Elliot's Tumblelog

Cause of high yield - Nuclear Bombs

It was expected that lithium-6 isotope would absorb a neutron from the fissioning plutonium, emit an alpha particle and tritium in the process, of which the latter would then fuse with deuterium (which was already present in the LiD) and increase the yield in a predicted manner.

The designers missed the fact that when the lithium-7 isotope (which was considered basically inert) is bombarded with high-energy neutrons, it absorbs a neutron then decomposes to form an alpha particle, another neutron, and a tritium nucleus. This means that much more tritium was produced than expected, and the extra tritium in fusion with deuterium (as well as the extra neutron from lithium-7 decomposition) produced many more neutrons than expected and induced more fission of the uranium tamper, increasing yield.

This resultant extra fuel (both lithium-6 and lithium-7) contributed greatly to the fusion reactions and neutron production, and in this manner greatly increased the device’s yield. The test used lithium with a high percentage of lithium-7 only because lithium-6 was (at the time) scarce and expensive; the later Castle Union test used almost pure lithium-6. Had more lithium-6 been available, the usability of the common lithium-7 might not have been discovered.

Google a privacy risk?

My reply to Daily Trojan Article

Of course Google has a blog. Google owns and runs one of the best blogging services around: Blogger.com.

In fact, collecting user data does allow Google to be very innovative. Already they’ve added many interesting, useful, and time-saving features for users willing to share data. For example, it’s very compelling to see graphs of my search trends over time. What I’ve searched for, and when.

Google is keeping ahead of the curve by analyzing large amounts of data very quickly. You can be sure that if Google doesn’t do it, someone else will.

For instance, why are you concerned about Google, who merely has your search queries, when there exists Facebook, a huge privacy concern that has nothing to do with Google? Facebook actually does have your personal data, and you can rest assured they will be exploiting it more and more, with targeted ads and personalized sponsor messages. These sponsored “news items” are already appearing in my News Feed.

And, of course, you can always opt-out. Clear your cookies after each session, don’t search while logged into a Google Account, and Google won’t know who you are. Then, search queries are used in aggregate, and aren’t tied to a personal identity. Unlike AOL, Google has never publicly released user search queries.

Also, Google is not the only company collecting your data. I’m sure DailyTrojan.com is, too. Whether the DT is smart enough to put the data to good use is a different issue. Therefore as a plea to humans everywhere, Googler or otherwise: Don’t be stupid.

I’ve worked for Google, but the views presented in this comment are entirely my own (they do not represent the company in any way).

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