Orchid XP v8 wrote:

>>> It always amuses me how film writers seem to think that turning an
>>> electronic device off makes it immune to an EMP... I thought the idea
>>> was that an EMP will physically fry the thing like a microwave oven
>>> fries CDs. :-P
>> 
>> I've got it that way too. No matter if you turn it off, the level of
>> magnetic pulse coming in from say, a megaton nuclear blast will anyway
>> induce such a level of current in almost any conductor in range that it
>> will start carrying hundreds, if not thousands of volts?
> 
> Interesting thing: According to Wikipedia [which is never wrong], a
> nuclear explosion only generates an EMP because of the Earth's magnetic
> field. Like, if it was in space, it wouldn't do that...

Huh? That doesn't sound right. An old strategic option the USSR apparently
had was to detonate a -real- big (50 megaton) thermonuke over the US, but
out in space / low orbit. The idea was to melt all radios and computers,
the entire US telephone network, etc. As far as I know EMP damage is caused
by the massive radio waves generated by a nuclear explosion (besides all
the "hard" gamma radiation, and other nasty stuff besides heat and light).
These induce current in conductors (i. e. they fry microchips).

Radio definitely travels in a vacuum where there is no magnetism - IMO,
magnetism CAN effect radio but just to distort or interfere with it. So I'd
think that a magnetic field will -moderate- or interfere an EMP pulse a
bit, not be the part-cause of it?

-- 
Stefan Viljoen

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