This website tests whether you could survive a nuclear attack... If you're afraid of World War III, try it for yourself.
Eighty years have passed since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but the nuclear threat hasn't disappeared. An online tool now lets you simulate what might happen if a modern bomb exploded near your city. With over 12,200 nuclear warheads deployed worldwide, this simulator shows you your chances of survival depending on your location at the time of impact.
The Outrider simulator analyzes the consequences of a bomb 80 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima. This is particularly relevant now that the United States has resumed nuclear weapons production after decades of abstention.
Let's put the numbers on the table, because survival depends on many factors: the weather, the time of day, whether there are mountains nearby, and the altitude at which the bomb explodes. A 1-megaton explosion creates different danger zones depending on the distance from the blast center and the conditions at the time.
35% of the energy is released as thermal radiation. If the bomb explodes on Earth, the falling radiation contaminates the air, and its particles can reach any part of the planet. Temporary night blindness can occur up to 85 kilometers from the blast's epicenter, a distance that includes entire cities.
But there's more: a global nuclear conflict would cause a "nuclear winter" due to all the soot that would be released into the atmosphere. The global climate is expected to change for many years, affecting agriculture and the survival of millions of people. And despite treaties to control these weapons, thousands of nuclear warheads remain active.
The situation is further complicated by China's readiness to launch hypersonic nuclear missiles from space. Moreover, China refuses to prevent artificial intelligence from controlling nuclear weapons.
There is no single formula for calculating the impact of a nuclear bomb. Every case is different, and factors such as terrain or wind completely alter the results. During the Cold War, the United States planned to detonate a nuclear bomb on the moon to demonstrate its military might.
The Outrider simulator reminds us that the threat remains eight decades after the only nuclear attacks in history. Science helps us understand these scenarios, but ultimately, political decisions determine whether we will witness them.