Word: atomics
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Japan's long-distance scientific atom-bomb watchers (TIME, March 12 et seq.) were convinced that a nuclear weapon fired by the U.S. July 3 over Bikini was carried by a rocket, not an airplane, and that it exploded at a height of at least 22 miles...
Testing weapons systems instead of isolated "nuclear devices" is one of the announced purposes of the U.S. tests at Bikini. One of the systems that needs testing most is the atom-armed antimissile rocket that both the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. are believed to be developing. To protect a target city from a long-range missile, this weapon must attack its quarry high above the atmosphere...
...Atomic radiation is dangerous, and as the atomic age develops, the danger will increase. This is the conclusion of the National Academy of Sciences (TIME, June 25), and the public is justified in taking it seriously. But in many parts of the world, the atom is being blamed for ills that it could not have caused, and for some that do not exist...
They were not, however, kept entirely secret. Long-range atom-bomb watching has become a favorite sport in Japan. When nuclear tests are impending, whether by the U.S. or the U.S.S.R., all sorts of instruments are checked and tuned for superfine sensitivity. This year a survey ship, the Shunkotsu Maru, carrying scientists and scientific apparatus, has been cruising near the danger area in the Pacific, and tuna boats have been gathering radioactive dust. Japanese scientists relish the fact that they are the only ones in the world who make observations and report them openly...
...About 11 on the third night the glass dropped, and the weather took on all the characteristics of a tropical lull. We were still 165° on the compass when I looked up and saw a squall going all the way across the sky. It looked like a mushroom atom cloud, low with a black stem. The scene was eerie, with the moon not shining but giving just enough light to see. The sea was pretty big, and I said, 'This looks like the worst squall yet.' Then we had almost complete calm, a momentary clearing...