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Weekend


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January 6, 2006

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. You know about A-bombs and H-bombs. And now, heaven help us, we're hearing about E-bombs. No, they're not sent via e-mail. Are they coming to a theater near you?

    A. They've already been there, featured in the James Bond film "GoldenEye," where satellites fire off an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that destroys all electrical equipment, says physicist Barry Parker in "Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts & Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent." EMPs are now a big military concern. In the 1960s, a high-altitude nuclear test over Johnson Island showed EMP effects 850 miles away in the Hawaiian Islands. "Streetlights and fuses failed on Oahu and telephone service was completely disrupted for several hours on Kauai."


     
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