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Ask HN: If you were to build a doomsday device, what'd it be?
It's Monday.
Rules: it has to sound moderately plausible. And debating "no that won't work b/c of blah blah blah" is no fun. Instead, suggest changes to help. We're all about productivity here.
To get the ball rolling: build another version of the large hadron collider in space, then, when it starts making black holes, throw it into the sun. Nothing says apocalypse like the sun dying.
- knieveltech 18y agoStockpile thermite. When sufficient mass is achieved, ignite the lot and burn a hole through the earth's crust. The resulting supervolcanic eruption should end civilization.
- lallysingh 18y agoExcellent. Classic Dr. Evil. You'll probably need to keep pumping oxygen into the area to make sure it stays on fire.
- yan 18y agoThermite is self-oxidizing
- brk 18y agoSimple. A basic worm that infects IOS-based (Cisco) devices and renders them all inoperable at a coordinated time. No Intarwebs would either equal doomsday, or massive social liberation.
- knieveltech 18y agoThe death of the internet would hardly result in the collapse of global civilization. We'd just revert to more primal past times, like looting and arson.
- rms 18y ago...and the library.
- knieveltech 18y agoAllez card catalog.
- johngunderman 18y agoHa, my cousin plans to build a huge fleet of zepplins that play Breathe by Prodigy as he nukes the cities of the world. I'm just hoping he's not serious. (Though that song would be fitting for nuking cities :-) )
- lallysingh 18y agoHe should have some UAVs with speakers flying at lower altitude, otherwise people won't recognize the tune. Also, some heat shielding on the zepplin and a very well-protected cabin -- I'm not sure those things can get out of range fast enough.
- deleted 18y ago[deleted]
- fbbwsa 18y agohigh fructose corn syrup. obesity becomes the new norm. everyone gets so fat they can't walk around, global production grinds to a halt. Nobody can remember how to hunt or farm since its so long since our sedentary society has engaged in such primitive practices. the irony is that we all die of starvation in the aftermath of our obesity. slow acting doomsday.
- knieveltech 18y agoDeath by blort.
- mindviews 18y agoAn acoustic device that produces high-amplitude waves at the resonant frequency of the human cranial cavity: head goes pop!
- MaysonL 18y agoDust Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Manhattan, Pasadena, Austin, and Chapel Hill with prions.