It’s demon core kun!
Fun new game
Submitted 1 month ago by Alabaster_Mango@lemmy.ca to [deleted]
https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/71c0957c-fe1d-4b0b-af78-af47af42e4fc.png
Comments
idealotus@lemmy.world 1 month ago
ByteJunk@lemmy.world 1 month ago
That was hilarious. Also kinda spooky to think that, if Japan hadn’t surrendered, Demon Core-kun would have been the 3rd nuke dropped over them.
The cartoon only covers the second story arc though, the one with the screwdriver.
In the first arc, the core is “nude” and they’re stacking neutron-reflecting bricks around it to bring it close to criticality. A scientist drops a brick by accident on top of the core and boom, blue light and you’re dead (takes 2 weeks for your body to notice though).
bathing_in_bismuth@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
Wasn’t it the screwdriver? Or is that the second arc?
TurboHarbinger@feddit.cl 1 month ago
In the future, every kid will have one of this.
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
I’m sure in 1985, I’m sure plutonium is available in every corner drug store.
projectsquared@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Right next to the pinball machines.
marzhall@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Lmao, watched the musical this past weekend with visiting fam, would recommend
HikingVet@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
That might explain a few things.
danc4498@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I’m not smart enough to understand this…
captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 1 month ago
The Demon Core was a sphere of plutonium intended to be used as part of a nuclear bomb dropped on Japan. It wasn’t used for this purpose, and instead nuclear physicists used it in various experiments. Two of which involved approaching criticality.
One experiment involved stacking bricks made of some neutron reflecting material, like beryllium or something, around the core. Reflecting neutrons back at the plutonium would cause more fission events to occur; if it hits a certain threshold called criticality it it will release a considerable amount of radiation and heat. The goal was to get close to, but not exceed, that limit. The scientist was about to place one more brick when his instruments told him it would go critical if the brick was placed, so he started to back off…and dropped the brick.
The core went critical, releasing a wave of heat and a blast of dazzling blue light. Thinking quickly, the scientist smacked the brick away with his hand. He spent the next couple weeks dying of radiation sickness.
A short time later, another scientist started a similar experiment, this time enclosing the core in two half-spherical metal shells. If the core was completely surrounded by the shells, it would go critical. He used the blade of a flathead screwdriver to almost, but not quite, close the shells. Then the screwdriver slipped and the shells fully closed.
The core went critical, releasing a wave of heat and a blast of blinding blue light. Thinking quickly, the scientist smacked the upper shell away with his hand. He spent the next couple weeks dying of radiation sickness.
Decades later, youtube hair and beard model Kyle Hill released a video detailing this story, and it has since become something of a sensation on the internet. Images of the demon core in its “closing the shells” configuration is often used as shorthand for something that is exceedingly needlessly reckless. Some of the humor comes from if ya know, ya know, some of it is based in the justaposition of teh high intelligence required to do nuclear physics, with the negligent stupidity of putting nothing between you and a long ugly painful death but the blade of a screwdriver.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 1 month ago
What was the point of these approaching criticality experiments anyways?
sundray@lemmus.org 1 month ago
danc4498@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I definitely was not that smart. That was a very interesting read though. I would totally be the guy that drops a brick on it…
outhouseperilous@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
If youre not clicking the link: the smaller ball is a famous sphere of plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb (wouldve been the third one dropped on japan) that killed a lot of people in multiple lab accidents. The larger thing is its receptacle/shielding, which is open in these photos (which would kill everyone in the room)
Imagine a cursed evil (or maybe just anti imperialist) sword that never got a handle attached, but it’s…not a sword.
atomicorange@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Actually, open is good. When the shield (really a reflector) is closed, the core goes critical. Basically, the shield is made of mirrors that reflect neutrons back into the core, knocking more neutrons loose which then get reflected back in, at the point of criticality creating a feedback loop that will run away- a huge explosion. The closer the sphere is to fully closed, the more energy generated and the more radiation emitted.
Semi_Hemi_Demigod@lemmy.world 1 month ago
This is the sort of high-brow memory I’ve come to expect from Lemmy
janus2@lemmy.zip 1 month ago
Image