A3_8 Thumbs up for Surviving a Nuclear Apocolypse

Abstract

This paper investigates the theory proposed in the Fallout game series, where if you observed a nuclear blast, you would need to hold your thumb up at an arm’s length and compare the size of the mushroom cloud stem to the width of your thumb. If the stem of the cloud was bigger than your thumb then you would be in danger and would need to start running. We found that if a Hiroshima sized mushroom cloud appeared just larger than your thumb you could escape most negative radiation effects by running laterally to the direction of the wind for 1.65 km in a half an hour period.