RSA Review Spring 2020

9 RSA REVIEW • spring 2020 The eight-mile-high 'mushroom' cloud over Nagasaki, after Fat Man hit the earth. Lt Charles Levy, the bombardier who took the photograph from the following observer aircraft, said later: “We saw this big plume climbing up, up into the sky. It was purple, red, white, all colours – something like boiling coffee. It looked alive…we were all plenty scared.” TNT, it destroyed a smaller area (2.6 square miles (4 kilometres) thanks to the city’s location in a narrow valley. It left an estimated 75,000 people dead. That second blast, just three days after Hiroshima,ledJapan’semperortoendthewaron August 15. To the surprise of theworld, Emperor Hirohito never used the word “surrender”. The worldmoved onward and upward; from atomic to nuclear weapons. The difference is huge, yet bothweapons are similar. The explanation is simple. Anatombombblast comes from‘splitting’ the uranium or plutonian atom (creating fission); a nuclear blast comes from fusing hydrogen isotopes to the uranium or plutonian (creating • From page 8 fusion). Nuclear weapons have been much tested but never used in war. So much for our efforts to destroy ourselves. We still havemuch to learn fromnature. Some 65 million years ago, an asteroid or comet – 10 kilometres in width – smashed into our planet with the force of about 10,000 gigatons of TNT. That equates to something like 1000 times our world’s entire nuclear arsenal. Scientists conjecture that the blast must have enveloped Earth in dust, ignited huge firestorms, and probably set off monstrous waves from huge tsunamis. The crater resulting from this event, which scientists have named theK-TExtinction Impact Event, can be seen in the Chicxulub Crater off the coast of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. Now that really is a blast! We still cannot compete with Nature An artist's impression of the K-T Extinction Impact Event. www.cht.co.nz Just the right place… along the road. Welcome to CHT Healthcare Trust, where quality care, compassion and a strong connection to the community are at the heart of our organisation. For over 55 years we’ve been taking great care of older people in our rest homes and hospitals, providing a sense of home for residents, seamless transition between levels of care and support for families. We invite you to drop in for a visit, take a tour online or call us for more information. 16 locations around the North Island. Phone: 09 522 4585 We Will Remember Them