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Alfredo Pangea posted:Some music in the key of MURDER! Man Varg had a really diverse musical career.
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May 14, 2013 12:08
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GIANT OUIJA BOARD posted:Actually, Varg WAS the bassist, he murdered the guitarist. And he was convicted of several of the church arsons, just not all of them. WOOPS! I had read the book Lords of Chaos a while ago but wasn't sure if it was ever proven he burned the churches so put it like that just to be fair to the crazy bastard.
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May 14, 2013 13:11
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Well here is a thing that was brought up before but is in the new again: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/05/14/japanese-mayor-wartime-sex-slaves-were-necessary/2157489/ American politicians say some absolutely repugnant poo poo but amazingly Japan has out done us this time.
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May 14, 2013 14:54
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Gamma-ray bursts are pretty terrifying. In short, they're waves of intense radiation that are given off by things like neutron stars or black holes. They're really tough to predict. They're extremely rare, but if one happened to pass through our solar system, it would cause a mass extinction event. The best part? Some scientists believe it already happened.quote:GRBs close enough to affect life in some way might occur once every five million years or so – around a thousand times since life on Earth began.[89] And here's what would happen if one did hit us. quote:gamma rays could deplete about 25 percent of the world's ozone layer. This would result in mass extinction, food chain depletion, and starvation. The side of Earth facing the GRB would receive potentially lethal radiation exposure, which can cause radiation sickness in the short term, and in the long term result in serious impacts to life due to ozone layer depletion. When I first learned about them, I was kept up for a while thinking about it, knowing that the planet is dying, knowing that eventually you will die too of radiation sickness, and not being able to do a thing about it. And we still don't really know what causes them. And then there's asteroids. The meteorite that exploded over Chelyabinsk was 17-20m in length and caused a great deal of damage. Currently, NASA has nearly a thousand asteroids that are considered Potentially Hazardous Asteroids that are at least one kilometer in length. Some of them will get closer to the Earth than our moon. Some already have. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Near-Earth_object#Near-Earth_asteroids http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_asteroid_close_approaches_to_Earth It's incredible to think that at any moment, life as we know it could just cease to exist. I love learning about space, but it can get pretty terrifying.
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May 14, 2013 15:49
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bamhand posted:Well here is a thing that was brought up before but is in the new again: Japan porn suddenly makes sense now.
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May 14, 2013 16:43
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JoltSpree posted:Gamma-ray bursts are pretty terrifying. In short, they're waves of intense radiation that are given off by things like neutron stars or black holes. They're really tough to predict. They're extremely rare, but if one happened to pass through our solar system, it would cause a mass extinction event. The best part? Some scientists believe it already happened. More terrifying space facts: Magnetars! They're some of, if not the, most powerful sources of magnetic fields in the universe. When the fields shift, they shoot out powerful gamma rays and x-rays as millions of joules of energy is released all at once. Wikipedia posted:The magnetic field of a magnetar would be lethal even at a distance of 1000 km due to the strong magnetic field distorting the electron clouds of the subject's constituent atoms, rendering the chemistry of life impossible. At a distance halfway to the moon, a magnetar could strip information from the magnetic stripes of all credit cards on Earth. As of 2010, they are the most magnetic objects ever detected in the universe. So magnetic that 1000km away, your atoms would literally be unable to function properly due to the electrons getting hosed up by the field. And to boot, the object is only ~20 miles across, yet is heavier than the sun 
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May 14, 2013 17:20
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Parallel Paraplegic posted:So magnetic that 1000km away, your atoms would literally be unable to function properly due to the electrons getting hosed up by the field. And to boot, the object is only ~20 miles across, yet is heavier than the sun This is probably a really dumb question, but what would actually happen if your atoms stopped functioning properly? Would you melt into a sludge? Break out in tumours? Collapse into a fine heap of dust? Explode?
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May 14, 2013 17:27
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Alfredo Pangea posted:Some music in the key of MURDER! That guy does not look the murder/arson type. But what an absolute rear end in a top hat.
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May 14, 2013 17:28
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Mr. Flunchy posted:This is probably a really dumb question, but what would actually happen if your atoms stopped functioning properly? Would you melt into a sludge? Break out in tumours? Collapse into a fine heap of dust? Explode? I'm guessing all the chemical bonds in your body would break apart, so you'd turn into some kind of vapor of atoms.
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May 14, 2013 17:35
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From an engineering point of view they're cool and fascinating, but bell-mouth spillways are still terrifying. This is a video of a famous bell-mouth spillway (aka glory hole) in Lake Berryessa, CA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpvkgHPLeHE A while back a woman who was kayaking around the glory hole capsized and was pulled to the spillway by the force of the water. She clung to the edge for almost eighteen minutes, yelling for help, before she was sucked into the hole.  Edit: Urbex page with photos of a descent into a (temporarily) dry bell-mouth. http://tastelessphoto.com/urban-eploration/bellmouth-spillway-exploration/ bonestructure has a new favorite as of 18:36 on May 14, 2013 |
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May 14, 2013 18:33
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bonestructure posted:Water holes I'm pretty sure those are actually terrifying portals to other dimensions. They just don't want you to know the truth.
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May 14, 2013 20:45
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bonestructure posted:
this looks like something out of an Lovecraft story: crazy alien ruins at the bottom of the sea.
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May 14, 2013 20:51
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Are there any good netflix docs on human testing and stuff? I love war atrocities.
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May 14, 2013 21:50
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Dissapointed Owl posted:That guy does not look the murder/arson type. Not only that, but he's a racist neo-Nazi piece of poo poo, and even if he claims he's no longer a Nazi, he's still nationalist scum.
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May 14, 2013 22:20
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Detective Thompson posted:Not only that, but he's a racist neo-Nazi piece of poo poo, and even if he claims he's no longer a Nazi, he's still nationalist scum. Yeah, I read the entire page and gently caress that guy. Piece of poo poo.
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May 14, 2013 22:46
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JoltSpree posted:Gamma-ray bursts are pretty terrifying. In short, they're waves of intense radiation that are given off by things like neutron stars or black holes. They're really tough to predict. They're extremely rare, but if one happened to pass through our solar system, it would cause a mass extinction event. The best part? Some scientists believe it already happened. There is also this in case you're not sufficiently paranoid about an asteroid impact. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJsUDcSc6hE
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May 14, 2013 23:47
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The Piedmont Easter Massacre, the (Catholic) Duke of Savoy's response to the Waldensian heresy in 1665. quote:Little children were torn from the arms of their mothers, clasped by their tiny feet, and their heads dashed against the rocks; or were held between two soldiers and their quivering limbs torn up by main force. Their mangled bodies were then thrown on the highways or fields, to be devoured by beasts. The sick and the aged were burned alive in their dwellings. Some had their hands and arms and legs lopped off, and fire applied to the severed parts to staunch the bleeding and prolong their suffering. Some were flayed alive, some were roasted alive, some disemboweled; or tied to trees in their own orchards, and their hearts cut out. Some were horribly mutilated, and of others the brains were boiled and eaten by these cannibals. Some were fastened down into the furrows of their own fields, and ploughed into the soil as men plough manure into it. Others were buried alive. Fathers were marched to death with the heads of their sons suspended round their necks. Parents were compelled to look on while their children were first outraged [raped], then massacred, before being themselves permitted to die They also went for a little impaling:  http://i.imgur.com/YdXmSOh.jpg
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May 15, 2013 12:25
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Alhazred posted:I would love to see the train of thoughts that eventually led to the idea that men with weapons should be given lsd. It's not a wiki link, but the New Yorker recently published a fascinating, horrifying article on the US Army's experiments using chemical weapons and psychotropic drugs on soldiers during the Cold War. quote:In 1949, L. Wilson Greene, Edgewood’s scientific director, typed up a classified report, “Psychochemical Warfare: A New Concept of War,” that called for a search for compounds that would create the same debilitating mental side effects as nerve gas, but without the lethality. “Throughout recorded history, wars have been characterized by death, human misery, and the destruction of property; each major conflict being more catastrophic than the one preceding it,” Greene argued. “I am convinced that it is possible, by means of the techniques of psychochemical warfare, to conquer an enemy without the wholesale killing of his people or the mass destruction of his property.”
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May 15, 2013 13:45
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BiopreparatWikipedia posted:Biopreparat was established in 1973 as a "civilian" continuation of earlier Soviet bio-warfare programs [...] The research at Biopreparat constituted a blatant violation by the Soviet Union of the terms of the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 which outlawed biological weapons. Its existence was steadfastly denied by Soviet officials for decades.
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May 15, 2013 16:59
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quote:Ebolapox (hybrid of ebola with smallpox) Oh, boy. Let's meet Ebola virus disease. quote:Ebola Virus Disease begins with a sudden onset of an influenza-like stage characterized by general malaise, fever with chills, arthralgia and myalgia, and chest pain. Nausea is accompanied by abdominal pain, anorexia, diarrhea, and vomiting. Respiratory tract involvement is characterized by pharyngitis with sore throat, cough, dyspnea, and hiccups. The central nervous system is affected as judged by the development of severe headaches, agitation, confusion, fatigue, depression, seizures, and sometimes coma.... Now let's meet Smallpox quote:The disease killed an estimated 400,000 Europeans annually during the closing years of the 18th century (including five reigning monarchs),[10] and was responsible for a third of all blindness.[6][11] Of all those infected, 20–60%—and over 80% of infected children—died from the disease.[12] Smallpox was responsible for an estimated 300–500 million deaths during the 20th century. Oh, and for some forms of Smallpox (flat-type and hemorrhagic), the fatality rate is generally at least 90%. If you're unlucky enough to develop hemorrhagic smallpox, you stand roughly a 100% chance of dying from it as you slowly bleed to death under your skin. Hey, while we're talking about diseases, let's talk about rabies! You can be infected with it and have no symptoms for months. There has been one person - just one individual in all the world - who was infected with rabies, not treated prior to the onset of symptoms, and survived. The first symptoms are generally a headache, fever, and general sense of malaise. So think about that next time you feel a bit under the weather. Maybe it's a cold, or maybe you're going to die an agonizing death in the next week!
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May 15, 2013 18:26
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TorpedoFish posted:Hey, while we're talking about diseases, let's talk about rabies! You can be infected with it and have no symptoms for months. There has been one person - just one individual in all the world - who was infected with rabies, not treated prior to the onset of symptoms, and survived. The first symptoms are generally a headache, fever, and general sense of malaise. So think about that next time you feel a bit under the weather. Maybe it's a cold, or maybe you're going to die an agonizing death in the next week! What always scared me about rabies is that you could be bit or scratched by a rabid bat and never even know it because their teeth and claws are so tiny. That's why you're supposed to get a rabies vaccine if you find a bat in the living quarters of your house. Of course, rabies is still extremely rare in humans in the US so it shouldn't be a huge worry. It's just the kind of things that scares kids when they're sleeping in a cabin in the woods at summer camp.
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May 15, 2013 18:46
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If I recall correctly, they even had ICBM loaded up with bioweapons. Because not only have we turned your country into radioactive rubble, now we're gonna get the survivors sick. The cold war was basically forty years of
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May 15, 2013 18:58
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TorpedoFish posted:Hey, while we're talking about diseases, let's talk about rabies! You can be infected with it and have no symptoms for months. There has been one person - just one individual in all the world - who was infected with rabies, not treated prior to the onset of symptoms, and survived. The first symptoms are generally a headache, fever, and general sense of malaise. So think about that next time you feel a bit under the weather. Maybe it's a cold, or maybe you're going to die an agonizing death in the next week! There's more than one now, but the treatment still has a low success rate and survivors get hopefully minor brain damage from the experience.
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May 15, 2013 19:01
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SheepNameKiller posted:Are there any good netflix docs on human testing and stuff? I love war atrocities. Not a netflix documentary, but from what I've heard it's a great read. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acres_of_Skin:_Human_Experiments_at_Holmesburg_Prison The related Wikipedia pages for Holmesburg prison are whitewashed of any mention of this.
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May 15, 2013 19:06
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FrozenVent posted:The cold war was basically forty years of Just 40?    
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May 15, 2013 19:18
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pienipple posted:There's more than one now, but the treatment still has a low success rate and survivors get hopefully minor brain damage from the experience. Almost all of the damage rabies does is just due to onset of acute encephalitis which has relatively few lasting complications. I'm not sure why the success rate of the treatment is so low, but it may have something to do with the fact that the rabies virus can create so-called "bodies of Negri" which colonize the host's brain permanently and are effectively invulnerable to antiviral and immune attack.
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May 15, 2013 19:24
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FrozenVent posted:If I recall correctly, they even had ICBM loaded up with bioweapons. Because not only have we turned your country into radioactive rubble, now we're gonna get the survivors sick. A lot of basically Mad Science type weaponry was developed in this period. My favorite is Project Pluto. It was basically a giant, nuclear ramjet powered cruise missile that would fly around at mach 3, 20-30' off the ground, hucking nuclear bombs behind it. Even though it was made obsolete by ICBM's, the fact that basically every aspect of the weapon system was horribly lethal has always fascinated me. The nuclear warheads are obvious. It's also a completely unshielded nuclear reactor you set zooming around the enemy's countryside, spewing radiation everywhere. It's speed at such a low altitude creates destructive pressure waves that could supposedly kill anything along its path. Whether it gets shot down or runs out of 'fuel', it's still a few thousand pounds travelling at three times the speed of sound, and that's a lot of energy for a building to absorb if it gets hit. Basically the only part of this machine that doesn't try to kill you dead is the rocket propulsion system that gets the thing up to speed and presumably gets jettisoned into the ocean. I guess the nuclear tsunami generator is better from a comic book villain standpoint though.
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May 15, 2013 19:51
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TorpedoFish posted:Hey, while we're talking about diseases, let's talk about rabies! You can be infected with it and have no symptoms for months. There has been one person - just one individual in all the world - who was infected with rabies, not treated prior to the onset of symptoms, and survived. The first symptoms are generally a headache, fever, and general sense of malaise. So think about that next time you feel a bit under the weather. Maybe it's a cold, or maybe you're going to die an agonizing death in the next week! One thing I'm most thankful for about rabies is that animals carrying the virus are only infectious for around 17 days at most; up to 10 days before they show symptoms, then pretty much a maximum of 7 days after showing symptoms. Also, there have only been about a dozen US deaths from rabies in the last decade, and the bulk of those are from infections contracted outside the US. I got attacked two years ago by a dog with no documentation of rabies vaccination (the owners swore he was vaccinated, and the vet decided to vaccinate him when he was brought in, instead of putting him under observation, and the hospital figured since it was a pet I didn't need any propylactic vaccinations myself THANKS WEST VIRGINIA), so it was a tense seven days waiting to hear if the dog was rabid or not and whether I was going to die from rabies or not. For another "fun" disease:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesch%E2%80%93Nyhan_syndrome Lesch Nyhan Syndrome. A buildup of uric acid crystals so severe the sufferers of the syndrome will actively and compulsivelydestroy their bodies, starting as children (chewing their lips and tongue, chewing off fingers, bashing their heads against things) to the point where consistent restraint is often preferred by the people with the syndrome.VVV Edit: poo poo, yeah, I should point out that it's little kids (mostly little boys, since the disease is sex-linked) who are self harming. I'll NMS the link, sorry! cucurbit has a new favorite as of 23:52 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 19:56
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cucurbit posted:For another "fun" disease: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesch%E2%80%93Nyhan_syndrome Lesch Nyhan Syndrome. A buildup of uric acid crystals so severe the sufferers of the syndrome will actively and compulsivelydestroy their bodies (chewing their lips and tongue, chewing off fingers, bashing their heads against things) to the point where consistent restraint is often preferred by the people with the syndrome. I was expecting the self-harming sufferers to be adults until I read the page at least I can't develop it though.
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May 15, 2013 20:03
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More disturbing science facts: Gold Foil Experiment Back when people were just starting to figure out what atoms were made of, some guy decided why not shoot alpha particles at a sheet of gold foil and see what comes out the back. Turns out almost all the alpha particles do. Conclusion: the atomic nucleus makes up only 1/4000 of the size of the atom. Why is this unnerving? You, me, and everything you've ever seen or touched are basically 99.975% empty space.
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May 15, 2013 22:24
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18 Character Limit posted:Just 40? Ah, the Cold War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWSMoE3A5DI This video is color and has the after-effects. This is only part of a 3 hour film, but I haven't ever seen the entire thing available for civilian consumption. Well, during training in the 1980's I got to go here. Now, with the end of the Cold War, you can go tour it. But, but, it sounds boring with the name Nevada National Security Site, right? Just like you'd go there and see records and files, right? BUZZ! Wikipedia posted:The Nevada National Security Site (N2S2), previously the Nevada Test Site (NTS), is a United States Department of Energy reservation located in southeastern Nye County, Nevada, about 65 mi (105 km) northwest of the city of Las Vegas. Formerly known as the Nevada Proving Grounds, the site, established on 11 January 1951, for the testing of nuclear devices, is composed of approximately 1,360 sq mi (3,500 km2) of desert and mountainous terrain. Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a 1-kilotonne-of-TNT (4.2 TJ) bomb dropped on Frenchman Flat on 27 January 1951. Many of the iconic images of the nuclear era come from NTS. That's right, you too can do like I did and wander around the old test sites. At one point we were led out to a crater to take radiation readings to show that the sites were pretty clean. We even saw green glass and were allowed to take some home. What made the green glass? Why... NUCLEAR WEAPONS! But, I digress. Check out: wikipedia posted:Pile Driver was a notable Department of Defense test. A massive underground installation was built to study the survivability of hardened underground bunkers undergoing a nuclear attack. Information from the test was used in designing hardened missile silos and the North American Aerospace Defense Command facility in Colorado Springs. Massive is understating it. IT looks like some serious James Bond poo poo to the point where anyone who worked at Site Papa Delta talked about it they'd be blown off as a complete lunatic. Remember, boys and girls, Pile Driver was just a test. A test that was successful. But enough about Cold War paranoia underground bases and bunkers. I mean, nobody is going to believe that there's huge underground bunkers where the civilian area has a 1950's malt shop perfectly replicated, right? So, let's check out something else! CHEMICAL DEATH! Sure, you can put up that Soviet Sweat Shop (which has nothing on the poo poo at Fort Meade, Fort Dietrich, and Fort Sam Houston or Site Candyapple) but you don't really get it until you read this... Project Shad. Wikipedia posted:From 1962 to 1973, the Department of Defense planned 134 tests under Project 112, a chemical and biological weapons "vulnerability-testing program." In 2002, the Pentagon admitted for the first time that some of tests used real chemical and biological weapons, not just harmless simulants.[45] Don't trust me on this, but this program continues under different names to this day. Just always remember: "I'm from the government, I'm not here to help." And did someone mention sheep earlier? Wikipdiea posted:Between 1951 and 1969, Dugway Proving Ground was the site of testing for various chemical and biological agents, including an open air aerodynamic dissemination test in 1968 that accidentally killed, on neighboring farms, approximately 6,400 sheep by an unspecified nerve agent."Dugway" section, Yeah, the Army flat out states: "That's right, we killed your loving sheep so badly that the meat would melt plastic. What are YOU gonna do, huh?" It was VE. Live it up! See, NBC Warfare is ALWAYS fun. Let's check out something that some of you may have heard of. If you watch the movie Jacob's Ladder you may have seen references to a certain chemical weapon, but it really really doesn't do it justice. Since we're on the "LSD" section earlier, let's see what the military can do with LSD. What's that? They can gently caress you up nine ways to Sunday? Goddamn right. Meet everyone's friend: Agent 15 AKA BZ quote:The PNS effects of BZ are essentially side effects that are useful in diagnosis, but incidental to the CNS effects for which the incapacitating agents were developed. These CNS effects include a dose-dependent decrease in the level of consciousness, beginning with drowsiness and progressing through sedation to stupor and coma. The patient is often disoriented to time and place. Disturbances in judgment and insight appear. The patient may abandon socially imposed restraints and resort to vulgar and inappropriate behavior. Perceptual clues may no longer be readily interpretable, and the patient is easily distracted and may have memory loss, most notably short-term memory. In the face of these deficits, the patient still tries to make sense of his environment and will not hesitate to make up answers on the spot to questions that confuse him. Speech becomes slurred and often senseless, and loss of inflection produces a flat, monotonous voice. References become concrete and semiautomatic with colloquialisms, clichés, profanity, and perseveration. Handwriting also deteriorates. Semiautomatic behavior may also include disrobing (perhaps partly because of increased body temperature), mumbling, and phantom behaviors such as constant picking, plucking, or grasping motions ("woolgathering" or carphology). If you get it, having the doctor cure it might scare the poo poo out of you. Wikipedia posted:Specific antidotal therapy in BZ poisoning is therefore geared toward raising the concentration of acetylcholine in these synapses and junctions. Any compound that causes a rise in acetylcholine concentration can potentially overcome BZ-induced inhibition and restore normal functioning; even the nerve agent VX has been shown to be effective when given under carefully controlled conditions. The specific antidote of choice in BZ poisoning is the carbamate anticholinesterase physostigmine (eserine; Antilirium), which temporarily raises acetylcholine concentrations by binding reversibly to anticholinesterase on the postsynaptic or postjunctional membrane. That's right. To cure you of the serious BZ poisoning, we'll just VX YOUR rear end! LIVE IT UP! This poo poo is bad news, but surely it's just sitting in a lab, right? Well, that's not how the legacy works. See, all this poo poo was made for a knock down drag out that never happened, and now the poo poo's getting loose. WAIT! That's not what Wikipedia claims! Wikipedia posted:The United States had weaponized BZ for delivery in the M44 generator cluster and the M43 cluster bomb until stocks were destroyed in 1989. Sure, and I have some nice bridges to sell you. After all, like Brown Moses (Who has my utmost respect) could attest to... quote:In January 2013, an unidentified U.S. administration official, referring to an undisclosed U.S. State Department cable, claimed that "Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15, a hallucinogenic chemical similar to BZ, was used in Homs". However in response to these reports U.S. National Security Council spokesman stated "The reporting we have seen from media sources regarding alleged chemical weapons incidents in Syria has not been consistent with what we believe to be true about the Syrian chemical weapons program". So that poo poo's out there, right? Let me introduce you to my friend: Pine Bluff Arsenal Wikipedia posted:Capabilities of the center include: chemical defense and test equipment; individual and collective chemical protection and decontamination systems; chemical materiel surveillance program; machining, fabrication and assembly; specialty ammunition production; less than lethal ammunition production; and quality assurance and joint logistics services. Yup, you read that right. "Fabrication", "production" of all kinds of fun stuff. Read up on it, specifically: quote:Pine Bluff Former Production Facilities: PBA once housed two chemical warfare production facilities, and NSCMP was charged with destroying them to comply with the CWC. Destroyed in 1999, the BZ Fill Facility filled munitions with the agent BZ, a hallucinogen. In 2003, NSCMP began demolition of the former Pine Bluff Integrated Binary Production Facilities (PB IBPF), designed to produce binary chemicals and fill binary chemical weapons. These weapons were designed to mix two non-lethal chemicals to form a chemical agent in flight to a target. The DF Production/M20 Canister Fill and Close Facility was the only facility operated. From 1988 to 1990 it produced the binary precursor methylphosphonic difluoride (DF), inserting the chemical into coffee can-sized M20 canisters for use in the M687 155 mm Binary Artillery Projectile. The BLU-80/B Bigeye Bomb Fill Facility, QL Production Facility and DC Production Facility never operated, and all were demolished. The final remaining PB IBPF building, intended to fill binary munitions for the Multiple Launch Rocket System, but never used for that purpose, was reutilized as the Pine Bluff Binary Destruction Facility (PB BDF), to neutralize the binary precursor chemicals DF and QL. After neutralization was completed in October 2006, demolition of the building commenced. Completed on Dec. 28, 2006, it marked the end of the PB IBPF demolition and the last former chemical warfare production facility destroyed in the United States. This accomplishment was significant since it enabled NSCMP to surpass the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) treaty milestone of demolition of all the nation’s former production facilities four months ahead of schedule. Approximately 2,800 tons of metal were recycled from the IBPF. That's right. The MLRS system was not only tasked to fire cluster munitions, but chemical weapons, along with the late series nuclear warheads originally designed for eight inch artillery system delivery. Supposedly it's all gone now. Of course the government wouldn't merely replace the aging buildings and equipment under the War on Terror budgets, since, you know, that would be just silly and the US doesn't engage in NBCR any more. Trust them. They wouldn't replace the stuff they destroyed. They decided they didn't need to update and modernize all the NBC weaponry and facilities, they just destroyed them. Look how nice the US government is. Keep believing that. There's shitloads of reasons the government was willing to destroy most of the publicly known biological and chemical weapon development and storage facilities, and none of them have to do with a kindler/gentler America. The US learned the lessons that France and England taught very very well. Let me introduce you to another friend: Let's go for vacation! It's near Hawaii! It's a small tropical island. Lovely weather, great beaches. Did I mention SHITLOADS OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS! Johnston Atoll, the closest you get to paradise for being a lovely person and signing up for NBC Warfare. quote:For nearly 70 years, the atoll was under the control of the American military. In that time it was used as an airbase, a naval refuelling depot and a weapons testing area. In the mid-1980s, the atoll became a facility for chemical weapons disposal. In 2004 the military base was closed; island control was handed over to civilian authorities. Now people like to go and check out the island. How smart is that? What's un-nerving? Idiots. quote:Since the base was closed, the atoll is likely to have been visited by sailing vessels crossing the Pacific, as the deserted atoll has a strong lure due to the activities once performed there. One vessel blogged about stopping there for several days during a trip from Honolulu to the Marshall Islands. I'd rather camp in a hole in the ground full of fire ants than in the old chemical weapon bunkers. But the really un-nerving part is something simple: quote:In 1963, the U.S. Senate ratified the Limited Test Ban Treaty, which contained a provision known as "Safeguard C". Safeguard C was the basis for maintaining Johnston Atoll as a "ready to test" above-ground nuclear testing site should atmospheric nuclear testing ever be deemed to be necessary again. In 1993, Congress appropriated no funds for the Johnston Atoll "Safeguard C" mission, bringing it to an end. Congress redefined the island's military mission as the storage and destruction of chemical weapons. Rumors hint that a small line of the 2002 budget contained a simple line: "Safeguard C revitalization funds", but it doesn't appear on any of the publicly available 2002 budgets, so hey, that probably means it was just an ugly rumor, right? Well, let's move on to more un-nerving stuff from Wikipedia. Speaking of the Soviet Sweat Shop... BIOWEAPONS! Of course, the Wikipedia page is kind of laughingly amusing, but let's see what they have to say... quote:It has been argued that rational people would never use biological weapons offensively. The argument is that biological weapons cannot be controlled: the weapon could backfire and harm the army on the offensive, perhaps having even worse effects than on the target. An agent like smallpox or other airborne viruses would almost certainly spread worldwide and ultimately infect the user's home country. However, this argument does not necessarily apply to bacteria. For example, anthrax can easily be controlled and even created in a garden shed. Also, using microbial methods, bacteria can be suitably modified to be effective in only a narrow environmental range, the range of the target that distinctly differs from the army on the offensive. Thus only the target might be affected adversely. The weapon may be further used to bog down an advancing army making them more vulnerable to counterattack by the defending force. Yup. That's right. You can do anthrax with a $20 yogurt maker and about $200 worth the gear. Think about that for a second. quote:For example, 'Bacillus anthracis' is considered an effective agent for several reasons. First, it forms hardy spores, perfect for dispersal aerosols. Second, this organism is not considered transmissible from person to person, and thus rarely if ever causes secondary infections. A pulmonary anthrax infection starts with ordinary influenza-like symptoms and progresses to a lethal hemorrhagic mediastinitis within 3–7 days, with a fatality rate that is 90% or higher in untreated patients.[11] Finally, friendly personnel can be protected with suitable antibiotics. Anthrax is kind of the bargain basement bin of biological weapons. It's literally "Baby's First Bioweapon" and if a country can't manufacture that, everyone laughs at them. Well, what kind of stuff do the big-boys dream up? For people... Wikipedia posted:Agents considered for weaponization, or known to be weaponized, include bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, Brucella spp., Burkholderia mallei, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Chlamydophila psittaci, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, some of the Rickettsiaceae (especially Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia rickettsii), Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, and Yersinia pestis. Many viral agents have been studied and/or weaponized, including some of the Bunyaviridae (especially Rift Valley fever virus), Ebolavirus, many of the Flaviviridae (especially Japanese encephalitis virus), Machupo virus, Marburg virus, Variola virus, and Yellow fever virus. Fungal agents that have been studied include Coccidioides spp..[12][13] That's a short list. The US is more open than modern Russia, and waaaaay more open than the old USSR. Yellow Rain, a mycotoxin, was a particular worry since it looked like a Czech facility was producing it, and it was within my AoO. But it's only good for people, right? Well, see, it was MAD, and we wanted to wreck EVERYONE'S poo poo. Wikipedia posted:The United States developed an anti-crop capability during the Cold War that used plant diseases (bioherbicides, or mycoherbicides) for destroying enemy agriculture. Biological weapons also target fisheries as well as water-based vegetation. It was believed that destruction of enemy agriculture on a strategic scale could thwart Sino-Soviet aggression in a general war. Diseases such as wheat blast and rice blast were weaponized in aerial spray tanks and cluster bombs for delivery to enemy watersheds in agricultural regions to initiate epiphytotics (epidemics among plants). When the United States renounced its offensive biological warfare program in 1969 and 1970, the vast majority of its biological arsenal was composed of these plant diseases. Enterotoxins and Mycotoxins were not affected by Nixon's order. Yeah, we're even gonna kill your plants. How about some dick headed stuff for animals? quote:1980s Soviet Ministry of Agriculture had successfully developed variants of foot-and-mouth disease, and rinderpest against cows, African swine fever for pigs, and psittacosis to kill chicken. These agents were prepared to spray them down from tanks attached to airplanes over hundreds of miles. The secret program was code-named "Ecology". Wikipedia doesn't go into the US, British, French, or Canadian information. Canada has long had one of the best animal biowarfare offensive programs out there. And since we're still talking about bioweapons, let's talk about some specific locations. Building 470 This building is gone now, but the history was... colorful to say the least. How about Operation Whitecoat where thousands of people volunteered to be exposed to biological weapons in order to find out methods of treatment and protection. Fun fact: Most of them were conscientious objectors who did this willingly rather than take the life of another person. Many of them claimed that the dangers were well worth it, as it allowed them to possibly protect other people without violating their religion or ethical concerns. But, I've mainly been tracking US, right? How about something that made me want to run screaming into the hills when I found out about it? This is just one of the many reasons I was a hard-core alcoholic by 20. Bio-warfare Chernobyl quote:The strain of anthrax produced in Military Compound 19 near Sverdlovsk was the most powerful in the Soviet arsenal ("Anthrax 836"). It had been isolated as a result of another anthrax leak accident that happened in 1953 in the city of Kirov. A leak from a bacteriological facility contaminated the city sewer system. In 1956, biologist Vladimir Sizov found a more virulent strain in rodents captured in this area. This strain was planned to be used to arm warheads for the SS-18 ICBM, which would target American cities, among other targets. So, yeah. Missing filter equals lots of dead people. quote:Russian Prime Minister Egor Gaidar issued a decree to begin demilitarization of Compound 19 in 1992. However, the facility continued its work. Not a single journalist has been allowed onto the premises since 1992. About 200 soldiers with Rottweiler dogs still patrol the complex. Classified activities were moved underground, and several new laboratories have been constructed and equipped to work with highly dangerous pathogens. One of their current subjects is reportedly Bacillus anthracis strain H-4. Its virulence and antibiotic resistance have been dramatically increased using genetic engineering. I guess we're still MAD. After all, THIS happened, and hardly anyone knows about it. Quick, name FOUR nuclear catastrophies! Let me guess, Chernobyl, Fukishima, Three Mile Island, and... give up? How about : The Kyshtym Disaster which is the THIRD worst disaster. Wow. Another Soviet "Closed City" listed. Makes you wonder what went on, huh? After reading all that, quick, how many people died in the Three Mile Island "disaster"! A big, fat... ZERO! But that's not really un-nerving or scary, is it? How about, for a final word on just how crazy NBC can get? Operation CHASE quote:The disposal program involved loading old munitions onto ships which were then slated to be scuttled once they were up to 250 miles off shore. While most of the sinkings involved ships loaded with conventional weapons there were four which involved chemical weapons. The chemical weapons disposal site was a three mile (5 km) area of the Atlantic Ocean between the coast of the U.S. state of Florida and the Bahamas. The CHASE program was pre-dated by United States Army disposal of 8000 tons of mustard and lewisite chemical warfare gas aboard the scuttled SS William C. Ralston in April 1958. These ships were sunk by having Explosive Ordnance Demolition (EOD) teams open sea cocks on the ship after arrival at the disposal point.[ The typical Liberty ship sank about three hours after the seacocks were opened. What's scary about that? Well, in the past few years clear 'jelly-fish looking' globs have been washing up on the Atlantic coast. What are the blobs? Nerve agent condensed and jellied by the cold and pressure of the deep ocean. Still lethal as poo poo. Sleep well. Nostalgia4ColdWar has a new favorite as of 22:47 on May 15, 2013 |
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May 15, 2013 22:29
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JagGator posted:Why is this unnerving? You, me, and everything you've ever seen or touched are basically 99.975% empty space. 
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May 15, 2013 22:34
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JagGator posted:More disturbing science facts: Gold Foil Experiment Richard Dawkins mentions that here in a pretty cool way: open https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1APOxsp1VFw&t=6m40s
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May 15, 2013 23:23
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50 Foot Ant you're a total and utter bastard. Interesting stuff, but you're still a total bastard. Nerve agent is washing up on the Atlantic coast?
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May 15, 2013 23:37
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Jesus,50 Foot Ant. That's loving horrifying.
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May 15, 2013 23:54
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I'd like a source on the jellied-nerve-agent-blobs thing; I'm not finding anything via Google but I might just suck at searching.
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May 16, 2013 03:49
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Son of Thunderbeast posted:I'd like a source on the jellied-nerve-agent-blobs thing; I'm not finding anything via Google but I might just suck at searching. No, that's because it most certainly never happened.
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May 16, 2013 04:48
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Son of Thunderbeast posted:I'd like a source on the jellied-nerve-agent-blobs thing; I'm not finding anything via Google but I might just suck at searching.
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May 16, 2013 05:03
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Slanderer posted:No, that's because it most certainly never happened. Or did it? 
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May 16, 2013 05:26
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Slanderer posted:No, that's because it most certainly never happened. The closest thing I've ever heard to that happening was blobs of oil washing up on shore in the gulf. They were at first though to be related to the Deepwater Horizon spill but it turned out they were from some other, unknown source
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May 16, 2013 05:35
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