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Saturday, August 15, 2009

Weapons of the Future: The EMP threat.

accessEMP Hit ZoneAltitude determines EMP zone where peak fields can reach 50,000 volts. Blast above dark spot, 62 miles up, yields ground-effects zone within inner circle; outer circle is effects zone for a blast 330 miles up.Defense Nuclear Agency

Electromagnetic pulse is hardly a household term. But perhaps it should be. Every computer we buy, every system we turn over to computer control, every device that relies on electronic components — all cars, TVs and phones, for instance — makes us more vulnerable to such a high-energy rain of electrons.

EMP is a powerful and potentially devastating form of electromagnetic "fallout." It’s usually associated with nuclear weapons, although it can be triggered by any major explosive bursts. Unlike radioactive fallout, this rain won’t directly harm living things. It will just catastrophically fry all electronics and modern electrical systems by inducing staggeringly large and rapid current or voltage surges.

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