Demon Core - The True Story

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  • Опубликовано: 26 ноя 2020
  • In 1946, a P-239 plutonium core scheduled for detonation-by-nuclear-bomb was harmlessly melted down and reintegrated into the United States’ nuclear stockpile. That was the end of a 14-pound metallic sphere that had killed two scientists not 11 months before. This is the true story of the Demon Core.
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Комментарии • 17 тыс.

  • @kylehill
    @kylehill  3 года назад +19915

    *Thanks for watching, nerds!* Let me know what you think of the new format.

    • @yes3062
      @yes3062 3 года назад +413

      More story time please

    • @samprastherabbit
      @samprastherabbit 3 года назад +601

      Absolutely incredible work, and I can't think of a better way to drive home the terrible danger nuclear weapons pose to everyone. Superb work, sir.

    • @yes3062
      @yes3062 3 года назад +73

      What would have happened to the demon core if it was completely covered for one week. Would it even last that long?

    • @coreygrantham8921
      @coreygrantham8921 3 года назад +73

      I love the new format, you should do more videos like this that cause real fear.

    • @tekuaniaakab2050
      @tekuaniaakab2050 3 года назад +187

      Very good. Feels like an actual documentary

  • @Toksyuryel
    @Toksyuryel 3 года назад +23608

    Nuclear edging has got to be one of the most hardcore kinks I have ever heard of

    • @chimaobiamanchukwu6904
      @chimaobiamanchukwu6904 3 года назад +1776

      NOOOO NUCLEAR EDGING

    • @mason811
      @mason811 3 года назад +519

      top comment

    • @gnarledh2o474
      @gnarledh2o474 3 года назад +422

      I'm glad I wasn't the only one who thought of this

    • @russhamilton3800
      @russhamilton3800 3 года назад +240

      I'm not even sure I know what that means and pretty sure I don't want to but it made me laugh...wtf

    • @chimaobiamanchukwu6904
      @chimaobiamanchukwu6904 3 года назад +1422

      @@russhamilton3800 basically
      “baby I’m about to go critical”
      “not yet. You go critical when I say so”

  • @deeznutz3617
    @deeznutz3617 3 года назад +17839

    The whole experiment sounds like "How much can I pull the trigger of this gun without killing myself"

    • @eno2870
      @eno2870 3 года назад +885

      Yeah, that's more or less exactly what it was. Except, it wasn't a gun.. it was a detonator for a nuclear bomb.

    • @Armageist
      @Armageist 3 года назад +245

      So just like those idiots that stick guns down their pants on facebook.

    • @francois9747
      @francois9747 3 года назад +289

      @@eno2870 Yes, we got that lol you didn't have to explain it

    • @booskie4316
      @booskie4316 3 года назад +324

      "Sir, have you considered aiming the gun away from your own face?"

    • @stungunnotapplicable1953
      @stungunnotapplicable1953 3 года назад +351

      Worse is that (if I understand it right) if they hadn't pulled it away and thus stifled the chain reaction in time after the 'oopsies', it could have caused a thermonuclear explosion. AKA, it would have literally nuked their entire facility with the same destruction that we wrought on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was not just the people in the room that were put at risk. These people put so many more lives at risk in the process. Hopefully they at least had the common sense to make this facility a safe distance away from anywhere that innocent bystanders live.

  • @richbrooke3008
    @richbrooke3008 9 месяцев назад +1940

    "Hi, my name is Louis Slotin and this is Jackass!"
    *Pokes around a nuclear core with a screwdriver*

    • @richbrooke3008
      @richbrooke3008 9 месяцев назад +65

      Just to make clear, this is utterly terrifying.
      But with the incredibly irresponsible manner in which he conducted the experiments he pretty much lost my empathy.
      He didn't just play around with his life but with the lives of all his colleagues.

    • @largol33t12
      @largol33t12 3 месяца назад +24

      @@richbrooke3008 The entire setup of his experiment was absolutely dumb and reckless. I mean, he never thought about what would happen if he accidentally let the screwdriver slip out of his hand. It's the movie Jackass in real life...

    • @zadarasimoleons1019
      @zadarasimoleons1019 3 месяца назад +2

      You made me BURST out laughing

    • @joeyferguson840
      @joeyferguson840 2 месяца назад +2

      Knoxvilles gonna sue you

    • @clarkecorvo2692
      @clarkecorvo2692 2 месяца назад +4

      i just dont get what he hoped for and why he did what did.. is the explanation really as simple as "adrenaline junkie"?
      the whole thing is just so wild man..

  • @mikeyninety-one6439
    @mikeyninety-one6439 10 месяцев назад +6681

    What really shocked me is Louis’ response to the situation, wanting to mark everyone’s exact spot. He knew they were all dead and he wanted to mathematically solve just how dead each individual was. Mad lad.

    • @maxr.dechantsreiter5226
      @maxr.dechantsreiter5226 10 месяцев назад +588

      But they weren't dead: several lived into their 80s, none of their eventual deaths can be connected to the accident.

    • @mikeyninety-one6439
      @mikeyninety-one6439 10 месяцев назад +328

      @@maxr.dechantsreiter5226 ahh well that’s on me for assuming, I’ll have to look up what the results of his equations were for my own curiosity

    • @OmmerSyssel
      @OmmerSyssel 9 месяцев назад +142

      Nonsense, only Slotin died because of his failure.

    • @mikeyninety-one6439
      @mikeyninety-one6439 9 месяцев назад +78

      @@OmmerSyssel yes someone else astutely pointed it out already

    • @jamesw1659
      @jamesw1659 9 месяцев назад +327

      I'd actually call it quick thinking. We can gain knowledge from this incident, or we can NOT gain knowledge from this incident. We spent a lot of time in the early nuclear age dancing around how much exposure people would receive, and how much they could tolerate. When the costliest data of all, direct exposure, happened, it seems logical to want to receive something for the cost paid.

  • @xuvial1391
    @xuvial1391 3 года назад +10074

    *bright blue flash*
    "Did we all just die?"
    "Yep"

  • @Dakuu75
    @Dakuu75 3 года назад +6271

    "So if that screw driver slips... we all die?"
    "Yes."
    "Ok, let's do it."

    • @BobMcBobJr
      @BobMcBobJr 3 года назад +251

      Other Scientist: How about Camera + Lead Wall + string and pulley?
      Slotin: Haven't you ever wanted to poke a nuke with a screwdriver?

    • @neoflare1815
      @neoflare1815 3 года назад +35

      @@BobMcBobJr string and pulley wouldnt have worked the hole point which was for nuclear bombs is how close you can get it before it exploded. With a pulley system measurements will be off and if the string snaps well you are fucked anyway. So if you are gonna be fucked either way why not do it the most accurate way. What I dont get is why they were all exposed only one guy maybe two needed to be exposed everyone else could stand behind a lead wall.

    • @keithpoley3432
      @keithpoley3432 3 года назад +31

      And let's not wear protective gear

    • @wilfdarr
      @wilfdarr 3 года назад +35

      You know, I was fixing the disk brakes on my bike the other day, and I knew what would happen if I slipped (it looks like I'll lose my finger nail in the next couple of days) but I still thought “naw I'll be fine”, so oddly I feel I understand where they were coming from...

    • @wilfdarr
      @wilfdarr 3 года назад +48

      @@Gubers “Almost certainly never happen today”... Ya I bet people have learned their...
      “since 1945 there have been 60 supercriticality accidents and 21 deaths”
      Oh... I guess nuclear physicists aren't that bright after all...

  • @Jfreek5050
    @Jfreek5050 6 месяцев назад +960

    Id say the screwdriver method wasnt tickling the dragons tail, that was sitting in its snoring mouth and yelling "Pinochiooo" down its throat.

    • @cremebrulee4759
      @cremebrulee4759 3 месяца назад +6

      Definitely. Foolish.

    • @joeyferguson840
      @joeyferguson840 2 месяца назад +1

      Its snoring though, he wouldn't hear you.

    • @Jfreek5050
      @Jfreek5050 2 месяца назад +5

      @@joeyferguson840 I'm sitting in his mouth and haven't died yet. Anything is possible.

    • @joeyferguson840
      @joeyferguson840 2 месяца назад +1

      @@Jfreek5050 good point

    • @beatbasher
      @beatbasher Месяц назад +5

      Tickling the dragons balls more like

  • @Stephen-ro5jc
    @Stephen-ro5jc 8 месяцев назад +1341

    These incidents perfectly illustrate the difference between intelligence and wisdom. I'm certain these men were among the smartest people in the country, but if you told the average person what they were doing in that lab, that person would run for his car and floor it......

    • @stereoscope360v6
      @stereoscope360v6 6 месяцев назад +57

      What? You no want to tickle the tail of the sleeping dragon?

    • @nunyabusiness164
      @nunyabusiness164 5 месяцев назад +39

      Modern science is really good at answering true/false questions, but the scientific method alone cannot answer questions of ethics and spirituality, nor can it determine the purpose of the information it creates... There is certainly a place for this kind of knowledge seeking, but this is what happens when we ignore other forms of knowledge, like the value of human life...

    • @kaantax8666
      @kaantax8666 5 месяцев назад

      ​@@nunyabusiness164nope, "spirituality" is not a thing, it's a term used by people that wants to make others believe that believing in magic and ghosts is actually logical, and not f*cking stupid.
      And the scientific method is not related to ethics, unless it's about something that is objectively harmful to everyone involved.
      (Nukes, white phosphorus, artificially castrating populations, etc)

    • @ExhaustedScarf
      @ExhaustedScarf 4 месяца назад +12

      @@nunyabusiness164
      This is pure nonsense. It is entirely possible, indeed more effective than intuition, to form a full understanding of empathy based exclusively on an understanding of causes, effects, and consequences, and the application of that analysis to the self.
      I don’t want to be stolen from. Therefore, I should foster an environment where I will not be stolen from. Therefore I should use my knowledge and skills to make the environment around me, whether physical or social, to be such that no one around me feels the need to steal. Therefore, I should help them and not harm them. Therefore, I should ask them how I can help them, and follow through on those requests so long as I am capable and it does not harm me or anyone else.
      If-then relationships to pieces of information tell us everything we need to know, and the application of that knowledge gets us everything we need to have.

    • @Youtuber5775-
      @Youtuber5775- 4 месяца назад +18

      Einstein became very depressed after he helped to develop this technology. He knew it was just a weapon of destruction to the world and he helped create it. His intelligence was not rooted in violence or anything like that, but rather to better the world around him.

  • @createthiscom
    @createthiscom 2 года назад +6370

    These guys were the original practitioners of “fuck around and find out”.

    • @sasuke082594
      @sasuke082594 2 года назад +31

      Lol fr.

    • @chaddejager4429
      @chaddejager4429 2 года назад +7

      😂😂😂😂😂

    • @VoteOrDie99
      @VoteOrDie99 2 года назад +132

      U're basically describing the scientific method. Lol, true

    • @USMC98
      @USMC98 2 года назад +4

      😆😅😆😂

    • @dk2845
      @dk2845 2 года назад

      Basically how experimental data is collected ☠️🤣

  • @sammorgan31
    @sammorgan31 3 года назад +15615

    There's accidents.
    Then there's fucking around and finding out.

    • @ghazghkullthraka9714
      @ghazghkullthraka9714 3 года назад +599

      Otherwise known as ‘mythbusters style science.’

    • @Shoebox817
      @Shoebox817 3 года назад +267

      @@ghazghkullthraka9714 well this one got busted

    • @uwunawu
      @uwunawu 3 года назад +204

      well fucking around are necessary for **SCIENCE**
      rip to those who have died tho

    • @lindzeesouperocd7558
      @lindzeesouperocd7558 3 года назад +151

      That's how my son was born.

    • @hrthrhs
      @hrthrhs 3 года назад +281

      Yeah, it seems completely stupid to LOWER the metal half-sphere, as gravity is constantly working to kill you. Why not flip the experiment upside down so you're raising the half-sphere. That way the worst that can happen is it falls to the ground, maybe on your foot.

  • @waxwinged_hound
    @waxwinged_hound 5 месяцев назад +610

    I also feel bad for the nurse who cared for both Daghlian and Slotin. When Slotin came in, I can only imagine the despair that nurse must have felt when hearing that the exact same thing that killed Daghlian had happened again. Realizing there was nothing that could be done to save Slotin and that he was going to die a horrendous death. Of course, nothing can compare to the suffering of fatal radiation poisoning, but something has to be said for the anguish of helplessly witnessing someone slowly succumb to it.

    • @dalelerette206
      @dalelerette206 4 месяца назад +10

      Admittedly, the passing away of these two man would be a very tragic way to get to know them. I suspect if we see "blue aurora" we may be witnessing an extended blue flash 5:38 which would result in massive amounts of radiation deaths for that part of the world. I have even wondered if our "blue sky' is actually a blue aurora like we see on Jupiter.

    • @afromoth8354
      @afromoth8354 3 месяца назад +2

      The average nurse, especially in a high profile hospital, will deal with shit like this all the time

    • @dalelerette206
      @dalelerette206 3 месяца назад

      @@afromoth8354 I suspect there is going to be a massive Blue Wave CME over Asia and Russia. Something very different we have not seen in nearly 70,000 years. It will be so prominent massive levels of population will be lost, nearly Extinction Event Levels. When the masses start coming looking for help here in India, Australia, Africa and The Americas, we will have to show them Mercy and let them in.

    • @alveolate
      @alveolate 2 месяца назад +10

      this reminds me of the horrific scenes from the tv series chernobyl as the first responders basically slowly melted in their hospital beds into mush.
      it's incredible to me that so many people, after witnessing these ghastly outcomes, still decided these weapons are worth making. instead of figuring out how to conduct diplomacy... let's instead pour resources into devastating weapons that will maul and mangle. why? what's the point of these brains if we can't use them to avoid terrible suffering?

    • @cshepard09
      @cshepard09 28 дней назад +1

      @@afromoth8354 deal with severe radiation poisoning? you can probably count on one hand how many nurses have dealt with that XD

  • @padawanmage71
    @padawanmage71 9 месяцев назад +529

    Some years back I worked at a Nuclear Power plant for a summer internship for college. Luckily it was during a time when they were refueling the reactor. When I went into the core (with a decontamination suit, since anti radiation suit, since thin plastic won’t stop neutrons) i could look down and see the spent fuel rods. Each glowed blue like a gigantic lightsaber, and only the water covering it was holding back the radiation that would’ve killed everyone there in a second.

    • @jakeb4962
      @jakeb4962 9 месяцев назад +40

      It’s even cooler to stand over the cavity and see the baffle plates (next to the fuel when operating) glow blue because they are so highly irradiated

    • @anlashock
      @anlashock 7 месяцев назад +3

      Scarier than that... going to Za'ha'dhum

    • @slruiz1986
      @slruiz1986 5 месяцев назад +1

      Can I see?

    • @anniebell6846
      @anniebell6846 3 месяца назад +13

      That’s so interesting but also the most eeriest thing I read.

    • @cremebrulee4759
      @cremebrulee4759 3 месяца назад +5

      Scary. Very, very scary.

  • @Vox_Rhododendron
    @Vox_Rhododendron 3 года назад +6313

    “Oh no”
    Definition: The most terrifying phrase in nuclear physics.

    • @boring7823
      @boring7823 3 года назад +209

      Oops.

    • @joVeeNoise
      @joVeeNoise 3 года назад +364

      Only thing scarier is “oopsie woopsie, we made a fucky wucky! A widdle fucko boingo”

    • @dansullivan6183
      @dansullivan6183 3 года назад +46

      Or "oops"

    • @joshualuciani3896
      @joshualuciani3896 3 года назад +107

      Memes have desensitized me and made think Slotin went "Oh no... Anyway" after his experiment went critical

    • @hplovecraftscat4837
      @hplovecraftscat4837 3 года назад +35

      How about? "The lower my payment, the lower the reactor coolant"?

  • @BiblemanTF
    @BiblemanTF 3 года назад +8428

    Screw driver: *slips *
    Scientist: Gentlemen...synchronize your death watches.

    • @MochaFur1
      @MochaFur1 3 года назад +415

      I've done nothing but teleport bread.

    • @captainshadowfox
      @captainshadowfox 3 года назад +144

      @@MochaFur1
      How much

    • @maixe13
      @maixe13 3 года назад +170

      @@captainshadowfox WHERE?! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN SENDING THEM TO?!

    • @necro5430
      @necro5430 3 года назад +142

      @@maixe13 I DO NOT KNOW ALL I HAVE DONE IS TELEPORT BREAD!

    • @radar_the_fox
      @radar_the_fox 3 года назад +23

      @@captainshadowfox ffffffffff
      U r
      R
      Y

  • @DROPKICK500gaming
    @DROPKICK500gaming 7 месяцев назад +186

    Fascinating how even when the weapons-grade core was no longer needed as a bomb, it still killed two people. A drawn weapon demands blood.

  • @legend7951
    @legend7951 5 месяцев назад +84

    Wow, Louis Slotin was a scientist to the very end, even after realizing he just killed himself he immediately thought to gather data on the incident, even if it was just to see how soon his colleagues would die too.

  • @zookkkk
    @zookkkk 3 года назад +20269

    A killer metal ball called demon core is probably the most metal thing to exist

  • @firefly5677
    @firefly5677 3 года назад +36203

    Just imagine not having a scratch on you, walking around, breathing, and all the while knowing you were already dead. Jesus, that is horrifying

    • @isleschild
      @isleschild 3 года назад +4673

      Yeah I'm pretty sure you just described the human condition.

    • @timothy8453
      @timothy8453 3 года назад +1035

      @@isleschild damn

    • @isleschild
      @isleschild 3 года назад +1094

      @@hwburner1524 lol... I only mean that the difference between Hisashi Ouchi and John Everyman is that Ouchi knew he had only days left, and knew (or discovered) that they would be excruciatingly painful. But, none of us get out of this life alive. We're all walking dead men, so to speak. Some have more time than others. The "Jesus" emphatic was well placed, insofar as only those who believe in "life after death" have any cause for relief.

    • @avory7938
      @avory7938 3 года назад +515

      @@isleschild damn, you’re completely right. I guess life can also be considered a slow death

    • @isleschild
      @isleschild 3 года назад +404

      @@avory7938 I am a melancholy, brooding personality, and have always loved philosophy. If I weren't a Christian I have little doubt that I would have caved under this existential anvil years ago. On the other hand, I now live knowing that I fail to live up to the divine standards of a holy judge, so 🙃 ... still "working" on the implications of imputed grace.

  • @scotsbillhicks
    @scotsbillhicks 9 месяцев назад +123

    I am sure another source stated that Slotin had been told it would be much safer to invert the hemispheres. That way the upper hemisphere would remain static while the lower hemisphere was raised towards it. If there was an accident, the hemisphere would drop away.

    • @StormBred
      @StormBred 26 дней назад +1

      If there’s an accident you’re dead anyway who cares if it drops away?

    • @CrunchyJoints
      @CrunchyJoints 24 дня назад

      ​@@StormBredthe difference is how long the accident lasts for

    • @StormBred
      @StormBred 24 дня назад

      @@CrunchyJoints it seems like it doesn’t matter how long it lasts, if it happens you’re dead

  • @scrillthebeast2066
    @scrillthebeast2066 8 месяцев назад +24

    They really did the forbidden How to become a fallout ghoul speedrun

    • @GenericHandle666
      @GenericHandle666 20 дней назад

      Well sometimes a Fella’s gotta eat a Fella

  • @Yora21
    @Yora21 3 года назад +15621

    The deadliest words in nuclear physics: "It will be fine."

    • @crackdoggies
      @crackdoggies 3 года назад +578

      What about "hold my screwdriver "

    • @domomitsune5920
      @domomitsune5920 3 года назад +110

      When does and something not go wrong, when you say it will be fine.

    • @carlousmagus5387
      @carlousmagus5387 3 года назад +267

      That and " Oops!... "

    • @GCULPEX
      @GCULPEX 3 года назад +189

      or "well, that's it, we're done here."

    • @Guru_1092
      @Guru_1092 3 года назад +210

      "Huh. That doesn't seem right."

  • @CaryTheEagle
    @CaryTheEagle 2 года назад +23465

    Remember that if you ever feel like you've fucked up at something in life, at least you didn't try to control a nuclear device with a flat head screwdriver and cause a criticality event.

    • @myplaylist7007
      @myplaylist7007 2 года назад +431

      im quoting this.

    • @ggvbayareaoakland5914
      @ggvbayareaoakland5914 2 года назад +443

      Also remember that Ryan Seacrest tried to give a blind kid a high five ... as the kid was walking outside of the room hahaha 😆

    • @raymondsmith2581
      @raymondsmith2581 2 года назад +51

      Yeah there is that. I'm gonna use that too.

    • @YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit
      @YerBrwnDogAteMyRabit 2 года назад +206

      Well...there was that ONE time that I did, but I don't really have time to get into the story: I only have a few hours left to complete my will..

    • @helenhoward5346
      @helenhoward5346 2 года назад +61

      Ah yes I've never been happier with a mundane ordinary catastrophic fuck up.

  • @du5707
    @du5707 9 месяцев назад +127

    Slotin, having watched his friend die, should have been removed from the same experiments. I guess the risk process would have unconsciously continually play in his mind as to how, where and why his friend failed carrying out this same experiment. The fact that he didn't panic like his friend or others in the room shows he may have already played out this scenario a thousand times in his mind if it should ever happen.

  • @nocturnalsimulacrum6385
    @nocturnalsimulacrum6385 9 месяцев назад +70

    I always imagine the demon core as an incredibly deadly Lamp which flicking the On Switch results in Super Criticality. Doesn't matter how quickly you flick the switch to the off position the light still hit you and it was lethal

    • @borderlineiq
      @borderlineiq 4 месяца назад +2

      I think of it more as touching the wire that megavolts travel along. The arc of lightning is unimaginable.

  • @HereticDuo
    @HereticDuo 3 года назад +15979

    This is what happens when you have an intelligence of 20 but a wisdom of 1.

    • @theamphibinator
      @theamphibinator 3 года назад +322

      The best comment here

    • @jacobnolan510
      @jacobnolan510 3 года назад +481

      Must of had his luck level low too

    • @avery1647
      @avery1647 3 года назад +488

      "I wanna research a nuclear core"
      "You got a natural 20"
      "Oh finally, after all those trie-
      "The continuing process got a 3"

    • @Joe-ho5gc
      @Joe-ho5gc 3 года назад +13

      yea i think u mean Luck

    • @joshuaschritz8151
      @joshuaschritz8151 3 года назад +58

      @@jacobnolan510 it's must HAVE for fuck sakes

  • @MizziTheFoxdragon
    @MizziTheFoxdragon 3 года назад +10543

    the fact that the last guy saw his friend die in a painful and horrific way and then still acted recklessly and didn't take any safety precautions is mind boggling.

    • @mitchiegxxr350
      @mitchiegxxr350 3 года назад +398

      Yet considered a genius..

    • @TheJunky228
      @TheJunky228 3 года назад +1053

      it probably came from a mindset at least partially like "well, he clutzed it up and made a mistake which cost him his life. I'm better than him, I wouldn't make that sort of mistake." only to learn otherwise

    • @miglek9613
      @miglek9613 2 года назад +717

      Nah, that's just how scientists are. Like, astronauts did go into space after that failed Apollo mission. The same way painters don't worry too much about working with toxic pigments and other materials, scientists stop caring about safety the second they think they can do something amazing

    • @twistedyogert
      @twistedyogert 2 года назад +293

      Proof you can be the smartest person in the room yet be a complete idiot at the same time.

    • @Pherecydes
      @Pherecydes 2 года назад +392

      He'd also exposed himself to 100 roentgen just a few months before fixing a nuclear reactor underwater while it was operating instead of waiting a day for it to be shut down. The man just had a death wish.

  • @Shrewdilus
    @Shrewdilus 6 месяцев назад +98

    I can’t help but wonder if Slotin cause the core to go critical on purpose. After all, he seemed way too quick to gather data from the incident. It was also the last demonstration with the core before it was to be discarded of.

    • @OzymandiasWasRight
      @OzymandiasWasRight 4 месяца назад +20

      Right?! Something wasn't right there. Over and over and over again with a screwdriver. Then one day 'well, that does it' and immediately focused on where everyone stood.
      It's a horrifying story. Also I don't care screw that guy.

    • @zaingamingtv2242
      @zaingamingtv2242 4 месяца назад +1

      ​@@OzymandiasWasRighthe literally only focused on where everyone stood to get the radiation dosage to see if anyone needed immediate medical attention. Brainless idiots these days always assume the most illogical and psychopathic decisions as the most obvious choices LOL

  • @tushka27
    @tushka27 9 месяцев назад +118

    My father was in the US Navy during the Korean War. Often they would visit Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands. He described the water being at least 10 degrees warmer than the surrounding water. Ash would float onto their ship, so they would have to wash down the hull. Later in life, he had multiple tumors removed, likely due to the radiation. It is strange to think the demon core may have remotely affected my father, and my health being his son.

  • @sansthewhat
    @sansthewhat 3 года назад +6027

    Everybody gangsta until someone says “Oops”

    • @dervolldrosten6320
      @dervolldrosten6320 3 года назад +16

      Oof

    • @kwispee5169
      @kwispee5169 3 года назад +94

      No one:
      uwu, I made an oopsie woopsie, I am sowwy my hands did a slippsies and dwopped the glowwing bawl.
      Meanwhile that scientist that was supposed to be watching the degenerate brought back in time to 1945: “Laughs in unrestricted violence”

    • @TheAuron32
      @TheAuron32 3 года назад +10

      "we gonna have to work on our communication"

    • @bdorsey19
      @bdorsey19 3 года назад +1

      I AM SATAN I MADE LIKES 666 I AM SO FUNNY HAHAHEBBSHDBEBBEIDBS

    • @cartoonfantasy4541
      @cartoonfantasy4541 3 года назад

      Here before 696 likes

  • @stormfath3r754
    @stormfath3r754 3 года назад +3472

    Screw driver slips
    Scientist: This little maneuver is gonna cost us 50 years.

    • @luke_mckay
      @luke_mckay 3 года назад +69

      Is that an Interstellar reference? If so, well done. 😂👍🏼

    • @stormfath3r754
      @stormfath3r754 3 года назад +25

      @@luke_mckay Sure is, such a great movie.

    • @Mcgregor854
      @Mcgregor854 3 года назад +9

      @@stormfath3r754 It is such a great flick and not far from the truth, so I hear.

    • @tear728
      @tear728 3 года назад +6

      Come on TARS!

    • @benheisenberg2633
      @benheisenberg2633 3 года назад +4

      Kinda feel bad for laughing lol

  • @user-bn4rt9ou9c
    @user-bn4rt9ou9c 9 месяцев назад +53

    Having your dna ripped apart is a terrifying thought. I never forgot the portrayal of the men who were exposed to the melted down nuclear reactor in hbo’s Chernobyl.

  • @0daadaadaa0
    @0daadaadaa0 6 месяцев назад +132

    I'm immediately reminded of a line from a movie, "You are the dumbest smart person I know!"

    • @fourcheeseblend8573
      @fourcheeseblend8573 3 месяца назад +1

      That sounds familiar what movie is it

    • @Daysed.and.Konfuzed
      @Daysed.and.Konfuzed 3 месяца назад +4

      @@fourcheeseblend8573
      "You are the dumbest smart person I ever met in my life!"
      - Will Smith in _I, Robot_
      To which a comedy robot replied:
      "Just like your wife!"
      And that was enough for Big Will to b1tchsl@p every robot in the movie until they were nothing but a junk pile.

    • @hamwa4eis
      @hamwa4eis 2 месяца назад

      @@fourcheeseblend8573I robot

    • @ericduncan7266
      @ericduncan7266 2 месяца назад

      @@fourcheeseblend8573also varsity blues. Kilmer says it to mox. You are the dumbest smart kid I know.

    • @liukang3545
      @liukang3545 25 дней назад

      lulw

  • @FrostBiteArt
    @FrostBiteArt 2 года назад +5826

    She: he is probably thinking about other girls
    Him: how close I can get to critical mass before fucking dying?

  • @antonsundin2974
    @antonsundin2974 3 года назад +9946

    I can respect their devotion but the fact that everyone was okay with him doing it by hand and a screwdriver is something beyond incredibly stupid.

    • @Kickiusz
      @Kickiusz 3 года назад +776

      Humans are naturally obedient to authority and that can be a bitch. Still not nearly the worst showcase of said obedience in that decade, though.

    • @BaldBlokeOnABoat
      @BaldBlokeOnABoat 3 года назад +177

      Don't forget.. this was nearly 80 years ago. We literally didn't know any better.

    • @antonsundin2974
      @antonsundin2974 3 года назад +707

      @@BaldBlokeOnABoat I mean they knew they would all die if he messes up.....

    • @Stegibbon
      @Stegibbon 3 года назад +645

      @@BaldBlokeOnABoat they knew perfectly, Marie Curie had come before and died from her radioactive discoveries. And they just dropped two of the cores on Japan...

    • @BaldBlokeOnABoat
      @BaldBlokeOnABoat 3 года назад +62

      @@Stegibbon yeah, but neither of those two things involved playing with supercriticality on someones desk..

  • @dinkoz1
    @dinkoz1 9 месяцев назад +39

    In fact, the Demon core was melted because it was necessary to remove the isotopes formed in critical excursions because it heated up more due to the same isotopes and was more radioactive. A new pit made of purified Pu 239 was used in one of the tests and gave more energy than expected. In the previous critical excursion, most of the Pu240 that can cause spontaneous fission was "burned". Because of Pu240, an implosion compression system had to be used to prevent predetonation, ie the critical mass had to be compressed at high speed to avoid the negative effect of predetonation due to Pu240. Since the new pit had a low concentration of Pu240, the compression and increase in density took place for a longer time and with more neutron generations, which led to more released energy, i.e. "burning" of a larger mass of Pu before the energy created expanded the pit to the point of stopping the chain reaction. In fact, it was more efficient in terms of the mass of Pu used than other pits with a higher level of Pu240
    EDIT: It also had a name: Rufus

    • @Dave-ohhh
      @Dave-ohhh 2 месяца назад

      Where do they get the Pu239/240?

    • @dinkoz1
      @dinkoz1 2 месяца назад +2

      @@Dave-ohhh In a graphite moderated reactor (or heavy water D2O moderated reactor). Pu 239/240 are manufactured elements, they do not exist in nature because half-life is only 24,000 years (there are traces as a result of the decay of other elements such as neptunine). In the reactor, the moderator slows down the neutrons in order to maintain the chain reaction of U235, and an important part is the absorption of slow "tetmal" neutrons in U238, which gives U239, which decays into Neptunium 239 in about 23 minutes, and after a little over 2 days, Neptunium turns into Pu 239. Now , Pu239 can also absorb a neutron and become Pu240, so it is important that the reactor fuel is briefly exposed to the neutron flux in the reactor, but still long enough that the production cycle made a usable amount of Pu239. Supergrade Pu for weapons is up to 3% contamination with Pu240, 3-7% is weapongrade and above that it can only be used as fuel for fast or breeder reactors.

    • @Dave-ohhh
      @Dave-ohhh 2 месяца назад +1

      @@dinkoz1 jezuz my knowledge of basic chemistry goes as far as understanding isotopes electron configuration but that just sounds like Chinese to me but I kinda get it. Thank you for answering me.

  • @doodybird5766
    @doodybird5766 8 месяцев назад +15

    My uncle Lacey Evans was one of the soldiers sitying outside when they first started testing the bombs, he later died from Leukemia but you know... it's not listed as service related

  • @wiggy5209
    @wiggy5209 3 года назад +2903

    That feeling when you experience a blue light for half a second and know now that you're a walking corpse due to none of your cells being able to replicate.

    • @luke_mckay
      @luke_mckay 3 года назад +278

      Yeah, that's the worst. Hate when that happens. 🤔😂

    • @Zippytez
      @Zippytez 3 года назад +304

      I will say that the blue light is like nothing that you have ever seen. I had the chance to see the test reactor at Penn State main when they were running tests on it. The reactor was submerged in a large pool of deuterium water which absorbed all the radiation. I'd describe the blue light as a mix between navy blue and 'normal' blue.

    • @HideSeek_Soje111
      @HideSeek_Soje111 3 года назад +19

      Terrifying

    • @HideSeek_Soje111
      @HideSeek_Soje111 3 года назад +96

      @@Zippytez that has to be an impressive sight.

    • @Zippytez
      @Zippytez 3 года назад +105

      @@HideSeek_Soje111 if you ever get the opportunity to ever see it, I highly recommend getting a tour. Its simply mind blowing.

  • @northernskies86
    @northernskies86 3 года назад +4262

    This is why they spend a whole unit on lab safety in every science class. This is what happens when you fail lab safety.

    • @user-we9pt4xg4j
      @user-we9pt4xg4j 3 года назад +296

      That one kid who swears he doesn't need the goggles

    • @MTG_Music
      @MTG_Music 3 года назад +119

      Well there were no standards for poking bomb cores at the time...

    • @tailsfan465
      @tailsfan465 3 года назад +116

      This isn't a lab safety story but it's more of a woodworking safety story: Basically used to do woodworking in high school, right? My bullies tried to push me into the drill press, they got in trouble. After that i was waiting to use the bandsaw and one of the bullies was using it and i saw them put their fingers in the silver circle (basically that's very very close to the blade) multiple times. I took the safety rules and always looked at them, and i accepted them while paying attention because i knew they were important. I yelled at him for "SILVER CIRCLE" and he didn't listen. Teacher saw him and flipped out. I flipped out. He didn't get hurt but jesus christ... he could of lost his finger. I know he's almost injured me in the woodworking class before but seriously. He could of lost his freaking finger. I always listen to safety rules completely by the book, Don't be like him.

    • @I_Dont_Believe_In_Salad
      @I_Dont_Believe_In_Salad 3 года назад +12

      @@tailsfan465
      Don't be like him.
      Oh yeah losing fingers is *Normal* choice for children.
      Your story is basically "the floor is made out of floor" meme

    • @BreezyLoveMachine
      @BreezyLoveMachine 3 года назад +24

      The first rule of lab safety is to have fun.

  • @marvelgeek9577
    @marvelgeek9577 8 месяцев назад +10

    Moral of the story; don’t go sticking screw drivers into a nuclear core just to see what would happen.

  • @terraoftime
    @terraoftime 9 месяцев назад +10

    The really aweful thing about acute radiation poisoning is that there is no effective way to reduce the pain, you feel it all the time and are in total agony until you die.

  • @seemslegit6203
    @seemslegit6203 3 года назад +5338

    You: have a small ball that wipes a city off the map when it explodes, and if it glows blue you're already dead.
    Your safety measures: a screwdriver

    • @Pirateking1997
      @Pirateking1997 3 года назад +225

      Your user name makes it 10 better

    • @iruga7379
      @iruga7379 2 года назад +90

      If i was in charge of that bullshit: ''Never...EVER...touch or mess with the Demon Core. Slowly get back to my car. Drive AWAY as fast as i can to Mexico.''

    • @trithos7308
      @trithos7308 2 года назад +41

      Like, there got to be safer was to handle an experiment where you know blue light = death

    • @twistedyogert
      @twistedyogert 2 года назад +43

      Sounds like something Aperture Science would do.

    • @Jsa460
      @Jsa460 2 года назад +100

      It's particularly bad when you realise it HAD a safety device to stop it from completely closing and he REMOVED it in order to replace it with the much less safe version of an unsecured screwdriver.

  • @koru8233
    @koru8233 3 года назад +3384

    Demon core sounds like something you'd try to secure in a first person shooter

    • @Perry2186
      @Perry2186 3 года назад +131

      Really sound like an item a Boss drops in a MMORPG but of course when it drops you ar not prepared

    • @ggogaming7441
      @ggogaming7441 3 года назад +69

      Doom ???

    • @akron3233
      @akron3233 3 года назад +33

      Shadow of Chernobyl?

    • @listenhere1623
      @listenhere1623 3 года назад +9

      I think I've played something that has a demon core but I'm not sure

    • @theworstcatholic7247
      @theworstcatholic7247 3 года назад +21

      @@listenhere1623 You've likely played dozens of things with the name "Demon Core" in them.

  • @rancosteel
    @rancosteel 10 месяцев назад +32

    Richard Feynman was a genius. He exposed the Challenger accident on live TV with a simple experiment. He was also a great safe cracker and musician.

  • @RzeTon
    @RzeTon 8 месяцев назад +13

    Slotin was like:
    "Check this shit" * The screwdriver slips*

    • @emetahava
      @emetahava 2 месяца назад +2

      zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • @koovshiki
    @koovshiki 2 года назад +10004

    The part that really gave me chills was when Slotin basically had to calculate how long until everyone in the room was going to die. Just imagine how terrified that group must've been.

    • @Militaria_Collector
      @Militaria_Collector 2 года назад +123

      Watch the movie the Manhattan project

    • @Asterra2
      @Asterra2 2 года назад +711

      The video gives a misleading account. He was calculating dosage, from which one could gauge their future risks. Over a certain amount, near certain death. Another amount, maybe not death but definitely shortened life due to cellular damage (and this was not well understood at the time). How shortened? Depends on luck. There's a book ("Under the Cloud", I believe) which goes into detail on the fates of most of the people in the room. For example, Graves, who was standing only a couple of feet further away from criticality (9:40), died 20 years later at the age of 55. Heart attack, which is a typical fate for anyone who endured a high radiation dose. You can reasonably think of a radiation blast as being significantly aged in an instant (or think of steady radiation exposure as enduring accelerated aging), since the two effects are similar. Most of the rest of the people in the room died at ages and from issues which would be easier to judge as natural causes. That all said, the point to understand is that radiation exposure does not feature a 1:1 relationship with one's lifespan, unlike what the video casually suggested.

    • @heyitsjack7129
      @heyitsjack7129 2 года назад +301

      @@Asterra2 sorry the 14 minute long video that was made for people to watch while eating or shitting didn’t go into extreme detail about the lives of everyone in that room and how the incident effected them and what eventually cause them all to die

    • @Asterra2
      @Asterra2 2 года назад +407

      @@heyitsjack7129 I'll give you the benefit of doubt in assuming you're just being snarky, rather than actually failing to understand that giving the exposure explanation slightly different wording would have sidestepped the issue I underscored, without lengthening the video.

    • @novemberreign6023
      @novemberreign6023 2 года назад

      HIS would have been that particular moment right after his ass whopping 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  • @Artaimus
    @Artaimus 3 года назад +2947

    "Well, that does it."
    Probably the most accurate line of acceptance of one's death ever spoken.

    • @chumimintv9052
      @chumimintv9052 3 года назад +152

      The poor guy accepted it like it was nothing

    • @Terratops474
      @Terratops474 3 года назад +184

      @@chumimintv9052 he had to realize it was only a matter of time until he slipped.

    • @Jasondurgen
      @Jasondurgen 3 года назад +63

      @@Terratops474 probably didn’t think he had much to lose

    • @lethalheart6370
      @lethalheart6370 3 года назад +140

      @@chumimintv9052 poor guy? He was literally asking for it lol.
      Sucks he shortened those other scientists lives though.

    • @chumimintv9052
      @chumimintv9052 3 года назад +67

      @@lethalheart6370 By that logic everyone there asked for it, they were doing what they were researching. A death is still a death.

  • @agustinbs
    @agustinbs 9 месяцев назад +6

    This is the closest to be in a situation where you die and your soul leaves yout body and see the deadth scene. Its crazy to realize after 2 seconds of that light flash that you are just a walking death soul walking arround.

  • @waterflowzz
    @waterflowzz 3 месяца назад +3

    This story is the ultimate example of play stupid games win stupid prizes.

  • @iviaverick52
    @iviaverick52 3 года назад +5316

    "This radioactive core is extremely dangerous and should be respected!"
    *pokes it with a screwdriver*

    • @bubba9384
      @bubba9384 3 года назад +117

      Steve Irwin, if he had been a nuclear scientist...

    • @rufodeer5421
      @rufodeer5421 3 года назад +9

      What can go wrong?

    • @zointisarenazi
      @zointisarenazi 3 года назад +4

      @@rufodeer5421 I thought it only grows a hand but its looks like it doesn't...

    • @kiranraveendran2437
      @kiranraveendran2437 3 года назад +6

      Ur mushrooms are more dangerous than that core.

    • @fvb7
      @fvb7 3 года назад +18

      IT'S ANGREH!!! OH OH IT'S ANGREH!!

  • @fabulousjekster28
    @fabulousjekster28 3 года назад +3680

    "this is extremely dangerous and unstable being able to end millions of life If explodes"
    *So anyways lets Poke It with something and see what happens*

    • @uwunawu
      @uwunawu 3 года назад +63

      Every scientist ever

    • @vijeykumar7429
      @vijeykumar7429 3 года назад +74

      And poke it with a screwdriver perhaps

    • @kyleparton4610
      @kyleparton4610 3 года назад +27

      Nothing ventured nothing gained.

    • @lordpheles6809
      @lordpheles6809 3 года назад +7

      Yeah let’s just have 60 accidents, what could go wrong

    • @brayanvazquez9136
      @brayanvazquez9136 3 года назад

      @@vijeykumar7429 I get the reference buddy hahah. Rick..

  • @saigeallen2804
    @saigeallen2804 Месяц назад +2

    these people cared more about gaining knowledge and the advancement of science more than their own lives, it’s incredible really

  • @Danielstrath
    @Danielstrath 8 месяцев назад +8

    This is the definition of fuck around and find out.

  • @bloodisfrightening1203
    @bloodisfrightening1203 3 года назад +4385

    Everyone else including expert scientists “Hey your going to die just stop it or find a safer way”
    These guys “Ha Ha orb goes blue................uh oh”

    • @webbmerriam6984
      @webbmerriam6984 3 года назад +154

      Nuclear Physicists being told not to do super-criticality experiments on the demon core by hand: "It'll be fine."
      Those nuclear physicists when someone drops a reflector: 👁 👄 👁

    • @theexchipmunk
      @theexchipmunk 3 года назад +39

      Even better. I can come up with a safe way to do it on the top of my head. Fix the damn thing onto a filly threaded rod and use that to very slowly and safely lower it. That way it cannot fall or close unwanted.

    • @SomeDudeInBaltimore
      @SomeDudeInBaltimore 3 года назад +41

      @@theexchipmunk Boggles my mind that these scientists couldn't figure something like that out. They knew full well the danger of radiation. They shoulda been behind several inches of lead glass or ideally, operating it with a remote camera.

    • @ArmourGX
      @ArmourGX 3 года назад +27

      @@theexchipmunk The video says they had spacers to stop the core from being complete, not sure why they couldn’t just make smaller spacers if they weren’t giving good enough results..

    • @theexchipmunk
      @theexchipmunk 3 года назад +16

      @@ArmourGX Yes, thats also another possibility. But my point stands and this makes it even worse. If a complete layman can come up with a safe solution, it‘s hard to grasp how none of these intelligent people could.

  • @Maggoz777
    @Maggoz777 3 года назад +2554

    As we say in my country: Having a PhD doesn't mean you're not an idiot.

    • @mikebeaumont1863
      @mikebeaumont1863 3 года назад +97

      BS, MS, PHD. Bull Shit, More Shit, Piled Higher and Deeper😂

    • @banditosdetiempo
      @banditosdetiempo 3 года назад +12

      Depends on the school. 😊

    • @kathernandez5165
      @kathernandez5165 3 года назад +2

      Eeexxxactly

    • @banditosdetiempo
      @banditosdetiempo 3 года назад +7

      At this juncture, most schools in most ‘countries’ are more prop than education. Observing the basis of the curriculum, the meta language and incentives of the programs, the pitch at which those things are mandated, the methods in which order is maintained in what ever society one is operating in. This should be enough for a conscious being to determine the legitimacy or not. Where I’m from, ruling through violence and fear is often a telltail sign of an inferior authority. Your still getting an education though.

    • @banditosdetiempo
      @banditosdetiempo 3 года назад

      @Sam Themann Where does your life begin? Does it start when you are ‘born’? When you are conceived? Did it start in a lab? When and where did you consciously come ‘online’?

  • @happboi1751
    @happboi1751 9 месяцев назад +2

    Famous last words:“Check this shit”

  • @mariabenavidez-nc6wn
    @mariabenavidez-nc6wn 7 месяцев назад +4

    I've always wondered what gave out more radiation, the Demon Core or the Elephants Foot

  • @clak8543
    @clak8543 3 года назад +2591

    Daghlian: I received the highest dose of radiation ever received by one man
    Slotin: hold my screwdriver

  • @jimmyz2684
    @jimmyz2684 3 года назад +3915

    Daghlian: I made the worst criticality error in history
    Slotin: Hold my screwdriver.
    Slotin: Oh shit, wait, give it back

    • @ttsmoove
      @ttsmoove 3 года назад +45

      I love you for this

    • @jimmyz2684
      @jimmyz2684 3 года назад +19

      @@ttsmoove :)

    • @vsGoliath96
      @vsGoliath96 2 года назад +10

      @MrsFoxAkimbo You must be fun at parties.

    • @vsGoliath96
      @vsGoliath96 2 года назад +4

      @MrsFoxAkimbo Wow... that was really be best you had, wasn't it? I'll give you a 4/10. You got me to reply at least.

    • @vsGoliath96
      @vsGoliath96 2 года назад +5

      @MrsFoxAkimbo Jew afro? No insult here, I'm genuinely confused what you're referring to.

  • @Jakuzziful
    @Jakuzziful 8 месяцев назад +9

    I think this shows how professional and thoughtful the initial scientist and test were when they design and build the bombs and what cowboys got attracted after the demonstration of its power and force.

  • @KSun-yq1yp
    @KSun-yq1yp 9 месяцев назад +11

    I’ll never truly understand radioactivity and the science behind these reactions but your explanations are wonderful!

  • @postscript7783
    @postscript7783 3 года назад +3343

    it's mindblowing to me that slotin watched daghlian die horribly, literally spending time at his beside, and apparently took no lessons from it...

  • @HolowatyVlogs
    @HolowatyVlogs 3 года назад +2903

    Physicists: **run for their lives**
    Slotin: “Get back in here, I need to tell you when and how you’ll die!”

    • @MotoCat91
      @MotoCat91 3 года назад +226

      To be fair, that is really important information both for the research and for the individuals to know about.. and if you left it even for a few minutes before returning you may not have the exact locations anymore to work from.
      Plus the danger period was only for a fraction of a second, and the core would have been mostly harmless again by the time anyone took just a single step

    • @RyugaChan
      @RyugaChan 3 года назад +64

      And, they could still carry radiation on themselves. There's no fun in being a walking radioactive material. Stupid mistake, but at least it didn't take more lives than the ones of the ppl close to it

    • @mr.nobody5251
      @mr.nobody5251 3 года назад +58

      Proceeds to throw chalk at them

    • @fnafan19
      @fnafan19 3 года назад +118

      “Gentlemen, synchronize your death watches”

    • @sircatsmeow2886
      @sircatsmeow2886 3 года назад +5

      Huh, that also works for Caustic from Apex.

  • @donb1825
    @donb1825 6 месяцев назад +6

    Dude I love your videos..I sometimes fall asleep to your story telling and the radioactive knowledge you drop on us. Keep doing what you do my guy.

  • @chuckg2016
    @chuckg2016 3 месяца назад +4

    What other end could possibly be expected?
    Senseless.

  • @jeffwaterstreet1458
    @jeffwaterstreet1458 3 года назад +6026

    In the comments below, there are quite of few people exclaiming how odd it was that Slotin had all the people in the room come back in and mark exactly where they were at the time of the accident. He had the foresight to know that this was a rare opportunity to understand the effects of radiation by distance on the human body. If you go back to the charts in this video, there is one showing the names of all the people in the room and their distance from the core. You will notice that the closest person to the core besides Slotin is named Young, at 6 feet away. That was my grandfather, Dwight S Young. He was hospitalized for months afterwards, but lived to the ripe age of 83. (although he did eventually contract a rare form of leukemia that is known to occur from radiation exposure)

    • @doctahjonez
      @doctahjonez 3 года назад +531

      That was your grandfather?! That's so cool

    • @marcusosborne6123
      @marcusosborne6123 3 года назад +401

      Seeing as your grandfather must have been a sort of super genius to have been in that room, did you happen to inherit your grandfathers intelligence?

    • @jackfanning7952
      @jackfanning7952 3 года назад +253

      Some people die from radioactive emissions quickly. Some die slowly. That is very convenient for those who say only 28 people died from Chernobyl. There is no known, safe dose for a carcinogen.

    • @TheBurningWarrior
      @TheBurningWarrior 3 года назад +314

      @@jackfanning7952 Bruh, you are exposed to background ionizing radiation every second of everyday. Even if you locked yourself in a lead chamber to block it out from elsewhere outside, certain elements and chemicals necessary for your survival, including but certainly not limited to the potassium that causes your heart to beat, give off some amount of ionizing radiation.

    • @TheBurningWarrior
      @TheBurningWarrior 3 года назад +206

      @@jackfanning7952 None of that had anything to do with my response to your idiotic claim that there is "There is no known, safe dose for [radiation]". We can't begin to talk about what's safe for waste disposal if we haven't acknowledged that you yourself are radioactive or that radiation is something life is necessarily adapted to for a certain (yes, safe) dosage.
      I'm not getting into an argument with you about nuclear energy, you are so far from the mark that I would consider myself lucky if I managed to get through to you even the possibility that your fear even might be the irrational phobia that it is.

  • @abbe1255
    @abbe1255 Год назад +5520

    It’s terrifying how being in the same room as a small sphere for a few seconds could remove more than half your lifespan

    • @lieutenantpliskin
      @lieutenantpliskin Год назад +203

      Pretty sure he died a few weeks later. So like a 99.04 reduction of your current life?

    • @wiwbiz2
      @wiwbiz2 Год назад +59

      Half life.?? That applies to radioactive materials, not exposed objects..

    • @Unbridled-Whimsy
      @Unbridled-Whimsy Год назад +206

      @@lieutenantpliskin I think the comment was referring to the security guard in the same room as Daghlian, who got radiation-induced leukemia three decades later

    • @joshlewis8860
      @joshlewis8860 Год назад +7

      Funny how this 7 month old comment has 4 replies, all from

    • @lieutenantpliskin
      @lieutenantpliskin Год назад +2

      @@Unbridled-Whimsy ohh

  • @mclaser823
    @mclaser823 3 месяца назад +3

    Moral of the story don’t edge nuclear bombs

  • @dONALDBLOOD
    @dONALDBLOOD 6 месяцев назад +2

    This should be called the stupidity core, or the dumbassery core. Two scientists told them "guys, you eff around until you find out and someone dies". Exhibit A and B...

  • @regnbuetorsk
    @regnbuetorsk 3 года назад +4473

    * screwdriver slips, blue light comes out, scientist swiftly knocks off the core *
    >sorry guys, my bad, i've just killed you all
    >heh

    • @juhaszmilanjuhasz7263
      @juhaszmilanjuhasz7263 3 года назад +37

      Damn

    • @ElizabethRhyner
      @ElizabethRhyner 2 года назад +56

      @Evil Pimp dude was so reckless they should’ve known.

    • @aceofspadesguy4913
      @aceofspadesguy4913 2 года назад +109

      @@ElizabethRhyner yeah wouldn’t have caught me in the same building as that guy

    • @thewindyredpanda5715
      @thewindyredpanda5715 2 года назад +27

      "Screwdriver" "Blue light" Al I can think of is the 9th Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver.

    • @prizrak-br3332
      @prizrak-br3332 2 года назад +10

      @@ElizabethRhyner I'm sure they all knew they just didn't care

  • @uninspiredrambler
    @uninspiredrambler 3 года назад +1930

    These were scientists acting like kids playing with a loaded gun.

    • @widdershins5383
      @widdershins5383 3 года назад +125

      In all fairness you absolutely need to know the limits to truly understand things, especially nuclear destruction/energy. You don’t wanna reach unknown limits in any situation.

    • @OtherTheDave
      @OtherTheDave 3 года назад +50

      The 2nd guy, yeah. Not sure how much I really blame the first guy.

    • @theworstcatholic7247
      @theworstcatholic7247 3 года назад +115

      @@OtherTheDave The first guy conducted experiments alone, likely because none of his colleagues would of permitted his actions due to the obvious extreme hazard that can and indeed came, with it. This isn't like a kid with a gun, because children can be taught how to use them safely. This was a kid who barely knew how gun powder and triggers worked, and played with a gun by copying russian roulette he saw on the internet without knowing what it was.
      It was always going to go wrong, not a matter of if but when, and it was stupid regardless. Though still entirely tragic.

    • @hkr667
      @hkr667 3 года назад +55

      @@theworstcatholic7247 Agree. It may have been an honest accident for the first guy, but he wasn't there alone at night for no reason.

    • @billyboy1er
      @billyboy1er 3 года назад +76

      The first one was just negligent and naive. The second one was plain insane.

  • @MrgnFlnn67
    @MrgnFlnn67 9 месяцев назад +5

    It is sad the smartest of us all are still killed by their own ego.

  • @chrismarano2135
    @chrismarano2135 5 месяцев назад +4

    The narration on this is top notch. Well done!

  • @somedingusidk1242
    @somedingusidk1242 3 года назад +5835

    "They asked me how well i understood theoretical physics, i said i had a theoretical degree in physics, they said welcome aboard"- one of the engineers

  • @Neru619
    @Neru619 2 года назад +2623

    Demon Core: "I am the most dangerous and most radioactive ticking time bomb in the entire world"
    Scientist: "Ok time to take unnecessary risks and be careless about it"

    • @chuckblythe
      @chuckblythe 2 года назад +88

      General public: “it’s ok, we blindly trust anyone in a white lab coat”

    • @LouSputthole
      @LouSputthole 2 года назад +45

      built different back then.. Can you imagine the first guy had access to go run impromptu experiments at night after some beers at the bar hahahaha

    • @MyFathersBusinessLLC
      @MyFathersBusinessLLC 2 года назад

      Scientists create things like sharper axes and more fuel efficient engines. Those men made you to believe a lie, they are deceivers and antichrists!! Wake up!! The things you see are temporal, but the things you can't see are eternal

    • @switz008
      @switz008 2 года назад

      I'm gonna poke it with a stick *in a deep australian accent*

    • @adriankelly350
      @adriankelly350 2 года назад

      Your reminding me of faucis Lab in Wuhan you know the famous one where they mutate related corona viruses to “save the world” lol Next Minute…

  • @dannymartial7997
    @dannymartial7997 9 месяцев назад +3

    What would’ve happened if after the screwdriver slipped, everyone just ran away and left the core there?

    • @aidenpearce5275
      @aidenpearce5275 9 месяцев назад +1

      It would've began to heat up until the core started to melt, once it starts to melt it would become sub-critical and eventually stop

  • @T1Oracle
    @T1Oracle 2 месяца назад +2

    The fact that two people had to die before anyone decided that automation and remote operation was necessary for safety is both crazy, and typical. Humans always have to learn the hard way, even humans with PhD's in nuclear physics! 🤦🏽‍♂️

  • @cachekielbasa6857
    @cachekielbasa6857 3 года назад +2017

    Nuclear core: “you teasing me?? Naughty naughty”

  • @phish8877
    @phish8877 Год назад +2108

    Slotten:”gentlemen, synchronize your death watches”

  • @BLVVDS0AKEDST4RS
    @BLVVDS0AKEDST4RS 20 дней назад +4

    “The Demon Core was just as scary as cat. Harmless if you leave it alone, but don’t aggravate it. Otherwise you’ll be left with a wound, and guilt.”
    - My Great Grandmother, who was 24 at the time of the first incident.

  • @keywestfan2503
    @keywestfan2503 10 месяцев назад +4

    This is all phooey. Everyone knows that being blasted by gamma rays doesn’t kill you. It turns you into a huge green rage monster

  • @kokorolex
    @kokorolex 3 года назад +7811

    This sounds like an SCP but it's scary cause it is real

    • @twitchcontrols1441
      @twitchcontrols1441 3 года назад +329

      kokorolex you say that like the foundation isn’t real.

    • @Roanoke117
      @Roanoke117 3 года назад +14

      real*

    • @shoootme
      @shoootme 3 года назад +191

      SCP-24100 the demon core, Class Keter.

    • @TheRainbowKiss
      @TheRainbowKiss 3 года назад +61

      People still believe the scp foundation is real?

    • @domsawce
      @domsawce 3 года назад +107

      @@shoootme why keter? its not that hard to contain.

  • @VoidNull9222
    @VoidNull9222 3 года назад +1557

    Screwdriver: *Slips out of place*
    Demon Core: You’ve yeed your last haw, cowboy

  • @adriannaabernathie126
    @adriannaabernathie126 2 месяца назад +15

    When fucking around meets finding out

  • @GigglePoot23
    @GigglePoot23 3 месяца назад +1

    Just found this channel and I’m hooked! Great videos. Thank you

  • @shannonbriggs100
    @shannonbriggs100 2 года назад +6396

    Louis Slotin: “My colleague, Harry Daghlian, suffered a slow and agonising death after messing around with the Demon Core. I guess I should carry on his legacy by also suffering from a slow, horrific and agonising death from messing with the Demon Core... but this time, with a twist!”

    • @geraintwd
      @geraintwd 2 года назад +522

      ...a twist of my screwdriver!

    • @murilovsilva
      @murilovsilva 2 года назад +443

      Unfortunately, though, he quite literally … screwed up.

    • @senakuma9985
      @senakuma9985 Год назад +148

      What's up guys today my colleague and childhood friend Henry dauglian just died a slow and agonizing death in the hospital just yesterday and I guess I should also die a slow and agonizing death by the demon core too BUT THIS TIME THERE'S A TWIST 🪛

    • @YouShouldYourselfNow
      @YouShouldYourselfNow Год назад +17

      It was fine at first but soon it just spun out of control

    • @YouShouldYourselfNow
      @YouShouldYourselfNow Год назад +14

      It just cranked up to the extreme

  • @joebro3979
    @joebro3979 Год назад +4636

    Man said “get ya butts back in here! you can’t outrun radiation, what’s happened has happened already now lets see NOT IF but how MUCH cancer you just got” what a terrifyingly calm man. He was fully aware he was dead and possibly everyone in that room but still remained calm enough to diagnose the room.

    • @acetrigger1337
      @acetrigger1337 Год назад +333

      People surprise you the most when they know they are already dead.

    • @slayer8790
      @slayer8790 Год назад +54

      ​@@acetrigger1337 not expecting the man himself in this kind of video lol

    • @IIISincerelyIII
      @IIISincerelyIII Год назад

      He sounds like he likes torture.

    • @lawnmowerdude
      @lawnmowerdude Год назад +49

      I read that quote in the voice of Cave Johnson AKA JK Simmons.

    • @AzulStryer
      @AzulStryer 11 месяцев назад +13

      Did one of the scientists say this? Currently watching at the moment

  • @fostexfan160
    @fostexfan160 9 месяцев назад +2

    Brilliant explanation for the layman. Thank you

  • @Smashachu
    @Smashachu 8 месяцев назад +1

    There's a lesson in this, accidents don't happen on purpose so purpose cannot prevent said accident from occurring. We don't wear seatbelts because we think we're bad drivers, we wear them just incase an unforeseen accident happens.

  • @stoat7
    @stoat7 3 года назад +3145

    "Lets see how close we can get to criticality" --famous last words

    • @miltoska9708
      @miltoska9708 3 года назад +54

      Actually, since radiation kills slowly ,it was actually nones last word

    • @MrNeroso
      @MrNeroso 3 года назад +65

      the physicist version of hold my beer?

    • @IceMetalPunk
      @IceMetalPunk 3 года назад +41

      "Don't worry, we're measuring the radiation and we'll move the bricks if it gets too dangerous -- OH, SHIT, MY BUTTERFINGERS!"

    • @TheGreatDrake
      @TheGreatDrake 3 года назад +16

      It's the nuclear physicist version of playing chicken.

    • @thesuccessfulone
      @thesuccessfulone 3 года назад +2

      @@IceMetalPunk They melted off...

  • @torenchao
    @torenchao 2 года назад +1306

    "how many bricks it would take to reflect enough neutrons to cause the core to go critical"
    Aka: *death jenga*

  • @russellbrayshaw4154
    @russellbrayshaw4154 9 месяцев назад +2

    Criticality experiments were also conducted during the Manhattan Project since they needed to know the critical mass for uranium 235. I think they had problems with plutonium since it is much more fissile and the same type of experiments used with uranium 235 wouldn’t be practicable.

  • @harry2928
    @harry2928 7 месяцев назад +2

    you did an o.k. job👏🏻 on video Kyle thank you for historical lab and casualty details.

  • @gachakidwithfunandfriends8896
    @gachakidwithfunandfriends8896 3 года назад +1952

    “Nuclear Cowboy” would be a sick hot sauce name

    • @Verlarn
      @Verlarn 3 года назад +39

      You're not wrong.

    • @MisterBones2910
      @MisterBones2910 3 года назад +70

      If someone hasn't already made one with a man riding a warhead and waving a ten-gallon like the end of _Dr. Strangelove_ I'll eat my hat.

    • @expressnumber-5049
      @expressnumber-5049 3 года назад +27

      That’s just Fallout: New Vegas hehe

    • @crimsondynamo615
      @crimsondynamo615 3 года назад +5

      @@MisterBones2910 Major Kong approved hot sauce

    • @dpm2937
      @dpm2937 2 года назад +1

      Nuclear would be what would come out afterwards

  • @iveharzing
    @iveharzing 3 года назад +1165

    Louis Slotin: "I watched someone slowly die from a dangerous, stupid experiment, and multiple well-known physicists have told us to stop."
    7 months later: "LETS DO IT AGAIN!"

    • @HaloNeInTheDark27
      @HaloNeInTheDark27 3 года назад +52

      In an even dumber way, with more people present

    • @cmath6454
      @cmath6454 3 года назад +10

      Scientists are a weird breed sometimes

    • @warrenjm9
      @warrenjm9 3 года назад +7

      And that is how new things are learned. All true explorers know they might really screw up and may even die. Doesn't stop exploration; never has, never will.

    • @PronatorTendon
      @PronatorTendon 3 года назад +4

      We're monkeys with iPhones and guns

    • @s133p3r0
      @s133p3r0 3 года назад

      @@PronatorTendon They're mostly peaceful.

  • @MikeLadnun-un4cs
    @MikeLadnun-un4cs 4 месяца назад +1

    The core is compressed from a baseball size to a golf ball size when imploding and simultaneously firing a neutrons into the compressed plutonium generating tremendous heat which creates one hell of a blast. Atoms split and fused in a few seconds and the heat sets everything in a blaze and you would be vaporized if inside ground zero. The air blast gets what the heat doesn't.
    The man who was dosed had everything rotting off his body before he died using bandages to keep him together. Even his ears and noise fell off along with other things. Insanity

  • @tommunyon2874
    @tommunyon2874 9 месяцев назад

    The photo of the old main gate brings back memories. Up until 1957, when we had out-of-town visitors we would pile in the family car and drive out to the old main gate to pick them up. The mothet of my recently deceased partner was a nurse in attendance at the hospital in Los Alamos for the men that suffered radiation poisoning. I attended high school with one person who was born after her father was deemed to be rendered sterile by exposure during one of these criticality accidents. So, there were things that were still unknown about the specific effects of radiation. The Health Research Laboratory next to the newer Los Alamos Medical Center conducted experiments with rhesus monkeys in efforts to get more specific details on the effects of radiation.

  • @tannerholmes1587
    @tannerholmes1587 3 года назад +1847

    No one:
    Slaughton: "HEY! Get back in here! I need to know how fast I just killed you."

    • @parglissamyrnaj9032
      @parglissamyrnaj9032 3 года назад +101

      Well, they all gonna die soon, at least they can use their last experiment to something useful

    • @onemoremisfit
      @onemoremisfit 3 года назад +74

      Nobody:
      Will it fit in my Honda?
      Hold my beer
      Am I a joke to you?
      Asking for a friend
      Everybody gangsta
      End this man’s whole career
      He protecc, he attacc …
      Sexual/genitalia innuendo/big balls
      Scatological/potty joke
      Question of quantity answered yes
      Plot twist
      Left/entered the chat
      Gaming reference
      Dislikes are from
      I’m a simple man
      Not gonna lie
      No one gonna talk about
      Last time I was this early
      First
      Legend has it
      That’ll buff right out
      Fun fact
      (X) be like
      (X) intensifies
      (X) wants to know your location
      Ha ha (X) go brrrrr
      POV: (X)
      (X):
      Also (X):
      Her: I'm home alone
      It’s complicated
      YT algorithm counting down years
      Who’s watching in current year?
      You Tube recommendations
      So you've chosen death?
      Understandable, have a great day
      Punch line below read more

    • @aliveintruth
      @aliveintruth 3 года назад

      😂😂😂😂

    • @Jesus_paid_it_all
      @Jesus_paid_it_all 3 года назад +7

      It's Slotin.

    • @MemeRider
      @MemeRider 3 года назад +5

      @@onemoremisfit nobody:

  • @elmagraham9506
    @elmagraham9506 2 года назад +4011

    I read this story when I was about 12 years, around 1960, in a 'Reader's Digest' under the title 'The strange death of Louis Slotin'. It made an awfull impression on me, and I remembered the details all my life. I never ever met anyone who knew this story, and I wondered whether I had imagined the details. But a couple of nights ago, just by coincidence, my son sent me this video (62years later) As soon as the video started, I knew immediately what was to come, in the exact details that I had remembered.

    • @kaylarene1527
      @kaylarene1527 2 года назад +78

      Amazing

    • @novemberreign6023
      @novemberreign6023 2 года назад +77

      Wow God bless your son for that

    • @michaelajia6435
      @michaelajia6435 2 года назад +126

      It must have shocked you so much for you to still remember it 62 years later, that’s incredible

    • @knuxuki1013
      @knuxuki1013 2 года назад +27

      Must've been a crazy feelling

    • @jimday666
      @jimday666 2 года назад +2

      Was is this how you remembered it?

  • @yoursportsnow9729
    @yoursportsnow9729 7 месяцев назад +4

    "The Demon Core" sounds like a struggling band.