[ScienceFilter]: I want to drive a nuclear powered car. If nuclear power is good enough for submarines, why can't the technology be scaled down? Looking for big picture such as limitations, environment, storage, infrastructure and adaptations required.
posted by Funmonkey1 on Nov 23, 2009 - 25 answers

How destructive are current U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals relative to their maximum levels? [more inside]
posted by Joe Beese on Sep 26, 2009 - 8 answers

I have to produce a report on the Chinese nuclear power industry. Are there any good resources online to get me started? The focus is mainly on links between the state and business, and risk assessment for interested parties. I can read Mandarin.
posted by tawny on Aug 17, 2009 - 2 answers

What design features, if any, allow nuclear reactors on submarines to survive being inverted? [more inside]
posted by sindark on Apr 20, 2009 - 16 answers

I need an audio clip of a nuclear attack warning. Double points go to 50s-style announcer versus EAS computer voice. Triple points go to clips that are free and easy to get. I've got the explosion part, I just need that foreboding warning before it happens. Thanks!
posted by ictow on Nov 19, 2008 - 10 answers

What is this post-nuclear holocaust comic book I had as a kid? [more inside]
posted by arniec on Sep 30, 2008 - 3 answers

Is cooking (or re-heating) my food with a microwave destroying the food, sucking out nutrients that would not be removed by heating on the stove top in a stainless pan? I've heard this here and there, dated an Earth Mother South Austin Woman who was/likely is certain that I may as well put nuclear waste products AND rat poison in my food, pretty much heard the same about twenty minutes ago from a woman working in the vitamin/supplements department at Whole Foods, yet another Austin Earth Mother type; just the fact that I said the word 'microwave' caused her to get a big frowny face, looked like she had gas or something. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I like to toss broccoli with just a shade of water into the microwave for a couple of minutes, or re-heat my rice and beans or soup or whatever. Related: Does cooking vegetables in a pressure cooker rob them of needed nutrients? [more inside]
posted by dancestoblue on Aug 7, 2008 - 26 answers

According to this chart, there have been 2,422 nuclear explosions since 1945, including above ground, under ground, and in the sea. I'm somewhat amazed that this isn't having more of permanent negative effect. Does spreading out all the nuclear activity allow our ecosystem to absorb the radiation in reasonable intervals? Chernobyl has been a wasteland since the reactor meltdown. Was it simply that much more radioactive than actually testing bombs?
posted by SpacemanStix on Apr 24, 2008 - 47 answers

A bomber movie - I remember it from childhood. WWIII, drama, I'm pretty sure it was in color. [more inside]
posted by jimmyhutch on Jan 12, 2008 - 4 answers

Where can I find a (preferably downloadable) online copy of a recent TV commercial advertising a nuclear power company? I saw the ad all summer on CNN (United States) and I'm not sure if they're still running. The ad is a quirky animated piece showing the step-by-step process of nuclear energy, from mining to usage. It's presented in a 3D isometric perspective, similar to eboy/pixel art. I'd like to present it to a class I'm teaching, as the ad style liberally borrows from a Royksopp music video from a few years back. Thanks!
posted by itchi23 on Nov 4, 2007 - 4 answers

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran is only seeking "peaceful nuclear activities"; Presidential Candidates contend Iran is seeking nuclear weapons. Which is right? I can't trust sources from my own country (U.S.) What does a more objective (is there such a thing?) view say?
posted by pelican on Oct 30, 2007 - 25 answers

I'm taking a road trip through the southwest, and I'd like to see places with an interesting backstory or that show you "behind the scenes." I'm interested in places with political, economic, environmental, or industrial significance. Can you recommend some? [more inside]
posted by salvia on Sep 30, 2007 - 9 answers

Where can I find a picture that I saw a long time ago? It was a picture of an atomic bomb test with soldiers standing and watching the explosion silhouetted by the explosion.
posted by gnash on Sep 16, 2007 - 8 answers

What do supercomputers actually do? Specifically... [more inside]
posted by jonathanbell on Jun 27, 2007 - 11 answers

Looking for stories from anybody involved with the Navy's Nuclear Power program. [more inside]
posted by concrete on Jun 25, 2007 - 11 answers

Where can I go to see Cherenkov radiation -- not some simulation with a blue light in a deep-water bath, but the real thing -- as a tourist? [more inside]
posted by Rash on Jun 15, 2007 - 22 answers

Lets just say that the U.S. decided to stop burning hydrocarbons (oil, coal, natural gas) completely for environmental reasons. Lets say that everything went electric. Cars, Power Plants, factories, everything. How many nuclear plants (using current technology) would we need to produce? Would there be one in every moderate sized town? Also, how long would the raw materials last before another energy crisis was imminent (peak uranium, I guess)?
posted by DarkForest on Jun 6, 2007 - 52 answers

what is the difference between radiation poisoning, burn due to radiation, contaminated/heavy water, etc. what are the differences between nuclear power plant accidents and atomic bombs. [more inside]
posted by edtut on May 27, 2007 - 9 answers

So how close exactly were we to nuclear war? [more inside]
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Dec 9, 2006 - 17 answers

Do you know of a good place a guy could buy an atomic age pro-nuclear propaganda poster around here? [more inside]
posted by NGnerd on Nov 7, 2006 - 7 answers

Would it be feasible to dump nuclear waste into volcanoes? [more inside]
posted by PenDevil on Aug 16, 2006 - 13 answers

What is the origin of the phrase, "(something) should be nuked from orbit," or "nuke it from orbit?" [more inside]
posted by mikeh on Jul 23, 2006 - 24 answers

If you had to warn people 10,000 years in the future to stay away from a site, how would you do it? [more inside]
posted by b1tr0t on May 5, 2006 - 42 answers

If I wanted to learn all about the energy industy, what would be some good books and resources? [more inside]
posted by BigBrownBear on May 4, 2006 - 8 answers

Is there a name for a morbid obsession for apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic everything?? [more inside]
posted by ArchEnemy on Apr 19, 2006 - 19 answers

I'm being told that cesium and strontium are by-products of the enrichment of plutonium, which is a step beyond what takes place in a uranium-enrichment plant. True or false?
posted by tizzie on Mar 16, 2006 - 8 answers

I'm looking for objective information about the value of nuclear power. Specifically, how effective is it at generating power vis a vis its pollution A) quantity and B) um... vehemence? [more inside]
posted by ChrisR on Dec 27, 2005 - 13 answers

Given our current state of technology and the world's nuclear armaments, I ask the question that the world needs an answer to: Could we destroy Mars? [more inside]
posted by TwelveTwo on Dec 24, 2005 - 41 answers

In the original 1978 Superman movie Lex Luther plans to split apart the San Andreas fault-line using Nuclear armaments - the resulting explosion destined to send the entire Californian coastline and its inhabitants to murky ocean depths.

How much explosive force would be needed to cause any such kind of earthquake? And, using the San Andreas fault as a model, could Lex Luther's diabolic plan have any degree of success? [more inside]
posted by 0bvious on Dec 7, 2005 - 19 answers

Name that book: It's a German language novel in which several heavyweights of science address nuclear proliferation. [more inside]
posted by FissionChips on Dec 1, 2005 - 9 answers

Where's my Mr Fusion? - Cold or Hot, is there any realistic prospect of commercial nuclear fusion coming good before the oil starts to run out? Would throwing money at the problem help? [more inside]
posted by grahamwell on Sep 12, 2005 - 15 answers

China is scaring me. Specifically, the possibility that they'll make a play for Taiwan, the US will come to Taiwan's defense, and World War III (IV? V?) will break out. Are there good reasons this is unlikely?
posted by stupidsexyFlanders on Jul 20, 2005 - 59 answers

More FictionFilter: Nuclear warhead, meet Oz. Sound familiar? [more inside]
posted by melissa may on Nov 19, 2004 - 8 answers

Does nuclear annihilation hurt? [more inside]
posted by adrober on Nov 11, 2004 - 16 answers

Physicists and Environmentalists : what's the downside to this? Is there one (other than the disposal of depleted pebbles)? Seems pretty hope-making to me, layman that I am.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken on Sep 16, 2004 - 16 answers

In the event of full-scale nuclear war, will there be survivors in places like Mbuji-Mayi, Wekweti, and Noril'sk? If they were to survive the initial blast, would the fallout get them?
posted by trharlan on Jul 1, 2004 - 33 answers

Could a small nuclear device, sunk to the bottom of Yellowstone lake and detonated, actually cause the Yellowstone super-caldera to erupt? (more inside)
posted by troutfishing on May 4, 2004 - 25 answers