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Comment by treeman79 | Hacker News Reader

Obligatory death by neutrinos.

https://what-if.xkcd.com/73/

I always thought the physics on that one was a little shaky. We know how EM radiation of various frequencies and intensities affects biology but neutrinos are not EM radiation. The paper Munroe cites mentions that it ignores the expected supernova neutrino spectrum and its consequences with regards to biological interaction specifically because the dose is so low at the distance with which the paper is concerned, 1 parsec. In a scenario where one's objective is to calculate the lethal distance, that spectrum is important and may wildly change the results.

It's a fun read but it's bad science.

While what you said is true, I don’t think anyone has done any research on neutrino’s spectrum impact on human tissue? Partly due to this being nearly impossible to experiment on.

Here's a question to give you a sense of scale: Which of the following would be brighter, in terms of the amount of energy delivered to your retina:

1. A supernova, seen from as far away as the Sun is from the Earth, or

2. The detonation of a hydrogen bomb pressed against your eyeball?

Applying the physicist rule of thumb suggests that the supernova is brighter. And indeed, it is ... by nine orders of magnitude.

...Sounds like I should buy one of these IoT alarms so that I know to stay away from the window :-)

One of my favorite quotes that makes you realize just how insane space can get.

You turn your back to it with your eyes closed, and wonder if you'll have enough time to experience seeing from inside before your head vaporizes.

Spoiler: you won't.

As usual from XKCD, an interesting an entertaining read.

And now I am reading the what-if's from 1... thanks!

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