[extropy-chat] EMP Attack?

[Bret]

Hi, I thought I would drop my two cents in the (giant) bucket on the 
whole EMP thing. -  I will try to keep away from the soft stuff, in 
case I'm not in everyone's killfile yet. =)

My understanding is that not all circuits would be harmed in the direct 
path of an EMP attack. For instance, an active circuit would be damaged 
over an inactive but powered circuit, and an inactive/powered circuit 
would be damaged more or before an inactive and unpowered/charged 
circuit. It is possible in this case to store hardware and power 
sources separately, and they would be fine. For example a Faraday cage 
with unpowered/uncharged equipment would most likely be fine. The 
wave/differential would pass over the structure due to the skin effect.

The GWEN network will have no problems functioning in the event of an 
EMP attack. If we were attacked, the counterattack would be coordinated 
and go pretty much the same way.

Not only did the pilot episode of The Lone Gunmen on Fox air with the 
plot of terrorists flying an airliner into the World Trade Centers, but 
there is talk about what "Amalgam Virgo One" means among the conspiracy 
theorists - but I don't want to fan those flames in this venue, if at 
all. If you want to search for it, knock yourself out.

To EMP "the whole US" would require multiple bombs, very high altitude, 
and would be a huge waste, imho.


Lastly, you don't need a nuclear device or high altitude. We EMPed an 
Iraqi television network during the invasion. I remember a particularly 
small puff on the tv station building and reports of the proper 
symptoms for a kilometer radius. It was a class of  "flux compression 
generator." probably wrapped in an mk.84.


Cheers!

BretK