Tickling the Dragon's Tail - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 03:53:43 am
content: A documentary on uranium. If you're in the U.S., this should be available:http://video.pbs.org/video/2365528391/Part 1http://video.pbs.org/video/2365535143/Part 2If you're not, I'm afraid you may have to find a proxy, or alternate means of distribution, or wait until they publish it on YouTube or other.If you're familiar with some of the more scienced parts of YouTube, you should know it's starring Derek of Veritasium (and Bionerd makes a guest appearance in Part 2).Tim

author: Vgkid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 04:07:26 am
content: I watched part 2 last night with my mom. I will need to watch part 1 now.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 10:36:31 am
content: I watched this earlier today, I noted how they said Germany did not have the Atom bomb, then I read this reported today , so ...http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3180795/Did-Hitler-atomic-weapon-German-documentary-claims-Nazis-developing-flying-saucer-deliver-bomb-started-tests-Russian-POWs.html

author: McBryce
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 10:52:43 am
content: So... you shouldn't consider The Daily mail an acurrate source for Scientific (or any other) information?McBryce.

author: Len
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 06:10:26 pm
content: Quote from: Deathwish on July 31, 2015, 10:36:31 amIf you want to know who had what atom bomb tech when, this book is a great source:http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes/dp/0684813785/sr=8-1/qid=1164438935/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-7240188-1463959?ie=UTF8&s=booksIf you want to protect your driveway from stains when your car is leaking oil... come to think of it, the Daily Mail is no good for that either.

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 07:14:55 pm
content: I already have the Book Len, thanks though

author: continuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 07:34:53 pm
content: Flying Saucers, yup, the nazis had them, there is even a documentary on that:Zhis, and Space Zeppelins, of course

author: Deathwish
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 07:39:40 pm
content: I refuse to admitting I watched that then. but it does beg to ask the question what would of happened if they had it and shoved it in a V2. Coulda been nasty

author: LukeW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 07:53:27 pm
content: As a popular science documentary for the general public that is watchable I thought it was not bad overall.Professor Geraldine Thomas was particularly good in her interview bits, particularly her comments about psychological health damage at Fukushima being caused by sensationalist tabloid media, by fanatical activists screaming pseudoscience and by unnecessary forced evacuations, how done of this health damage was actually caused by radioactivity, and it was all understood from the Chernobyl Forum reports and it could have been predicted, it could have prevented, it was known that this could happen but it was not prevented.And yes, to reiterate what was posted above,The Making of the Atomic Bombis one of the greatest non-fiction works of the twentieth century, and it's a book that no library of modern physics should be without.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 31, 2015, 10:17:55 pm
content: Must be fiction there is no way Sarah Palin would ever be elected president of the US.

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 02:48:08 am
content: Having only seen part one so far, I must say I was very disappointed with the dumbing down of the story involving the Trinity device. Not a single mention of Plutonium.Perhaps since this is a story about Uranium, the producers didn't want to confuse the viewers - but you cannot get Plutonium without starting from Uranium, so why not spend a few minutes explaining the process?Dumbed down documentaries (that completely ignore significant details) are worse than no documentaries.

author: bills
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 02:51:34 am
content: " Dumbed down documentaries are worse than no documentaries. "?really?

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 02:56:32 am
content: Quote from: bills on August 01, 2015, 02:51:34 amDumbed down documentaries THAT COMPLETELY IGNORE SIGNIFICANT DETAILS are worse than no documentaries.Without this pseudo-documentary, anyone with any interest would probably go online, find the wiki article and have the entire story at their fingertips. At least they would find out about Plutonium.This dumbed down glossy presentation will now give the Dunning-Kruger types just enough information for them to think they know it all (and have no need to find out more) - when what they have been told is only a fraction of the real story.

author: T3sl4co1l
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 03:39:59 am
content: This thread has taken a strange turn...I found it rather accurate; simplified, yes, but it's only an hour per segment. I expect the host would've loved to branch in any of a vast number of directions to expand on things (just as I thought of related things while watching it), but this is a limitation of the format.By the way, the Germans did have a nuclear research program, and no, they didn't have atomic bombs. Not by a long shot. All they had was a uranium Christmas tree, and I'm not even kidding with that caption:Tim

author: monksod
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 04:39:08 am
content: There is a great new Norwegian 6-part mini-series called "The Saboteurs" about Hitler's a-bomb project.

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 11:45:31 am
content: Quote from: monksod on August 01, 2015, 04:39:08 amAnd this the the Holywood version:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059263/

author: monksod
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 05:19:27 pm
content: Quote from: zapta on August 01, 2015, 11:45:31 amGreat movie! Not to mention a major sub-plot in Escape of the Birdmen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066833/?ref_=ttrel_rel_tt). And also the great 4-part BBC documentary "The Real Heroes of Telemark", with interviews with the actual commandos!

author: Mechanical Menace
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 06:07:08 pm
content: Quote from: monksod on August 01, 2015, 05:19:27 pmThat documentary was made as a backlash against (what the documentary makers thought was) a terrible, inaccurate film that belittled the people it was based on. I personally don't think the film was that bad, after all everything adapted into a film has to make compromises, but do find it interesting why these things are made.

author: wkb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 01, 2015, 07:57:10 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on July 31, 2015, 10:17:55 pmOr Mr. Trump for that matter

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 04:53:43 am
content: Quote from: Mechanical Menace on August 01, 2015, 06:07:08 pmThe is another documentary on a related topic - not about the heros of Telemark, but onwhat was really in the sunken train. Documentary was made by PBS (USA's Public Broadcast) called "Hilter's Sunken Secret".Firstthing you will notice is the the Hollywood reproduction did a good job in picturing the production facility and the equipment.Secondis, they also have some interviews with the actual people involved such as Knut Lier Hansen.Third, they documented tests of samples from the sunken ferry (barrel number 26) to confirmed the content of the shipment manifest in the document archive at the plant. The tests confirmed the train content were indeedcontainers of heavy water each in concentration stated in the manifest. 15 tons of partially purified heavy water was to be shipped during closure of the hydro plant.Fourth, according to the manifest, the barrels with higher concentration of heavy water were (mostly) partially filled. They floated. Thus, some barrels survived the sinking and were shipped to Berlin.That aside. Heavy water is useful for making the a-bomb, but it is not the only thing necessary.Although Germany may not necessary had the practical solutions to issues such as how toartificially startthe chain reaction but they surely could figure out. It is clear that Germany understood the principal of making such a bomb. It is also clear (from documents of the day) thatGermany didn't put it on the front burner. The NAZI leadership felt that the war will be done in less than a few years, so a bomb taking more than a few years to make is not useful.So while it continued, it was not an important project. The allies found what was theexperiment reactorin the cave near/under a Church in Haigerloch Bavariathat hasn't begun to work.Given how much resources it took the USA to make the bomb,my opinionis that Germany simply did not have the resource to get it done then even had they tried their best. USA, in cooperation with England, Canada and other allies, spend billions (of 1940 dollars) to make it, over 50,000 people and using multiple plants running non-stop (for years) to refine uranium and plutonium. Germany certainly had the scientist then, but by 1942, if they had any working reactors, none of them could feasibly function at necessary pace as they were bomb by the USA during the day, and bomb by Britain during the night. They would not have been able to enriched enough uranium or plutonium to make the bomb before the war ends - even if all other bomb-related things went well for them.So, inmy opinion, the heavy water getting to Berlin or not would not have been a show stopper. There were other things that they couldn't get done that stopped the show. But, we didn't know that then. We didn't even know how much it would take to make the bomb ourselves. So, it would have been an unwise gamble not to stop the heavy water shipment getting to Berlin.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 05:03:04 am
content: Quote from: wkb on August 01, 2015, 07:57:10 pmLet's not forget we had 8 years of George W. Bush.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 05:29:08 am
content: Quote from: steverino on August 02, 2015, 05:03:04 amAnd by the time we are done, 8 years of Mr. O if by the time he is done America still exist.As the saying goes, in America, anyone can become President.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 05:59:40 am
content: For Australian viewers,Twisting the Dragon's Tailwill be broadcast on SBS from 9th August. It'll also be available to stream on the SBS On Demand application.http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/uranium

author: zapta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 04:20:23 pm
content: I watched the first 10 minutes. It seems to be shallow and sensational ("it contains the energy forged in an exploding star!").Does it get better?

author: wkb
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 02, 2015, 06:03:26 pm
content: Quote from: Rick Law on August 02, 2015, 05:29:08 amWell..Quoting Winston Churchill who reportedly quoted someone else:Many forms of Gov­ern­ment have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pre­tends that democ­racy is per­fect or all-wise. Indeed it has been said that democ­racy is the worst form of Gov­ern­ment except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.…

author: cimmo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2015, 02:55:42 am
content: Quote from: zapta on August 02, 2015, 04:20:23 pmNo.All gloss and no real substance.I still wonder why they bothered to explain uranium's daughter products, but not one mention of the "P" word for the entire two hours. On the few occasions where plutonium is exclusively used in practice and not actual uranium (eg: the RTG description), they resort to euphemisms - "nuclear".Clearly a decision was made to simplify the story and by avoiding mention of plutonium, then that avoids the need to explain how it is made from uranium. And yet the show is peppered with trivial irrelevancies like the etymology of the word "dollar".

author: JohnnyP
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 03, 2015, 06:36:21 am
content: Yes, time to dust off my copy of The Making of the Atomic Bomb.I have always been fascinated by the bomb, wondering how people figured out it could be done.It must have been the early '90's when I found it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. But, that was before the internet, when I had time to read.

author: Rick Law
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2015, 12:28:23 am
content: Quote from: JohnnyP on August 03, 2015, 06:36:21 amThe movieFat Man and Little Boyanswers many of your questions. It was am entertaining version of the Manhattan project and more or less true. (Lots of drama but enough truth in it not to be totally misleading.)

author: TerraHertz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 04, 2015, 01:42:51 am
content: Quote from: cimmo on August 01, 2015, 02:56:32 amWhat do you think is the purpose of such productions?For every significant historical event, there are one or more such efforts."We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."-- William Casey, Director of Central Intelligence. An observation by the late Director at his first staff meeting in 1981.Given all the other 'victor's history' examples from WWII, I doubt we'll ever know how far Germany had developed their nuclear program. And what, if any, interactions there were with the Manhattan program.I hope the Iron Sky 2 sequel is as side-splitting as the first.

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 09, 2015, 11:00:16 pm
content: Quote from: cimmo on August 03, 2015, 02:55:42 amAnd despite ruining the catchy phrase "Tickling the Dragons Tail" they avoided mentioning the early criticality measurements which brought it all about (and killed people in the process)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godiva_devicehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticality_accident

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: August 10, 2015, 12:05:15 am
content: Quote from: cimmo on August 03, 2015, 02:55:42 amYes, I found this very surprising too, thinking when will they bring up Plutonium but they never did.Also, no mention of half-life at all and how that works with Uranium and it's "daughters".QuoteI was also surprised in the end credits to find that Derek didn't write any of it, he was just the presenter. Just some extra camera work by him. Strange given his background.Seems like he took some time out to shoot some personal Veritasium footage on the wordwide trip