Bomb Busters for Science

The best abstract ever:

We discuss the possibility of utilizing the ultra-high energy neutrino beam (~ 1000 TeV) to detect and destroy the nuclear bombs wherever they are and whoever possess them.

I think as far as all possible abstract techniques, this is the way one should go. Grab your audience immediately, include something vaguely technical (TeV) and mention nuclear bombs so you can get lots and lots of defense money. You might think this abstract is a lot of hooey, and you really wouldn't be wrong, but it originates from a real paper published in 2003, titled Destruction of Nuclear Bombs Using Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Beam.

My favorite line: "We believe the only way this machine may be built when all the countries on earth agree ... by creating an organization which may be called the 'World Government' for which this device becomes the means of enforcement." Brilliant, simply brilliant! What is actually interesting in this paper is the recommended first step in researching this technology, which may take "an order of a century to achieve."

(1) First, we should construct a neutrino factory which could have substantially lower energy than even 1 TeV. The purpose is to fully understand the properties of the neutrino including mass, mixing angles, CP violating phase, Majorana property and the interactions with other particles.

Translation: We will promise the moon, if you just let is do some interesting basic physics.

This paper was mentioned over lunch as an example of the extremes scientists will go to for funding. I thought it was a joke, but after reading the paper, it seems they wrote it in earnest. Is this what we have been reduced to? Must we whore ourselves for defense money in order to get funding for basic science research? Granted neutrino projects have become "popular" and seem to have secure funding for the time being, but perhaps they could pull the "nuclear-bomb-sniffer" card when things get a little iffy. We need to start thinking outside the research box into more military-based scientific applications. It would certainly be more lucrative than a bake sale.

Comments

[Bob Pease]

Well, not bad..It sure beats the dream I had as a small child during the Cold War era of the 1950s. I used to think during air raid drills that I was going to grow up and invent an anti-bomb that would be sensitive enough to detect a nuclear explosion and reassemble all of the matter it destroyed at a speed that no one could know the difference..I was a touch naive when I was 10...At least this sounds somewhat possible and testable.

[Alejandro Rivero]

Did u remember the final speech of Galileo, in B. Bretch's play? It was about this kind of whoring.

[Bob Pease]

Good point Alejandro..We can even add Kepler's accepting the job as astrologer. He needed money. He thought astrology was for fatheads.

[Owino Henry]

Every technology can be used to benefit humanity and at the same time destroy him......(...imagine Osama Bin Laden, Iran, North Korea and who knows may be crazy scientists in posession of these deadly technologies!!)....it realy calls for reasonable people in the society to think of every anti deadly technologies to keep the world safe; Funding to such thoughts should not be undermined, its not a joke but somewhere to get good people started.

The big quiz is? who should be this " WORLD GOVERNMENT"?
It scares me because evil people are found everywhere, in and outside every government.

[Caolionn]

The closest thing we have to a "World Government" is the U.N. and that is being undermined at every turn. So my faith in a true world government is not really strong right now.

Also I have nothing against crazy interesting ideas in both science and defense, but I have many bones to pick with the paper. Other than the sheer size requirement, it assumes we know the precise location of the nuclear bombs to a 1 meter resolution (not so easy, since we can't even seem to figure out where N. Korea is doing their testing, let alone where the bombs are stored). Should we happen to have that kind of accuracy, we could be foiled by placing the bomb on a conveyor belt that goes around a 10 m circle at random speeds. Sorry, but this isn't really looking like a feasible plan against nuclear bombs, no matter how you look at it.

[Owino Henry (Kenya)]

Caolionn, you are very right, thsi is like a tale. It is all about the wish that we could take care of our self invented technologies that spilled over into the wrong hands.

Would there be such proposal if only the so called moraly upright nations where the only ones in possesion of the weapons? This is all about a family being worried of their dog gone wild and turning friendly a stranger.

We have only One Bomb Buster; Fair Play in the World to all Nations; Lets recognize the UN and do more funding to it to promote Peace in the whole world....it will cost very little and it will be achievable since it the science that depends between us all.

[Caolionn]

Owino: Completely agree. We do need a promoter of peace in the world and thus far the U.N. has served to be that voice. Sadly, I feel the U.S. (my country) hasn't been "playing fair" in the world and I wish I felt more empowered to be able to change that. Regardless, we are being too idealistic to think that countries will always play fair and, consequently, are forced to protect ourselves in case they don't. Too depressing.

[Bob Pease]

Caolionn,

I take it that you don't perceive the possibility of GPS science expanding enough to detect a bomb on a conveyer belt.

I admit to being quite a bit naive but I do get the impression from our present ability to calculate precise distances to the moon within one meter that science should make short work of finding a bomb..I am just an amateur astronomer and you have a better background than I do...

Where is my reasoning flawed here?

Secondly, I would think that the very work that you are doing concerning plasma wakefields providing a surfing medium for particles might be a step toward minaturizing particle accelerators. Couldn't that cheapen the cost down the road?

Where am I flawed here?

[Owino Henry (Kenya)]

I do see that one thing leeds to the next new one just a step away; with Bomb Busters in place....lets say so, someone will soon work it out to defeat the technology.......that person will not be anyother one but say USA, Russia etc, then within a decade or so the so called axis of evil....(....Iran, North Korea etc..)... will be within the reach of the same technology; by the way, how did they get to know nuclear technology? someone from the west couldnt just keep the what it takes tomake it a secrete. I STILL INSIST THE BEST BOMB BUSTER IS PEACE!! Lets get it done.