The SCIENCE! Behind mini nukes in Fallout 4

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[@dirtyfartbomb9908]

Annnnnnd now we're all black listed

[@ashtonadams7663]

probably

[@ThisRandomGuy3]

best kind of listed

[@Flintshadow]

+FP5Reviews there now we're on a list

[@XShadowWolf1926]

its ok because the NRA will make sure we can keep our guns

[@dahliasdarkside1695]

But that means are names are always on the list ;D

[@skyyyizzle]

"nuclear bombs are a lot more fun" *shows picture of Hiroshima*

[@weaverwesley1571]

Skyy Aquino-freedle AMERICA!!!! FUCK YEAH

[@chickenpermission]

Skyy Aquino-freedle weakling.

[@TonyBMan]

*cut to scenes of pre-nuke Japanese soldiers victimizing their prisoners as brutally as the Vietcong.* See how hype Japan is since the bombs? Giant robots, waifu, and animu everywhere.

[@aidan_0998]

Skyy Aquino-freedle I

[@Silverwing2112]

Oh get over it, Japan's fine now.

[@SkorpionMarauder]

I like how at the end Austin explains that he stopped not because he couldn't understand it, but because he didn't want to actually design a Mini Nuke. Just goes to show how smart Austin actually is.

[@cosmicraysshotsintothelight]

Yeah, except for that Obama crack, and the crack about how us not using ours on the Russians was "unfortunate". I guess he is trying to say that Russia is (still) a problem. One he thinks that lighting off theater level "tactical" nukes way back when would have solved?

[@pikejohnson6409]

*slaps 2.7 kilograms of californium 252 into football* SCIENCE! WOO! *accidentally drops it* SHI- *is instantly vaporized in explosion*

[@fallenvoid2212]

FUMBLE!

[@azwanajeeb2167]

Tsar bomba kaboom

[@fazethetigerv17]

@@fallenvoid2212 fumble. Sport pronouncer: ooh and he is vaporized.

[@connorthegunlovingeek7465]

"And the Quarterback is toast!"

[@azwanajeeb2167]

@@fazethetigerv17 that commentary comment when watching bright light of death shallow everyone including him

[@MASDERCHEEFOrigin]

"riddled with like seven cancers" I think I'm going to start using Cancers as a unit of measurement now

[@user-op4ge3wj4y]

cancer of the butt being one

[@skykid]

"How many cancers did this comment section give you?"

[@TheStalkingEmu]

24

[@pdes_]

well... its correct to say seven cancers, because there are more than one of them...

[@Lobertherp]

Now Jacob satorious can be rated on cancer amounts

[@evanclark4773]

"Can you build an irl mini nuke?" Uh yeah, it's called the Davey Crockett *waits near 9 minutes for him to mention it*

[@McDonaldWilliamT]

Late as heeeeeell. But yep. Seen one first hand. They've got a decommed one at the Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning GA. Pretty sure it also had a *much* higher blast yield than we see from the Fat Man.

[@staringgasmask]

@@McDonaldWilliamT and WAY longer range. Up to 4 km if I remember correctly, with a blast radius capable of removing an entire neighbourhood, and they even had problems designing a nuke with that small power, so even if the mini nuke from Fallout is virtually possible in numbers, it is not when you try, and it would be far cheaper and effective to use a normal bomb or a dirty bomb, if radiation is what you needed. The operational mechanisms of both weapons are possible, but different, the Davy Crockett uses a recoiless system and the Fat Man is a big slingshot powered by compressed air

[@the_undead]

​@@staringgasmaskThe mini nuke from fallout is absolutely possible, The problem is cost, because to make that amount of uranium or whatever fissile material you use actually go boom, you need it under some especially unique circumstances that are incredibly difficult to make in our atmosphere

[@netzaralvarez6583]

Lol those scientist should've just used radaway then they wouldnt die

[@FishbedMyBeloved]

You're so dense you can be used as a radiation shield. Radiation cannot be healed and does not go away as it is cumulative, so radaway is impossible. Edit: 3 years later and I've finally gotten the joke

[@joosepkoressaar6660]

And then they'd just shit their pants!

[@theenderdestruction2362]

Aidan Macias oh my gosh someone does not know what a joke is XD

[@g00gleminus96]

Don't say "radiation" when you mean the kind of radiation emitted from fissile material, that's not the right term. Say "ionizing radiation" instead. Why? Anything that emits energy does so by radiating said energy and that means that all radiated energy is radiation. That goes for everything from planets and stars to your flashlight or your cigarette lighter. The difference is in how much energy said radiation is carrying. Basically, if the radiation is made up of energetic subatomic particles, ions or atoms moving at high speeds (usually greater than 1% of the speed of light) then it is ionising radiation. Electromagnetic radiation works entirely differently. It is not ionising except when it's in the upper portion of the ultraviolet spectrum and above (x-rays and gamma rays) but even then it doesn't work the same way other radiation does. Thus you shouldn't just say "radiation" because when you say that there are a lot of uneducated people out there who don't know how to differentiate non-ionising radiation from ionising radiation; these are the same idiots that convinced other, similar idiots that cell phones are dangerous because they "emit radiation" (it's radio waves you stupid fucks and it is completely harmless because it is not fucking ionising and I'm tired of having to explain that.)

[@darkfoxvora3254]

r/whooosh

[@what-ho1mf]

how to build a mini nuke (CHILL ITS FOR A SCHOOL PROJECT) cia: good save.

[@RamonSard]

Fair and balanced

[@rew1677]

And now it's a screenshot

[@powerthunfischdesdonners3086]

@@RamonSard as all things should be

[@CentralNexusPrime]

Wasn’t this the basis for a movie a few decades ago?

[@brianstabile165]

what Makes it go off at school

[@Crabapplez]

America durring the mid 20th century Guy: wanna smoke, and test nuclear physics? Other guy: yeah!

[@cosmonaut379]

SGT. Cabby everywhere during the 20th century

[@I_am_not_a_dog]

FTFY *Other guy: Yeah! Let me just finish this drink first.

[@downwithputinsaveukraine1313]

Cigarettes with no filters, nukes and wodka. We have good times, yes fellow Americans comrade scientist?

[@R1J3H]

How to get on a goverment watch list in 1 easy video

[@JWAVer]

Exactly. it's all fun and games until the Feds show up at your door

[@kitcatulousgaming3460]

true very true...

[@user-gf4wu2sg5n]

+Joe V everyone's gonna have the fbi kick in their door after this video.

[@FoxofMaysville]

That when the fun starts.

[@ParanoidAlaskan]

The United States already made a mini nuke launcher, just like in fallout. It was made back in the sixties.

[@rubenserrano3043]

Engineers: Could take us years to develop a mini nuke device Shoddy: If I only had a month...

[@the_undead]

The month is to figure out in theory how to make it not too in practice build one. Those two things are dramatically different, especially when you're talking about nuclear technology

[@bobfiddledoodle824]

What if he did manage to teach himself but the government saw his search history and was like, “You speak a word of this, and we’ll use our mini nuke on you”

[@thestoopidiot870]

If they tried they'd get butt cancer.

[@the_undead]

Honestly it wouldn't surprise me

[@noahhorner231]

For those of you wondering about the 2077 economy, I used the examples given in this video to determine that one cent in today's money is 500 dollars in fallout 2077 money. This means the one thousand dollar money packs are only 2 cents. Money packs are one bottle cap, so a single bottle camp is worth 2 cents. A bayoneted shredding minigun is worth around 442 bottle caps, or only $8.42! The mini-nuke costs around 100 bottle caps, having an overall price of only 50 cents! And the nuclear material alone is 34 cents above the sale price! No wonder their economy sucks, I can buy a nuclear warhead and a military grade heavy weapon for less than ten bucks!

[@noahhorner231]

A small scale WMD FOR 50 CENTS

[@dionwoollaston5717]

you actually bought mini nukes i just stole mine from the super mutant suiciders and the ones i find around the common wealth and the ocasional ones i get from the gunners

[@Jankunas_Reviews]

that is not the actual prices tho, that is post war prices meaning that money is useless as society collapsed and has stopped using pre war money because it is everywhere

[@calinwin445]

What economy after nuclear fallout?

[@jamesdinius7769]

There isn't much of one we see.

[@ninjaoclock3865]

Welp I’m on a government watch list

[@austinsmith9911]

Been for a while, the meetings aren't as bad as you would think bub......

[@windless4770]

FBI OPEN UP

[@robertevans1854]

Adam Savage confirmed he is

[@rozlan8273]

So is every one who watched this

[@dracosmith7430]

welcome to the club

[@thekingofcardboard]

Between "vaccum decay" having nothing to do with vaccums, and the Sonic Hedgehog gene, "demon core" might be one of the coolest names scientists have come up with for something.

[@pdxripjaw]

Can I just say I love your presentation style? From your delivery, to your mannerisms and energy, you deliver scientific information in a way that’s both tasteful and fucking hilarious

[@AllDarkness1]

I have a question! How many watch list are you on now?

[@snowylynx36]

ALL OF THEM

[@AllDarkness1]

I WON'T be surprised if the fbi ends up breaking down his door.

[@nicholaschisholm7018]

Don't forget the no-fly list

[@DFX2KX]

I've watched most of the nuclear science stuff on PBS, which included fairly detailed construction principles in a few cases, and they've not broken down my door yet.

[@tSp289]

Yeah, well I'm sure long intense sessions of googling how to make suitcase sized nukes would probably get your searches flagged, even if the information is freely available.

[@andypav9376]

How do Skyrim horses climb up 90° angled surfaces?

[@gerbill13]

Easy. magic.

[@harmony4011]

Ikr

[@LucidFL]

It just works.

[@gerbill13]

With its legs?

[@giotm4077]

magic.. magic

[@mrtortoise3766]

Congrats you just scored yourself a place in the vault-tec vault system And a government watchlist

[@ravener96]

Theres a pretty in depth talk on youtube explaining exactly how every nuke from gun type yo yhermonuclear is constructed and the exact mechanics behind it. This stuff isnt as secret as you'd think

[@mrtortoise3766]

ravener yeah yeah I know and it’s not like you can easily obtain the materials to build a nuke I was more just trying to make a joke

[@TylireousGaming]

They really do go hand-in-hand.

[@sentient.t-5522]

7:55 "It was never used DISAPPOINTINGLY" Wtf dude...

[@HiHello-wb9yq]

my exact thoughts

[@krafterz12]

How long do you think until the FBI shows up at his door? XD

[@mongislort6440]

It will be fine. He will just tell them that he made a video about what he learned and uploaded it to the rest of the world.

[@gerbill13]

Last week.

[@CuppaLLX]

pretty sure Austin makes his video from a closly monitored cell, you think al ittle goggle fail would stop him from finding how to make a mini nuke...they got him...Thanks for all your hard work Austin.

[@krafterz12]

Lexx Alolia LOL

[@Unsyncable223]

just tell the FBI "it's just a prank,bro"

[@dandilus8024]

You are like the Game Theory Channel on steroids, both with *SCIENCE* and *ENERGY*

[@philliparnesen4493]

Except he sold out.

[@cmiller1515]

The Geckomancer Still better then matpat

[@philliparnesen4493]

I didn't mean to imply matpat is bad. I like both content producers. I just like my favorite content producers on separate channels. Content can start to feel samey when merged like that. And I don't feel like I am supporting each as I wish but both regardless of content quality.

[@rhyssavage8124]

How did he sell out? I'm not casting shade, I am genuinely curious.

[@philliparnesen4493]

Don't take that literally. Maybe I was the only one but I saw his Science Rants as the small up and coming competition to Game Theory which was starting to feel stagnant. But rather than provide reinvigorating competition just merged and didn't spur either to develop their content in different ways.

[@2absolutelynots]

When you realise you're about to give a blueprint to a mini nuke. FBI: yo uh can you maybe not.

[@LordPhobos6502]

Thankyou for NOT learning entirely how to make mini-nukes and end up getting arrested for Knowing Too Bloody Much. Fun fact: During the earlier days of the nuclear arms race (50's?), the US were cooking up all sorts of bombs for all sorts of tactical purposes. Los Alamos boasted that they could make a micro-nuke that looked and was operated in a manner like a standard hand grenade, but they couldn't find anyone dumb enough to test it! :P I don't know if they ACTAULLY could have, but I reckon they were crazy enough to do it!

[@cosmonaut379]

Kaylee Fisher they would have just done it remotely .... you know that's possible right ?

[@murasakilio6134]

Or maybe try to throw it in a very deep hole (?

[@filmandfirearms]

@@cosmonaut379 It was the 1950s. How do you safely detonate a nuclear hand grenade remotely with 1950s technology?

[@SilvaDreams]

Irony, there was actually a man-portable nuke called "Little man" that fit in a backpack. SO yeah they essentially made a mini-nuke..

[@azwanajeeb2167]

@@filmandfirearms okay pull the pin and throw as far you can be.....oh sh*t to close, run like your life depend on its Yeah good luck with that.

[@verdiss7487]

9:57 Hold it one second, that is *not* how you calculate the yield of a nuclear weapon. Simply plugging the mass of the fissile material into E = mc^2 is not nearly enough. This would give you the amount of energy released if that quantity of matter all was turrned entirely into matter, at 100% efficiency. This will give a unimaginably incorrect answer, because not only does only a small fraction of the matter actually undergo fission (something like 1% for the bombs dropped on Japan,) the matter that does undergo fission has matter byproducts, meaning that most of that matter isn't even turned into energy. Long story short, the 2.5ish Petajoules you calculated as the energy released by 2.7 Kilograms is off by many many orders of magnitude. Now, you would still be getting a blast at the very least in the range of Gigajoules, many thousands of times more powerful than a hand grenade, but you would not be replicating the Tsar Bomba with only 2.7 Kg of fissile material.

[@thugnasty7884]

I read your comment but I don't know who to side with 😂

[@jb3_979]

Huh

[@zacharypetty8539]

I read your comment and now I have to pause every other thought processes just to process the information.

[@thoelle5607]

He said in the video he calculated for a 25% efficiency, Which is reasonable considering this society had 100 years of nothing but nuclear research

[@MrrGNB]

just came back to the video because i realized the same thing

[@ETphonehomek]

7:39 I like how it says '529,000 results found' right above 'no results found' lol

[@Trithis2077]

Looks like Austin knows some HTML. If you just go to the page and hit F12, you can figure out how he did it.

[@joshuavoss4354]

+Trithis or he can just Photoshop

[@Trithis2077]

Joshua Voss that works too.

[@saggysackopotatoes1439]

is it possible to drink bleach

[@vexzarkov7791]

xD the easy way to get on the FBI, CIA, NSA list

[@psshh337]

mega-juuls. Where can I buy one?

[@supernova5434]

the crack web.

[@becausescience]

Nah -- KH

[@Outlawstar0198]

Woah

[@TheBluePhoenix008]

What the actual hell is this comment section. *I'm loving it*

[@Tohstie]

7:45 "Slingshot nuke for use on Russian ground soldiers" "It was never used, disappointingly" What the fuck, Austin?

[@RiflemanMoore]

Yeah I thought that too! It was used however, just not in anger. A nuclear projectile was successfully fired from the weapon in 1962 during the Ivy Flats test series.

[@smallies7154]

he just wants to see shit blow up

[@AlFredo-sx2yy]

it think that when he said it was never used he ment that it was used but never in war purposes only in tests. But i thought the same XD

[@RandomMichiganGuy]

Russia deserves it

[@vuxigeck5281]

NOBODY deserves it >_>

[@Greg-ku7rn]

So by taping seven grenades together like in ww2 the Russians effectively made an antitank grenade that would be more powerful than the mini-nuke?

[@weaverwesley1571]

Gregthegamer yep

[@cosmonaut379]

Gregthegamer the Russians have historically been good at that whole super cheap weapons thay are quite effective

[@Kaarl_Mills]

"Yuo see Comrad, by throwing beeg grenade I can hurt tenks"

[@leopoldo3884]

yeah Russians are great at weapons

[@cosmonaut379]

Leopoldo3 now that is one large understatement lol

[@MJ-cl8gr]

"I'm not talking about sissy Fallout rads" Uhmm... A thousand rads in Fallout is lethal as well.

[@mappsmappings4025]

yeah I believe 10 rads is 1% hp meaning 1000 fallout rads would kill a person

[@blankwolf_7446]

“If your spunk was californium then you’d...” Me. Explode all day long?

[@derpypenguin3127]

Americium *Found, Produced, Used only in America*

[@Shaun_Jones]

It's actually in smoke detectors

[@JustAFishFR]

DerpyPenguin 312 And Francium is in everything from France

[@hippopotomonstrosesquipeda326]

Scandium; Scandinavia californium; California francium; France etc. literally almost all unnaturally occurring metals are named after politically divided locations

[@jamesdinius7769]

Or scientists who had nothing to do with them

[@theinternetpolice2078]

I can't tell if the scientist who named Americium should be promoted or fired.

[@dasovietunion3370]

make a vid about how radaway works and takes the rads out of ur system.

[@someone-ul4dg]

yes

[@apotato6278]

possibly using a form of radiation and metall binding algae, it can purify organic material from dangerous materials. and rad away comes in a IV bag so you just hook it up and let it do its work

[@apotato6278]

it binds cesium and strontium ( the isotopes that would most likely litter fallout 4) then when it has bound the isotopes you just wait for it to "pass through you" this is ofcourse a super simpel version of it. i had to do write 10 pages about that red goo for my university and how it could help medical patients exposed to radiation.

[@ChrisLeeW00]

Prussian blue was mentioned in a journal at Far Harbor.

[@JohnHenryEden2277]

+A potato You're smart for a potato.

[@toniofalconpunch12]

Now I know how to make homebrew payloads. [Quicksaving...]

[@66sonicfan]

Dont put ideas in my head, Austin.

[@doriphor]

I'm pretty sure you used E = mc² wrong. The atom doesn't just completely turn into energy, if splits into curium 247 with a resulting energy emission of 6.217 MeV/nucleus. Now I'm not sure because I'm lazy but the needed mass should be about 0.66 mg instead when using 1600 kJ, Avogadro's number and the atomic weight of californium 251. Again, I could be COMPLETELY WRONG.

[@Timothiuss]

Oh shit waddup

[@eyeballpaul700]

No, your right on the money. I think Austin my have just made a mistake because he is indeed wrong

[@yeeboos5512]

You smart

[@TheDiehardRPGGuy]

Here come dat science

[@Devi0707]

You're right, the energy released from both fusion and fission relies on the minor mass differences between what we had and the products we receive.

[@zlatanstanojevic2115]

You cannot use E = mc² like that. Fission splits a nucleus into two smaller nuclei, called fission products. The fission products have mass that is roughly equal to the mass of the initial nucleus. However, combining all the masses of the fission products and neutrons will give a slightly lower mass than that of the original nucleus, which underwent fission. And it's this difference in mass that enters Einstein's formula. What ultimately counts is the difference in nuclear binding energy of the fissioned nucleus and the fission products, which on the order of 1 MeV (mega-electron-volt, around 0.16 pico-joules) per fission.

[@rambo2punt0]

Zlatan Stanojevic i was looking for this comment. I'm happy I wasn't the only one that noticed

[@davidcook4823]

Zlatan Stanojevic multi concentrate engineer here. This comment is too far down and this video needs to be remade.

[@natewilliams5464]

Okay but I would like to know when this is taken into account how devastating would a mini nuke be, if at all possible?

[@dmitry-z]

I was literally just writing this comment before I saw yours. I was so disappointed that he used E=mc^2 the way he did. This needs to be the top comment.

[@mrchangcooler]

You didn't even mention how he conflates radioactivity with fission, saying they are basically the same.

[@Orionmatrix2015]

Dont forget the epic rants/freakouts! 12:33 was the verbal rampage that made me a huge fan! It's detailed information and scary stuff in this video but it was delivered in such a way as I needed to take a breath or I would have died laughing!

[@Crowe0920]

I LOVE this series! And about the radiation risk, the way that we use them in the game, running around in a Grognak costume, makes sense to be dead from radiation, but in the Lore of the Fat Man launcher, they were meant to be deployed with T-51 soldiers. Wouldnt THEY be safe at a certain distance?

[@the_undead]

That would depend if there's a layer of letting that armor and how thick it is

[@bobned2736]

Me: **Clicks video** Dad: Why is the FBI here...

[@mixis1931]

*laughs in european* Mom: Why is the KGB here?

[@JamMonsterFrfo]

@@mixis1931 you mean Mum?

[@mixis1931]

@@JamMonsterFrfo I think it can be spelt both ways, just one is American and the other is British English

[@adamoore8073]

I don't even want to consider the power of the MIRV launcher.

[@rosswarden7318]

how about the MIRV Big Boy Launcher

[@adamoore8073]

Oh yeah, big MIRV would basically start another great war with every shot

[@dabombinablemi6188]

Fired the Big Boy MIRV once while taking the arc into consideration....never again. I'd be better off dropping a nuka grenade at my feet (well, several)

[@Austin555661]

+Dabombinable Mi if only it was in fallout new Vegas and worked with the gun runners arsenal ammo the one that splits up yo dawg I put a bomb in your bomb that splits into more bombs which split into more bombs

[@dabombinablemi6188]

Austin555661 That'd be like the plasma grenade rifle in some custom Halo CE maps....that I had firing the cluster plasma grenades a friend of mine made (note- firing1 shot into any building meant that anyone inside was screwed).

[@krutoj2324567]

Mininukes was developed to be used in the super-duper-radio-resistant power armor, which can take a full-power rocket thrust, or it can make you survive in nuclear explosion of the micro nuke. P.S. sorry for my bad english.

[@QualityPen]

Fun fact: In lore, power armor is far less protective than in game. T-45 for example could protect against most 7.62 NATO / .308 Winchester rounds. Something more powerful, like .45-70 Government used by the F4 lever action rifle could penetrate it outright and a .50 BMG round would slice through any power armor like a hot knife through butter… .50 BMG can take out most armored personnel carriers IRL. And if Fallout lasers could really disintegrate people as they do, power armor would be useless against those as well.

[@highpol1ce]

@8:17 where he misses the Vertibird, "Oops. Preston Garvey is not going to be happy about this...."

[@JeoshuaCollins]

Dear Austin, In the real world, Plutonium is one of the rarest elements on Earth. In the Fallout universe, however, Mass Fusion has actually set up freaking Plutonium Wells all over the place. How is this even possible? Where did all that extra Plutonium come from? And where, for that matter, did all this Nuclear Material that we find all over the place even come from, and what IS it, really?

[@nicknovak5514]

Plutonium is a byproduct of reactors that use U-238.

[@JeoshuaCollins]

Nick Novak That much of it? If they're using Uranium reactors, what's the Plutonium in those wells for? Not the Fusion Plants you see everywhere, that's for sure, if all that Plutonium came from Uranium Reactors! And why is it a Municipal Facility?

[@nicknovak5514]

+Jeoshua Collins I have 6 years experience working in nuclear power. It is a byproduct of U238 reactions. There are also specially made "breeder reactors" that are U238 reactors that are designed to increase the plutonium yields.

[@JeoshuaCollins]

Nick Novak No, I get that. But then why are there wells of Plutonium? And where are these reactors in the Fallout world, all we ever see is Microfusion technology and Fusion Plants, and not Uranium style reactor complexes. Think about it for a moment. These are marked as Municipal Plutonium Wells. Which means they're a Utility, of sorts. Now... if this is intended to be a supply of Plutonium, it seems awfully Unamerican to give away for free, not to mention ill advised since its not being used to generate power (everyone has Fusion generators!). If it's a disposal utility, then where are these reactors? And why isn't the bomb material being bought and sold? Maybe its indended for the war effort, like scrap Aluminum during WWII, but then that still leaves the question of where is it coming from? Not what process, what source, specifically, where?

[@nicknovak5514]

There arent, it's just in the game.

[@poseidonwarrior6111]

Austin, you and MatPat should do a video together

[@thesunflowerseedenthusiast2481]

no, matpat is too childish.

[@7outof10]

+i like sunflower seeds bah

[@CyoAFK]

no God please no

[@ryancrandall9543]

+i like sunflower seeds he can be Hella annoying

[@TheAsylumCat]

the nerdy bromance would consume the planet.

[@sentientpotato_]

"sissy Fallout rads" That made me giggle.

[@xxcrazymanxx1001]

Dear, Austin I greatly enjoy your work on the science of things from the fallout universe great job

[@franklind.roosevelt4367]

7:55 "it was never actually used disappointingly" yes very disappointing that that those nuclear weapons were never detonated...

[@filmandfirearms]

It was a tiny nuke. It was basically as powerful as some of the heavier conventional bombs used in WW2, like the Russian FAB-5000

[@EvilParagon2]

Ha! Goomba asked this guy instead of MatPat. Shows you how much Goomba trust MatPat.

[@BirdRaiserE]

NOBODY should trust MatPat. Some of his videos are practically stolen. The first that jumps to mind is the pasta sauce video, stolen from JIM STERLING of all people.

[@FarlerAlarm]

"Spunk" Hahaha I'm sure you will do Shoddycast justice. Looking forward to future content, best of luck!

[@FauxtheBotFox]

Hearing you go off at the end was definitely worth it! I'll go and watch a lot of your other videos now as well

[@supernova00500]

imagine football being played with mini-nukes man those Quarterbacks would run so fast XD

[@nojusarutiunian3344]

lol😂😂😂

[@nojusarutiunian3344]

lol😂😂😂

[@331coolguy]

XDXDXDXD

[@user-yh8rr6zz6t]

But what happen if it gets punted

[@elhomo6406]

+CRACKBLAZER rip

[@Neo2266.]

*I DON'T WANT A CANCER OF THE BUTT*

[@Silverwing2112]

Don't go to California then. I swear just breathing the air there can give you cancer...

[@AntonStoli]

Silverwing179 it’s so flammable to where if you fart, half the state is on fire

[@Thaygiaoxeom]

Thanks for your video, now I able to make Mini Nuke at my house.

[@eegma5596]

7:43 Fun fact: "Backyard Nuke" was the name given to a hypothetical 10 GT nuke, which would have the blast radius the size of France. It got its name because it would be be way too big to move around. It wouldn't even need to be close to the enemy though, as it would fuck them up anyway.

[@coder0xff]

When applying E=mc^2, you can't use the whole mass of the fissile material. Only a fraction of that mass is converted into energy.

[@vuvuzela4570]

NEEEEERRRDDDD

[@antitheist3206]

In fairness, the Fallout earth is much more savvy with atomic power (hell, they perfected cold fusion and used it to power mech suits and laser weapons, because why not). Their tech is much more advanced, so they likely get much more out of a nuclear reaction than we can.

[@VecheslavNovikov]

@@antitheist3206 That's not how physics works. It's like powering a car with a cellphone sized solar cell, not going to happen.

[@antitheist3206]

@@VecheslavNovikov Do you know how stupid you sound right now?

[@VecheslavNovikov]

@@antitheist3206 lol

[@Bongtoungers]

say you know,if um the sole survivor died in the Commonwealth(damn survival mode). could you do a similar thing to see which faction would ultimately gain and KEEP control of the Commonwealth

[@mnightdude]

Probably brotherhood

[@Thouxanbanquincy]

+GameSpoon or institute

[@user-gf4wu2sg5n]

+GameSpoon Institute could but only if they have the right agents on the surface

[@Thouxanbanquincy]

+King Snipes i think whoever would attack first would win

[@russianspy5307]

Brotherhood would just go all "for honor and glory for elder maxson!!!!" And kill everything in the known universe with their power armour and gatling lasers

[@bt-5sovietlighttank416]

A super weapon that has ammo costing around $2 (counting other materials than just the californium) *COMFORTING*

[@HH-uu2lc]

This is my new favorite chanel it mixes video games, cuss words, and science holy shit how have I not found this sooner

[@JulianLinair]

How do you make a nanogram of Californium explode? Short answer: extremely high pressure. One of the models for fission bombs does this, with an evenly placed explosive applying pressure to a sphere of fissionable material, increasing density, causing it to go critical. It's the same principle as described with the Demon Sphere, just more explosive. That said, I suspect we'd be talking about interior-of-a-star levels of pressure, so I doubt we'll be seeing a Californium grenade any time soon.

[@RomanoPRODUCTION]

Right, temperature + pressure

[@101m4n]

10:12 No! Wrong! Bad shoddy >:( Fission only releases a teeny tiny fraction of the mass as energy. Even hydrogen-hydrogen fusion only releases about 0.7% of the nuclei rest mass. Also, these reactions tend to blow themselves apart, preventing further fission, so only a little of it actually undergoes fission. So really you are many orders of magnitude out. I expect better from you! >:(

[@BrunoJMR]

was gonna comment that!

[@jacobwass3173]

Our physics professor made use watch this video and we had to write down all the things that he said that were incorrect :') but the guy gave it a go :)

[@csdn4483]

You're spot on 101m4n. Below is more on what Austin got wrong. Yeah, Austin really needs to do his research. So many of these videos he does are so far off the mark it's not even funny (and yes, the pun is intended). I have a degree in NE and I knew as soon as Austin started going this was going to be way off the mark. Case in point, yes, each fission of Plutonium 239 yields around 200 MeV (this is about 1 million times more than the standard combustion process of a standard explosive, around 2 to 3 eV), but it is nowhere near a complete conversion of mass to energy. If you truly want a complete conversion of mass to energy (where 100% of the mass is converted to usable energy, you're looking at matter-antimatter annihilation). Just to give you an idea of how much energy you need per fission per second, it take around 31 Billion fissions to produce 1 W of energy. Yes, that's a minor fraction of a mole (6.022 x 10^23 atoms) but you also have to go up in yield by several orders of magnitude to reach a decent amount of energy. Also, like you said, bombs disassociate in a matter of microseconds (not milli, micro, 10^-6 seconds) where most of the material is not used. Now, the fission itself take only nanoseconds to happen. This leads us to the next thing that Austin completely glossed over. You need more than just a critical mass to achieve an explosion. If all it took was a critical mass, then nuclear reactors around the world would be ticking time bombs for nuclear detonations (big hint, they aren't otherwise they wouldn't be used for energy). Every major accident to date (Windscale in Scotland, Three Mile Island in the US, Chernobyl in the Ukraine, and Fukushima in Japan) have been core melt and only steam explosions (yes, Chernobyl and Fukushima's explosions were not nuclear, but steam where the cooling water flashed to steam and using PV=nRT, you get what happened next). In order to achieve an nuclear explosion, you either need a larger than critical mass (Little Boy and gun type weapons) or an implosion of a critical mass (Fat Man and most weapons today). With an implosive device, what you're doing is reaching a critical density (where the nuclei are so close together that you can get more chains going and less loss of neutrons, in essence efficient chain reactions). Now, let's get to the elephant in the room. We have nuclear weapons today that are even smaller than the Davey Crockett. The US has designed a gernade sized nuclear weapon (you can't throw it far enough to be out of the blast radius) and the USSR, now Russia, designed an RPG nuclear device (again, you can't shoot it far enough to be outside the blast radius). These weapons are suicide weapons designed for taking out tank columns and the like. But we're getting away from the real question that was asked, given the actual damage of the mini-nuke in Fallout series, how much radiation does it produce. Here is where Austin did absolutely no research. Radiation flux falls off in an exponential curve. The actual calculation is I = I0 * exp (-theta * x) where I is the flux at a given distance, I0 is the flux at the point, theta is the constant based on the material the radiation is travelling through, and x is the distance to where the flux is measured. Neutron flux drops off by half about every 40 feet in air. For water, it's even less. For gamma rays, I seem to remember it being similar to neutrons. So, once we have the flux, we can calculate the dose that someone would get based on how far they are from the source. So, given that the mini-nuke in Fallout is toned way, way down from even the smallest designed devices, at a range safely outside the blast radius of the Fallout mini-nuke, you'd take very little radiation. In fact, the explosive damage of the mini-nuke would kill you before you took enough radiation to actually kill you. The lethal dose (LD) 50/50 (50% of the the people exposed would die from said exposure) is around 400 rads. The Fallout mini-nuke would only produce that kind of exposure within the blast radius. So the answer to actual posed question is, no, a Fallout mini-nuke would not kill you from radiation exposure.

[@happymonkeygames]

+Cs Dn wow... i did not expect to learn this much today

[@jacobwass3173]

+Cs Dn hmm nice answer :)

[@cloaker7237]

4:27 Talks about how Nuclear Reactor fuels are stable *Shows RBMK Reactor*

[@burtcabinaugh6547]

Appreciate the depth of information in your videos. Well researched, informative, entertaining and chocked full of science. And swearing but we dig that it's a leg up from scishow.

[@ShoddyCast]

Follow us on Facebook | Facebook.com/ShoddyCast Follow us on Twitter | twitter.com/ShoddyCast Follow Austin | twitter.com/arhourigan Support the show | www.patreon.com/ShoddyCast

[@deanm7601]

the only part of that video that annoyed me (surprisingly) was when you kept measuring the amount of radiation he was hit with in RADS, the new metric for radiation is the gray, or at least that was what i was told in higher physics, the reason for not using rads is something to do with human absorption in skin cells, it is also a more precise form of measurement. just a thought, feel free to prove me wrong, better to be wrong and knowledgeable, than wrong and ignorant

[@Billygoat_27]

I got one question how the fuck do hand grenades in call of duty not kill people 4 feet away like what the fuck

[@capt5656]

because shrapnel from hand grenades is random and most of the times does not instantly kill someone, even more if they have PPE. actually i wouldn't be surprised if grenades took more soldiers out of the fight because of the amount of surgery required to patch up dozens of little metal fragments in someones body rather than actually killing them with the blast or loss of blood. witch is far too much work for a action FPS.

[@stefanstoyanov7460]

There are two types of grenades, based on for what they are used for, ofensive and defensive grenades. The ofensive grenades are designed to cause more chaos than damage in the enemy line. With killing radius of about 5-6 meters they are designed to not be powerfull enought to kill your advancing troops. The defensive grenades or also known as frag grenades are entirely diferent level. With kill radius of about 50 meters, and a outer shell designed to fragment to roughly about 3000 pieces, it is a killing beast. It is designed to stop advancing enemy, so the user must be lying in a trench or be in cover, otherwise he'll become a victim of his own grenade. Yes I know game developers probably never were in the army otherwise they'll know how wrong they are, throwing defensive frag grenades as if they were offensive.

[@AllTheNamesIPickedWereTaken]

+stefan stoyanov I actually did not know this. Thank you kind stranger for enlightening me :)

[@Seth_Wilson]

Problem for the mini nukes element is solved by finding the parts in the gorski cabin where we find out beryllium is the prime element used.

[@DefconMaster]

Beryllium is used as a neutron reflector, not fissile material.

[@irrelevant6265]

Ending of your monolog is so phisicly satisfying. The buildup and the discharge mimics sexual plesure just perfect

[@calebcantrell9115]

Lol, I'm planning on majoring in Nuclear Engineering, I appreciate the amount of research you did into this and the way you taught it. You just did about 8 hours worth of lecture in 10 min. Nice work.

[@yat282]

How do Robots work in Fallout? Don't they not have transistors?

[@TheTechBoxOxbox]

according to official lore no. Apparently it's just a Shitload of vacuum tubes etc.

[@aq5426]

transistors don't exist in Fallout. That's where their universe and ours diverges--in the Falloutverse, the transistor was never invented. If you look on a terminal in Advanced Systems (in the Institute), Dr. Ormond is actually theorizing the transistor and seems to be close to a breakthrough. :)

[@peterprime2140]

+Nunya D. Bidness The transistor was invented in the Fallout world but not until 2067.

[@fromach]

I still want to know how realistic the Deus Ex Human Revolution/Mankind Divided cybernetics are. Sorry about hijacking your comment chain, but I feared my comment getting buried again so why not hop onto one of the top comments?

[@redeye4516]

I'm going to kill two birds with one stone here. Before transistors, vacuum tubes were used in pretty much all forms of electricity. It's likely that robots in fallout utilize vacuum tubes in their construction. It also makes sense that they are still up and functioning after a nuclear detonation, since vacuum tubes aren't affected by EMPs like transistors are. In fact, certain military aircrafts still use vacuum tubes in their constriction due to their immunity to EMPs. The only question left is: how are the robots in fallout still powered after 200+ years without maintainence? Surely they would have run out of power before then, right?

[@supahshadow9]

"Nuclear bombs are a lot more fun!" Fun how?

[@anricruizruizmartinez4412]

Wow your going to be the new Bill Nye the science guy.

[@KilerKlownFromSpace]

That was the best segue I have seen in a youtube video. Bravo.

[@gothik33]

Talking about radiations still, SCIENCE! the shit out of ghouls or how high radiation exposure worth 7 kinds of cancer somehow stops you from dying of old age with the only inconvenience of having lumps of flesh falling out of your body. (I mean shit, remember that girl in Megaton who survived a nuclear fucking explosion just 30 meters away from the blast and turns into a ghoul in the process ? Yeah, It just works #ToddHoward )

[@michealcarr5134]

dont forget in fallout 4 the girl next to kleo was 70 when turned ghoul xD so old age didn't kill her from rads she said 220 years then said ok ok more like 280 years but war was only 210 lmao she was old old lady xD

[@darknightx33x81]

1) are you talking about Moira when you detonate the nuke in megaton? if so on wiki Moira claims to be out of town otherwise she would of fried from the heat. 2) i would suggest looking at the ghoul wiki page for more in depth answer but the short answer is something to do with radiation and genetics so they heal faster than they die from natural aging (so like wolverine or deadpool but will probably die from a few shots to the chest).

[@ryguy9876]

IIRC, ghouls are a thing due to a combination of human genetics and the FEV. See, when the great war happened, one of the missiles launched malfunctioned and struck a top secret military base rather than its intended target. This base was a test facility for an early version of the FEV. When the missile struck the base, small amounts of FEV spread across the U.S, causing the various mutations and rapid habitat changing that is seen in the games. All animals and humans within the Fallout Universe with the exceptions of the Enclave and vault dwellers have very small traces of the FEV within them. Though, this amount is usually not enough to cause a rapid change. Usually. That's where ghouls come in; humans that have a specific gene that makes them more vulnerable to the FEV and more likely to violently change under the correct circumstances. So, really, ghouls are actually some unique form of super mutant. On that note, I would appreciate this guy presenting us the science behind the FEV and if something like it is even feasible, let alone possible.

[@darknightx33x81]

well a FEV is possible, we have the tech to do it today in labs but gov'ts love their paperwork and not allowing human experiments. my guess is that the FEV is actually a series of different viruses each with a different target in the genome. there is a recent method called crispir that is better than what we had before. As for the ghoulification i was sighting the wiki on it being radiation and DNA. the site did mention that there is a debate over which one is canon but sided with the no FEV effect. Even without the FEV it can still be possible (evolution got us what we have today from small cells).

[@ryguy9876]

Ah, I didn't realize that it was debated whether or not the whole "ghoulification cause by FEV" was debated. I just assumed that it was cannon due to a combination of events in the Fallout Universe and writings within the Fallout Bible. Plus, it would take thousands of years of evolution for humans to develop in a way that allows radiation to affect people and animals the way it does in the Fallout Universe. Sure, mutations happen today, but to quote Ross Scott's Gordon Freeman: "The chances of a random mutation being beneficial are astronomical, and even if you did get one, you'd still have radiation poisoning." Really, third party involvement of the FEV is the only logical way to explain ghouls. Besides, remember Harold? He might not have been a traditional ghoul, but he sure as shit looked and acted like one, and he was exposed to the FEV.

[@josef5341]

that was god... dam... terrifying!!!

[@blankthoughts9264]

British / sweedish gamer *damn*

[@christometh1148]

I'm on a watchlist now for looking this up

[@fred_e]

Hearing the end bit as I'm laying down for a nap 👌

[@jaronjonathan5094]

he almost designed a nuke wow…

[@thegeneralscall]

This one might be an old one, but how the hell does the smart pistol work from TITANFALL. I mean for a computer to be able to scan and process wind, angles and direction, and then fire is possible but I don't think a human pilot has the ability to aim at 3-4 enemies at once and then hit them all in the head, especially without snapping his wrist or other bodily injury. Only other theory is bullets that can change direction mid-flight like a rocket.

[@-F-N-]

I'm pretty sure there are some bullets that were made that could change direction

[@SleeperLX]

Going by the lore of Titanfall and reading up regarding the weapon, its got a micro computer that sends a signal to the bullets that have adjustable fins. The lines you see coming from the gun when you have it on someone is the bullet's flight path. The best way I can sum up the Noob- eh Smart Pistols bullets is that it's like a guided missile, but without the rocket as it would get its forward velocity from the detonation in the bullet itself. Now, there is a rifle that came out a while ago that does something kinda similar, I do wonder how long it would take before having a weapon like that in a pistol. Or till he have computers/chips small enough to control a 9mm bullet?

[@gregistopal]

There is a scope for rifles that auto fires when you aim in the right place

[@Combatsmithen]

I mean, we have laser guided .50 cal bullets now lol

[@hiroaoki4763]

Thank you very much, I realy need this for my science project!!! My teacher said it's impossible to make one and too dangerous.

[@thedrake9460]

As an engineer, I appreciate the time and effort you placed into proper research and thought/consideration you put in while making these videos. Kudos

[@clericofchaos1]

You do realize that we already have mini nukes right? They're not as small as the ones in fallout and they're not meant to be launched from a shoulder fired catapult, but they are small enough to be carried around in a backpack and even though I've never seen one used I suspect they're meant to take out city blocks instead of a whole city. I'm not even going to pretend to understand how they work or what's inside of them but I actually saw them when I was in the army. we just always called them tactical nukes....I am also reasonably sure this information isn't classified, and if it is we are all in big trouble. me more than the rest of you, but still expect punishments aplenty if I am mistaken.

[@brodaviing6617]

Are Europeans safe from the whip?

[@chadkingoffuckmountain970]

+Brodaviing what's that got to do with this?

[@russianspy5307]

Well it's off to prison for all of us now i suppose, i'm pretty sure army generals can use tactical nukes whenever they want and they don't need the president/prime minister/chancellor to confirm the order or thats how it was but they probably changed that because thats fucking crazy

[@brodaviing6617]

Christian Quiles The original comment assumes we're from the USA "I am also reasonably sure this information isn't classified, and if it is we are all in big trouble. me more than the rest of you, but still expect punishments aplenty if I am mistaken." All I'm asking is whether European viewers would get punishment as well.

[@sebastianduran9325]

You do realize that he did actually mention that right?

[@kspmatt1909]

watching this video put me on a list, thanks shoddycast.

[@ProjectXA3]

Running back on this so much later, I have to wonder about the actual frag grenades in Starfield which, upon close inspection, indicate that they operate via a small (8oz?) Matter/Antimatter Charge for their explosive power

[@derangedlynx]

"If I had a month I could have done it" Give Austin a year and he'll conquer the world, give him a century and he'll dominate the galaxy

[@elmateo77]

I'd say a futuristic mini-nuke would probably be pure fusion powered, not fission. It would have a very small amount of hydrogen, and induce fusion using a high energy laser pulse. In most cases this would have no fall out (though there would still be a burst of radiation that could affect anyone within line of sight at the moment of detonation). Of course, the fallout mini nuke, with twice the power of a hand grenade, is also more than twice the mass of a hand grenade. So the term mini nuke could simply be an nickname for what is essentially just a large grenade launcher, and doesn't actually use any nuclear reaction.

[@AaronSaysSKOL]

Thanks Austin!!! You've put us all on some sort of watch list!

[@PlatinumSkull]

Austin was right on the money with the mini nuke weighing 6 pounds because that’s what it weighs in fallout 76

[@bl1t7theprotogenhybrid72]

Now I know how to build one! CAN'T WAIT TO BUILD UP MY ARSENAL AND MY MINI NUKE LAUNCHER!

[@generaldoggo9540]

when I was younger, I thought mushrooms clouds were called tree clouds

[@chaoticspark2639]

i know its not fallout but could you work out how much a fus ru dar could hurt someone

[@cristianluna6908]

you'd literally be torn to pieces.they did a video about it on vsauce 3.just search:what if you were fus ro dah?

[@nautiluso713]

He dose skyrim videos and he probably will do a fus ro dah video sometime

[@BioToxin]

Already been done... Unless you want his specific version or rendition

[@TAKIZAWAYAMASHITA]

Vsauce did a video on skyrims fus ro dah, the damage and what it would do is insane you should check out the video

[@jjfajen]

The problem with the Vsauce3 video is that they talked about how loud you would have to shout to physically move something. But a fus ro dah doesn't move things with sound because shouts work through magic. Since we don't have magic dragon shouts in real-life It would probably be difficult to determine that.

[@cameronjadewallace]

Austin going crazy about my favorite audible book made me very happy. I listen to The Art of War narrated by Aiden Gillian every month and I ADORE listening to Littlefinger tell me war strategy!

[@classcalamity669]

Austin: Don't worry, we will just go over the BASICS of nuclear engineering! Me within 15 seconds: he's speaking the language of the gods!

[@killman369547]

It doesn't get any less complicated the deeper you dive either. If anything it gets *more* complicated.

[@TheCrimsonFist501]

Right, now for someone to mod mininukes to be more deadly

[@andypoo64]

+FP5Reviews Google... on the... Nexus... ugh...

[@antonfowler6434]

"ammo for all" mod fatman damage 120000000000000

[@_syntaxera_]

site:nexusmods.com super nukes

[@redeye4516]

Someone make a launcher that fires bombs the size of the ones at sentinel site (it's in the glowing sea). If you haven't seen them, imagine a mini nuke on steroids. (If anyone mods this in, I'd like it to be named either the obese man,referring to its size compared to a mini nuke, or just name it the tsar bomba, in reference to the largest nuclear bomb ever made).

[@Cynic3018]

drop the bomb

[@orionwilson8796]

Love your channel dude. You make me laugh, and the science is crazy deep. Thanks, dude.

[@luistorres6594]

“Never used, disappointingly” felt that

[@MrDrewwills]

So don't use the most dangerous weapon ever created by humans close to you? Kind of seems like a given.

[@elitecookies8155]

The possibility of building a real-life laser rifle that is man portable?

[@bubrub5564]

Im not a scientist and I know thats possible, we already have some of are navy ships in america with laser weapons.

[@nixdy6180]

Yes, but can we make rifle versions of them?

[@bubrub5564]

Gas Face Its possible.

[@yogsothoth7594]

The micro fusion cells go along way to help but while I haven't seen the inner workings military lasars I'd guess they need a substantial cooling system. The amount of power they can generate opens up possibilities somewhat on the cooling front but it would still be difficult.

[@bubrub5564]

Yog Sothoth Well right now they have a laser weapon for naval ships that are able to burn right threw a enemy ships armor.

[@Gamerix92]

This was the most entertained ive been all week lol

[@chaseratliff8505]

Great video, I have watched a few videos and they are fantastic you just got a subscriber!