Unveiling the Truth: Oppenheimer's Role in the World-Altering Trinity Nuclear Test
The new movie "Oppenheimer" revives the question of whether scientists involved in the Manhattan Project believed that detonating the first atomic bomb could destroy the world through atmospheric ignition. However, physicists knew that this scenario was highly unlikely long before the Trinity test in 1945. Discussions and calculations on the issue persisted, but scientific evidence consistently showed that the explosive force of the bomb was not enough to trigger a planet-destroying chain reaction. The fascination with this doomsday scenario may stem from a misunderstanding of what physicists mean by "near zero" probability. Scientists say such disaster scenarios are sometimes the price of crossing new thresholds of discovery, and it is important not to doubt the knowledge and expertise of the scientists involved in the Manhattan Project.