WEBVTT - What is an EMP?

0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880
<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920
<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.920
<v Speaker 1>tech Stuff from how stuff works dot Com. Hello there, everybody,

0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:20.239
<v Speaker 1>and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Polette,

0:00:20.239 --> 0:00:22.840
<v Speaker 1>and I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot Com,

0:00:22.840 --> 0:00:26.640
<v Speaker 1>sitting across from me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland.

0:00:26.640 --> 0:00:29.080
<v Speaker 1>Hey there, all right, then, so what do you want

0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:30.880
<v Speaker 1>to talk about today? Well? What I want to talk

0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.040
<v Speaker 1>about comes to us courtesy of a little a listener mail.

0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:43.400
<v Speaker 1>And this listener mail comes from Larry from State Center, Iowa,

0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.480
<v Speaker 1>and Larry says, Hey, guys, huge fan of the show,

0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:48.720
<v Speaker 1>and I pretty much listened to anything how stuff works

0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.680
<v Speaker 1>dot Com has to offer anyway. I have recently read,

0:00:51.960 --> 0:00:55.200
<v Speaker 1>actually downloaded it from audible dot com, a book called

0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:59.680
<v Speaker 1>One Second After by William our Fortune. I wanted to

0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.440
<v Speaker 1>ask how Stuff Works team about this book, but didn't

0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:04.920
<v Speaker 1>know which group to send it to. After hearing your

0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:07.760
<v Speaker 1>podcast are we at cyber War and thinking that this

0:01:07.840 --> 0:01:10.200
<v Speaker 1>is definitely tech related, decided to send it to you.

0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:12.920
<v Speaker 1>This book is about what happens to a small town

0:01:12.959 --> 0:01:16.679
<v Speaker 1>in America after three nuclear bombs are detonated above the US,

0:01:16.800 --> 0:01:19.959
<v Speaker 1>and the e m P knocks out all communications and electronics.

0:01:20.520 --> 0:01:22.160
<v Speaker 1>As far as I can tell, this book was one

0:01:22.160 --> 0:01:25.000
<v Speaker 1>of the most realistic and scariest books I have ever read.

0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:28.520
<v Speaker 1>Slash listen to you a foreword by new Gingrich, which

0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.520
<v Speaker 1>is scary enough, and then afterward by a member of

0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:35.160
<v Speaker 1>the military talking about how easily this could be a reality.

0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:37.399
<v Speaker 1>I should add that this is scary enough, was my

0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.560
<v Speaker 1>compos on his Could you please let me know how

0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.240
<v Speaker 1>likely this is to happen and if this book has

0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:45.880
<v Speaker 1>been fairly accurate about what could happen if it did.

0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:49.040
<v Speaker 1>Thanks Larry, Well, Larry, I have not read the book

0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.720
<v Speaker 1>in question. However, we can talk a little bit about

0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:56.240
<v Speaker 1>imps and what they do. Yes, actually, um, e MPs

0:01:56.280 --> 0:02:01.160
<v Speaker 1>are a very real thing, um, and it happens on occasion,

0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:03.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean, on on its own, but it could definitely

0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:07.600
<v Speaker 1>be caused by a a nuclear detonation. Now that's uh so.

0:02:07.760 --> 0:02:11.960
<v Speaker 1>An e MP stands for electro magnetic pulse and we

0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:14.079
<v Speaker 1>can tell you a little bit about what it's. The

0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.720
<v Speaker 1>theory behind the electro manet pulse. It actually comes back

0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.720
<v Speaker 1>from something we call the Compton effect. Now, the Compton

0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:24.680
<v Speaker 1>effect is not named after a particular neighborhood outside of

0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:27.760
<v Speaker 1>Los Angeles. Now, it's named for Arthur Compton, who came

0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:33.800
<v Speaker 1>up with this theory in which got applied to nuclear

0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.480
<v Speaker 1>detonations much later in the fifties. Actually, right, so this

0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:39.560
<v Speaker 1>is the theory. The theory is that if you take

0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:42.800
<v Speaker 1>an atom with a low atomic number and you bombard

0:02:42.840 --> 0:02:46.120
<v Speaker 1>it with high intensity lightwaves. We're talking like in the

0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:50.560
<v Speaker 1>gamma radiation field, if you bombard it with with photons,

0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:55.520
<v Speaker 1>these these highly energized photons, it will cause electrons to

0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.320
<v Speaker 1>shoot off of those atoms. And so if you do

0:02:58.400 --> 0:03:01.120
<v Speaker 1>this to enough atoms all at once, you create an

0:03:01.120 --> 0:03:07.880
<v Speaker 1>electromagnetic pulse yep UM. Basically any radio signals, a MFM,

0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.920
<v Speaker 1>even TV, cell phone signals, light X rays, microwaves that

0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:17.520
<v Speaker 1>they're all forms of electromagnetic energy UM. And so basically

0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:21.040
<v Speaker 1>what this does is that you know, it can actually

0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:27.680
<v Speaker 1>transfer it becomes electrical energy. Right, Yes, magnet magnetic fields

0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:32.200
<v Speaker 1>can induce an electric of electricity. Electricity, boy, I can't

0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:34.480
<v Speaker 1>talk either today. See, I was hoping you'd fix that

0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:37.640
<v Speaker 1>because here's the problem is that today we did our

0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:41.000
<v Speaker 1>first episode of tech Stuff Live and we apparently left

0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:46.280
<v Speaker 1>our tongues back in the other studio. So here's the deal. Yeah,

0:03:46.080 --> 0:03:50.440
<v Speaker 1>and a magnetic field can induce electricity and vice versa. So,

0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.839
<v Speaker 1>for instance, I'm sure a lot of our listeners when

0:03:52.840 --> 0:03:56.480
<v Speaker 1>they were in various physics classes, doesn't experiment where you

0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:59.160
<v Speaker 1>take something like a nail and you wrap a copper

0:03:59.200 --> 0:04:02.040
<v Speaker 1>wire around the nail and you run electric current through

0:04:02.040 --> 0:04:05.920
<v Speaker 1>the copper wire, which creates a magnetic field. It's an electromagnet.

0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.400
<v Speaker 1>Electromagnet thus very very weak because you know, you use

0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:11.880
<v Speaker 1>like a six volt battery or right, I mean, unless

0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:13.920
<v Speaker 1>you're at my school. We we hooked that sucker up

0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:17.080
<v Speaker 1>to the backup generator, and uh why does that not

0:04:17.160 --> 0:04:20.680
<v Speaker 1>surprise me? Yeah, so I'd like to take this opportunity

0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:24.080
<v Speaker 1>to apologize to all the students that I injured in that. No, no,

0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:26.039
<v Speaker 1>I'm kidding. We did not do any of that. We

0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:29.000
<v Speaker 1>didn't do it. Westall High School is still very much

0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.800
<v Speaker 1>alive and well, so, uh, yeah, that's an electromagnet. You're

0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:35.760
<v Speaker 1>running current through a series of coils that creates a

0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:40.760
<v Speaker 1>magnetic field. You know, you're using electricity, thus electromagnet, yes,

0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:44.760
<v Speaker 1>but um, a nuclear explosion releases a little bit more

0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.400
<v Speaker 1>energy than a six volt battery in a science classroom. Yes,

0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:52.200
<v Speaker 1>a tad more a tad tad being a scientific term here. Um,

0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.760
<v Speaker 1>So I mean it's it's gonna have a dramatically more

0:04:55.839 --> 0:04:59.400
<v Speaker 1>serious effect in going to cause a lot more electromagnetic

0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:03.120
<v Speaker 1>um energy to be released, which is going to induce

0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:06.520
<v Speaker 1>a lot more electrical energy exactly. So here's where you

0:05:06.560 --> 0:05:09.039
<v Speaker 1>get into the problem. Let's if you've if you've ever

0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.320
<v Speaker 1>been in a like a lightning storm and had your

0:05:12.320 --> 0:05:15.360
<v Speaker 1>electricity flicker as a result. It's from the surge of

0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:19.440
<v Speaker 1>electricity where your your electrical system, your wiring system can't

0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:23.440
<v Speaker 1>handle that sudden surge of energy. That's what we're talking about,

0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:26.359
<v Speaker 1>but on a much grander scale. And uh and in

0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:29.760
<v Speaker 1>a very short, powerful burst, you could suddenly have enough

0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:33.560
<v Speaker 1>electricity that could fry circuits. I actually have a true

0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:38.400
<v Speaker 1>story relating to that. Shoot. My father's VCR was plugged

0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.360
<v Speaker 1>in during an electrical storm, uh and m a surge

0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:44.560
<v Speaker 1>came through the wiring. Wasn't the first time we actually

0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.280
<v Speaker 1>had something like this happened, but it's the first time

0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.560
<v Speaker 1>that had happened on this scale. So he heard the

0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:53.520
<v Speaker 1>pop on the VCR. When they took the cover off

0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:58.359
<v Speaker 1>to a parent, the power supply inside was gone. It

0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:01.760
<v Speaker 1>had been completely dis roid by the power surge. And

0:06:01.960 --> 0:06:05.200
<v Speaker 1>strong enough e MP can do the exact same thing. Um,

0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:08.120
<v Speaker 1>it can actually use the electrical impulses can actually travel

0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:12.400
<v Speaker 1>on uh, wiring in your house or piping metal pipes,

0:06:12.920 --> 0:06:16.560
<v Speaker 1>and basically anything that might be sensitive to that can

0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.680
<v Speaker 1>be completely destroyed if if the pulse is strong enough,

0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:23.680
<v Speaker 1>right right, anything that can conduct electricity is essentially uh,

0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.040
<v Speaker 1>you know, that's what's gonna happen. It's gonna conduct the

0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:29.960
<v Speaker 1>electricity from this pulse to whatever the terminus happens to be.

0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:35.560
<v Speaker 1>And um, yeah, it's a it's a scary concept because

0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:38.440
<v Speaker 1>it is true. If you have an electromagnetic pulse that

0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:46.280
<v Speaker 1>is strong enough, it can cause all the electrical um appliances, vehicles,

0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:48.520
<v Speaker 1>anything really that runs on electricity that happens to be

0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.839
<v Speaker 1>turned on at least it can cause it to shut down,

0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:55.400
<v Speaker 1>or if it's powerful enough, it can destroy those electronics

0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:58.120
<v Speaker 1>will just fry the circuitry. Um. Now, if it's something

0:06:58.160 --> 0:07:02.400
<v Speaker 1>that can be turned off, may survive the electromagnetic pulse

0:07:02.440 --> 0:07:06.560
<v Speaker 1>without any problems. Not a guarantee, but it's possible. Now,

0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.840
<v Speaker 1>if it's a nuclear bomb that's gone off, chances are

0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:11.880
<v Speaker 1>the e m P is the least of your worries.

0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:14.920
<v Speaker 1>But I mean, it's one of many things you'd have

0:07:14.960 --> 0:07:18.600
<v Speaker 1>to worry about, depending on how big the bomb was.

0:07:18.960 --> 0:07:22.000
<v Speaker 1>There was a study that I read where the the

0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:26.360
<v Speaker 1>outcome of the study said predicted that a a nuclear

0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:30.880
<v Speaker 1>bomb of sufficient power detonated two miles over Kansas would

0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.360
<v Speaker 1>be enough to generate an electromatic pul magnetic pulse to

0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:38.440
<v Speaker 1>wipe out electronics across the United States. So you think

0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:41.880
<v Speaker 1>about that one bomb two miles over, so it's not

0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.200
<v Speaker 1>even it's not even a detonating again near the earth,

0:07:45.320 --> 0:07:48.200
<v Speaker 1>really it's but it's strong enough to wipe out all

0:07:48.240 --> 0:07:51.280
<v Speaker 1>the electronics right there. And you know, think about all

0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:55.440
<v Speaker 1>the things we depend upon that are electronic. It's pretty

0:07:55.520 --> 0:08:00.520
<v Speaker 1>much everything. Yep. UM. We actually have an article on

0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:04.760
<v Speaker 1>the website about it UM and it's uh it basically

0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:08.680
<v Speaker 1>explains this in greater detail. But there are also other weaponry.

0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:13.040
<v Speaker 1>It doesn't even require um a nuclear bomb to to

0:08:13.080 --> 0:08:15.640
<v Speaker 1>set it off. The United States was actually working on

0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.840
<v Speaker 1>this in the nineteen fifties. UH, something called a flux

0:08:18.880 --> 0:08:23.800
<v Speaker 1>compression generator. Yeah. Yeah, UM. It's a much smaller scale

0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.320
<v Speaker 1>though than than a nuclear weapon. Right, It's much more

0:08:26.440 --> 0:08:29.400
<v Speaker 1>focused and direct. You could aim this at something as

0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:33.560
<v Speaker 1>opposed to just having a wide area effect, right right. Um.

0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.360
<v Speaker 1>And the thing is it's sort of a combination of

0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.359
<v Speaker 1>a conventional weapon and uh sort of like an electromagnet.

0:08:40.400 --> 0:08:44.120
<v Speaker 1>It's actually got the copper wiring around it, and when

0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:47.120
<v Speaker 1>the explosion is set off, it creates, you know, the

0:08:47.120 --> 0:08:51.520
<v Speaker 1>the uh science behind that, it creates an electromagnetic pulse

0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:54.880
<v Speaker 1>that can do damage to a specific target. And they've

0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:58.640
<v Speaker 1>also dabbled with the idea of UM using UM a

0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.720
<v Speaker 1>missile that has a micro wave generator UM that could

0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:08.160
<v Speaker 1>be more focused. But some people consider these uh safe weapons,

0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:11.560
<v Speaker 1>if you will, because they could knock out electronics without

0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.599
<v Speaker 1>killing people. Yeah, it's it's sort of like sort of

0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:18.480
<v Speaker 1>a non lethal weapon. Really want to be under it

0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:21.439
<v Speaker 1>when it It's a scary thing about the flux compression

0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.400
<v Speaker 1>generator is that in theory, you could create one for

0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:29.120
<v Speaker 1>around four bucks. And here's here's really what you're you're

0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.400
<v Speaker 1>talking about. Not that I'm suggesting anyone go out and

0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.200
<v Speaker 1>try and build one of these. It's a matter of fact,

0:09:33.200 --> 0:09:35.800
<v Speaker 1>please don't, yeah, because we kind of like our electronics.

0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.200
<v Speaker 1>Otherwise we have no jobs. So the first thing is

0:09:39.240 --> 0:09:41.120
<v Speaker 1>that you've got tech stuff. We're not going to talk

0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:43.600
<v Speaker 1>about anything today because it doesn't work anymore. Right now,

0:09:43.720 --> 0:09:45.920
<v Speaker 1>we'll just it'll just be, you know, like any other

0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:47.840
<v Speaker 1>normal day where Chris and I just sit around and

0:09:48.000 --> 0:09:50.000
<v Speaker 1>chat at each other and no one else listens, start

0:09:50.040 --> 0:09:52.599
<v Speaker 1>a starting a new podcast called paper stuff. Really, I

0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:56.000
<v Speaker 1>don't know that people are listening right now. That's creepy. Alright,

0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:59.040
<v Speaker 1>So moving on. You've got a tube. Imagine a tube

0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.960
<v Speaker 1>that's filled with a chemic will explosive. Wrapped around this

0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:04.800
<v Speaker 1>tube is the copper coil. And then you've got some

0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:10.320
<v Speaker 1>capacitors attached to the copper coils. No, and then around

0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.680
<v Speaker 1>the copper coil you have a metal sheath that is

0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:17.640
<v Speaker 1>not in contact with the coil. Right, and then, um,

0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:20.360
<v Speaker 1>so what happens is you've got first you you run

0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:23.160
<v Speaker 1>a current through the coil, which creates a magnetic field.

0:10:23.800 --> 0:10:27.000
<v Speaker 1>You detonate the chemical explosive that's inside the tube. Now,

0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:31.199
<v Speaker 1>this makes the tube press outward, touching the coil. Now,

0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.080
<v Speaker 1>the magnetic field has also created an electric field. Once

0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:38.240
<v Speaker 1>the tube connects with the coil, that creates a short circuit.

0:10:38.559 --> 0:10:41.360
<v Speaker 1>There's a wave of explosions that move from one into

0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:43.760
<v Speaker 1>the tube to the other. It just expands. It's like

0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:46.400
<v Speaker 1>you know, thinking think about the tube expands from one

0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:49.280
<v Speaker 1>endo the to the other based upon where you ignite

0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.320
<v Speaker 1>the explosion. So it's a moving short circuit. That's what

0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.160
<v Speaker 1>generates the electromagnetic pulse. And then you just point the

0:10:57.200 --> 0:11:00.559
<v Speaker 1>thing at wherever you're you know whatever, you no effect,

0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:04.040
<v Speaker 1>and it's pretty much gonna wipe it out. Um. And

0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.960
<v Speaker 1>it's said such a high concentration that that things like

0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:11.000
<v Speaker 1>the shielding that you would put on cables and so

0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:15.920
<v Speaker 1>to to prevent electromagnetic interference, it's really no match for

0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.920
<v Speaker 1>the intensity of the pulse. So, you know, just the

0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:23.320
<v Speaker 1>same stuff that's going to protect your your cables from

0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.400
<v Speaker 1>creating uh interference with each other isn't going to be

0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:29.320
<v Speaker 1>enough to to prevent an electromanic pulse. That I didn't

0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:31.200
<v Speaker 1>read one person who suggested I think it was an

0:11:31.240 --> 0:11:36.480
<v Speaker 1>Air Force individual who suggested Faraday cages as a as protection. Now,

0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.480
<v Speaker 1>a Faraday cage what it does is it directs electric

0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.600
<v Speaker 1>current into the ground. So the idea here is that

0:11:43.679 --> 0:11:47.360
<v Speaker 1>any electromagnetic pulse would hit the cage, the cage would

0:11:47.360 --> 0:11:49.600
<v Speaker 1>direct the pulse towards the ground, and everything would be

0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:54.640
<v Speaker 1>hunky dory. But theoretically, but some people suggest that the

0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.600
<v Speaker 1>electromanetic pulses of these weapons would be so powerful as

0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:02.120
<v Speaker 1>to get through a Faraday cage and still affect the

0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:07.200
<v Speaker 1>electronics inside. And worse yet, if they're powerful enough, they'll

0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:12.440
<v Speaker 1>generate magnetic fields in the electronics themselves because of all

0:12:12.440 --> 0:12:15.240
<v Speaker 1>the different cables and wires and things like that, which

0:12:15.280 --> 0:12:19.320
<v Speaker 1>will set off another series of electromagnetic pulses much lower

0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.360
<v Speaker 1>in power, but it will still be there, so it'll

0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.200
<v Speaker 1>fry anything or at least malfunction anything that was still

0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:26.960
<v Speaker 1>working after the initial blast. So it's kind of like

0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:32.079
<v Speaker 1>electromagnetic aftershocks. Yeah, yeah, that's you're you're making me feel

0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:35.199
<v Speaker 1>better and better about this. Well, you know, he asked

0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.840
<v Speaker 1>if it was realistic and possible, and we're here to

0:12:38.840 --> 0:12:43.240
<v Speaker 1>tell him the truth, and the truth is it's it's possible.

0:12:43.360 --> 0:12:46.600
<v Speaker 1>No one's really done it yet, I mean not, as

0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:50.200
<v Speaker 1>far as we know, no one has successfully used an

0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.360
<v Speaker 1>e MP for that purpose, although it is has been

0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.480
<v Speaker 1>a side effect of nuclear detonations in the past, which

0:12:56.520 --> 0:12:57.920
<v Speaker 1>is how they sort of figured out that it was

0:12:57.960 --> 0:13:00.160
<v Speaker 1>going to happen. Oh yeah, yeah, that was that was

0:13:00.200 --> 0:13:03.800
<v Speaker 1>the whole I mean, it wasn't until the forties that

0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:07.120
<v Speaker 1>anyone actually observed an electro magnetic pulse. And that was

0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.480
<v Speaker 1>in some tests over some over the air tests where

0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.160
<v Speaker 1>they were detonating bombs in the air day being the

0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:17.040
<v Speaker 1>United States military. And as a result, uh, an e

0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:22.800
<v Speaker 1>MP wave pretty much wiped out the lighting system of

0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.600
<v Speaker 1>of a large part of Hawaii, and I hear that,

0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:29.400
<v Speaker 1>um some electronics as far as way as Australia were

0:13:29.440 --> 0:13:32.000
<v Speaker 1>affected by the e MP And that was the point

0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:35.959
<v Speaker 1>where the United States and Russia agreed that maybe it's

0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:39.840
<v Speaker 1>a good idea to not do any more of these

0:13:39.880 --> 0:13:47.440
<v Speaker 1>tests up in the atmosphere. Okay, so that's fair enough. Um, well, um,

0:13:47.480 --> 0:13:51.600
<v Speaker 1>you know they've they've actually stirred the imagination of several people.

0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:53.600
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I should think of a couple of instances

0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:57.920
<v Speaker 1>where it's made it into a films and TV. Yeah,

0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:01.280
<v Speaker 1>there was the documentary Oceans eleven. Uh. And now in

0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:05.000
<v Speaker 1>this documentary Danny Danny Ocean, Yes, Danny Ocean and his

0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:09.240
<v Speaker 1>ten compatriots are trying to Yes, no, no, no no, I'm

0:14:09.240 --> 0:14:12.079
<v Speaker 1>talking about the remake, the remake of the documentary. So

0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.920
<v Speaker 1>Danny Ocean and his ten companions are attempting to UH

0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:21.359
<v Speaker 1>to steal money from Las Vegas Casino, and they determine

0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:24.200
<v Speaker 1>that one of the elements they need in order to

0:14:24.440 --> 0:14:29.680
<v Speaker 1>successfully pull off this caper is UH to to short

0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:33.560
<v Speaker 1>circuit the electrical electrical system of the casino, and they

0:14:33.600 --> 0:14:40.080
<v Speaker 1>do this by borrowing a generator from a local technology school,

0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:43.920
<v Speaker 1>borrowing by stealing it and setting it off right next

0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:45.960
<v Speaker 1>to the casino, which of course makes the whole power

0:14:45.960 --> 0:14:49.800
<v Speaker 1>grids shut down in that general area. Now, in that case,

0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.200
<v Speaker 1>the e MP that they generate is just powerful enough

0:14:53.240 --> 0:14:55.680
<v Speaker 1>to overload the system for just a few minutes, which

0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.760
<v Speaker 1>is very convenient for the plot. Right, didn't affect anything,

0:14:59.760 --> 0:15:03.040
<v Speaker 1>It just knocked out the mean, Right, it just short

0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.280
<v Speaker 1>circuited for him. It was like, you know, a lightning

0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:07.960
<v Speaker 1>strike knocking out your power for a moment, and then

0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:10.520
<v Speaker 1>the circuit breaker clicks on and everything's okay again. It

0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.840
<v Speaker 1>was sort of like that, yeah, yeah. And then there

0:15:12.880 --> 0:15:15.960
<v Speaker 1>was the matrix, in which case the ship was armed

0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:19.000
<v Speaker 1>with an e MP generator said that when the giant

0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:21.280
<v Speaker 1>mechanical squid thing that I can't remember the name of

0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.280
<v Speaker 1>right at the moment, someone right in and tell me,

0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.000
<v Speaker 1>um that, uh, you know, once it attacked the ship,

0:15:27.040 --> 0:15:29.120
<v Speaker 1>they could zap it with the e m P. Of course,

0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:32.560
<v Speaker 1>the ship itself wasn't damaged or anything. And then uh

0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:36.640
<v Speaker 1>and uh Dark Angel. You know, Seattle was basically out

0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:40.040
<v Speaker 1>of power because they didn't have they had had an

0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.920
<v Speaker 1>e MP burst over the city and you know, there

0:15:42.920 --> 0:15:46.160
<v Speaker 1>were no electronics anymore. So, you know, the Matrix was

0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.640
<v Speaker 1>a great film. I really wish they had made some

0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:55.280
<v Speaker 1>sequels to that, shut up, just like I really wish

0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:57.800
<v Speaker 1>they had made some great prequels to that Star Wars trilogy.

0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:02.840
<v Speaker 1>Shut up. So yeah, e m p s are definitely

0:16:02.880 --> 0:16:08.040
<v Speaker 1>in fiction. Uh, it's probably they They're more than theoretically

0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.560
<v Speaker 1>they are possible. Okay, sorry, I'm let me restate that

0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:16.440
<v Speaker 1>they are possible, but no one's actually weaponized them in

0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:19.160
<v Speaker 1>the that we know of, in the open where they've

0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.640
<v Speaker 1>actually been utilized against someone. Yeah, as far as we know,

0:16:21.720 --> 0:16:23.920
<v Speaker 1>can I qualify that a little more. I'm just saying

0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.240
<v Speaker 1>like someone may have used one and they kept it

0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:28.680
<v Speaker 1>all hush hush. I mean, you know, I'm not a

0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:31.520
<v Speaker 1>conspiracy theorist by any means, but if you have this

0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:35.360
<v Speaker 1>kind of weapon technology, you may not necessarily want people

0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:37.680
<v Speaker 1>to know about it, because it's a much more effective

0:16:37.720 --> 0:16:40.520
<v Speaker 1>weapon if they don't. But then again, you know, what

0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.840
<v Speaker 1>are you gonna do to protect yourself against one. It's

0:16:43.000 --> 0:16:47.600
<v Speaker 1>really hard to prevent an e MP from damaging your system.

0:16:47.600 --> 0:16:49.520
<v Speaker 1>I mean, there's only so much shielding you can do,

0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.160
<v Speaker 1>and if a Faraday cage, as some people suggest, is

0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:56.920
<v Speaker 1>not enough to protect your electronics, really the only answer

0:16:57.160 --> 0:17:00.600
<v Speaker 1>to making sure an e MP does not complete caused

0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:04.040
<v Speaker 1>the collapse of your civilization is to reduce your dependency

0:17:04.119 --> 0:17:07.720
<v Speaker 1>upon electronics. But how realistic is that? I mean, we're

0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.480
<v Speaker 1>getting more and more dependent on electronics every single day. Yes,

0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.680
<v Speaker 1>so please download and listen to our podcast as we're

0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:22.879
<v Speaker 1>very dependent on those electronics. Yes, uh, yeah, you know

0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.879
<v Speaker 1>it's not really it's not really all that safe a

0:17:24.920 --> 0:17:27.800
<v Speaker 1>weapon if they use it to knock out your electronics

0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.439
<v Speaker 1>and then come in with the infantry, right, So it's uh.

0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:33.720
<v Speaker 1>And we should also point out there are some things

0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:37.119
<v Speaker 1>that maybe would not be affected by an e m P,

0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.760
<v Speaker 1>so it's not like everything would would be destroyed, but

0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:43.800
<v Speaker 1>even things that you might imagine would be all right, like,

0:17:43.920 --> 0:17:45.960
<v Speaker 1>for instance, your car. You would think, okay, well the

0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:49.679
<v Speaker 1>radio is gone, the you know, the if you have

0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:51.520
<v Speaker 1>one of those really cool dashboards that have all the

0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.960
<v Speaker 1>different indicators that are all electronic, that would be gone.

0:17:54.200 --> 0:17:57.199
<v Speaker 1>But the car itself be fine, right, Not if you

0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.239
<v Speaker 1>have an electrical system in your car, that's right. If

0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.800
<v Speaker 1>you have, like us, yeah, an electrical starter, then you're

0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:05.480
<v Speaker 1>pretty much stuck. Um, some older diesel vehicles would be

0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:07.520
<v Speaker 1>all right, I suppose, And if you had anything to

0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:11.280
<v Speaker 1>start with a hand crank, yeah that those have their

0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.800
<v Speaker 1>own problems. I read about those on stuff Block. Yeah,

0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:17.920
<v Speaker 1>I heard about them on the High Speed Stuff podcast

0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:23.960
<v Speaker 1>plug So uh yeah, that's a great podcast by the way.

0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:26.600
<v Speaker 1>And I should also point out they did a companion

0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:31.160
<v Speaker 1>piece to our three D printing They did a piece about, yeah,

0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:34.600
<v Speaker 1>about about how the fabricating, yeah, fabricating your own car parts.

0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.199
<v Speaker 1>It's a great podcast. Guys. If you enjoyed our three

0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.040
<v Speaker 1>D printing podcast, I highly recommend you check that one out.

0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:43.320
<v Speaker 1>It was really really good. Scott and Ben know their stuff,

0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:46.400
<v Speaker 1>and Ben was really you know, I mean Ben, Ben

0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:48.840
<v Speaker 1>usually plays the part of asking questions on that, but

0:18:48.920 --> 0:18:51.520
<v Speaker 1>he was. He was definitely a full time participant in

0:18:51.520 --> 0:18:56.680
<v Speaker 1>that one. So excellent work. Guys. Um, I'm pretty much

0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:01.520
<v Speaker 1>complete with my EMP knowledge. Jump, I'm done. I'm tapped out.

0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.560
<v Speaker 1>There's probably tons more that I'm I'm skipping over. But well,

0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:06.560
<v Speaker 1>I mean there's always tons more we could talk about,

0:19:06.600 --> 0:19:10.080
<v Speaker 1>but I'm personally I'm knocked out. Yeah, we're both were

0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:14.240
<v Speaker 1>both then hit by a w A a text stuff

0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:18.680
<v Speaker 1>e MP sort of. Uh So, guys, if you're interested

0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:22.360
<v Speaker 1>in this, we do have a great article called how

0:19:22.760 --> 0:19:26.280
<v Speaker 1>was it e bombs? Right? Yes, how bombs work? Scary

0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:29.959
<v Speaker 1>stuff and so yeah, it's it's definitely one of those

0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:34.199
<v Speaker 1>technologies people are still pursuing. Yeah, I mean around for

0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.240
<v Speaker 1>a long time, but you know, don't count it out. Yeah,

0:19:37.480 --> 0:19:40.320
<v Speaker 1>that's as we get more and more dependent. I think

0:19:40.359 --> 0:19:43.040
<v Speaker 1>it's definitely gonna be one of those things that that's

0:19:43.080 --> 0:19:46.359
<v Speaker 1>going to be part of modern warfare. Now, before we go,

0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:54.600
<v Speaker 1>I do have one more a listener man. This listener

0:19:54.680 --> 0:19:58.280
<v Speaker 1>mail comes from Katie, and Katie has this to say, Hello,

0:19:58.440 --> 0:20:02.119
<v Speaker 1>Chris and Jonathan, I just listen to your latest podcast stuff.

0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:04.439
<v Speaker 1>You can hook up to your TV. And while it

0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:07.080
<v Speaker 1>was really interesting, what caught my ear the most was

0:20:07.119 --> 0:20:09.479
<v Speaker 1>the mention of Pie. I just wanted to let you

0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:12.360
<v Speaker 1>know that I really enjoy your podcasts and I really

0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:18.000
<v Speaker 1>really enjoy Pie Katie. Thanks Katie. I really really enjoy

0:20:18.119 --> 0:20:20.760
<v Speaker 1>Pie too. And I wrote to Katie and I told

0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.680
<v Speaker 1>her I was really trying to get a Pie centric

0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.240
<v Speaker 1>tech stuff podcast was shot down because I was told

0:20:27.280 --> 0:20:29.760
<v Speaker 1>it wasn't tech oriented. So then I tried to do

0:20:30.600 --> 0:20:34.560
<v Speaker 1>a totally new podcast called Pie Stuff, but they won't

0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:37.480
<v Speaker 1>let me do that either. Yeah, some of us think

0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:41.199
<v Speaker 1>that Jonathan is a little crusty um, but you know,

0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:47.479
<v Speaker 1>I personally find his uh discursions into these things uh feeling.

0:20:48.320 --> 0:20:52.959
<v Speaker 1>I'm just staring him down right now, Folks, just channel

0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:56.440
<v Speaker 1>your hate through me and I will I will gaze

0:20:56.560 --> 0:21:01.159
<v Speaker 1>at him. We we pious the official desert of tech stuff,

0:21:01.240 --> 0:21:03.760
<v Speaker 1>all right, tech Stuff Live, and so any discussions of

0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:06.200
<v Speaker 1>Pie are certainly welcome. Even the number the number is

0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.960
<v Speaker 1>also welcome, Yes, the number two. We are happy to

0:21:08.960 --> 0:21:12.639
<v Speaker 1>have Pie in our studio at any time, and we

0:21:12.720 --> 0:21:16.280
<v Speaker 1>are also thankful to have you in our studio. Virtually speaking,

0:21:16.840 --> 0:21:19.320
<v Speaker 1>I hope that you've enjoyed this episode. Remember you can

0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.119
<v Speaker 1>check out our blogs, you can read our articles. You

0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:24.679
<v Speaker 1>can find all that at how stuff works dot com.

0:21:24.760 --> 0:21:27.600
<v Speaker 1>Crispy and I will talk to you again about E

0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:33.639
<v Speaker 1>M P s and pie maybe really soon for moralns

0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:36.160
<v Speaker 1>and thousands of other topics. Is it how stuff works

0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:38.280
<v Speaker 1>dot com. And be sure to check out the new

0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.560
<v Speaker 1>tech stuff blog now on the house stuff Works homepage,

0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:48.359
<v Speaker 1>brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:49.920
<v Speaker 1>It's ready, are you