Technology

Nuclear weapons will be like a palm: a tool that tracks its underground tests is created

For a long time, many countries of the world have concealed the tests of weapons of mass destruction, masking it under natural underground shocks, but the new development of scientists is threatening to put an end to this practice. Since the beginning of the atomic century, when the first atomic bomb was created in 1945, more than 2000 nuclear tests were conducted around the world, in particular in countries such as North Korea, which have tested their nuclear potential.

Despite the efforts of organizations such as an organization from a comprehensive prohibition of nuclear tests aimed at monitoring such tests, modern nuclear experiments are usually conducted underground, which makes them inaccessible to detection, except with seismic waves. But the new development of scientists promises to reveal any secret tests of weapons of mass destruction, writes Sciencealert. In focus, technology appeared its Telegram channel.

Subscribe to not miss the most info and interesting news from the world of science! A recent research by scientists has presented to society an innovative method, which allows to distinguish natural earthquakes from secret underground nuclear tests with impressive accuracy - about 99 percent. Historically, nuclear tests have led to devastating environmental and social consequences, and radioactive precipitation has affected the regions located far beyond the test points.

The first ground tests led to large -scale pollution, which led to the conclusion of underground tests to reduce radioactive rainfall. The monitoring of these tests covers a number of complex methods, including air test stations, water posts, infrasound detectors and seismimeters that measure seismic waves generated by underground explosions. However, distinguishing these artificial impetus from natural earthquakes is a difficult task that looks like a needle in the planetary hoof of hay.

Traditional monitoring methods, such as the analysis of the location and depth of seismic events, have their disadvantages, as nuclear tests can be strategically conducted in seismic regions or at a depth that mimics natural earthquakes. More advanced methods, such as an analysis of energy distribution between bodily and surface waves, have proven to be effective, but not unmistakable, as evidenced by past failures in the classification of some nuclear tests.

As a result of a significant breakthrough, researchers from the Australian National University and the Los-Alamos National Laboratory, under the direction of Dr. Mark Hoggard, have developed a new approach to the classification of seismic events based on the behavior of rocks in the source of underground shocks. Combining this approach with advanced statistical models, they achieved the accuracy of classification of about 99 percent when checking seismic data obtained in the West.

This research has provided a promising tool for expanding global monitoring efforts, providing greater responsibility for the environmental and social consequences of nuclear testing. In the future, the reliable methods of identifying these tests will remain vital components of international monitoring programs that will protect against the secret distribution of nuclear weapons and related risks to humanity. Earlier, Focus wrote about how the father of the atomic bomb repented in the committed.

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