Re:Is there a war instinct?
by Retric on Monday May 04, 2015 @07:16AM
(#9485449)
I laugh I your General direction: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterbear note there is a lot of surface area on the planet. A 1MT nuke per sqare mile would come fairly close but not quite get to where you suggest and we don't have close to that many nukes.
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Re:Is there a war instinct?
by danieltillett on Monday May 04, 2015 @07:32AM
(#9485513)
I have to say I love Tardigrades, but without a food source they are not going to survive. Nuclear winter is not too conducive for moss growth.
More seriously I suspect that short of a massive high altitude cobalt bomb detonation that some small life will survive on the surface even if all the current nuclear weapon were used.
Well they can go without food for 9+ years so that's more of a long term problem. As to nuclear winter they already live in Antarctica so there food source can also survive fairly harsh conditions, and it only takes one (or 2 depending on species).
Not that we have a lot of spare planets lying around but IMO it would be an interesting experement. Also, there is a fairly interesting ecosystem living inside the chernobil building which just goes to show how hardy some things are. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus Gama radiation as food... Yea that's a thing.
Re:Is there a war instinct?
by danieltillett on Monday May 04, 2015 @07:55AM
(#9485578)
A cobalt bomb will keep the background radiation level on the surface lethal for nearly 100 years.
There is no way we can yet destroy all life on earth - microbial life is too tough for that, but we could destroy all macroscopic life on the surface.