With the development of science and technology, the lethality of weapons and equipment is getting bigger and bigger. Einstein, a scientist who has always been humorous, solemnly mentioned that if there had been a 4th World War, people might have used stones. There is some truth to his remarks, and in modern warfare, the mention of nuclear weapons can give people a deterrent force.
Nuclear weapons are weapons related to nuclear reactions, not only the atomic bomb we are familiar with, but also hydrogen bombs, neutron bombs, dirty bombs, etc., and the lethality of nuclear weapons can be said to be well known. The explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, when problems on Earth could even be seen in space, and its core area still has a large dose of radiation.
The first experiments with a nuclear explosion were in the United States, when scientists didn't realize its true power. It was in the same year of the experiment, 1945, on August 6. An atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, and the atomic bomb had a harmless-sounding name called "Little Boy." The nuclear explosion released a large amount of infrared light in just three seconds, and the core temperature was as high as 6000 ° C. Almost no one survived where the "little boy" passed. Later, the United States dropped an atomic bomb. These two atomic bombs had a huge impact on Japanese society, and this effect lasted for a long time.
The Cuban Missile Crisis, presumably familiar to many people, can be said to be the closest to the end of the world, the nuclear weapons of the United States and the Soviet Union, the blow to the world will be devastating. However, there was another emergency in 1983, when if it weren't for Petrov's 23 minutes, probably half the world would have been gone.
On September 26, 1983, the Soviet surveillance radar showed a problem, the veteran Petrov on duty found an intercontinental missile and five nuclear bombs, when the Soviet Union had not yet disintegrated, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union continued, and in this year, the Soviet Union accidentally shot down fighter jets from South Korea, for a time, the Soviet Union became the cusp of the storm, if there is any action, it will be counterattacked.
But Petrov showed extraordinary composure at this time, he did not act rashly, he chose to consult with others, after analyzing the situation, did up to 23 minutes of inspection work, it was this precious 23 minutes that allowed him to eliminate the fault, if he was careless, saw the fault without analysis, directly use nuclear weapons. The consequences are simply unimaginable, many cities will become flat, and countless innocent people will die under the huge radiation.
Later, after investigation, it was found that the mistake was due to the reflection of the clouds, and the early warning system identified the error. It can be said that thanks to Petrov's boldness and care, he did not let a small mistake cause a big disaster, but he also had to make people sweat, if he was just a soldier, if he made another choice between his thoughts, the consequences can be said to be unimaginable, and it is estimated that he really has to fight with stones.
During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, almost the whole world was shrouded in tension. The arms race between the two countries is extremely fierce, up to space and down to the bottom of the sea on the ground, and none of them do not have their secret contests. There was no overt hot war, but the two countries were on each other's watch almost all the time. The country sandwiched in the middle at that time was also very difficult, and the two countries with the most powerful military forces would not know how fierce the war would be if a war broke out. Fortunately, several times things ended up being just a false alarm, and no substantial harm was done.
The mainland has also long had nuclear weapons, which can be regarded as a nuclear power. But we are well aware that nuclear weapons are not used to wage war, but to better establish a military image and defend peace. Mastering nuclear technology also has a lot of help for life, and the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant is an example of using nuclear technology to improve people's livelihood. In short, science and technology is to make us live better, to better protect ourselves, and not to let technology become a threat, so that technology loses its original meaning.