RE: Trump orders mini nukes
September 10, 2017 at 3:58 am
(This post was last modified: September 10, 2017 at 4:15 am by Anomalocaris.)
(September 10, 2017 at 1:25 am)Fake Messiah Wrote: The Trump administration is considering proposing smaller, more tactical nuclear weapons that would cause less damage than traditional thermonuclear bombs — a move that would give military commanders more options but could also make the use of atomic arms more likely.
http://www.politico.com/story/2017/09/09...uke-242513
The thing is there is a video of Michio Kaku on youtube talking about Project Orion - spaceship that would be propelled by nuclear explosions which would propel them to speeds that 1ly could be traveled in 10 years - and at the end he says that the deal-breaker is that in order to have Orion spacecraft we would need to create mini nukes and that would be too dangerous world to live in, since terrorists could easily smuggle them into cities and detonate them.
So now that Trump is mini nuking does that mean we'll be flying to nearby stars?!
I don't believe project Orion actually envision using real nuclear bombs. It envisions shooting a stream of small hydrogen containing pallets behind the space craft and trigger fusion reaction in them by blasting them with powerful lasers. This is a totally different principle from any nuclear weapons.
(September 10, 2017 at 2:45 am)AFTT47 Wrote: It's an interesting question. I doubt mini-nukes translate to the development of practical, slower-than-light starships but I would love to be proven wrong.
Although I am very liberal socially and somewhat liberal economically, I am probably to the right of center when it comes to national defense. I favor development of any technology which gives us additional options in warfare. It has the added benefit of maintaining our ability to lead in the development of advanced technology.
I am convinced we cannot continue to be a world leader without being at the forefront of the research and development of cutting-edge technology. Wealth alone doesn't cut it. If you don't know how to design and build things, you are a slave to those who do. I would prefer that our efforts in this area would be focused and driven by space exploration and clean energy but I'll take military development over stagnation.
I believe certain options, if available, will be enthusiastically used in a short sighted and ultimately self-defeating and self-destructive manner. Any estimate of the range of options that would likely be so used must expand greatly when the United States had proven capable of installing a trump in the position of commander in chief.
Therefore I no longer favor giving the us any new options involving nuclear weapons. Instead I favor a very sharp reduction in those options.
