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scorpion_tail t1_j936c0b wrote

If they were close enough to the detonation, they wouldn’t have even heard the blast. Their bodies would have basically evaporated in an instant.

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j93aj3t wrote

Probably sounds mean, but honestly: the best way to go.

No chance of pain or fear = excellent.

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ExHax t1_j93fynm wrote

Yes imagine youre living elsewhere. Next day you hear your whole hometown where you grew up and your whole family died

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j93gjhr wrote

And spontaneous nuclear vaporization is the best way for that person to not deal with the sadness.

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tofuonplate t1_j93ke7k wrote

That or incoming radioactive rain that kills you slowly

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j93ld1w wrote

And if radioactive rain does hit you, what's the solution?

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tofuonplate t1_j93ltpw wrote

Guess you'll die.

(In WWII era nobody knew what it was so they would die. In modern age so many things will be contaminated by radioactive rain that you'll likely consume it anyway, unless you were far away from the blast zone there's barely any chance of survival)

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j93pr8i wrote

I was hinting at the solution being spontaneous vaporization.

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tofuonplate t1_j93v7e9 wrote

Ah, my sincere apology. This is probably why I'm alone forever 😂

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j93vipu wrote

No worries! It's not always easy to tell when someone is asking a serious question or just being deadpan.

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Nope_______ t1_j94fgrc wrote

There wasn't much long-lived radioactive material after the blasts from WWII. You could walk through either city no problem a few days after they were bombed. Weapons aren't reactors.

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mordinvan t1_j9515ye wrote

Depends on the dose. In low doses, coping with it, and facing an increased cancer risk. In high doses, rapid onset trans-cranial lead poisoning.

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a-very-angry-crow t1_j97q5nj wrote

Unless you’re that poor bastard who got nuked twice

Seriously, nobody has had a worse few days than that guy

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Phatcat15 t1_j93xh3e wrote

Oh they were the lucky ones (who died immediately)… the horror show for years afterwards is the real tragedy. It figures no one in Japan took Yamamoto seriously enough… he was a military genius and knew exactly what it would take to win the war - and openly questioned if anyone else in command understood what was to happen.

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magnum1odd t1_j98roxg wrote

Yeah. Definitely better way to go than seeing your entire body is burnt and there are hanging skins on arms while wanting to drink some water.

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hasnothingnice2say t1_j940cv2 wrote

9/11: 3,000 American civilians dead = 10 years of war in the Middle East

Nagasaki: 40,000 civilian deaths = to be honest a good way to go

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j940q7d wrote

Way to strawman.

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hasnothingnice2say t1_j940xsf wrote

Way to spew American propaganda that killing 40,000 civilians is somehow in any measure a generous and kind act

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outsabovebad t1_j943t9n wrote

>killing 40,000 civilians is somehow in any measure a generous and kind act

Literally no one has said anything of that sort. They are simply saying that being instantly vaporized isn't a terrible way to go all things considered. Obviously civilians dieing sucks, but that's what total war is. America didn't start the war in the Pacific, but they were instrumental in ending it.

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hasnothingnice2say t1_j944oqn wrote

You’re literally saying it. There’s no toll when a death is quick? Because everyone who died is a bastard orphan right? Because none of those people were productive members of society right? That’s the fucked mentality of westerners in war. It’s about winning and not the human cost. That’s how you kill hundreds of thousands of civilians in Vietnam, Afghanistan. Both conflicts they US did not win.

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HaikuBotStalksMe t1_j949ual wrote

You dumbass. I'm an Afghan. So trying to play the white knight card fails.

Literally the best way to die when you die is instant vaporization. If you die from illness, you have prolonged pain. If you die from most violent means, you die with fear and pain. If you die while under the effect of drugs and whatnot, you mind dies happy, but your body's cells are still "panicked" and trying a last ditch effort to stay alive. Which, technically one could say doesn't matter because the cells aren't able to think, but it's still not a nice state.

But to go from "I'm alive" to fully obliterated? That's a very preferable alternative to go.

The issue is with permissions.

For example, the second best way to die is with anaesthesia being administered, along with happy drugs. Your mind will die a painless and calm and happy death.

But just like with being nuked against your permission, getting "euthanized" against your will is just as bad. But in terms of WAYS to die, atomic disintegration is excellent.

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molotov_billy t1_j94pxrq wrote

I’d be super interested in your take on the human cost of the war in the pacific if hadn’t ended with the use of atomic weapons.

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UnknwnSoldier t1_j93n6mf wrote

Unfortunately the reality is worse. Human vaporization isn't really a thing. You can get blown apart by the shockwave, but even with the gamma radiation causing thermal waves of 10,000 F it still won't instantly incinerate a human. They just get flash cooked.

The shadows are caused by the person absorbing the intense light and thermal radiation emitted by the blast, which peels material off the building surface.

If they were close enough to the blast to be instantly killed by force or heat, it would most likely have been a strong enough force to also knock down the wooden building the shadow was etched into, or set it alight so it burned down.

It's unlikely many people caught like this lived long, but sadly it's not a given that they all died instantly or painlessly.

https://www.livescience.com/nuclear-bomb-wwii-shadows.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Shadow_Etched_in_Stone

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zerothepyro t1_j93rwyc wrote

It's fucked up to think that this poor person likely in an instant was covered in severe burns and they had no idea why. They probably could not comprehend anything beyond sudden pain.

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mseuro t1_j9434c5 wrote

Not if the nerves were gone

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Danstheman3 t1_j949e0x wrote

This person wasn't instantly vaporized, but surely some people were close enough to the blast, to be.

I thought that's what the other commentor was referring to.

Obviously, most people suffered a much worse fate, I think we all understand and agree on that. But surely some people were close enough that they died pretty much instantly.

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TinKicker t1_j96nrem wrote

I’ve walked through areas scorched by wildfires that were hot enough to fuse sand into tiny glass beads…there were “shadows” of cattle and kangaroos on the ground. It’s essentially a grease spot.

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alienmojo t1_j94mtra wrote

Holy crap... you're right. The ones that got vaporized did not leave a shadow. This just got 10 times worse for me now. Thanks. :( This has been my biggest fear since 1982 and War Games came out. I never expected to make it to 20. And now it's all happening again. Except this time I'm pushing 60. I don't want to die this way. I live near Eau Claire, WI and no, we won't get nuked, but the Twin Cities sure will and so my death will be long and painful. We are 90 miles eastward of them and so it will take about a day for the radiation to hit and 3-7 days to kill us. Luckily I have my diabetes insulin and when the first bomb hits I will be taking an overdose and just go to sleep.

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cybercuzco t1_j93tgsy wrote

No they wouldn’t have evaporated in an instant. That wall is still standing. If they were in the vaporization zone so is that wall. Likely what happened is they were horribly burnt and died in great pain minutes to hours later.

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scorpion_tail t1_j93x2ie wrote

If you’re exposed to that amount of thermodynamic radiation, you will boil and steam out. The wall is not mostly water. The bodies are.

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Marrrkkkk t1_j973zdr wrote

"thermodynamic radiation" is not a term that means anything...

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scorpion_tail t1_j978gks wrote

Yes it does. It’s thermo, so temperature, and it’s dynamic, so it’s exciting!

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Present-Extent-8073 t1_j949psh wrote

Omg this is terrifying… like, did they MELT…. and turn to goo. or like poof: evaporated into the air particles???

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Pointingirl t1_j94via4 wrote

I can’t tell you the answer to your question, but I can tell you that I read a book in hs just titled “Hiroshima” and one of the stories was about how there were soldiers whose job it was to stare at the sky and watch for a nuke. When the bomb went off and they were staring directly at it, it literally melted their eyeballs out of their heads.

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