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☆ How hydrogen bombs compare to atomic bombs, and how scientists created the most destructive weapon ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-24 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Hydrogen bombs and atomic bombs are both nuclear weapons that can cause mass destruction. But just seven years later an even more destructive nuclear bomb was built — the hydrogen bomb. Whereas hydrogen bombs get their power from a combination of fission and its opposite — nuclear fusion — the binding of atoms. Hydrogen vs. atomic bombs: damage and destructionWhile atomic bomb blasts are measured in kilotons — 1 kt is equivalent to the explosive force of 1,000 tons of TNT — hydrogen bombs are often measured in megatons. AdvertisementAdvertisementBoth atomic and hydrogen bombs are nuclear weapons and therefore create long-lasting, dangerous nuclear fallout.

Persons: Otto Hahn, Fritz Strassman, Hahn, Lisa Meitner, Otto Frisch, Meitner, Frisch, Alex Wellerstein, Wellerstein, Little, Amanda Macias, Tsar, Soviet Union —, Bomba, it's Organizations: Service, Trinity, Stevens Institute of Technology, Little Boy, Lions, TNT, Little, Bravo, US, Hanford , Washington . Department of Locations: Wall, Silicon, United States, Japan, Austrian, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, megatons, Soviet Union, Soviet, Manhattan, Los Angeles, Hanford , Washington

☆ Marshall Islands says US must address nuclear legacy for deal on future ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Marshall Islands' President David Kabua arrives to address the 78th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz Acquire Licensing RightsUNITED NATIONS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - The president of the Marshall Islands said on Wednesday his Pacific island nation was "cautiously optimistic" it could soon finalize a deal on future ties with the United States, but repeated a call for Washington to address the legacy of massive nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s. The Marshall Islands is one of three sparsely populated Pacific island nations covered by so-called Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) with the United States. The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands called in July for more U.S. money to deal with the nuclear legacy to enable the renewal of its COFA, the economic terms of which expire on Sept. 30. Chief U.S. negotiator Joseph Yun has proposed Congress approve the total amount by Sept. 30, even without a final agreement with the Marshall Islands.

Persons: David Kabua, Eduardo Munoz, MOUs, Joseph Yun, East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink, Joe Biden, David Brunnstrom, Lincoln Organizations: General Assembly, REUTERS, UNITED NATIONS, Marshall, Free Association, Pacific, United Nations General Assembly, Chief, East Asia, Marshall Islanders, U.S, White, Thomson Locations: Marshall, New York City, U.S, United States, Washington, Micronesia, Palau, China, Pacific, New York, Bikini

☆ Marshall Islands Says US Must Address Nuclear Legacy for Deal on Future Ties
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-20 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The president of the Marshall Islands said on Wednesday his Pacific island nation was "cautiously optimistic" it could soon finalize a deal on future ties with the United States, but repeated a call for Washington to address the legacy of massive nuclear testing in the 1940s and 50s. The Marshall Islands is one of three sparsely populated Pacific island nations covered by so-called Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) with the United States. The foreign minister of the Marshall Islands called in July for more U.S. money to deal with the nuclear legacy to enable the renewal of its COFA, the economic terms of which expire on Sept. 30. Marshall Islands President David Kabua told the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York his country wanted to continue its free association with the United States but Washington "must realize that the Marshallese people require that the nuclear issue will be addressed." Chief U.S. negotiator Joseph Yun has proposed Congress approve the total amount by Sept. 30, even without a final agreement with the Marshall Islands.

Persons: David Kabua, MOUs, Joseph Yun, East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink, Joe Biden, David Brunnstrom, Lincoln Organizations: UNITED NATIONS, Reuters, Marshall, Free Association, Pacific, United Nations General Assembly, Chief, East Asia, Marshall Islanders, U.S, White Locations: United States, Washington, Marshall, U.S, Micronesia, Palau, China, Pacific, New York, Bikini

☆ How hydrogen bombs work and why they were created after WWII despite being more powerful than atomic bombs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-27 | by ( Adam Barnes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

But just seven years after dropping the atomic bombs, the United States detonated an even more powerful nuclear weapon: the hydrogen bomb. A hydrogen bomb, also known as a thermonuclear bomb, can create explosive force hundreds or even thousands of times greater than an atomic bomb. That extra challenge is why it took scientists longer to build a hydrogen bomb than the atomic bomb. Some physicists, including Oppenheimer, who were concerned about the far greater destructive potential of hydrogen bombs compared to atomic bombs, opposed their development. Hydrogen bomb tests were incredibly powerfulOn November 1, 1952, the US detonated the first hydrogen bomb at Enewetak atoll in the Marshall Islands.

Persons: Edward Teller, Sun, there's, ALEXANDER NEMENOV, Robert Oppenheimer, Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy, Melinda Sue Gordon, Enrico Fermi, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Harry S, Truman, Stanislaw Ulam, Teller, Mike, NurPhoto, Dragon Organizations: US, Service, TNT, University of Nevada, Getty, Tsar, Manhattan Project, Los, Universal, Alamos, Soviet Union, Atomic Energy, Bravo, Castle Bravo, Marshall Locations: Los Alamos, Wall, Silicon, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, United States, Las Vegas, Mt, Soviet, Soviet Union, Marshall, Castle, Bikini Atoll, Japan, Great Britain, Russia

☆ 'Oppenheimer' leaves out the most terrifying, deadly risk of nuclear weapons because nobody knew about it until the 1980s
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The film "Oppenheimer" is filled with terrible visions of nuclear war from the father of the atom bomb. But J. Robert Oppenheimer didn't know about the worst-case scenario: nuclear winter. The theory is that nuclear war would darken the skies, cool the planet, and cause billions to starve. Last year, they published findings that fish and livestock would not be able to sustain the world if nuclear winter wiped out crops. They concluded that a nuclear war between the US and Russia could cause 5 billion people to starve to death.

Persons: Oppenheimer, Robert Oppenheimer didn't, Christopher Nolan's, Cillian Murphy's J, Robert Oppenheimer, Alan Robock, Lucy Nicholson, Carl Sagan, Robock Organizations: Service, Bravo, NOAA, Rutgers University, Reuters, Trinity, US Army, Getty Images Locations: Wall, Silicon, Alamos, Central Valley, Russia, India, Pakistan

☆ Biden nominates China specialist to be ambassador to strategic Marshall Islands
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - President Joe Biden on Tuesday nominated a senior career diplomat to be U.S. ambassador to the Marshall Islands, a strategic Pacific territory that has become a focus for competition with China. A Chinese speaker, Stone also worked previously as coordinator of efforts to counter Chinese malign economic influence and as acting deputy assistant secretary for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia. Meanwhile, Chinese diplomats have been courting the region and China's construction and mining companies have expanded their business in Pacific island nations. In May, the U.S. said it had renewed COFA terms with Micronesia and Palau and its chief negotiator told Reuters then he hoped to finalize a deal with the Marshall Islands, whose COFA is due to expire this year, in coming weeks. Last year, more than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands and provide fair compensation.

Persons: Joe Biden, Laura Stone, Stone, China's, Biden, David Brunnstrom, Sandra Maler Organizations: State Department's Office, Free Association, Washington, Marshall, Reuters, Marshall Islanders, U.S, Thomson Locations: Marshall, China, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, U.S, Pacific, Micronesia, Palau, Bikini

☆ US to sign strategic pacts with two Pacific states, hopes for third in weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( David Brunnstrom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - The United States will sign new strategic pacts with the Pacific island states of Palau and Micronesia early next week and hopes to do so with the Marshall islands in coming weeks, the U.S. presidential envoy negotiating the deals said. As anticipated, he was unable to conclude the deal with the Marshall Islands. "We have made progress over my three-day visit to Marshall Islands and we hope to sign an agreement with the Marshall Islands in the coming weeks," he said. Chinese diplomats have been courting the region and China's construction and mining companies have expanded their business in many Pacific island nations. Yun said last month "topline" agreements would provide the three COFA states with a total of about $6.5 billion over 20 years.

☆ Salesforce: A New Dawn. CEO Marc Benioff is pivoting the cloud company from family to profitability.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I'm Diamond Naga Siu, and I'm not just talking about the Selena/Hailey 'mean girls' saga — I'm fascinated by the Salesforce spectacle. CEO Marc Benioff recently oversaw the departure of two leading candidates to inherit the Salesforce throne. Now, under their careful watch, Benioff needs to guide the company through a cost-cutting period — something he's never done before. This is quite the turn, considering he was still emphasizing Ohana after laying off 10% of the company in January. CEO Marc Benioff announced on Wednesday that the company is starting a "new day."

☆ The US military set off its largest nuclear explosion in testing 69 years ago, but scientists had no idea the blast would be that big
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Dozens of nuclear tests were carried out by the US in the Pacific between 1946 and 1958. The largest of these was the detonation of the Castle Bravo device on March 1, 1954. It was 1,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima during World War II. Castle Bravo was a real 'eyeopener'Despite the devastation caused by Castle Bravo, the US military continued to conducting nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific. The US, UK, and Soviet Union signed the Limited Test Ban Treaty in 1963, which barred nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater.

☆ To survive nuclear apocalypse, you may have to eat nothing but mushrooms, rats, and insects
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Survivors could farm mushrooms on dead trees, or eat rats and insects. In order to survive, he says, people would need to adopt sunlight-free agriculture — cultivating mushrooms, rats, and insects. Vincent Kessler/ReutersWhile we're using the wood to grow mushrooms, we could use the dead trees' leaves, too, he said. Dead trees can feed other life forms, like rats and insectsRats, much like mushrooms, can digest cellulose, the sugar that makes up 50% of wood. So anything the mushrooms leave behind could be fed to the rats, Walsh suggests.

WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - More than 100 arms-control, environmental and other activist groups have urged the Biden administration to formally apologize to the Marshall Islands for the impact of massive nuclear testing there in the 1940s and '50s and to provide fair compensation. The activists, led by the by the Arms Control Association and including Greenpeace, Physicians for Social Responsibility and the Marshallese Education Initiative, made the call in a Dec. 5 letter to President Joe Biden. It urged Washington to deliver on promises of nuclear justice in ongoing negotiations with the Marshall Islands on renewing a Compact of Free Association (COFA) that has been the basis of relations with the Pacific territory since the 1980s. COFA provisions will expire in 2023 for the Marshall Islands and another Pacific territory, the Federated States of Micronesia, and with Palau in 2024. They said that as well as issuing a formal apology and meeting compensation claims, Washington should support long-term environmental remediation, expand access to healthcare, especially for illnesses associated with radiation exposure, and declassify documents related on nuclear testing.

☆ US military atomic cleanup crews were sent out in the wake of American nuclear testing, and many paid a heavy price, veterans say
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jake Epstein | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Over a period of more than a decade, the US military conducted dozens of nuclear tests in the Pacific. Years later, soldiers were sent to the Marshall Islands to try and clean up the fallout from the testing. Nuclear tests like Castle Bravo produced a substantial amount of nuclear fallout that negatively affected the people of the Marshall Islands, according to the Brookings Institution think tank. Impact of radiation contaminationNuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands had "devastating effects" on the country's environment that "remain unresolved," according to a 2019 report by the Republic of the Marshall Islands' National Nuclear Commission. However, he, like thousands of others, are excluded from the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, which only covers veterans present for atmospheric nuclear tests.

☆ Marshall Islands urges U.S. to better address climate change and its nuclear legacy
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

UNITED NATIONS — The president of the Marshall Islands on Tuesday welcomed what he called progress toward a new association agreement with the United States, but said it is vital to better address the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing and climate change. President David Kabua made the remarks at the annual United Nations General Assembly in New York, where he also appealed more broadly for help and action to address climate change, to which his low-lying Pacific island nation is especially vulnerable. The Marshall Islands and other Pacific island states, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau, signed agreements known as compacts with the United States in the late 1980s that give the U.S. defense responsibility and the right to military bases in return for economic support. “While we have shared goals and a strong partnership with the United States of America, we also have grave development challenges and essential needs,” Kabua said. “We welcome recent progress with the United States of America towards a renewed Compact of Free Association and with it a targeted trust fund,” he said.

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