Wednesday, February 22, 2012
They forgot to mention extra-terrestials
The claim in the report by the Defence Select Committee of the House of Commons that Britain is vulnerable to attack from space-fired nuclear weapons and "space weather", caused by changes in solar activity, is obvious to any science-fiction aficionado.
They say that the government is not doing enough to combat the potentially devastating impact of such an attack, but short of sending Bruce Willis into space with a nuclear warhead, it is not clear what exactly they believe can be done.
The Guardian says that the government assesses the likelihood of an attack from either conventional or high-altitude nuclear electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) weapons to be low. However, the Committee believes that certain states such as Iran could pose a realistic threat in future if nuclear non-proliferation efforts fail.
"The potential impact of such a weapon could be devastating and long-lasting for UK infrastructure," the committee warns. "It is therefore vitally important that the work of hardening UK infrastructure is begun now and carried out as a matter of urgency."
They do have some valid points including their conclusion that the security of satellites is a matter of increasing concern because of our growing reliance on them and the sheer number of satellites in orbit (wasn't that the plot of the 1967 James Bond movie, 'You only live twice'?):
"The government must consider the long-term security of satellite technology and ensure that national interests are protected where we rely on other nations for data, such as GPS."
They say that there appears to be no single government department responsible for taking immediate responsibility in the event of a severe space weather event.
I am just disappointed that they have not mentioned alien attack. Surely, it would be a small matter to get Jeff Goldblum over to design a few computer viruses so as to disable alien defence shields.
They say that the government is not doing enough to combat the potentially devastating impact of such an attack, but short of sending Bruce Willis into space with a nuclear warhead, it is not clear what exactly they believe can be done.
The Guardian says that the government assesses the likelihood of an attack from either conventional or high-altitude nuclear electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) weapons to be low. However, the Committee believes that certain states such as Iran could pose a realistic threat in future if nuclear non-proliferation efforts fail.
"The potential impact of such a weapon could be devastating and long-lasting for UK infrastructure," the committee warns. "It is therefore vitally important that the work of hardening UK infrastructure is begun now and carried out as a matter of urgency."
They do have some valid points including their conclusion that the security of satellites is a matter of increasing concern because of our growing reliance on them and the sheer number of satellites in orbit (wasn't that the plot of the 1967 James Bond movie, 'You only live twice'?):
"The government must consider the long-term security of satellite technology and ensure that national interests are protected where we rely on other nations for data, such as GPS."
They say that there appears to be no single government department responsible for taking immediate responsibility in the event of a severe space weather event.
I am just disappointed that they have not mentioned alien attack. Surely, it would be a small matter to get Jeff Goldblum over to design a few computer viruses so as to disable alien defence shields.
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EMP devices... interesting stuff, all you need is some copper wire and some explosive, not all that much, biggest difficulty will be precuring the copper wire due to the cost of copper at this moment in time.
It was suggested during the time of the Falklands War (1982) that the Avro Vulcan should have been flown at it's ceiling height over Buenos Aires and turnin on it's Avionics System so blowing practially every transistorise Television & Radio in this City!
I would suggest that EMP damage to domestic appliances, civilian & military communication could easily be a possibility; In addition, most modern cars rely heavily on "engine management systems" to meet modern emmision standards, the "chips" within these can easily be fried if an EMP device is detonated quite close by.
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It was suggested during the time of the Falklands War (1982) that the Avro Vulcan should have been flown at it's ceiling height over Buenos Aires and turnin on it's Avionics System so blowing practially every transistorise Television & Radio in this City!
I would suggest that EMP damage to domestic appliances, civilian & military communication could easily be a possibility; In addition, most modern cars rely heavily on "engine management systems" to meet modern emmision standards, the "chips" within these can easily be fried if an EMP device is detonated quite close by.
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: 3:36 PM
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