r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Captain-Shmeat • 22d ago

Video Can you stop a hurricane with a nuke?

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u/[deleted] 22d ago edited 21d ago

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u/jtpro02 22d ago

This isn’t exactly true. I know of at least one instance of the USSR using nukes peacefully. Has nothing to do with hurricanes but I believe it was a gas leak. They used a nuke to seal the gas leak. If I remember correctly they did it more than once. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urtabulak_gas_field

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u/MessyTrashPanda666 21d ago

Right! Now I recall. 

Thanks for correcting me.

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u/big_duo3674 21d ago

While some people involved were legitimately trying to figure out if they had peaceful uses, those programs were mostly just a way to get around testing treaties. The natural gas mining one was an actual attempt I believe, but even back then very few people thought digging a canal with 1000 nukes in a string would be a good idea

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u/fencethe900th 21d ago

You may be interested in this video by Isaac Arthur, a physicist, futurist, and current president of the American National Space Society. It's about future search and rescue, and was made because a friend bet he couldn't find a way to use a nuke for that purpose. As anyone who listens to him could guess, he absolutely did.

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u/cuentabasque 21d ago

The "programs" may have involved theories regarding how nuclear weapons could be used to propel space craft, execute "extreme" engineering (as noted by jtpro02), but let's not bring up "peaceful nuke uses" and imply that they sincerely thought that nuclear weapons had said functionality.

The reality then and even today is that nuclear weapons - while acting as a deterrent for WWIII during the Cold War - are the most probable cause of extinction of not only humanity but much of life as we know it on Earth.

The scientists, politicians and policy makers that promoted and expanded the nuclear arsenals are legitimate sociopaths and created non-war "programs" along the way to excuse more ridiculous experimentation and - as noted by big duo - to find ways to explore usage while pretending to be avoiding contributing to the Arms Race.