The fiery rhetoric heating up tensions between the U.S. and North Korea is giving new life to old anxieties from the Cold War era, with worst-case scenarios that are more fearsome even than the germs and microbes lying in wait on a shared mic.
Now that atomic warfare and nuclear explosives have once again become prevalent in both my everyday conversation and my nighttime dreamscape I have felt compelled to go back and reeducate myself in regard to the history and devastation of nuclear testing and warfare.
Then and Now
Having grown up during the Cold War period, I distinctly remember the fear and hand-wringing caused by the Cuban missile crises. In 1962, the standoff between the U.S. and Soviet Union in regard to the 13-day Cuban missile crises was taking place a mere 17 years after the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. With the horrors of the Japanese devastation still looming large in the minds of the world populace, anxiety was at an all-time high, and for good reason. The 16-kiloton “Little Boy” bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima and the 20-kiloton “Fat Man” bomb unleashed on Nagasaki that wiped out both cities and killed approximately 250,000 people — either by immediate incineration or because of sustained injuries and radiation poisoning — was still a haunting and fresh memory in the collective consciousness.
Zooming forward 55 years, there are now about 15,000 nuclear weapons accounted for worldwide, with Russia and the U.S. owning about 7,000 each. France, China, the U.K., Pakistan, India, Israel and now North Korea hold title to the other 900 bombs — with each country owning the WMDs in the hundreds or less.
Many of the bombs currently in inventory are rated at one megaton or more. To put it in perspective, the bomb that exploded over Hiroshima had the explosive energy of approximately 12,500 pounds of TNT, whereas a one-megaton bomb would have the explosive force of one million tons of TNT, or just about 80 times the impact of the bomb dropped over Hiroshima.
None of this type of devastation was known to the world before 1945, and after the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, President Truman warned the Japanese that if they did not agree to end the war on U.S. terms they should “expect a rain of ruin from the air, the like of which has never been seen on this earth.” Three days later, “The Fat Man” bomb was detonated over Nagasaki.
Recording the Unthinkable
That was 72 years ago, and Truman was speaking about a bomb with a fraction of the firepower than most of the currently stockpiled atomic weapons worldwide. Therefore, if a threat such as this one were repeated now it would be easy to imagine the “rain of ruin” that would be loosed upon the world.
Fortunately, we don’t have to leave the vision of atomic destruction solely up to our imaginations, considering that there are quite a few videos of atomic blasts available to anyone interested in viewing the horror and devastation caused by these bombs. Because of my concern and interest in WMDs, I have spent a substantial amount of time watching videos of atomic explosions and — while I watched — I began to wonder how the photographers were able to capture the images without themselves being destroyed in the process.
As it turns out, there is a book from 2007, How to Photograph an Atomic Bomb, which actually explores the techniques of this unusual photographic enterprise. I have read about the specially encased cameras that were employed during these photo sessions as well as how the photographers were anywhere from two to 20 miles away from the explosion while filming.
While it’s not difficult to be impressed with the visuals when watching one of these atomically explosive videos, I also began to wonder about the recording of the audio to accompany one of these films. It is said that atomic explosions have been measure at 240 decibels, which, as we all know, is insanely loud, especially when you consider that the reading is taken from 10 to 20 miles away from the source.
Alex Wellerstein, a historian of science at the American Institute of Physics, says that due to the difficulty of capturing and recreating the sound from an atomic explosion, most of these atomic blast movies were filmed in silence and were then dubbed with the audio at a later date.
New Technologies and Tactics
Creating an atomic fireball on such a massive scale is a true technological accomplishment, and to accompany the light show with a 240dB blast is topping on the cake, but even more impressive and just as technologically brilliant is that we can now, at any given time or place, conjure up these images and sounds and view these moments on our small handheld phones.
Which brings me to the point that since 1945, scientific and technological advances have moved forward at an incredible pace. Despite the fact that some of the older technology may be still viable, it seems as implausible to be threatened by one country obtaining 80-year-old technology as it would be to find a Clair S4 rig with a Midas XL4 console on a major tour.
Just like the old analog rigs, nuclear technology is bulky and comparatively inefficient compared to the newer and sleeker technology. Contemporary weaponry and warfare has evolved from having to decimate whole cities to a precision pinpointing of any given target. As an example, take a look at the devastation wreaked by drones.
Of course, not all-new military technology needs to “rain ruin from the air,” and as new battlefields have opened up in outer space and cyberspace, even audio is now being used as a practical weapon.
From ELF (extra low frequency) weapons, sound cannons and RF delivered on the back of microwave signals, the new wave of weaponry is here. It may be coincidental, but at the same time that our atomic rhetoric was being enflamed there was an article published citing that in Cuba, in the autumn of 2016, American diplomats began suffering inexplicable hearing loss — so severe that some of them were forced to cancel their tours and return to the U.S. An excerpt from the Associated Press article states: “After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences.”
There you have it! From cyber attacks to sonic attacks, we must conclude that we live in a brave new world where atomic weapons have become as archaic as the eight-channel recording console that the Beatles used at EMI. Sonics and digital I/O’s have become the new weapons of choice. They are subtle and deadly and used on an everyday basis to control and wreak havoc on the masses without the expensive rebuilding of property after an attack. This is the world in which we live and as an engineer — if one is considering retirement from the road — it seems as though there might be some new and exciting positions opening up in the field of audio.
