Alex Wellerstein joins WIRED to answer the internet’s burning questions about nuclear science. Which nations have nuclear bombs? Who decides who gets to have nuclear warheads and who doesn’t? Why were Hiroshima and Nagasaki targeted at the end of World War II? What happens to someone’s body in an atomic bomb explosion? How does radiation work? Answers to these questions and plenty more await on Nuclear Science Support.
0:00 Nuclear Science Support
0:15 Who has nukes?
0:57 Who decides who gets to have nukes?
2:26 Was Iran building a nuclear bomb prior to Israel’s attack?
3:52 Nuclear football
4:42 What do you mean we lost them?
6:45 Why were Hiroshima and Nagasaki targeted?
10:21 Gun control parallels
11:38 ELI5 Enriched Uranium
13:48 Einstein and the Manhattan Project
15:11 Radiation remaining at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
18:47 What happens to someone in an atomic bomb explosion?
21:29 Fallout shelters
22:34 Chernobyl
23:47 Radiation: How does it work?
25:59 The biggest theoretical nuke
29:07 Duck and cover
30:53 How close did Nazi Germany get to the bomb?
Director: Justin Wolfson
Director of Photography: Charlie Jordan
Editor: Paul Tael
Expert: Alex Wellerstein
Line Producer: Jamie Rasmussen
Associate Producer: Paul Gulyas; Brandon White
Production Manager: Peter Brunette
Production Coordinator: Arielle Baron
Casting Producer: Lisandro Perez-Rey
Camera Operator: Lauren Pruitt
Sound Mixer: Sean Paulsen
Post Production Supervisor: Christian Olguin
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Additional Editor: Samantha DiVito
Assistant Editor: Billy Ward
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@MrAwesomeSaucesome
August 12, 2025 at 7:21 pm
What do you call someone else’s nacho cheese??
@Kingdomplains
August 12, 2025 at 7:21 pm
This guy was fantastic. Please have him on again! Such an interesting subject – and he spoke it in a way I could understand.
@sub-harmonik
August 12, 2025 at 7:30 pm
How can he say Iran wasn’t trying to develop a nuclear weapon when they were enriching uranium way past what is necessary for other nuclear applications?
@SchoolGMail-c4k
August 12, 2025 at 7:33 pm
This guy pretending Iran never had 60% Enriched uranium ( ThAtS ToTaLlY FoR PeAcEfUl PuRpOsEs)
@sharvo6
August 12, 2025 at 7:39 pm
OK, I promise not to make an atomic bomb.
@t3hlastsk8ter
August 12, 2025 at 7:45 pm
A) this was incredible B) it’s wild how passionate he got about peak weapons design
@MaxRideout
August 12, 2025 at 7:47 pm
His pronunciation of Iran is like an ice pick in my ears and brain; how are there still educated people who say it like that, and why’d he have to say it so many times? 😖
@JerzeeeDevil
August 12, 2025 at 7:53 pm
“Like a big egg.”
@brianreddeman951
August 12, 2025 at 7:57 pm
South Africa also had nuclear weapons. The only country to forgo nuclear weapons.
@friendlybello
August 12, 2025 at 8:00 pm
You see enough 80’s movies, you get scared for a guy holding a clicking Geiger counter despite empirically knowing it’s safe
@jamess1787
August 12, 2025 at 8:02 pm
6:36
I don’t see a silver “atom bomb” there, I see something more sinister and hurtful 😂
@alinaqirizvi1441
August 12, 2025 at 8:04 pm
3:32 it’s very clear: removal of sanctions, freedom to enrich (to a lower level) for research, radioactive medical isotopes, and the civilian nuclear programme, and now they want assurances they won’t be attacked again
@poppatang4216
August 12, 2025 at 8:23 pm
It’s a little unsettling how casually he talks about bombing Japan. Nothing against him personally- it’s just like watching a surgeon amputate an arm. For them, it’s simply part of the job.
@meesalikeu
August 12, 2025 at 9:17 pm
dood the whole thing is unsettling its nukes
@LogicalNiko
August 12, 2025 at 8:32 pm
Wired you need to do a deep dive specifically on radiation. The four types, their particle physics identity, the shielding requirements, effects on a person, more information on how it’s spread (or not really spread), isotopes, decay and half-life, and finally dosage rates for background, common everyday sources (granite, bananas, and airplane flights) and nuclear dosage regulations and how strict the controls are.
There is much to much fear and misinformation around these that our normal education systems are not covering.
@sojuturnip
August 12, 2025 at 8:35 pm
‘I hope you don’t make an atomic bomb…until next time!’ I better get in the garage and get started. Till we meet Alex next time.
@cixelsyd40
August 12, 2025 at 8:36 pm
It wasn’t just the smoke and clouds that caused the switch to Nagasaki as they spent almost an hour above Kokura trying to sight the target (they had orders to only drop with visual targeting). They switched because anti-aircraft fire was getting close to hitting them and they had intercepted communications that fighters were inbound.
@mikebay9967
August 12, 2025 at 8:42 pm
@11:15 and you think it is safer with famously nuclear-obsessed president, who at one point even floated nuking hurricanes? Kinda wish everyone had them at this point…
@ncaeon
August 12, 2025 at 8:45 pm
I’ll wait until T. Folse reacts to this.
@blipstat
August 12, 2025 at 8:47 pm
I have an idea: Treaty to dismantle all nuckear weapons, What are we talking about? It’s too devastating to use in any scenario. And it actually has no military strategic purpose in proportion to how much death it causes civilians, children and what not.
@BalloonMerchant
August 12, 2025 at 8:48 pm
Surface Never, Vault Forever
@AppNasty
August 12, 2025 at 9:01 pm
Waiting for Kyle Hill to comment.
@jeremymcgrath3301
August 12, 2025 at 9:07 pm
The assumption that i feel is wrong is that if say Washington DC or New York is hit, it will be just one bomb. I have the feeling city x will get hit with multiple warheads. Does anyone know the targeting strategy?
@muhkintosh24
August 12, 2025 at 9:11 pm
Humans are monsters.
@ace22pmike
August 12, 2025 at 9:24 pm
Imagine he says “let’s test the Geiger counter here in this room” and it goes crazy
@DKHD176
August 12, 2025 at 9:26 pm
Fascinating. Thank you.
@danielgregg2530
August 13, 2025 at 5:59 pm
You need a shave. You look like you have a faceful of dirt. (Other than that this was a more-informative-than-average Youtube video.)
@AkaitoAkumo
August 13, 2025 at 6:02 pm
Instruction unclear didnt make an Atomic Bomb but a Device that can make for a second a black hole the size of a Soccerball.
@falxonPSN
August 13, 2025 at 6:25 pm
Eye-Ran 😬
@yodeler79
August 13, 2025 at 6:42 pm
Great episode. Also, professor, please stop mispronouncing ‘Iran.’
@stevenb9766
August 13, 2025 at 6:42 pm
The JCPOA had a sunset clause that would’ve expired by now. It was only a temporary deal for politicians to claim a short term victory for diplomacy. Had Iran gotten a nuke, it would’ve set off a chain reaction of other Middle Eastern countries rushing to build one too.
@robbob1866
August 13, 2025 at 6:42 pm
Professor Wellerstein failed to mention that the only one accusing Iran of nearly having nukes is Benjamin Netanyahu. For the last thirty years, he has been consistently warning that Iran might have nuclear capability, TOMMOROW! No one thinks that. He’s a liar
@michaelnash2138
August 13, 2025 at 6:48 pm
I thought I read somewhere that the Germans were working on a DIRTY bomb, that is a conventional bomb sheathed in radioactive material to kill, say, a city’s population with highly dispersed but powerful radiation.
@jprgohard7138
August 13, 2025 at 6:54 pm
Lost all credibility when he didn’t bring up DRESDEN.
@thedragondemands
August 13, 2025 at 6:57 pm
Can an atomic bomb salted with thorium actually destroy the world?
@jammcguire1276
August 13, 2025 at 7:03 pm
Until Dump changes this history!
@PsilocybinCocktail
August 13, 2025 at 7:05 pm
How to make the apocalypse entertaining!
I note that in the later years of the Cold War, in NATO the aim was to increase warhead accuracy, rather than yield, because a 50% increase in accuracy meant you could decrease warhead yield by 75% for the same effect.
@wishwise0
August 13, 2025 at 7:17 pm
Mr. Wellerstein, I was with you until you described the protrusions on the side of the mock-up of an atomic bomb as ‘fuses’. I would appreciate an actual explanation – they don’t seem like pitot tubes like with a standard aircraft. How are they relevant to the determination of altitude?
@girthbloodstool339
August 13, 2025 at 7:27 pm
What is wrong with US people that they can’t Iran and Iraq properly? Eye-Ran? Ridiculous. At least this guy can say ‘nuclear’ correctly.
@nerdygem8620
August 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm
I visited Hiroshima earlier this year, and I was surprised to learn that part of the motivation of using the A-bomb was to demonstrate nuclear capability to the USSR. Then post-war, the US didn’t want Japan to run into the arms of Communism, so they had the occupation and poured money in. But to prevent an uprising against US forces, they made it illegal to spread or even possess photographs of the destruction and injury at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We only have about 100 photographs because some very brave people risked their lives to preserve them. It wasn’t until the occupation ended that the rest of Jaan saw the results of the nuclear weapons.
@matthewclark2123
August 13, 2025 at 7:30 pm
Henry Simpson spent his honeymoon in Kyoto
@jsullivan2112
August 13, 2025 at 7:31 pm
With that said I’m kinda curious now about what Germany’s take on the Hiroshima bombing was like. Yes they’d already surrendered by then and most of the higher ups were dead, but still! I’m sure some of them were still alive and were painfully aware of what had just happened, and who had accomplished it.
@tech-kyle
August 13, 2025 at 7:33 pm
Hokay, so basically we’ve got China, France, India, Israel, Pakistan, Russia, the U.K. and Us… with nukes. We’ve got about twenty six hundred more than anybody else, h’whatever.
@66Renchan
August 13, 2025 at 7:37 pm
What was the Soviet Onion?
@alexp86389
August 13, 2025 at 7:49 pm
Least biased “expert” on wired. Yeah bud Iran wasn’t building a bomb just to have a bomb they were doing it to bring the US back to the deal, genius.
@tallgirlzoe
August 13, 2025 at 8:18 pm
18:29 this is fascinating
@Theribman-1998
August 13, 2025 at 8:27 pm
We should restart America’s 🇺🇲🗽 nuclear weapons testing and we should pull out of the nuclear test ban treaty.
@cjmvejby
August 13, 2025 at 8:29 pm
Why did you say that Belarus doesn’t have nuclear weapons?
@BZAKether
August 13, 2025 at 8:34 pm
Interestingly, during the Clinton administration, the Nuclear Football went missing for several days.
@beardedrake9983
August 13, 2025 at 8:56 pm
Time to start just asking chatgpt
@BZAKether
August 13, 2025 at 9:01 pm
Ok, I am not going to make an atomic bomb, but only because you asked nicely.
@Phalanx11
August 14, 2025 at 6:38 pm
Should we have attacked during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviets had only 10 highly inaccurate ICBMs while America had 110 nuclear weapons on bombers which were very accurate. Or was it better for mankind to spend trillions on the Cold War and live in fear for the next 100 years?
@Joe-hz1nw
August 14, 2025 at 6:51 pm
If you enrich to 60% and beyond, then the ONLY use for that is a Nuclear weapon. This guy had a fence post so far up his a_s$ on Iran that he didn’t mention this.
@bigchills7194
August 14, 2025 at 6:54 pm
IF you actually believe like this numbskull that Iran totally abided by the nuclear deal than I have a bridge to sell you. This guy has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to the Iran deal.
@dcanmore
August 14, 2025 at 6:57 pm
South Africa also had nuclear weapons, six in storage by the time they signed the non-proliferation treaty in 1990, and then were dismantled.
@personanongrata47
August 14, 2025 at 7:13 pm
7:38 wow so the USA committed warcrimes too! basically both the nukes were warcrimes… and everybody cheered
@TotheSoundOfThunderingEngines
August 14, 2025 at 7:19 pm
I am sorry but you don’t need to enrich urainium too 60% plus for a civialian reactor. So while they may not have violated the treaty in letter in spirit they had. Big thing people forget about Japan is the warrior culture. They didn’t have civilains in the western term.
@astronaughte
August 14, 2025 at 7:21 pm
Did South Africa have nuclear weapons once as well?
@Fajiitas
August 14, 2025 at 7:22 pm
That man should do more ELI5! Thanks for the great video
@kaitlynoddie9649
August 14, 2025 at 7:25 pm
“i hope you don’t make an atomic bomb” well there goes my saturday night plans
@Brinta3
August 14, 2025 at 7:27 pm
What is the point of showing the answer texts if you don’t give us time to read them?
@Seriouslydave
August 14, 2025 at 7:27 pm
Wtf is the point in the treaty?
@TriumphMike
August 14, 2025 at 7:29 pm
Project Sundial was not an attack weapon; Teller conceived it as a doomsday weapon. It would sit somewhere safe and out of sight, that would only be detonated if the US was attacked, with no hope of surviving.
Teller theorized that the Sundial device would effectively end all life on Earth, essentially being a preventive defensive weapon — if we die, we all die.
@0FlightlessBird0
August 14, 2025 at 7:31 pm
How he pronounced huge bag 69 lol
@ThomasHjaltalinJensen
August 14, 2025 at 7:35 pm
So the Americans are complaining about, Faroe islands are killing pilot whales , but still have around 5000 nukes ? and even dropped some.
@JohnsJohnson-ns5xm
August 14, 2025 at 7:41 pm
30 days unless it’s Cobalt 60.
@benjaminmadeira8442
August 14, 2025 at 7:49 pm
American
@Flying_Chess
August 14, 2025 at 7:52 pm
The justification of the crimes against humanity of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is vomitive.
@Wilhelm-100TheTechnoAdmiral
August 14, 2025 at 7:59 pm
So I need a GECK. Got it.
@Wilhelm-100TheTechnoAdmiral
August 14, 2025 at 8:02 pm
Oh my god, close the radiation box when the meter makes a noise! 😮
@mbee4639
August 14, 2025 at 8:15 pm
So interesting!
@Stock2896
August 14, 2025 at 8:29 pm
Every country should have nukes if the US is still around
@Mainlychesscontent
August 14, 2025 at 8:54 pm
I think Japan is sprinting for the big one
@ChrisSmith-lo2kp
August 14, 2025 at 9:00 pm
still avoids the Godzilla issue
@SwadBod
August 14, 2025 at 9:15 pm
14:40 Of the entire laundry list, spare me the handpicked civil rights attribute…what a goofball
@50Nobody50
August 14, 2025 at 9:22 pm
I want to know if this was an actual job before Youtube…….because nuclear historian seems pretty made up. I mean, can I be a knock knock joke historian? Knock knock……….
@kevindutton3676
August 15, 2025 at 4:37 pm
What a clown
@blewafanc
August 15, 2025 at 4:40 pm
Holl wledydd cachu efo nhw.
@dirkthewrench
August 15, 2025 at 4:57 pm
WHAT GREAT TIMING FOR THIS TO COME OUT THANK YOU
@DiscipleOfDoug
August 15, 2025 at 5:01 pm
Why does he keep pronouncing Iran as eye-ran, rather than ih-rahn?
@jaklawrence4301
August 15, 2025 at 5:04 pm
Minor nitpick, because I know it annoys basically everyone who lives to the East of where the Titanic sank – it’s ‘Ih-rahn’ not ‘eye-rann’ <3
Also, in the 'Lost nukes' section - kinda surprised he didn't mention how the US accidentally dropping unarmed nuclear bombs on Spain in 1966 nearly resulted in the Franco (fascist) regime reverse-engineering nuclear weapons.
And right at the end there - the Japanese surprisingly un-famously were actually a lot closer to 'atomic bomb' capability than the Germans - perhaps even as little as a year behind the US by some estimates.
@KiwiExpressCream
August 15, 2025 at 5:21 pm
I’ve been following the good Doctor on the socials for years. Quite honestly, if there’s anything about this subject he doesn’t know, it’s not worth knowing. Also, never has half an hour gone so quickly, I could’ve watched an Oppenheimer length video of him talking and not felt it too long.
@MicoRich
August 15, 2025 at 5:22 pm
This is how predictive programming works. None of these people are interested in educating you. The idea of nuclear war is being discussed, so you will accept it when they do it.
@Fran3490-c2t
August 15, 2025 at 5:24 pm
When you can breathe without the need for a RadAway infusion
@Shatterverse
August 15, 2025 at 5:31 pm
Nothing like the big kids pulling up the ladder after them. Although when it comes to nukes that might not be so bad.
@GamerForLifeDrakunia
August 15, 2025 at 5:55 pm
07:34 NOT a war crime… apparently.
@michaelpcoffee
August 15, 2025 at 5:57 pm
I’ll take the risks of freedom over the safety of the prison any time.
@roberthensley4689
August 15, 2025 at 6:10 pm
horse shite…they were nearing weapons grade fissile material and it was at a rapid pace
@chriss5266
August 15, 2025 at 6:25 pm
What’s with the chrome buttplug on his desk?
@nathanjustus6659
August 15, 2025 at 6:31 pm
India withdrew officially, yes?
@danwaters303
August 15, 2025 at 6:35 pm
“irahn” NOT “I ran”.
@ovni2295
August 15, 2025 at 6:38 pm
I want to add to that first question: South Africa briefly had a nuclear arsenal but became the first country to denuclearize, beating the former Soviet republics to denuclearization by 1-2 years. They retain the capacity to develop nukes if necessary, as do Brazil, Canada, Germany, Iran*, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and The Netherlands (alphabetical order).
*Iran is a weird case because they might or might not be trying to make nukes. They have the capacity and the materials, but they haven’t put them together yet and say they have no intention of putting them together at this time.
ALSO, the reason food in fallout shelters is made to last forever is because it’s easier to stock the fallout shelter once and not worry about it than it is to constantly worry about “Is this food expired? Is this food safe to eat? Is it safe to eat after it’s expired?” Sort of a set-it-and-forget-it measure just in case you ever need it.
@bauti46
August 15, 2025 at 6:39 pm
really enjoying these videos
@rnjesus9950
August 15, 2025 at 7:02 pm
What thebhell happened to the spindle at 26:28. It like jolted
@LtScarecrow87
August 15, 2025 at 7:55 pm
When I was doing my NE Masters, my department head called the US treaty cancellation with Iran a mistake that will haunt our children and their children’s children. Because of stupidity.
@paulie9483
August 15, 2025 at 8:00 pm
Hiroshima housed the Japanese 2nd Army’s headquarters and assembly area. The 2nd army was charged with the defense of all of southern Japan, the most likely landing area if an invasion of the Japanese homeland was necessary. Nagasaki was likewise a major naval base as well as the Mitsubishi shipyard and arms works. They were not merely ‘civilian targets’.
@johnmoss4624
August 15, 2025 at 8:07 pm
“I hope you don’t make an atomic bomb, until next time.”
Alright Alex, until next time. But then, I expect you to give up the goods.
@jordananthony3910
August 15, 2025 at 8:36 pm
Iran would be fools to not be running towards nuclear weapons at this point
@j2times2006
August 15, 2025 at 8:43 pm
I’m a minute in and I’m already terrified/depressed
@PsychicSploob
August 15, 2025 at 9:00 pm
bold of him to have a giant buttplug next to him the whole video 😲
@ricksaint2000
August 15, 2025 at 9:23 pm
Thank you Professor Wellerstein
@TheSillyshyguy
August 16, 2025 at 2:21 pm
Any agreement signed on a piece of paper is just a piece of paper. meaningless.
@Dema-Juel
August 16, 2025 at 2:25 pm
He talks correctly about ionizing radiation, but then WIRED show animations of nuclear fission. I think you guys need to give this a second pass.
@BigRW
August 16, 2025 at 2:54 pm
He thinks uranium is a rock. It’s a metal. Some expert.
@onemorechris
August 16, 2025 at 3:11 pm
somewhat frustrating that, given access to an actual expert, 20-30% of the questions asked and picked are things anyone could google/ask an AI or type almost anywhere and get a solid answer. i skip those
@xChrisConnellx
August 16, 2025 at 3:11 pm
I recall seeing some archival footage of a high ranking US general a few years back. I was thinking he stated the cities in Japan were chosen because they hadn’t been damaged previously in the war, and because of that could be used for damage assessment.
@Jigsawn2
August 16, 2025 at 3:13 pm
Great video, I’m in my 40s and still learned some stuff like centrifuges and why bigger isn’t worth it for nukes. Very good communicator for the vid as well, cheers!
@smoberley
August 16, 2025 at 3:26 pm
Great video! It might have been illustrative to detail the comparative effects of modern nuclear weapons alongside the Hiroshima bomb, lest someone think “Oh, that’s not that bad.”
@BiscuitBeetle
August 16, 2025 at 4:59 pm
Which is better, radaway or radx?
@mattyb584
August 16, 2025 at 5:11 pm
What’s wild is just how bright it is. In an instant if you’re looking on that direction, you’re pretty much blind now. Even blocking it with your hands isn’t enough.
@liammitchell2225
August 16, 2025 at 5:18 pm
Graphics for the ionizing radiation was very questionable. Fission is not ionization. Dissolving salt in water is ionization (and you actually need these electrolytes to live). Electrons constantly join and leave atoms, that’s just chemistry. The “bad” ionization, which typically takes the form of reactive oxygen species, can react with things like proteins and DNA, hurting structures. Great video overall though! Sincerely, a chemist
@espeterson522
August 16, 2025 at 6:09 pm
Pretty naive take on the Iranian nuclear program. To be clear, I’m not a fan of Israel at all, but it’s very evident that Iran was pursuing weapons to strengthen their position in the region. NOT as a means to lure the US back to talks.
@margefoyle6796
August 16, 2025 at 6:11 pm
I’ve been trying to understand this for literally decades, but this is the first time someone clearly and succinctly explained the deployment of a nuclear weapon to me. Thank you so much!!
@MarcusBenwalter
August 16, 2025 at 6:12 pm
lol don’t be naive.. there are no civilians, you’re all part of the system
@rawbebaba
August 16, 2025 at 6:22 pm
0:45 yall protect this channel. Any media who will say Israel does have nukes will be targeted as being antisemitic. Also, Palestinians have human respiratory systems, there now I’ve said something antisemitic
@Vonbrow
August 16, 2025 at 6:32 pm
South Africa had them too
@panzermk8
August 16, 2025 at 7:08 pm
Stopped watching at 3:50 – this dude lost all credibility with his stance on the Iran deal. Refuses to elaborate on what Iran gains out of “the deal” because he knows as well as anyone else that Iran will do anything to pursue a weapon, has been pursuing one, and will continue to pursue one.
@MS-io6kl
August 16, 2025 at 7:09 pm
21:58 at least in two countries I know in Europe I know building a nuclear shelter into your house was mandatory until the end of the Cold War, my native Austria and Switzerland, but I’m almost certain it was the case in Finnland as well as they have nuclear shelters for far more people than their nations population. I have the nagging suspicion that almost any European country has a rather good system of nuclear shelters, given that we would have been the major frontline of any Cold War turned hot scenario.
@JML61576
August 16, 2025 at 7:16 pm
Part of the reason they weren’t trying very hard for an atomic bomb is they murdered or chased off the most brilliant scientists…
@MS-io6kl
August 16, 2025 at 7:21 pm
26:43 apparently the Tsar Bomba should have had a 50 Mt TNT yield but it’s actual yield was about 57 Mt TNT.
@bdb3350
August 16, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Why did America vaporize 2 Hiroshima and Nagasaki??? “War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over” (William Tecumseh Sherman 1820–1891)
@gulfmen86
August 16, 2025 at 8:15 pm
Why does Israel have nukes? And why is the US ok with it?
@mathieubyron2038
August 16, 2025 at 8:56 pm
American (and by extension many western ) historians always seem to underplay/overlook/dispute the role the Soviet unions invasion of Manchuria played in the Japanese surrender …. Hiroshima was psychological but so many historians I think overgeneralize by claiming Hiroshima was the reason for Japanese surrender
@Boysipat-s8x
August 16, 2025 at 9:02 pm
❤
@Maryamrockify
August 16, 2025 at 9:03 pm
Why are you smiling
@DCS_World_Japan
August 16, 2025 at 9:05 pm
Re: Nagasaki and Hiroshima WERE military targets. Nagasaki had Mitsubishi plants making warplanes and warships. Hiroshima had an army HQ.
@timothyalton3821
August 16, 2025 at 9:41 pm
I’m pretty sure you have to stay in a vault for about 200 years in cryo- stasis before it’s at least safe to come back up to the surface and also find your missing son
@racha.9124
August 16, 2025 at 10:09 pm
GO PROF WELLERSTEIN BEST PROF EVERRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!
@tommerenator
August 16, 2025 at 10:54 pm
Islamist propaganda
@BrianStDenis-pj1tq
August 16, 2025 at 11:04 pm
Its nonsense to say that Iran wasn’t building a bomb yet say they were taking the steps necessary to quickly build a bomb. Those are the same thing. Not building a bomb is not taking steps. Your explanation of duck and cover, explaining its marginal usefulness, was excellent. In the midwest, we do the same for tornadoes, which is similarly only marginally helpful. A point you made but could have made stronger is to describe how long and how much the US bombed Japan demanding their surrender in early 1945. They wouldn’t surrender even tho the US firebombed major cities and killed hundreds of thousands. It was staggering how stubborn they were in not surrendering. In fact, after Hiroshima, they STILL didn’t surrender… it took Nagasaki three days later to seal the deal and end the war. Let’s hope the world never comes to that type of war again.
@magicsinglez
August 17, 2025 at 12:02 am
Something’s diluted, alright.
@ericdavis2145
August 17, 2025 at 12:08 am
Einstein vocally supported socialism
@jameswil15213
August 17, 2025 at 12:55 am
Dr. Wellerstein is great! He explains things in a way that makes sense for us folks who are not super scientific. Plus his glasses are cool.
@cdkx655
August 17, 2025 at 1:11 am
you dont think anyone is suggesting that iran is trying to make a bomb? that’s a weird thing to say. right or wrong, many many people are claiming exactly that
@Terrafire123
August 17, 2025 at 11:48 am
It’s extremely weird, because the thing that Israel was accusing Iran of doing was enriching uranium to 60%, which is, as he himself says in 13:25, way, way, way, higher than the 3% necessary for civilian usage.
So, in fact, they spent hundreds of millions of dollars if not billions of dollars enriching it towards weapons-grade uranium.
@remta613
August 17, 2025 at 1:36 am
Zero nuclear weapons seems like the “safest” option for the most amount of people.
@Nex_0906
August 17, 2025 at 2:16 am
Saying some countries shoundn’t have access to nuclear weapons when American has and the president is insane is indeed a hot take
@js510-l6q
August 17, 2025 at 3:28 am
nagasaki and hiroshima were completely unjustified and the us should be ashamed to have taken such actions
@danpanther
August 17, 2025 at 6:08 am
Wow talk about whitewashing history to suit the US! I think you’ll find that the British invented nuclear weapons and had an active programme long before the Manhattan project.
@daltongalloway
August 17, 2025 at 9:07 am
This guys passion for the topic is great. He seems like a very smart lad
@pav431
August 17, 2025 at 9:49 am
I’m just a little sad the video did not go into much detail, only scuffing the surface — what fuels some of my nightmares, the MIRV type of ICBMs, where if you let the missile get into orbit… There’s just no way of stopping it, all you can do is run into a bunker, and hope for the best. This sort of “We’re screwed, nothing can save us now… The world as we know it is ending” level of existential dread.
@kaijucobalt2064
August 17, 2025 at 10:21 am
The fact things like this exist in the world makes me never want to have children, and if it ever gets to the point where it looks like this kind of thing is for real going to happen again, I’ll probably commit suicide rather than live to see it. What a godawful, hopeless existence we humans have created for ourselves.
@jordanmcmanaman8008
August 17, 2025 at 1:28 pm
The gun question is great, except getting shot doesnt tend to also give you cancer if you survive
@dan4845
August 17, 2025 at 1:31 pm
Further to the point about finding lost weapons, its how in 1985, the search for nuclear submarines resulted in the wreckage of the Titanic being located.
@klopferator
August 17, 2025 at 2:13 pm
I’m a bit surprised that he’s so sure that Iran wasn’t about to build a nuclear weapon. They’ve enriched the uranium far beyond any civilian use case after all.
@not_eurydice
August 17, 2025 at 3:11 pm
cool and all but I need the Zuck to answer some questions……
@PSquared-oo7vq
August 17, 2025 at 3:23 pm
That was a great explanation of why there was relatively little residual radioactivity at Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
@mckenzieschmidt4955
August 17, 2025 at 5:53 pm
I thought the 5 countries that are allowed to have them, are also NOT allowed to use them? Why was this not discussed?
@SithDarthGendo
August 17, 2025 at 7:48 pm
Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan didn’t own any nuclear weapons. All launch codes were in Moscow. WTF
@Etrehumain123
August 18, 2025 at 7:13 am
8:40 pretty much yes, it’s a termination bomb, and that’s why it inspired in philosophy modern nihilism (existentialism, absurdism) and in art, Expressionism. We reached the point of “you know what let’s kill everyone and everything”. I created a lot of hate against science, but also inspired a lot of atheism because how comes God would allow that, ect. Such a shift in human history, and not fun.
@cknut9252
August 18, 2025 at 7:45 am
Why doesn’t Ukraine build a nuclear weapon. They have the nuclear power plants & had the weapons (so theoretically could reacquire weapons easily)and could use it for leverage against Russia.
@MrNightcoreFM
August 18, 2025 at 7:57 am
about the Iran/Israel statements: Iran did enrich Uranium beyond a point of civil use, that’s why it is not a “race towards” building a nuclear weapon but it is undeniably heading in this direction. Or am I wrong here?
@3goats1coat
August 18, 2025 at 8:27 am
You?
You look weak and gae.. probably get thrown out in the first few hours to save on rations 🤷♂️
@BearRunning
August 18, 2025 at 8:50 am
France having nuclear weapons is terrifying.
@dillonkayser4215
August 18, 2025 at 9:06 am
Jews nuked women & children.
@shmeli
August 18, 2025 at 9:19 am
21:30 never answers the question 👎 why does every channel use click bait? If your video isn’t interesting enough to get people to watch it without tricking them into watching it, then don’t bother publishing it.
@kochin5786
August 18, 2025 at 9:44 am
Yes professor, but do you jingle jangle?
@petegaslondon
August 18, 2025 at 10:18 am
He’s THE BOMB….
(sorry)
@VectorAlphaSec
August 18, 2025 at 10:45 am
I am now definitely going to make an atomic bomb. Im gonna make so many atomic bombs.
@sapir970
August 18, 2025 at 10:45 am
iran said publicly they want to destroy the west and israel and the united states.
would you give them nukes?
@awmperry
August 18, 2025 at 11:39 am
Great content – but the editors used *three* animations of fission to illustrate ionisation…
@MC-gj8fg
August 18, 2025 at 11:46 am
Military target or civilian target strikes me as a false conundrum between two absolute schools of thought. There were certainly military targets very near large population centers where the military installation could have been eliminated while simultaneously putting the maximum number of eyes on the event for maximum psychological effect. Dropping it dead in the middle of a city for maximum deaths may in some ways minimize the psychological effect as I’ve found the dead are categorically difficult to impress.
@user-lp3ew1xb5u
August 18, 2025 at 1:38 pm
Doesn’t Japan have a lot of Nuclear power plants?
@ericalbers4867
August 18, 2025 at 3:33 pm
Sundial was simply a thought experiment with a bet behind it. Some scientists thought Gadget might set the atmosphere on fire. So they did the calculations to see how large a nuke would need to be to do that (fission, not fusion. Also fission would be impossible since it actually does have an upper limit of 800 KT iirc) The bomb would be the size of a large skyscraper. For fusion bombs there’s an upper limit but its not humanly possible. At least not with current tech and resources. You’re working on stellar scales at that point.
@sharonngigi71
August 18, 2025 at 4:05 pm
Interesting for him to say he doesn’t trust other nations to have nuclear weapons when the United States is the only country that has ever used them offensively🙃 (and mind you…on civilians)
@alexsiemers7898
August 18, 2025 at 4:59 pm
As if any other country would hesitate if not for mutually assured destruction.
@Furiouspenguin27
August 18, 2025 at 7:00 pm
Would you trust someone with a tool who has never used it before or someone who has used the tool before more?
@TheJayman760
August 18, 2025 at 4:14 pm
No one asked about nuclear winter after a nuclear war.
@gordvandersar8113
August 18, 2025 at 4:35 pm
til ya run outtta ammo or yer neighbours commin fer yer food are all dead
@marruhwahnuh
August 18, 2025 at 5:36 pm
Disappointing he didn’t mention the famous DP-5 3.6 roentgen and how the poor bastards standing there squinting at the dial were like, “Not great, not terrible.” Meanwhile the air was hotter than Satan’s microwave.
@Furiouspenguin27
August 18, 2025 at 6:56 pm
Iran was refining way past the point necessary for nuclear power
@readingmode5342
August 18, 2025 at 7:11 pm
Flared base
@rubenlopez8591
August 18, 2025 at 7:52 pm
I wonder if that thought process of the more nuclear bombs there are the more risk getd applied to guns. Is there a point where it isnt conveient or too restricting?
@TheKasher
August 18, 2025 at 7:59 pm
Iran????? Maybe???? 😅😅😅😅
@whitewolfgaming8327
August 18, 2025 at 8:48 pm
Sitch?
@scottcrawford3745
August 18, 2025 at 9:17 pm
Chernobyl ? It’s fine… only about 3.6 Roentgen… not great; not terrible.
Got any Iodine ??
@stephenleblanc4677
August 18, 2025 at 10:01 pm
This is a great video… and also rather frightening.
@2332Stephen
August 19, 2025 at 1:57 am
I thought the general didnt wanna bomb Kyoto because he liked to vacation there with his wife and thats why it was changed. Thats what I heard.
@DeoMachina
August 19, 2025 at 7:19 am
I heard this too, but I daresay he had to provide a more official reason
@schultr
August 19, 2025 at 2:00 am
AFAIK, Einstein didn’t write the letter. It was written by Leo Szilard, who convinced Einstein to sign it and to send it under his name. Szilard’s reasoning was that no one in a position of power was likely to have heard of him, while Einstein’s name was sufficiently well-known that people in the government would be more likely to take what he wrote seriously.
@pixl3l
August 19, 2025 at 2:08 am
“Funny” how it could be safer with fewer countries with nukes when some of the more unstable countries are USA, Russia and Israel. Maybe no system is trustworthy enough to have this kind of power?
@ss-tv8eu
August 19, 2025 at 2:10 am
Nagasaki, which was struck by the atomic bomb, was the center of Christianity in Japan. The church and Japanese Christians were killed in the blast. Did the United States at the time know this when they dropped the bomb?
@MyMinininjas
August 19, 2025 at 5:29 pm
Provably.
Can you think of an ideological group in the US government that historically doesn’t treat Christians well?
@ss-tv8eu
August 19, 2025 at 2:16 am
If South Korea and Taiwan were to go to war with their respective neighboring countries and lose, Japan — as the only nation to have suffered atomic bombings — would have no choice but to possess nuclear weapons.
@sh1pp
August 19, 2025 at 8:02 am
23:59 explains a radioactive particle knocking an electron off an atom while showing an animation of a particle splitting a nucleus. lol! They do it again at 24:48 as if fission is similar in any way to a change in DNA due to radioactivity.
@jettrd_utilitychnl4230
August 19, 2025 at 9:31 am
“For as long as it takes”, Joe Biden
@GreyGuy101
August 19, 2025 at 9:37 am
Very interesting and awesome explanations.Well done 🙂👍
@lordkresh
August 19, 2025 at 10:34 am
Iran actually stated they were trying to build a nuke, so that blew up the entire thing for me. The guy ignores information that doesn’t agree with his preconceived ideas, the anti-professor.
@evilrslade
August 19, 2025 at 11:17 am
Big mistake by Ukraine handing back those Nukes on a promise.
@zoggerato
August 19, 2025 at 2:23 pm
Nice talk, wrong subs though. It’s Chornobyl, not Chernobyl.
@JesseG085
August 19, 2025 at 3:06 pm
So, having enriched uranium that’s only used for weapons doesn’t count as developing nuclear weapons?
@zack9912000
August 19, 2025 at 3:08 pm
It was pretty proven that IRAN was bulding a nuclear bombs😂
@MyMinininjas
August 19, 2025 at 5:39 pm
By people invested in justifying military action?
@AoliaUK
August 19, 2025 at 4:29 pm
“I’m here to answer your questions about nuclear war: we’re all gonna die!”
@klaus_poppe
August 19, 2025 at 5:00 pm
7:30 Remorseless war criminals
@MysticalShip
August 19, 2025 at 7:13 pm
How to theoretically lose a nuclear weapon , you take a Douglas A-4H/N Skyhawk in Israel and the plane gets shot down and now they assume the Nuke is destroyed along with the plane. This is what happened at the beginning of the movie Sum of all fears.
@anthragestormrider2493
August 19, 2025 at 7:43 pm
Outstanding.
@oscaracosta2697
August 19, 2025 at 8:11 pm
What? You guys get lead aprons when you go to the dentist???
@fubarace1027
August 19, 2025 at 8:17 pm
Also, South Africa developed Nukes, but agreed to relinquish them.
@Gryphus-R
August 19, 2025 at 8:49 pm
Regarding what you comment around the minute 6 mark: In 1966 a US plane accidentally dropped unarmed nukes in Palomares, south of spain. The nukes broke on impact and spread radioactive material all over the place. While the US military recovered the remains, today, 60 years later, the US goverment has not yet properly decontaminated the area, which still remains fenced due to the risks.
@cupidhart-james4277
August 19, 2025 at 8:49 pm
Yeaaaaah. I don’t think putting my math book over my head is gonna do a whole lot….
@justinbisaillon4554
August 19, 2025 at 8:55 pm
Excellent content
@Alfredo_Tornado
August 19, 2025 at 10:20 pm
I shouldn’t have watched this before bed
@michelleshava1477
August 19, 2025 at 11:16 pm
Nicely done Prof. Wallerstein – shall share this far and wide.❤
@Duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
August 19, 2025 at 11:54 pm
Really really annoying and pointless sound effects
@Set2trip
August 20, 2025 at 1:00 am
Interesting!
@Legion_YT_
August 20, 2025 at 1:14 am
Real serial killer answers questions about serial killers pls
@MikelTulp
August 20, 2025 at 3:26 am
Someone had to ask who had nukes?
@MikelTulp
August 20, 2025 at 3:26 am
God who’s asking these 6th graders?
@vakna_1
August 20, 2025 at 4:17 am
“The power of the sun”?? are you finding excuses for the US using a nuclear bomb on people by promoting US might through cheap metaphors? This is a university professor talking, by the way. Also, Japan had already surrendered at that point so your excuses for the US are false. Why did the US use the nuclear bomb on TWO civilian cities? Because they wanted to show the world that they could.
@DeoMachina
August 20, 2025 at 1:48 pm
It’s not a cheap metaphor, nuclear fission is what the sun is
@kerektor
August 20, 2025 at 5:18 am
I’m guessing many here are too young to relate to the “trauma” caused by growing up during the cold war. Especially here in Europe with the proximity of physical conflict. So many scary moments in the 70s and early 80s, both in media and fiction. I can’t even imagine the generational trauma Japanese people has had to struggle with. Then Chernobyl happened and it was scary all over again, with cesium-137 landing on Scandinavian soil and seeping into flora and fauna. The fear of immediate annihilation surely affected “our” psychology, for better or worse. I think that in many cases, it made us more likely to function in a crisis as well as giving us very a pretty dark sense of humor. 😀
@Lighthammer18
August 20, 2025 at 5:31 am
I thought he misspoke when he said Sundial was 10,000 MT but no, Teller really wanted a 10 gigaton bomb. Such a device wouldn’t be feasible to transport anywhere due to its size so it would probably be used as an exterminatus type last resort.
It makes me wonder what will happen when antimatter production becomes efficient enough to make antimatter bombs. Just 1kg would be enough to make a blast similar to the Tsar Bomba, 200kg and you’ve got Sundial.
@hades410
August 20, 2025 at 8:37 am
FACT CHECK, stopped watching the moment you said iran didn’t try to build a bomb, this show your complete ignorance of the facts that both israeli and us intelligence had proven multiple times that iran is not only “preparing the conditions” toward building a nuclear weapon but has actively enriched uranium to a far higher grade than needed for commercial use and was also developing a nuclear warhead that could carry it, in fact iran was 99% ready to build the weapon, it had gone for long stretches to hide their activity in undeground bunkers and what you are doing is practiclly legitimising a dictatorship terror state which claimed over and over publicly that their purpose is to completely annihilate israel and the u.s after, i hope you sleep good at night knowing that you mislead your audience in such a horrible way
@discombubulate2256
August 20, 2025 at 8:59 am
Remember kids, best practice is 15kt nuke carpet bombing 🙂
@toddleoddle
August 20, 2025 at 9:05 am
Hey Alex! Nice job.
@Germfish
August 20, 2025 at 10:05 am
Talking about chernobyl. Russian soldiers dug into the ground there making defensive positions and they all got sick and died lol. Google it.
@svendtveskg5719
August 20, 2025 at 12:03 pm
It’s a…… thrilling experience to hear an afuckingmerican jew talking about his distrust in “certain countrie’s” will to be responsible and peace-loving…. Good riddance, afuckingmerican Jihad!
@bradadult5290
August 20, 2025 at 12:11 pm
Great, another psy-op piece that alludes to fear of nuclear war with Russia.
@bcm0022009
August 20, 2025 at 2:11 pm
Yes very interesting, 100% worth watching 👌🫠
@tiffanynichol7765
August 20, 2025 at 3:15 pm
Nuclear winter makes the debate on nukes COMPLETELY different than gun control. If someone shoots a gun, it doesn’t cause the starvation of the planet.
@titanium5
August 20, 2025 at 5:48 pm
Thanks Alex. Maybe you can also answer my question. How long should I sit on a Japanese toilet with that spigot thingy blasting my backside – before it becomes weird – ya know?
@trevorsimmons3811
August 20, 2025 at 6:04 pm
Even better if the video clips during the discussion on ionising radiations interaction with living cells, actually showed that and not just atoms splitting (could be misleading). But overall great video!
@larsegholmfischmann6594
August 20, 2025 at 6:50 pm
Physics can show you how to build a bomb big enough to destroy the planet. Philosophy will teach you why this may be a bad idea.
AFAIK Sundial was intended to be the ultimate deterrence since it didn’t matter where on the planet you set it off, it would cause a global nuclear winter in addition to its other effects.
@zach2549
August 20, 2025 at 7:23 pm
Dude straight up left out the real reason that Einstein was left out of the Manhattan Project. He was a well known plagiarist. Oppenheimer himself even wrote about it. Not to mention the then secretary of war, Henry Stimson.
@faytscargaming
August 20, 2025 at 7:33 pm
Isfaek won’t sign it so they can keep the Samson option open when everyone finally turns on them.
@JohnSmith-ot3zt
August 20, 2025 at 7:52 pm
trump wanted to nuke a hurricane
No. The world would NOT be safer if more idiots had nukes.
@louisrobitaille5810
August 20, 2025 at 8:20 pm
6:43 One example of Broken Arrow (accidents involving a nuke that didn’t go off) became a “lost” nuke in North Carolina. The government purchased a patch of terrain in the middle of the field where it fell and it’s now guarded 24/7 to make sure nobody tries to dig it up. At the time, it was estimated that the plutonium core sank ~55m underground. That’s just one example 🤷♂️.
11:35 Imo, nuclear weapons should be illegal for all countries and only the UN should be allowed to have them.
@danl7756
August 21, 2025 at 4:45 am
Downvote because 8 ads within 8 minutes.
@StalKalle
August 21, 2025 at 5:18 am
Worth pointing out that nobody knows if Israel has them. They use the fact it’s unknown if they have them as a deterrent.
@raiden24
August 21, 2025 at 5:26 am
0:43 It looks like you forgot to mention that Russia agreed to respect the territorial integrity of the signatories including Ukraine. Do you need some help with that?
@danielgilliland48
August 21, 2025 at 5:46 am
8:23 The Bomb was used for psychological impression
1: The US knew the Japanese didn’t care about their civilians because they were going to use them on suicidal spear charges.
2: The US’s best course of action was to bomb said civilians because that would change Japan’s mind….
@sabrinajones1573
August 21, 2025 at 6:34 am
2:52 “friends”
@fatehyabali
August 21, 2025 at 7:51 am
B
@michajastrzebski4383
August 21, 2025 at 9:24 am
I mean, once one side (the US) left the deal, they cant really expect the other (Iran) to adhere to something that is now one-sided. Not that Israel should be trusting and do nothing, its their national security on the line after all. Shitshow all around, tbh, that situation…
@michellenarkis
August 21, 2025 at 10:28 am
I basically stopped and ask myself a question about this guy when he said Iran doesn’t pursue a nuclear program when multiple organizations pointed in latest years Irans is actively trying to get high enriched nuclear fuel, beyond civilian use. Enrich nuclear material to be usable in a nuclear warheads is quite difficult to get. There are multiple videos about on youtube as well.
@hannahsage8707
August 21, 2025 at 11:16 am
The very beginning had me remembering all the words to “End of Ze World” 😂😂 0:39
@noyanky44
August 21, 2025 at 11:53 am
“I hope you don’t make an atomic bomb… Until next time”
Phrasing
@SuperExtremeTNT
August 21, 2025 at 12:35 pm
The video that plays while he is discussing ionising radiation is actually showing nuclear fission, you should correct or add disclaimer
@thecountofgoldmoor1332
August 21, 2025 at 12:45 pm
I wish they had used a photo of Fat Man instead of Little Boy. I was looking at a massive butt plug the whole time right there on the table.
@thecountofgoldmoor1332
August 21, 2025 at 1:00 pm
And he’s wearing a Casio F-91w! Dr Wellerstein is keeping it real with that legendary timepiece.
@SundarPichaiISretarded
August 21, 2025 at 1:07 pm
Until your father mysteriously leaves one night to purify the water
@XEyedN00b
August 21, 2025 at 1:18 pm
Wasn’t Sundial not made in the end because it would ignite the atmosphere?
@adamb.8112
August 21, 2025 at 1:28 pm
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
@tjfulton181
August 21, 2025 at 1:28 pm
The US doesn’t not have or use ‘uranium bombs’, they use plutonium. Again, please get it right. There’s a lot of people who see your video and they deserve correct information.
@NikolayMIA
August 21, 2025 at 2:37 pm
“Nuclear historian” what does it even mean?
@JayceeWedmak
August 21, 2025 at 2:42 pm
Thank you for your time, Prof. Wellerstein.
@satokohoujofan_fan
August 21, 2025 at 2:43 pm
Watch threads
@patriciaa4451
August 21, 2025 at 2:47 pm
Imagine getting bombed and finding out hey ‘settled’ for you as a target.
@_MohamedZain
August 21, 2025 at 2:49 pm
What a great guest!
@mandelbrot91
August 21, 2025 at 3:16 pm
3:46 are you Kidding me? Iran threatens USA and Israel with a Bomb…. Unbelievable. They do Not want to Talk they want to scare and destroy
@mitrooper
August 21, 2025 at 4:25 pm
Some much needed improvements.
Even if HE’S not in the White House… 4:04
HE has basically a very burly, usually military MAN, carrying a very heavy suitcase around… 4:11
@topbossful
August 21, 2025 at 5:41 pm
The fact that they are allowed is crazy aren’t you your own country is insane too me