Nuclear historian. Professor at Stevens Institute of Technology. Visiting researcher at Nuclear Knowledges program, Sciences Po (Paris). Author of THE MOST AWFUL RESPONSIBILITY (2025). Creator of NUKEMAP. Blogging at https://doomsdaymachines.net.https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mukd3l5stk2oThis is a mildly amusing almost-redaction: my theory here is that the censor mistook this table for partition of energy from a fission weapon, and not a fission reaction, and then realized their mistake. The former can be classified, the latter is basic physics.02 Sep 2026 16:09 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mukd3l5stk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3muhhmkyt522gI fell into a little rabbit hole this morning... I've been doing some fallout modeling, and it occurred to me to ask whether swapping out a U-238 tamper in a thermonuclear secondary for a U-235 one, as some modern US TN weapon designs are alleged to do, would change the intensity of fallout.01 Sep 2026 12:52 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3muhhmkyt522ghttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mufrnlkyas2wStriking-yet-difficult-to-parse Cold War report graphic of the day — "Time History of Biological Response to Ionizing Radiation" (US Naval Radiological Laboratory, 1965)31 Aug 2026 20:46 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mufrnlkyas2whttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mucc246l3s2b"THE KILLER CURVE" — estimated area that would be lethal to a submarine from an underwater nuclear detonation (ca. 1947?)30 Aug 2026 11:29 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mucc246l3s2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3muavvd2rfk23I saw "The Dog Stars" today and among the many, MANY issues I had with the film (Ridley Scott, what the heck, man?), their utter disregard for petroleum realism happened to stick out to me for some reason... [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Aug 2026 22:19 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3muavvd2rfk23https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3muaty7cxr22xcan someone please just make this for the entire internet... please? I long for the days of a decent DOS terminal interface [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Aug 2026 21:45 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3muaty7cxr22xhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3muab6kskjc2eFiled under "would make a great alternative album cover from the '90s": automobile at the Nevada Test Site, 1953, engulfed in flames after thermal radiation from a nuclear explosion ignited its upholstery.29 Aug 2026 16:08 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3muab6kskjc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mua434kdcs2fLinkedIn sponsored spam is wild (actual "publication" looks like 100% ChatGPT slop, huge surprise)29 Aug 2026 14:37 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mua434kdcs2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mu5pn6pyic25It's been forever since I've done a post specifically related to Oregon Road '83 on DOOMSDAY MACHINES, and I've been wanting to write up this research on gasoline after a nuclear war for ages. What started as specifically a game-related research question became (as always) a rather deep dive... https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/running-on-empty28 Aug 2026 15:49 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5pn6pyic25https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mu5pn6pyic25It's been forever since I've done a post specifically related to Oregon Road '83 on DOOMSDAY MACHINES, and I've been wanting to write up this research on gasoline after a nuclear war for ages. What started as specifically a game-related research question became (as always) a rather deep dive... https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/running-on-empty28 Aug 2026 15:49 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5pn6pyic25https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mu56s2f2zk2imy meme is silly but I can't get the idea out of my head the idea that our resources-consumed-to-make-slop production ratio is probably the greatest it has ever been in human history [contains quote post or other embedded content]28 Aug 2026 10:48 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu56s2f2zk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mtyrmvlffc2iTwo 80-year-old celebrities dying in two days... aren't these things SUPPOSED to come in threes?26 Aug 2026 16:41 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtyrmvlffc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mtmbacvakk25For Doomsday Machines this week I wrote about one of the most remarkable early-20th century “end of the world” science fiction stories I have read — E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909). It is impressively prescient and relevant to our present moment. https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/rage-against-the-machines21 Aug 2026 17:16 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmbacvakk25https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mtmwzpfznk2sok so I allowed Chrome to update itself today and look who's baaaaack I mean seriously WTF [contains quote post or other embedded content]21 Aug 2026 23:46 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmwzpfznk2shttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mtmbacvakk25For Doomsday Machines this week I wrote about one of the most remarkable early-20th century “end of the world” science fiction stories I have read — E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” (1909). It is impressively prescient and relevant to our present moment. https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/rage-against-the-machines21 Aug 2026 17:16 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtmbacvakk25https://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mtjaiakt6k2tWhat drives me nuts about so much ed. admin. attitudes re: AI is that they don't seem to recognize that whatever value it might have as a tool now or in the future, it is in direct opposition to the core idea of learning basic skills. And without those, it is worse than useless — it is dangerous. [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Aug 2026 12:25 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mtjaiakt6k2thttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mt6rkr43us2bSomehow, despite me disabling every "AI" feature in Chrome, they seem reappear every few weeks or so. I currently have every possible "AI" option disabled as far as I can see and the "AI Mode" and "Ask Gemini" buttons still appear. It's infuriating. Makes me want to grab a hammer.16 Aug 2026 08:31 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt6rkr43us2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mt2j6skmfk2eFor DOOMSDAY MACHINES this week I finally tackled an important topic I’ve been eager to talk to you about since I started this blog… fallout shelter TOILETS. It's important and interesting!!! And amusing!!! Really!!! Trust me!!! https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/nuclear-thrones14 Aug 2026 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt2j6skmfk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mt34lvsnac2dI think about Children of Men a lot, particularly the refugee scenes. I also think a lot about The Water Knife's internal refugees within the US after the water dries up in the West. [contains quote post or other embedded content]14 Aug 2026 21:38 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt34lvsnac2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3mt2j6skmfk2eFor DOOMSDAY MACHINES this week I finally tackled an important topic I’ve been eager to talk to you about since I started this blog… fallout shelter TOILETS. It's important and interesting!!! And amusing!!! Really!!! Trust me!!! https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/nuclear-thrones14 Aug 2026 15:51 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3mt2j6skmfk2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3msnmcqzcts2q81 years ago today, on August 9, 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped upon the city of Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States. This was 3 days after the first atomic attack on Hiroshima.09 Aug 2026 12:42 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3msnmcqzcts2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/wellerstein.bsky.social/post/3msmaiuydx227Every once in a long while I watch something on YouTube without an ad blocker and am just... amazed. It is so much worse than what TV ads used to be. In an 18 minute video I had 5 ad breaks, most of which featured 2 ads (one short, one long). Just. So. Much. Interruption. Total enshittification.08 Aug 2026 23:38 +0000at://did:plc:d6lghffuwlinx22c2rtfbdwv/app.bsky.feed.post/3msmaiuydx227