An implosion device uses plutonium, which is produced in a reactor from U-238. The separation process is chemical. It’s all covered in the Los Alamos Primer, which was published and available for years until it was re-classified. The pictured device is actually far from compact. Small battlefield nukes were built to…

China only owns 10% of U.S. debt.

When something is your passion, you immerse yourself in it to the degree that it is no longer a job. It’s beauty, presence, precision, and something you want to share. That pilots winnowed down hundreds of hours of video to make a clip shows devotion to the art and the joy of flying. But I’m guessing you don’t get…

We video our sailing races and discuss routes taken, decisions made, etc. Moreover, it strengthens the team when we collectively analyze each others performance. Most of the current Olympic teams find it a valuable tool. Silly question, really.

I’m not religous in any way. I respect people’s right to worship whatever, there are about 3000 different gods currenty in favor. What I’m not required to do is take outrageous claims seriously, or exempt them from criticism. Free speech is still a thing in America. So worship away, it’s your right. America was…

The pressure at max altitude is around a ton per square meter.

Aircraft in a climb are going half that fast.

At 5000', you have about 5%m less atmosphere. It’s not much different than sea level. Most of the thinking takes place around 11-14k, where there is a third less air, and up to 30k, where there is only one third left.