Many hypothetical doomsday devices are based on the fact that salted hydrogen bombs can create large amounts of nuclear fallout.

A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon — which could destroy all life on the Earth, or destroy the Earth itself (bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth). This article is about the theoretical world-ending destruction. ... Doomsday Machine may refer to: Doomsday device, a hypothetical weapon which could destroy all life on the Earth Doomsday Machine (Dr. Strangelove), the doomsday weapon in the film, a cobalt-thorium-G bomb The Doomsday Machine (Star Trek), an episode of Star Trek: The Original Series Doomsday Machine (album), the... Image File history File links Castle_romeo. ... Image File history File links Castle_romeo. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion, so named because it falls out of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion. ... This article is about Earth as a planet. ... Look up doomsday in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Doomsday devices have been present in literature and art especially in the 20th century, when advances in science and technology allowed humans to imagine a definite and plausible way of actively destroying the world or all life on it (or at least human life). Many classics in the genre of science fiction take up the theme in this respect, especially The Purple Cloud (1901) by M. P. Shiel in which the accidental release of a gas kills all people on the planet.^[1] (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... A magnet levitating above a high-temperature superconductor demonstrates the Meissner effect. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... M. P. Shiel (July 21, 1865 – February 17, 1947) was a prolific British writer of genre fantasy fiction, remembered mostly for supernatural and science fiction, published as novels, short stories and as serials. ... Year 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday [1] of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Matthew Phipps Shiel (July 21, 1865 – February 17, 1947), was a prolific British writer of fantastic fiction, remembered mostly for supernatural and scientific romances, published as novels, short stories and as serials. ...

After the advent of nuclear weapons, especially hydrogen bombs, they have usually been the dominant components of fictional doomsday devices. RAND strategist Herman Kahn proposed a "Doomsday Machine" in the 1950s which would consist of a computer linked to a stockpile of hydrogen bombs, programmed to detonate them all and bathe the planet in nuclear fallout at the signal of an impending nuclear attack from another nation. Such a scheme, fictional as it was, epitomized for many the extremes of the suicidal logic behind the strategy of mutually assured destruction, and it was famously parodied in the Stanley Kubrick film from 1964, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. It is also a main topic of the movie Beneath the Planet of the Apes, in parallel with the species extermination theme. Most such models either rely on the fact that hydrogen bombs can be made arbitrarily large (see Teller-Ulam design) or that they can be "salted" with materials designed to create long-lasting and hazardous fallout (e.g.; a cobalt bomb). The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 kilometers (11 mi) above the hypocenter A nuclear weapon derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions of fusion or fission. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, in 1945 lifted nuclear fallout some 18 km (60,000 feet) above the epicenter. ... The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces. ... Herman Kahn, May 1965 Herman Kahn (February 15, 1922 – July 7, 1983) was a military strategist and systems theorist employed at RAND Corporation, USA. // Born in Bayonne, New Jersey, Kahn grew up in the Bronx, then in Los Angeles following his parents divorce. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... This article is about the machine. ... Fallout is the residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion, so named because it falls out of the atmosphere into which it is spread during the explosion. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... Mutual assured destruction (MAD) is a doctrine of military strategy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by one of two opposing sides would effectively result in the destruction of both the attacker and the defender. ... Kubrick redirects here. ... Also Nintendo emulator: 1964 (emulator). ... For the hit 1987 single by Depeche Mode, see the album Music for the Masses Film poster for Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a 1964 satirical film directed by Stanley Kubrick. ... Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970), is the first of four sequels to Planet of the Apes (1968), with James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, and Charlton Heston in a supporting role. ... The basics of the Teller–Ulam configuration: a fission bomb uses radiation to compress and heat a separate section of fusion fuel. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

In Fiction

Further information: Doomsday film

Further information: Doomsday devices in popular culture

Poster for the 1964 doomsday black comedy, . A doomsday film is a motion picture which tells the story of an actual or fictitious doomsday event and/or its aftermath. ...

See also

• Doomsday Clock
• Doomsday event
• Escalation
• Planet killer
• World War III
• Weapon of mass destruction

Minutes to Midnight redirects here, along with other titles incorporating that term. ... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, Japan, 1945, rose some 18 km (11 mi) above the hypocenter. ... Escalation is the phenomenon of something getting worse step by step, for example a quarrel, or, notably, military presence and nuclear armament during the Cold War. ... In science fiction, a planet killer (also called a planet buster in some cases) is an entity, often a large spaceship or space station, expressly designed to destroy or render uninhabitable a planet. ... A nuclear holocaust is often associated with World War III For other uses, see World War III (disambiguation). ... A weapon of mass destruction (WMD) is a weapon which can kill large numbers of humans and/or cause great damage to man-made structures (e. ...

References

1. ^ Spencer R. Weart, Nuclear fear: a history of images (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1988).

External links

• The Purple Cloud by M.P. Shiel hosted by Project Gutenberg.
• Top 10 Ways to Destroy the earth - LiveScience
• "How to destroy the Earth" — humorous page about the difficulty in destroying the entire planet.
• "The Return of the Doomsday Machine?", Ron Rosenbaum, Slate.com, Aug. 31, 2007