Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> >> According to Wikipedia, the nuke generates gamma rays, these shred the
> >> Earth's atmosphere and produce current, and the Earth's magnetic field
> >> directs this current towards the ground. (Depending on where in the
> >> world you are. Apparently the USA has a field alignment which makes it a
> >> particularly suitable target to hit.)
> >
> > Could be I suppose. Wouldn't that imply that if your PC is fried by a nuke
> > due to EMP, you wouldn't be far behind (since if gamma rays cause EMP, your
> > DNA'd be shredded too by them... right along with your electronics based
> > friend.)
>
> No - because the gamma rays have all been turned into heat and
> electricity and filtered out by the Earth's atmosphere. (There's
> actually quite a lot of gamma rays out there, all the time. And cosmic
> rays, which are even higher energy. They just never reach the ground.)
> The electric current, however, is *not* stopped by the atmosphere...

What I found most interesting in that wikipedia article (which is an uncommonly
good one) was that this widespread EMP effect is almost zero for very low
altitude airbursts or ground detonations, and is most effective at
nearly-orbital altitudes. Which means that a pivotal scene in the movie "Broken
Arrow" is particularly impossible. :)

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