Stefan Viljoen schrieb:
> 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).

I think the story is slightly different:

- A nuclear explosion is caused by nuclear fission and/or fusion 
(actually primarily fission, even in a thermonuke aka H-bomb); the 
radiation given off by this is primarily gamma rays.

- As the gamma rays hit the atmosphere, they ionize it, turning it into 
a plasma.

- The plasma in turn "glows" in the whole EM spectrum.


> 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?

Mind that the earth's magnetic field does not stop outside the atmosphere...

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