CAJ: Doomsday Preppers 7

My personal opinion:

When I first chose the topic "The Doomsday Preppers" for my CAJ I had this thought that Americans really are special. Today, I am under the impression that preparation is necessary. I do not say that we should prepare ourselves like the people in the TV Show Doomsday Preppers do but I believe that preparedness up to a certain degree could be helpful. 

I hope that through my posts you were able to learn something new about this topic. Maybe you even share my opinion that it is reckless of countries such as the US to not prepare themselves for potential EMP attacks. 

If you have a different opinion or know some useful or interesting information I did nott include please feel free to comment and let me know. 

CAJ:Doomsday Preppers 6

    vs.     

After explaining how an EMP works and what its after effects are I decided to look at EMPs in a more philosophical and psychological way. EMPs are caused by nuclear bombs. Therefore, I will compare the psychological aspects behind the usage of both weapons.

The initial situation for the scenario I will be working with is that China attacks the US with 1) a nuclear bomb 2) an EMP.

1^st scenario: China attacks the US with a nuclear bomb

Reasons: In case of an attack with a nuclear bomb China definitely wanted to hurt the US in a physical way. A country or government can deal with the loss of goods or equipment such as an unmanned battleship. However, a nation and therefore it government gets truly insulted and hurt when people die. The death of innocent people is something the president of the United States would not be able to tolerate.

Effect: Humanity clearly knows what the effects of a nuclear attack are. Many countries experimented with nuclear bombs from the first attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki up until now. A nuclear bomb would not only injure/kill a tremendous amount of the population of the attacked state but also make a vast area of land uninhabitable.

Conclusion: The only reason why a state would attack another one with a nuclear bomb is to damage it. They are probably not interested in negotiating with them. On the contrary, they want to fully subdue their opponent.

2^nd scenario: China attacks the US with an EMP

Reasons: The reasons for an attack with an EMP can vary a lot more than those for an attack with a

nuclear bomb. Firstly, an EMP does not kill people or turns land into an uninhabitable area. It solely destroys the infrastructure of a country. In fact this can be even more dangerous than killing someone.

Effect: As I mentioned in my previous post, an EMP is a weapon used for psychological warfare. The attacked country will be toppled in chaos and the consequence will be far worse than what humanity can imagine. Violence will get out of hand, the population will start to threaten each other and a number of people will try to make themselves the new head of the state.

In case the US decides to launch a counter attack it will not be as easy as normally. Due to the damages of their gear (communication equipment, battleships, tanks and other weapons) the American armed forces will have trouble in planning and coordinating their attacks on China. It will be harder, maybe even impossible, to communicate with allies and ask for their support.

When we think on a global level, the question arises how the rest of the world will react if the US is enveloped in darkness. If the US cannot provide themselves with electricity and cannot plead help from other states, the US vanishes. North America will become an easy target for any country that wants to attack them. Furthermore, states like Russia and the Iraq will run wild since no one has the power to control or threaten them.

Conclusion: EMP attacks are an easy way to conduct a war. In my scenario, China does not even kill or hurt anybody. An EMP does not even damage the land or the cities it just destroys its infrastructure. China has to wait for several weeks while the Americans destroy themselves. If China passes of the right moment they will not even have to attack, they just have to be there and offer help to the US. Unlike many fanatic believers of EMPs, I am under the impression, that China will not attack the US. If they are intelligent enough, they will wait for the time to come and then offer their help to them liberally.

In the worst-case scenario, the current head of state will refuse the offer. However, that is the moment when China will attack because the US does not have the resources or strength to protect themselves.

Overall, neither of the two scenarios above provide the US with the chance to get off without being overpowered. Which weapon is used, only shows what they have planned/ how they will use the US after conquering it. 

Expository Text- How an instant photo works

To understand how instant photographs work, it is necessary to understand how a colour film works. A colour film consists of three layers that are sensitive to different colours. The top layer is sensitive to blue light, the next layer reacts with green light and the last layer is responsive to red. Each layer is coated with light- sensitive silver particles, which form into metallic silver after light is shone on them.

The component that starts the developing process is the reagent. The reagent is a mix of opacifiers, which make an object opaque, and alkali pigments. The reagent can be found between the image layer, which is on top of the reagent, and the three light-sensitive layers. Before you take the picture, which starts the chain-reaction, the reagent is collected in a blob separated from the light-sensitive material. This prevents the film from developing before it has been exposed.

To sum up the information so far;  the polaroid picture is a film which consists of a number of layers. Each layer contains different chemicals, which makes the developing process a step by step process.  The first step is to take the photograph. The film sheet is pressed out of the camera through rollers, which sets the reagent in the second layer free. The reagent starts the reaction with the other chemicals in the different layers. At the same time the opacifier prevents light from filtering to the layers below, so that the film is not exposed before it is developed. The chemicals are now moving down through the layers and turn the silver grains into metallic silver. Simultaneously, the chemicals dissolve the developer dye and the dye from the undissolved layers moves up to the image layer. For example, if the magenta layer was exposed than no green dye will wander up to the image layer.

While the chemicals work through the layers that contain the dye, the reagent and the alkali make the opacifier become clear. That way an image can be seen. This means that when the image appears, the last chemical reaction can be seen. Since the photo is already developed underneath. The last thing that happens is the opacifier clearing up, making the image visible. 

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CAJ: Doomsday Preppers 5

In the last post I talked about since when the potential threat of an EMP has been known and how an EMP works. My explanation so far was rather physical. Therefore, I will now explain exactly how an EMP induced by a nuclear bomb works and which consequences it may have.

As I have stated before, an EMP is an electromagnetic Pulse, which means, in case of an attack with EMP, everything that has a microchip or is powered with electricity will be useless. The reason for this is that too much power/electricity flows through electrical appliances and wiring in a really short amount of time. This causes a short circuit. Therefore everything that uses electricity is damaged. To illustrate the malfunction of our modern infrastructure I will show you a list of equipment that will not work anymore.

• household appliances
• computers, mobile phones
• cars
• all kind of factories
• public institutions could become jails
• water supply, gas stations
• heating/ cooling systems
• backup generating sets would not work either
• processed food 

This list includes just a small number of aspects without which our infrastructure will not work. However, it would be impossible to live on the same way the population of an attacked country used to.

Although many gadgets we are used to since they make life more comfortable would not function we can still live a peaceful live, right?

No, eventually this would not be possible. Humanities greatest and most feared opponent are humans themselves. The situation after an EMP attack would be similar to numerous disaster movie. Humans driven by fear caused by a lack of knowledge are the greatest weapon another state has.

Many of the people who were featured in the TV Show Doomsday Preppers are afraid of getting attacked by China. If China really attacked the US with an EMP they are clearly use a military tactic that works on the basis of psychology. An EMP attack would topple every country on this planet into chaos.

I will give you an example to illustrate how an EMP could look like/feel like:

Elisabeth, an 18-year-old student, spends a nice evening at the mall with her best friends. They just bought some ice cream and are now sitting at a little fountain in the middle of the second floor of the building. While they are eating their ice and chatting with each other the lights go black. At first, that did not really bother anyone, however, a few minutes later they realize that the escalators and elevators do not work. They decide to leave the mall and drive back home since they felt rather uncomfortable. When they reach the automatic doors they cannot exit the mall because the doors will not open. Some of the people around them start freaking out and scream that they are claustrophobic while one woman is even hyperventilating.

Suddenly, a man smashes the glass doors with a baseball bat from the store beside the entrance. They run out of the shopping centre to their car, however the car will not open because it is operated with a microchip, which was destroyed by the EMP.

Elisabeth and her friends decide to run home. On their way to Elisabeth’s house they come by a group of people vandalizing and robbing shops. They get really scared and start running faster….

The situation we will have to face is nothing compared to the outbreaks of violence and riots humanity witnessed throughout history. With the damage an EMP causes it is only a matter of time until a population weakens itself so much that another country can easily overpower them.

Source: 

http://lyle.smu.edu/emis/design/?p=1751 

Zombie abstract

WHEN ZOMBIES ATTACK!:!

MATHEMATICAL MODELLING OF AN OUTBREAK OF

ZOMBIE INFECTION! !

This paper demonstrates the adaptability of mathematical formulae. To illustrate the usage and usefulness of various mathematical formulae the scenario of an outbreak of zombie infection was chosen. Although the scenarios presented are not realistic this example shows how flexible mathematical modelling is and that it can respond to various biological challenges. To make the starting situation clear, the Basic model is explained which describes the different types of Zombies used for the scenarios. Afterwards the different models are solved with the according formulae. The formulae used are being altered according to the type of zombie that is being discussed  throughout the paper. Within the models, chances of the infection of humans with “zombie-ism”, eventual treatment and eradication of zombies are calculated. For each individual model the components of the formulae are altered. Thus, the mathematical result of the formula changes from model to model. This paper concludes that mathematical formulae can come in useful in a variety of mathematical and biological challenges since they can be altered to solve a number of situations and problems.

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CAJ: Doomsday Preppers 4

The extent of an EMP

The effects of an EMP occur within line of site of the burst. The higher in the atmosphere the atomic bomb explodes the larger the area covered by the EMP is. To calculate the extent of the effect of the EMP the following formula can be used. 

R(tangent)=R(earth) cos-1 ( R(earth) / (R(earth) + HOB))

where R(earth) equals approximately 6371 km

Here you can see the approximate effects radius according to the height of the burst:

 40 km (height of burst) =>  712 km

 50 km (height of burst) => 796 km

100 km (height of burst) =>1,121 km

200 km (height of burst) =>1,576 km

300 km  (height of burst) => 1,918 km

400 km (height of burst) => 2,201 km*

If an EMP hit a large part of the United States it would not cause just a temporary power outage. It could take months or even years to get power back to most of the United States. Electronic equipment and power generating equipment in power plants themselves would be damaged and there will be no way of easily replacing this equipment. Even if the blackout were only for weeks, the disruption to the United States would be immense.

A major EMP over a large part of the United States would cause all major transportation systems to break down. Most means of communication would not be possible.

http://www.thepropheticyears.com/comments/Imminent%20danger%201%20-%20Electromagnetic%20Pulse%20explosion%20(EMP)%20over%20the%20United%20States.htm 

http://www.google.at/search?hl=de&q=EMP+expansion&tbm=isch&ei=oh6rU_mxFI2M7AbVt4DoBQ#hl=de&q=electromagnetic+pulse&tbm=isch&facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=c0DwPfbbDDh4nM%253A%3Bp8F_q9gZmFCZIM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.shtfplan.com%252Fwp-content%252Fuploads%252F2011%252F06%252Femp_map_graphic.jpg%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.shtfplan.com%252Femergency-preparedness%252Fsuper-emp-capable-of-disabling-power-grid-across-lower-48-states_06202011%3B700%3B497 

Instructional text: How to make a camera lucida

The instructional text How To Make a Camera Lucida by Tim Hunkin does not provide the reader with useful instructions. Even though the author complies with a number of rules for instructional texts, such as making use of the imperative as well as writing short and simple sentences, the way the instructions are presented is neither clear nor logical. Looking at the sentences, it is extremely confusing for the reader to figure out the order of the steps since they are not numbered. Most of the steps are not written down explicitly but need to be figured out with the help of the images. This, however, is not the purpose of illustrations in instructional texts, instead they should be used to support the individual steps rather than to do the explaining. Moreover, there is no list of the materials needed to build the camera, there are no warnings or helpful tips, nor does the text say anything about the estimated time required. The usage of the camera lucida for drawing is mentioned within the instructions. However, it would have been helpful to know more about the camera from the start and an introduction should have been provided at the beginning. To put it in a nutshell, this piece of instruction clearly lacks organisation and logic.

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