey_toy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbal-banging_monkey_toy
- bigstrat2003 2y agoI had never heard of this story. What an absolutely horrible way to die. Not only do you have ample time to suffer with the knowledge of your impending death, but you get to do so in agony the whole time. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.
- Lammy 2y agoAzumanga Daioh mentioned :) I like the pun on “hot girl stuff” https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/hot.html https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/glossary/hot.html
- pawelduda 2y agoMy favourite one is the flail with the demon core attached to it. Memes aside, I find it fascinating how absurd was thinking that experiment was a good idea
- kps 2y agoMine is the cup-and-ball style toy.
- Vaslo 2y agoIm on the internet a ton. Very familiar with the two horrible nuclear research accidents that occurred around this time. Never once seen these meme. Also, I love how the author tries to argue for who should be allowed to make the joke, like there is some arbiter who can tell you “oh you don’t fall into that group so you are not allowed to make that joke.”
- Razengan 2y agoThe "Demon Core kun" short anime series on YouTube is the most hilarious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIjbX1gj88 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZIjbX1gj88
- treflop 2y agoLet me tell you about 9/11 memes…
- 00N8 2y agoIMO the demon core incident resonates with people as kind of the ultimate case of "playing with fire". Humans have always played with fire, so we see the attraction, but also the dangers of it. It's a primitive behavior that's put us at risk, but also been the origin of most of our technology. The juxtaposition of a top nuclear weapons scientist taking such a "caveman" approach, playing with a new kind of "fire" that's millions of times more powerful, is poignant in the way it's absurd, but also relatable, sad & darkly funny.
- ngruhn 2y agoWell said
- nghia999 2y ago[flagged]
- vibrolax 2y agoTwice bitten, three times shy. After the Slotin incident, prompt critical assemblies by hand were prohibited. Los Alamos then built a series of remotely operated critical assembly machines. There is a fair amount of open source literature on them, especially the "Godiva" series. Some of these machines have experienced criticality excursions that damaged the machine, but spared the biological organisms operating them by remote control.
- formerly_proven 2y agoWhich reminds me, I can unfortunately not turn this up, but iirc at one of the national labs they've been working on dismantling a particular set of hot cells and iirc the whole thing has been stalled for a couple years trying to figure out how to do it. Sort of like a "demon hot cell".
- jkestner 2y agoI really liked this telling of the story with illustrations: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230719-the-blue-flash-louis-slotin-accident-manhattan-project-oppenheimer-atomic-bomb https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230719-the-blue-flash-l...
- GauntletWizard 2y agoThe front page of hacker news is not where I expected to see Gura fanart today.
- kapp_in_life 2y agoRemember learning about this from the crossover with fake "bowling alley animations" like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6MQwsJCA4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2q6MQwsJCA4
- nothacking_ 2y agoJust about all humor derives from some degree of suffering. Compared what the core could have done, the three deaths from the accident are nothing. Even things that are joked about often have much higher death tolls like wars and natural disasters.
- cocodill 2y agoIt's pretty funny to see so many anime memes when you consider that demoncore was originally planned as the third bomb for japan.
- the_af 2y agoI can honestly say I don't understand this meme. I don't understand what it's trying to say. I know what the Demon Core is (there was a similar, lesser known accident in my country, but it only killed the operator) and I'm all for bleak humor, but... ... I don't understand this one. What's with the animé girls and the cutesy style? What is this mocking exactly? I'm not offended by it or anything, I just don't get it. Seems completely random as well as obscure.
- HelloUsername 2y agoThough not really a meme, I always found Anatoli Bugorski in the same, amazingly interesting area as the Demon Core accident. (A real life Gordon Freeman?) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Bugorski
- danielodievich 2y agoIt just so happens that I am reading Andrei Sakharov's (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrei_Sakharov) memoirs, he was heavily heavily involved in USSR's thermonuclear weapons design and development, and then became a peace activist, dissident and eventually a Nobel Peace prize winner. His memoirs are a mix of highly technical details and lovely descriptions of people. He mentions "demon core" in passing in an early part of the book, and I am paraphrasing/translating here, their "object" (barbed-wire walled off city, similar to Los Alamos, except USSR had way more of them) had technician who was measuring things just like the guy doing it with demon core - neutron flux, neutron absorption, etc; the measurements were using gaskets of standard width, with multiple layers in between the half-spheres; the technician was a) very capable, b) getting there in age and crucially c) prone to hitting the bottle at work. He eventually got caught and was immediately sacked and replaced with someone a) less capable and b) younger but c) not drinking, who eventually did something similar and I quote "although no lives were lost like in american incident, lots of equipment was ruined". He proceeds to add that they added lots of procedures and fail checks and safety equipment, and it slowed things a lot. He also quips then that after he learned about USA mishaps, he wasn't surprised that stuff like that went on "over there" too.