What is the meme called with the scary metal sphere
None
2007-08-14
<div><div>
	<div><p><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Good_articles"></a></p></div>
	<p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p>
	</div><div>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Partially-reflected-plutonium-sphere.jpeg"></a></p></div>
<p>The <b>demon core</b> was a spherical 6.2-kilogram (14 lb) <a href="/wiki/Critical_mass">subcritical mass</a> of <a href="/wiki/Plutonium">plutonium</a> 89 millimetres (3.5 in) in diameter, manufactured during <a href="/wiki/World_War_II">World War II</a> by the United States <a href="/wiki/Timeline_of_nuclear_weapons_development">nuclear weapon development</a> effort, the <a href="/wiki/Manhattan_Project">Manhattan Project</a>, as a fissile <a href="/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon)">core</a> for an early <a href="/wiki/Atomic_bomb">atomic bomb</a>. The core was prepared for shipment as part of the third nuclear weapon to be used in Japan, but when <a href="/wiki/Japan%27s_surrender">Japan surrendered</a>, the core was retained at Los Alamos for testing and potential later use. It was involved in two <a href="/wiki/Criticality_accident">criticality accidents</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Los_Alamos_Laboratory">Los Alamos Laboratory</a> on August 21, 1945, and May 21, 1946, each resulting in a fatality. Both experiments were designed to demonstrate how close the core was to criticality with a <a href="/wiki/Tamper_(nuclear_weapon)">tamper</a>, but in each case, the core was accidentally placed into a <a href="/wiki/Supercritical_mass">supercritical</a> configuration. Physicists <a href="/wiki/Harry_Daghlian">Harry Daghlian</a> and <a href="/wiki/Louis_Slotin">Louis Slotin</a> suffered <a href="/wiki/Acute_radiation_syndrome">acute radiation syndrome</a> (ARS) and died soon after, while others present in the lab were also exposed.
</p>
<h2>Manufacturing and early history[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=1">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The demon <a href="/wiki/Pit_(nuclear_weapon)">core</a> (like the second core used in the <a href="/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#Nagasaki">bombing of Nagasaki</a>) was, when assembled, a solid 6.2-kilogram (14 lb) sphere measuring 89 millimetres (3.5 in) in diameter. It consisted of three parts: two <a href="/wiki/Plutonium%E2%80%93gallium_alloy">plutonium-gallium</a> hemispheres and a ring, designed to keep <a href="/wiki/Neutron_flux">neutron flux</a> from "jetting" out of the joined surface between the hemispheres during <a href="/wiki/Implosion_(mechanical_process)">implosion</a>. The core of the device used in the <a href="/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)">Trinity Test</a> at the <a href="/wiki/Holloman_Air_Force_Base">Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range</a> in July did not have such a ring.<sup><a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup>
</p>
<div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Louis_Slotin_%26_Harry_K._Daghlian_Jr.jpg"></a></p><div><p>The two physicists Harry Daghlian (center left) and Louis Slotin (center right) during the <a href="/wiki/Trinity_(nuclear_test)">Trinity Test</a>. Both died following supercriticality accidents involving the "demon core".</p></div></div>
<p>The <a href="/wiki/Refining_(metallurgy)">refined</a> plutonium was shipped from the <a href="/wiki/Hanford_Site">Hanford Site</a> in <a href="/wiki/Washington_state">Washington state</a> to the <a href="/wiki/Los_Alamos_Laboratory">Los Alamos Laboratory</a>; an inventory document dated August 30 shows Los Alamos had expended "HS-1, 2, 3, 4; R-1" (the components of the Trinity and Nagasaki bombs) and had in its possession "HS-5, 6; R-2", finished and in the hands of quality control. Material for "HS-7, R-3" was in the Los Alamos metallurgy section, and would also be ready by September 5 (it is not certain whether this date allowed for the unmentioned "HS-8"'s fabrication to complete the fourth core).<sup><a href="#cite_note-third-3">[3]</a></sup> The metallurgists used a <a href="/wiki/Plutonium-gallium_alloy">plutonium-gallium alloy</a>, which stabilized the δ phase <a href="/wiki/Allotropes_of_plutonium">allotrope of plutonium</a> so it could be <a href="/wiki/Hot_pressing">hot pressed</a> into the desired spherical shape. As plutonium was found to corrode readily, the sphere was then coated with <a href="/wiki/Nickel">nickel</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup>
</p><p>On August 10, <a href="/wiki/Major_General_(United_States)">Major General</a> <a href="/wiki/Leslie_R._Groves,_Jr.">Leslie R. Groves, Jr.</a>, wrote to <a href="/wiki/General_of_the_Army_(United_States)">General of the Army</a> <a href="/wiki/George_C._Marshall">George C. Marshall</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Chief_of_Staff_of_the_United_States_Army">Chief of Staff of the United States Army</a>, to inform him that:
</p>
<blockquote><p>The next bomb of the implosion type had been scheduled to be ready for delivery on the target on the first good weather after August 24th, 1945. We have gained 4 days in manufacture and expect to ship the final components from New Mexico on August 12th or 13th. Providing there are no unforeseen difficulties in manufacture, in transportation to the theatre or after arrival in the theatre, the bomb should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather after August 17th or 18th.<sup><a href="#cite_note-third-3">[3]</a></sup></p></blockquote>
<p>Marshall added an annotation, "It is not to be released on Japan without express authority from the President", as President <a href="/wiki/Harry_S._Truman">Harry S. Truman</a> was waiting to see the effects of the first two attacks.<sup><a href="#cite_note-third-3">[3]</a></sup> On August 13, the third bomb was scheduled. It was anticipated that it would be ready by August 16 to be dropped on August 19.<sup><a href="#cite_note-third-3">[3]</a></sup> This was pre-empted by <a href="/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan">Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945</a>, while preparations were still being made for it to be couriered to <a href="/wiki/Kirtland_Air_Force_Base">Kirtland Field</a>. The third core remained at Los Alamos.<sup><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>First incident[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=2">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The core, assembled, was designed to be at "−5 <a href="/wiki/Dollar_(reactivity)">cents</a>".<sup><a href="#cite_note-McLaughlin-6">[6]</a></sup> In this state there is only a small safety margin against extraneous factors that might increase reactivity, causing the core to become supercritical, and then <a href="/wiki/Prompt_critical">prompt critical</a>, a brief state of rapid energy increase.<sup><a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a></sup> These factors are not common in the environment; they are circumstances like the compression of the solid metallic core (which would eventually be the method used to explode the bomb), the addition of more nuclear material, or provision of an external reflector which would reflect outbound <a href="/wiki/Neutron">neutrons</a> back into the core. The experiments conducted at Los Alamos leading to the two fatal accidents were designed to guarantee that the core was indeed close to the critical point by arranging such reflectors and seeing how much neutron reflection was required to approach supercriticality.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McLaughlin-6">[6]</a></sup>
</p><p>On August 21, 1945, the plutonium core produced a burst of <a href="/wiki/Neutron_radiation">neutron radiation</a> that led to physicist <a href="/wiki/Harry_Daghlian">Harry Daghlian</a>'s death. Daghlian made a mistake while performing <a href="/wiki/Neutron_reflector">neutron reflector</a> experiments on the core. He was working alone; a security guard, Private Robert J. Hemmerly, was seated at a desk 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 m) away.<sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup> The core was placed within a stack of neutron-reflective <a href="/wiki/Tungsten_carbide">tungsten carbide</a> bricks and the addition of each brick moved the assembly closer to criticality. While attempting to stack another brick around the assembly, Daghlian accidentally dropped it onto the core and thereby caused the core to go well into supercriticality, a self-sustaining critical chain reaction. He quickly moved the brick off the assembly, but received a fatal dose of radiation. He died 25 days later from acute <a href="/wiki/Radiation_poisoning">radiation poisoning</a>.<sup><a href="#cite_note-Millerp68-9">[9]</a></sup>
</p>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Name
</th>
<th>Origin
</th>
<th>Age at accident
</th>
<th>Profession
</th>
<th>Dose<sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</th>
<th>Aftermath
</th>
<th>Reference
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Harry_Daghlian">Haroutune "Harry" Krikor Daghlian, Jr.</a></td>
<td>New London, Connecticut</td>
<td>24</td>
<td>Physicist</td>
<td>200 <a href="/wiki/Rad_(unit)">rad</a> (2.0 <a href="/wiki/Gray_(unit)">Gy</a>) neutron<br />110 rad (1.1 Gy) <a href="/wiki/Gamma_rays">gamma</a></td>
<td>Died 25 days after the accident of <a href="/wiki/Acute_radiation_syndrome">acute radiation syndrome</a>, <a href="/wiki/Haematopoiesis">haematopoietic</a> focus
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-ARS-10">[10]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Private Robert J. Hemmerly</td>
<td>Whitehall, Ohio</td>
<td>29</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Special_Engineer_Detachment">Special Engineer Detachment</a> (SED) guard</td>
<td>8 rad (0.080 Gy) neutron<br />0.1 rad (0.0010 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died in 1978 (33 years after accident) of <a href="/wiki/Acute_myelogenous_leukemia">acute myelogenous leukemia</a> at the age of 62
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-ARS-10">[10]</a></sup>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<h2>Second incident[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=3">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:Tickling_the_Dragons_Tail.jpg"></a></p></div><div><p><a href="/wiki/File:The_demon_core.jpg"></a></p></div><div><p>A re-creation of the 1946 experiment. The half-sphere is seen, but the core inside is not. The beryllium hemisphere is held up with a screwdriver.</p></div></div>
<p>On May 21, 1946,<sup><a href="#cite_note-accidents-11">[11]</a></sup> physicist <a href="/wiki/Louis_Slotin">Louis Slotin</a> and seven other personnel were in a Los Alamos laboratory conducting another experiment to verify the closeness of the core to criticality by the positioning of neutron reflectors. Slotin, who was leaving Los Alamos, was showing the technique to <a href="/wiki/Alvin_C._Graves">Alvin C. Graves</a>, who would use it in a final test before the <a href="/wiki/Operation_Crossroads">Operation Crossroads</a> nuclear tests scheduled a month later at <a href="/wiki/Bikini_Atoll">Bikini Atoll</a>. It required the operator to place two half-spheres of <a href="/wiki/Beryllium">beryllium</a> (a neutron reflector) around the core to be tested and manually lower the top reflector over the core using a thumb hole on the top. As the reflectors were manually moved closer and farther away from each other, <a href="/wiki/Scintillation_counters">scintillation counters</a> measured the relative activity from the core. The experimenter needed to maintain a slight separation between the reflector halves in order to stay below criticality. The standard protocol was to use <a href="/wiki/Shim_(spacer)">shims</a> between the halves, as allowing them to close completely could result in the instantaneous formation of a critical mass and a lethal power excursion.
</p><p>Under Slotin's own unapproved protocol, the shims were not used and the only thing preventing the closure was the blade of a standard flat-tipped <a href="/wiki/Screwdriver">screwdriver</a> manipulated in Slotin's other hand. Slotin, who was given to bravado,<sup><a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a></sup> became the local expert, performing the test on almost a dozen occasions, often in his trademark blue jeans and cowboy boots, in front of a roomful of observers. <a href="/wiki/Enrico_Fermi">Enrico Fermi</a> reportedly told Slotin and others they would be "dead within a year" if they continued performing the test in that manner.<sup><a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></sup> Scientists referred to this flirting with the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction as "tickling the dragon's tail", based on a remark by physicist <a href="/wiki/Richard_Feynman">Richard Feynman</a>, who compared the experiments to "tickling the tail of a sleeping dragon".<sup><a href="#cite_note-NYT-14">[14]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></sup>
</p><p>On the day of the accident, Slotin's screwdriver slipped outward a fraction of an inch while he was lowering the top reflector, allowing the reflector to fall into place around the core. Instantly, there was a flash of blue light and a wave of heat across Slotin's skin; the core had become supercritical, releasing an intense burst of <a href="/wiki/Neutron_radiation">neutron radiation</a> estimated to have lasted about a half second.<sup><a href="#cite_note-McLaughlin-6">[6]</a></sup> Slotin quickly twisted his wrist, flipping the top shell to the floor. The heating of the core and shells stopped the criticality within seconds of its initiation,<sup><a href="#cite_note-schreiber-16">[16]</a></sup> while Slotin's reaction prevented a recurrence and ended the accident. The position of Slotin's body over the apparatus also shielded the others from much of the neutron radiation, but he received a lethal dose of 1,000 <a href="/wiki/Rad_(unit)">rad</a> (10 <a href="/wiki/Gray_(unit)">Gy</a>) neutron and 114 rad (1.14 Gy) gamma radiation in under a second and died nine days later from acute radiation poisoning.
</p><p>The nearest person to Slotin, Graves, who was watching over Slotin's shoulder and was thus partially shielded by him, received a high but non-lethal <a href="/wiki/Radiation_dose">radiation dose</a>. Graves was hospitalized for several weeks with severe radiation poisoning.<sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup> He died 19 years later, at age 55, of a <a href="/wiki/Heart_attack">heart attack</a>. While this may have been caused by Graves' exposure to radiation, his father also died of a heart attack (suggesting that the event may have been hereditary).<sup><a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-Alsop54-18">[18]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></sup>
</p><p>The second accident was reported by the <a href="/wiki/Associated_Press">Associated Press</a> on May 26, 1946: "Four men injured through accidental exposure to radiation in the government's atomic laboratory here [Los Alamos] have been discharged from the hospital and 'immediate condition' of four others is satisfactory, the Army reported today. Dr. <a href="/wiki/Norris_E._Bradbury">Norris E. Bradbury</a>, project director, said the men were injured last Tuesday in what he described as an experiment with fissionable material."<sup><a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a></sup>
</p>
<h3>Medical studies[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=4">edit</a>]</h3>
<p>Follow-up research was conducted on the health of the men. An early report was published in 1951. A later report was compiled for the U.S. government and submitted in 1979.<sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup> A summary of its findings:
</p>
<table>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Name</th>
<th>Origin</th>
<th>Age at accident</th>
<th>Profession
</th>
<th>Dose<sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup></th>
<th>Aftermath
</th>
<th>
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Louis_Slotin">Louis Alexander Slotin</a></td>
<td>Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada</td>
<td>35</td>
<td>Physicist</td>
<td>1,000 <a href="/wiki/Rad_(unit)">rad</a> (10 <a href="/wiki/Gray_(unit)">Gy</a>) neutron <br /> 114 rad (1.14 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died 9 days after the accident of <a href="/wiki/Acute_radiation_syndrome">acute radiation syndrome</a>, gastrointestinal focus
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-accidents-11">[11]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Alvin_C._Graves">Alvin C. Graves</a></td>
<td>Austin, Texas</td>
<td>36</td>
<td>Physicist</td>
<td>166 rad (1.66 Gy) neutron <br /> 26 rad (0.26 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died in 1965 (19 years after the accident) of <a href="/wiki/Myocardial_infarction">myocardial infarction</a>, with aggravating "compensated <a href="/wiki/Myxedema">myxedema</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cataract">cataracts</a>", while skiing
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Samuel Allan Kline</td>
<td>Chicago, Illinois</td>
<td>26</td>
<td>Physics student, later patent attorney
</td>
<td></td>
<td>Died in 2001 (55 years after the accident) at the age of 81; refused to take part in studies and was prevented from obtaining his own medical records from the incident</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Marion Edward Cieslicki</td>
<td><a href="/wiki/Mt._Lebanon,_Pennsylvania">Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania</a></td>
<td>23</td>
<td>Physicist
</td>
<td>12 rad (0.12 Gy) neutron <br /> 4 rad (0.040 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died of <a href="/wiki/Acute_myelocytic_leukemia">acute myelocytic leukemia</a> in 1965 (19 years after the accident)
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Dwight_Smith_Young">Dwight Smith Young</a></td>
<td>Chicago, Illinois</td>
<td>54</td>
<td>Photographer
</td>
<td>51 rad (0.51 Gy) neutron <br /> 11 rad (0.11 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died of <a href="/wiki/Aplastic_anemia">aplastic anemia</a> and <a href="/wiki/Infective_endocarditis">bacterial endocarditis</a> in 1975 (29 years after the accident) at the age of 83
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td><a href="/wiki/Raemer_E._Schreiber">Raemer Edgar Schreiber</a></td>
<td><a href="/wiki/McMinnville,_Oregon">McMinnville, Oregon</a></td>
<td>36</td>
<td>Physicist
</td>
<td>9 rad (0.090 Gy) neutron <br /> 3 rad (0.030 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Died of natural causes in 1998 (52 years after the accident), at the age of 88
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-schreiber-16">[16]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Theodore Perlman</td>
<td>New Orleans, Louisiana<sup><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a></sup></td>
<td>23</td>
<td>Engineer
</td>
<td>7 rad (0.070 Gy) neutron <br /> 2 rad (0.020 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>"Alive and in good health and spirits" as of 1978; probably died in June 1988 (42 years after the accident), in Livermore, California<sup><a href="#cite_note-22">[22]</a></sup>
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Private Patrick Joseph Cleary</td>
<td>New York City, New York</td>
<td>21</td>
<td>Security guard
</td>
<td>33 rad (0.33 Gy) neutron <br /> 9 rad (0.090 Gy) gamma</td>
<td>Sergeant 1st Class Cleary was <a href="/wiki/Killed_in_action">KIA</a> on 3 September 1950 (4 years after the accident) while fighting in the <a href="/wiki/8th_Cavalry_Regiment">8th Cavalry Regiment</a>, US Army in the <a href="/wiki/Korean_War">Korean War</a><sup><a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-24">[24]</a></sup>
</td>
<td><sup><a href="#cite_note-hempelman-8">[8]</a></sup>
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<p>Two machinists, Paul Long and another, unidentified, in another part of the building, 20–25 ft (6–7.5 m) away, were not treated.<sup><a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a></sup>
</p><p>After these incidents the core, originally known as "Rufus", was referred to as the "demon core".<sup><a href="#cite_note-third-3">[3]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-New_Yorker-26">[26]</a></sup> Hands-on criticality experiments were stopped, and remote-control machines and TV cameras were designed by Schreiber, one of the survivors, to perform such experiments with all personnel at a quarter-mile distance.<sup><a href="#cite_note-schreiber-16">[16]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>Planned uses and fate of the core[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=5">edit</a>]</h2>
<p>The demon core was intended for use in the <a href="/wiki/Operation_Crossroads">Operation Crossroads</a> nuclear tests, but after the criticality accident, time was needed for its radioactivity to decline and for it to be re-evaluated for the effects of the fission products it held, some of which were highly <a href="/wiki/Neutron_poison">neutron poisonous</a> to the desired level of fission. The next two cores were shipped for use in <i>Able</i> and <i>Baker</i>, and the demon core was scheduled to be shipped later for the third test of the series, provisionally named <i>Charlie</i>, but that test was cancelled due to the unexpected level of radioactivity resulting from the underwater <i>Baker</i> test and the inability to decontaminate the target warships. The core was later melted down and the material recycled for use in other cores.<sup><a href="#cite_note-New_Yorker-26">[26]</a></sup><sup><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a></sup>
</p>
<h2>See also[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=6">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cecil_Kelley_criticality_accident">Cecil Kelley criticality accident</a></li></ul>
<h2>References[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=7">edit</a>]</h2>
<div><ol>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b> <cite>Wellerstein, Alex. <a href="http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2011/11/28/you-dont-know-fat-man/">"You don't know <i>Fat Man</i>"</a>. Restricted data blog. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081651/http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2011/11/28/you-dont-know-fat-man/">Archived</a> from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b> <cite>Coster-Mullen, John (2010). <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/conqueror_worm/8165065513/in/photostream/"><i>Core Differences, from "Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of </i>Little Boy<i> and </i>Fat Man<i>"</i></a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140427063417/https://www.flickr.com/photos/conqueror_worm/8165065513/in/photostream/">Archived</a> from the original on April 27, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.</cite> An error: the illustration caption states the <i>Fat Man</i> core was plated in silver; it was plated in nickel, as the silver plating on the gadget core blistered. The disk in the drawings is a gold foil gasket.
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-third_3-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-third_3-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-third_3-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-third_3-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-third_3-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Wellerstein, Alex. <a href="http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/16/the-third-cores-revenge/">"The Third Core's Revenge"</a>. Restricted data blog. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140407081649/http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2013/08/16/the-third-cores-revenge/">Archived</a> from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b> <cite>Baker, Richard D.; Hecker, Siegfried S.; Harbur, Delbert R. (1983). <a href="http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?07-16.pdf">"Plutonium: A Wartime Nightmare but a Metallurgist's Dream"</a> (PDF). <i><a href="/wiki/Los_Alamos_Science">Los Alamos Science</a></i>. Los Alamos National Laboratory (Winter/Spring): 142–151. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20111017034523/http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?07-16.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2010.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b> <cite><a href="/wiki/Raemer_Schreiber">Shreiber, Raemer</a>; <a href="/wiki/Richard_Rhodes">Rhodes, Richard</a> (1993). <a href="http://manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/raemer-schreibers-interview-1993">"Raemer Schreiber's Interview"</a>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150429100225/http://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/raemer-schreibers-interview-1993">Archived</a> from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.</cite> Raemer Schreiber being interviewed by Richard Rhodes
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-McLaughlin_6-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McLaughlin_6-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-McLaughlin_6-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>McLaughlin, Thomas P.; Monahan, Shean P.; Pruvost, Norman L.; Frolov, Vladimir V.; Ryazanov, Boris G.; Sviridov, Victor I. (May 2000). <a href="https://www.orau.org/PTP/Library/accidents/la-13638.pdf">A review of criticality incidents, 2000 Revision (LA-13638)</a> (PDF) (Report). pp. 70–78. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140722230204/http://www.orau.org/ptp/Library/accidents/la-13638.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on July 22, 2014. Retrieved May 18, 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b> <cite>Stater, Robert G. (December 13, 2012). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160304073037/http://www.pipeline.com/~rstater/nuke1tttt.html">"Prompt Criticality: A Concept with False Credentials"</a>. Nuke Facts. Archived from <a href="http://www.pipeline.com/~rstater/nuke1tttt.html">the original</a> on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-4"><sup><i><b>e</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-5"><sup><i><b>f</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-6"><sup><i><b>g</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-7"><sup><i><b>h</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-8"><sup><i><b>i</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-9"><sup><i><b>j</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-10"><sup><i><b>k</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-hempelman_8-11"><sup><i><b>l</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Hempelman, Louis Henry; Lushbaugh, Clarence C.; Voelz, George L. (October 19, 1979). <a href="http://www.orau.org/ptp/pdf/accidentsurvivorslanl.pdf"><i>What Has Happened to the Survivors of the Early Los Alamos Nuclear Accidents?</i></a> (PDF). Conference for Radiation Accident Preparedness. Oak Ridge: <a href="/wiki/Los_Alamos_Scientific_Laboratory">Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory</a>. LA-UR-79-2802. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140912141857/http://www.orau.org/ptp/pdf/accidentsurvivorslanl.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved January 5, 2013.</cite> Patient numbers in this document have been identified as: 1 – Daghlian, 2 – Hemmerly, 3 – Slotin, 4 – Graves, 5 – Kline, 6 – Young, 7 – Cleary, 8 – Cieleski, 9 – Schreiber, 10 – Perlman
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Millerp68_9-0">^</a></b> <cite>Miller, Richard L. (1991). <a href="https://archive.org/details/underclouddec00mill/page/68"><i>Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing</i></a>. The Woodlands, Texas: Two Sixty Press. pp. <a href="https://archive.org/details/underclouddec00mill/page/68">68, 77</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-02-921620-6"><bdi>0-02-921620-6</bdi></a>.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-ARS_10-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-ARS_10-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Dion, Arnold. <a href="http://members.tripod.com/~Arnold_Dion/Daghlian/sickness.html">"Acute Radiation Sickness"</a>. Tripod. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150910123215/http://members.tripod.com/~Arnold_Dion/Daghlian/sickness.html">Archived</a> from the original on September 10, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-accidents_11-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-accidents_11-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite><a href="http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00314607.pdf">"A Review of Criticality Accidents"</a> (PDF). <a href="/wiki/Los_Alamos_Scientific_Laboratory">Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory</a>. September 26, 1967. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170118111722/http://library.lanl.gov/cgi-bin/getfile?00314607.pdf">Archived</a> (PDF) from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved August 12, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://iflscience.com/the-demon-core-accident-how-one-man-stopped-a-nuclear-detonation-with-his-bare-hands-59736">"The Demon Core: How One Man Intervened With His Bare Hands During A Nuclear Accident"</a>. <i>IFLScience</i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b> <cite>Welsome, Eileen (1999). <a href="https://archive.org/details/plutoniumfiles00wels_0/page/184"><i>The Plutonium Files</i></a>. New York: Dial Press. p. <a href="https://archive.org/details/plutoniumfiles00wels_0/page/184">184</a>. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-385-31402-2"><bdi>978-0-385-31402-2</bdi></a>. Retrieved November 18, 2012.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-NYT_14-0">^</a></b> <cite>Weber, Bruce (10 April 2001). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/10/theater/theater-review-a-scientist-s-tragic-hubris-attains-critical-mass-onstage.html">"Theater Review; A Scientist's Tragic Hubris Attains Critical Mass Onstage"</a>. <i>New York Times</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121103135846/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/10/theater/theater-review-a-scientist-s-tragic-hubris-attains-critical-mass-onstage.html">Archived</a> from the original on 3 November 2012. Retrieved 12 November 2007.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b> <cite>Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten; Lustig, Harry (November–December 2002). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170520181417/http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2002/6/science-as-theater/99999">"Science as Theater: The Slip of the Screwdriver"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/American_Scientist">American Scientist</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/Sigma_Xi">Sigma Xi</a>. <b>90</b> (6): 550–555. <a href="/wiki/Bibcode_(identifier)">Bibcode</a>:<a href="https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2002AmSci..90..550S">2002AmSci..90..550S</a>. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)">doi</a>:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1511%2F2002.6.550">10.1511/2002.6.550</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2002/6/science-as-theater/99999">the original</a> on May 20, 2017.</cite>
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-schreiber_16-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-schreiber_16-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-schreiber_16-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Calloway, Larry (July 1995). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150816161934/http://www.abqjournal.com/trinity/trinity2.pdf">"Nuclear Naiveté"</a> (PDF). <i>Albuquerque Journal</i>. Archived from <a href="http://www.abqjournal.com/trinity/trinity2.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on August 16, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b> <cite>Clifford T. Honicker (November 19, 1989). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/magazine/america-s-radiation-victims-the-hidden-files.html">"America's Radiation Victims: The Hidden Files"</a>. <i>New York Times</i>. p. 11. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160831025102/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/magazine/america-s-radiation-victims-the-hidden-files.html">Archived</a> from the original on August 31, 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-Alsop54_18-0">^</a></b> <cite>Alsop, Stewart; Robert E. Lapp (March 6, 1954). <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141017051919/http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10689/11989/3/Chapter1_65-135p.pdf">"The Strange Death of Louis Slotin"</a> (PDF). <i>Saturday Evening Post</i>. Vol. 226, no. 36. pp. 25ff. Archived from <a href="http://dspace.wbpublibnet.gov.in:8080/jspui/bitstream/10689/11989/3/Chapter1_65-135p.pdf">the original</a> (PDF) on October 17, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b> <cite>Clifford T. Honicker (November 19, 1989). <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/magazine/america-s-radiation-victims-the-hidden-files.html">"America's Radiation Victims: The Hidden Files"</a>. <i>The New York Times</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120217095609/http://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/19/magazine/america-s-radiation-victims-the-hidden-files.html">Archived</a> from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2011.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b> Associated Press, "Several at Atomic Bomb Laboratory Injured", <i>The San Bernardino Daily Sun</i>, San Bernardino, California, Monday 27 May 1946, Volume 52, page 1.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Louisiana/Theodore-Perlman_4b7wwk">"Theodore Perlman in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/Ancestry.com">Ancestry.com</a></i>.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-22">^</a></b> State of California. California Death Index, 1940–1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b> American Battle Monuments Commission. Korean War Veterans Honor Roll. Ancestry.com. WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings [database on-line]
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b> <cite>K. White (18 April 2019). <a href="https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198440924">"Find a Grave: Patrick Joseph Cleary"</a>. <i>Find a Grave</i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200729213104/https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/198440924">Archived</a> from the original on 29 July 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b> <cite><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20140407070650/http://www.mphpa.org/classic/NPO/Slotin%20Accident.doc">"Louis Slotin"</a>. Archived from <a href="http://www.mphpa.org/classic/NPO/Slotin%20Accident.doc">the original</a> on April 7, 2014. Retrieved April 4, 2014.</cite> 
</li>
<li>^ <a href="#cite_ref-New_Yorker_26-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-New_Yorker_26-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <cite>Wellerstein, Alex (May 21, 2016). <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/demon-core-the-strange-death-of-louis-slotin?intcid=mod-latest">"The Demon Core and the Strange Death of Louis Slotin"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/The_New_Yorker">The New Yorker</a></i>. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160524022150/http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/demon-core-the-strange-death-of-louis-slotin?intcid=mod-latest">Archived</a> from the original on May 24, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2016.</cite>
</li>
<li><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b> <cite>Wellerstein, Alex (May 23, 2016). <a href="http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/05/23/the-blue-flash/">"The blue flash"</a>. Restricted Data. <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160524122659/http://blog.nuclearsecrecy.com/2016/05/23/the-blue-flash/">Archived</a> from the original on 24 May 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.</cite>
</li>
</ol></div>
<h2>External links[<a href="/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&amp;action=edit&amp;section=8">edit</a>]</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/wiki/File:Commons-logo.svg"></a> Media related to <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Demon_core">Demon core</a> at Wikimedia Commons</li></ul>
</div>||||I|||| Jump to content
 Toggle sidebar
 Search
 * Create account
 Personal tools
 * Create account
 * Log in

 Pages for logged out editors learn more

 * Talk
 * Contributions
 Navigation
 * Main page
 * Contents
 * Current events
 * Random article
 * About Wikipedia
 * Contact us
 * Donate
 Contribute
 * Help
 * Learn to edit
 * Community portal
 * Recent changes
 * Upload file
 Tools
 * What links here
 * Related changes
 * Upload file
 * Special pages
 * Permanent link
 * Page information
 * Cite this page
 * Wikidata item
 Print/export
 * Download as PDF
 * Printable version
 In other projects
 * Wikimedia Commons
 Languages
 On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Go to top.

 Contents

 move to sidebar hide
 * (Top)
 * 1 Manufacturing and early history
 * 2 First incident
 * 3 Second incident
 + 3.1 Medical studies
 * 4 Planned uses and fate of the core
 * 5 See also
 * 6 References
 * 7 External links
 Toggle the table of contents

 Demon core

 20 languages
 * Asturianu
 * Deutsch
 * Español
 * Euskara
 * Français
 * Bahasa Indonesia
 * Italiano
 * עברית
 * Lëtzebuergesch
 * Lietuvių
 * Nederlands
 * 日本語
 * Polski
 * Português
 * Русский
 * Српски / srpski
 * ไทย
 * Українська
 * Tiếng Việt
 * 中文
 Edit links
 * Article
 * Talk
 English
 * Read
 * Edit
 * View history
 More
 * Read
 * Edit
 * View history
 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 A re-creation of the experiment involved in the 1945 incident. The sphere of plutonium is surrounded by neutron-reflecting tungsten carbide blocks.

 The demon core was a spherical 6.2-kilogram (14 lb) subcritical mass of plutonium 89 millimetres (3.5 in) in diameter, manufactured during World War II by the United States nuclear weapon development effort, the Manhattan Project, as a fissile core for an early atomic bomb. The core was prepared for shipment as part of the third nuclear weapon to be used in Japan, but when Japan surrendered, the core was retained at Los Alamos for testing and potential later use. It was involved in two criticality accidents at the Los Alamos Laboratory on August 21, 1945, and May 21, 1946, each resulting in a fatality. Both experiments were designed to demonstrate how close the core was to criticality with a tamper, but in each case, the core was accidentally placed into a supercritical configuration. Physicists Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin suffered acute radiation syndrome (ARS) and died soon after, while others present in the lab were also exposed.

 Manufacturing and early history [ edit ]

 The demon core (like the second core used in the bombing of Nagasaki) was, when assembled, a solid 6.2-kilogram (14 lb) sphere measuring 89 millimetres (3.5 in) in diameter. It consisted of three parts: two plutonium-gallium hemispheres and a ring, designed to keep neutron flux from "jetting" out of the joined surface between the hemispheres during implosion. The core of the device used in the Trinity Test at the Alamogordo Bombing and Gunnery Range in July did not have such a ring.[1][2]

 The two physicists Harry Daghlian (center left) and Louis Slotin (center right) during the Trinity Test. Both died following supercriticality accidents involving the "demon core".

 The refined plutonium was shipped from the Hanford Site in Washington state to the Los Alamos Laboratory; an inventory document dated August 30 shows Los Alamos had expended "HS-1, 2, 3, 4; R-1" (the components of the Trinity and Nagasaki bombs) and had in its possession "HS-5, 6; R-2", finished and in the hands of quality control. Material for "HS-7, R-3" was in the Los Alamos metallurgy section, and would also be ready by September 5 (it is not certain whether this date allowed for the unmentioned "HS-8 " 's fabrication to complete the fourth core).[3] The metallurgists used a plutonium-gallium alloy, which stabilized the δ phase allotrope of plutonium so it could be hot pressed into the desired spherical shape. As plutonium was found to corrode readily, the sphere was then coated with nickel.[4]

 On August 10, Major General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., wrote to General of the Army George C. Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, to inform him that:

 The next bomb of the implosion type had been scheduled to be ready for delivery on the target on the first good weather after August 24th, 1945. We have gained 4 days in manufacture and expect to ship the final components from New Mexico on August 12th or 13th. Providing there are no unforeseen difficulties in manufacture, in transportation to the theatre or after arrival in the theatre, the bomb should be ready for delivery on the first suitable weather after August 17th or 18th.[3]

 Marshall added an annotation, "It is not to be released on Japan without express authority from the President", as President Harry S. Truman was waiting to see the effects of the first two attacks.[3] On August 13, the third bomb was scheduled. It was anticipated that it would be ready by August 16 to be dropped on August 19.[3] This was pre-empted by Japan's surrender on August 15, 1945, while preparations were still being made for it to be couriered to Kirtland Field. The third core remained at Los Alamos.[5]

 First incident [ edit ]

 The core, assembled, was designed to be at "−5 cents".[6] In this state there is only a small safety margin against extraneous factors that might increase reactivity, causing the core to become supercritical, and then prompt critical, a brief state of rapid energy increase.[7] These factors are not common in the environment; they are circumstances like the compression of the solid metallic core (which would eventually be the method used to explode the bomb), the addition of more nuclear material, or provision of an external reflector which would reflect outbound neutrons back into the core. The experiments conducted at Los Alamos leading to the two fatal accidents were designed to guarantee that the core was indeed close to the critical point by arranging such reflectors and seeing how much neutron reflection was required to approach supercriticality.[6]

 On August 21, 1945, the plutonium core produced a burst of neutron radiation that led to physicist Harry Daghlian's death. Daghlian made a mistake while performing neutron reflector experiments on the core. He was working alone; a security guard, Private Robert J. Hemmerly, was seated at a desk 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 m) away.[8] The core was placed within a stack of neutron-reflective tungsten carbide bricks and the addition of each brick moved the assembly closer to criticality. While attempting to stack another brick around the assembly, Daghlian accidentally dropped it onto the core and thereby caused the core to go well into supercriticality, a self-sustaining critical chain reaction. He quickly moved the brick off the assembly, but received a fatal dose of radiation. He died 25 days later from acute radiation poisoning.[9]

 Name Origin Age at accident Profession Dose[8] Aftermath  Reference
 Haroutune "Harry" Krikor Daghlian, Jr. New London, Connecticut 24 Physicist 200 rad (2.0 Gy) neutron Died 25 days after the accident of acute radiation syndrome, haematopoietic focus [10] 
   110 rad (1.1 Gy) gamma  
 Private Robert J. Hemmerly Whitehall, Ohio 29 Special Engineer Detachment (SED) guard 8 rad (0.080 Gy) neutron Died in 1978 (33 years after accident) of acute myelogenous leukemia at the age of 62 [10] 
   0.1 rad (0.0010 Gy) gamma  
 

 Second incident [ edit ]

 A re-creation of the 1946 experiment. The half-sphere is seen, but the core inside is not. The beryllium hemisphere is held up with a screwdriver.

 On May 21, 1946,[11] physicist Louis Slotin and seven other personnel were in a Los Alamos laboratory conducting another experiment to verify the closeness of the core to criticality by the positioning of neutron reflectors. Slotin, who was leaving Los Alamos, was showing the technique to Alvin C. Graves, who would use it in a final test before the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests scheduled a month later at Bikini Atoll. It required the operator to place two half-spheres of beryllium (a neutron reflector) around the core to be tested and manually lower the top reflector over the core using a thumb hole on the top. As the reflectors were manually moved closer and farther away from each other, scintillation counters measured the relative activity from the core. The experimenter needed to maintain a slight separation between the reflector halves in order to stay below criticality. The standard protocol was to use shims between the halves, as allowing them to close completely could result in the instantaneous formation of a critical mass and a lethal power excursion.

 Under Slotin's own unapproved protocol, the shims were not used and the only thing preventing the closure was the blade of a standard flat-tipped screwdriver manipulated in Slotin's other hand. Slotin, who was given to bravado,[12] became the local expert, performing the test on almost a dozen occasions, often in his trademark blue jeans and cowboy boots, in front of a roomful of observers. Enrico Fermi reportedly told Slotin and others they would be "dead within a year" if they continued performing the test in that manner.[13] Scientists referred to this flirting with the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction as "tickling the dragon's tail", based on a remark by physicist Richard Feynman, who compared the experiments to "tickling the tail of a sleeping dragon".[14][15]

 On the day of the accident, Slotin's screwdriver slipped outward a fraction of an inch while he was lowering the top reflector, allowing the reflector to fall into place around the core. Instantly, there was a flash of blue light and a wave of heat across Slotin's skin; the core had become supercritical, releasing an intense burst of neutron radiation estimated to have lasted about a half second.[6] Slotin quickly twisted his wrist, flipping the top shell to the floor. The heating of the core and shells stopped the criticality within seconds of its initiation,[16] while Slotin's reaction prevented a recurrence and ended the accident. The position of Slotin's body over the apparatus also shielded the others from much of the neutron radiation, but he received a lethal dose of 1,000 rad (10 Gy) neutron and 114 rad (1.14 Gy) gamma radiation in under a second and died nine days later from acute radiation poisoning.

 The nearest person to Slotin, Graves, who was watching over Slotin's shoulder and was thus partially shielded by him, received a high but non-lethal radiation dose. Graves was hospitalized for several weeks with severe radiation poisoning.[8] He died 19 years later, at age 55, of a heart attack. While this may have been caused by Graves' exposure to radiation, his father also died of a heart attack (suggesting that the event may have been hereditary).[17][18][19]

 The second accident was reported by the Associated Press on May 26, 1946: "Four men injured through accidental exposure to radiation in the government's atomic laboratory here [Los Alamos] have been discharged from the hospital and 'immediate condition' of four others is satisfactory, the Army reported today. Dr. Norris E. Bradbury, project director, said the men were injured last Tuesday in what he described as an experiment with fissionable material."[20]

 Medical studies [ edit ]

 Follow-up research was conducted on the health of the men. An early report was published in 1951. A later report was compiled for the U.S. government and submitted in 1979.[8] A summary of its findings:

 Name Origin Age at accident Profession Dose[8] Aftermath   
 Louis Alexander Slotin Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 35 Physicist 1,000 rad (10 Gy) neutron Died 9 days after the accident of acute radiation syndrome, gastrointestinal focus  [11] 
   114 rad (1.14 Gy) gamma   
 Alvin C. Graves Austin, Texas 36 Physicist 166 rad (1.66 Gy) neutron Died in 1965 (19 years after the accident) of myocardial infarction, with aggravating "compensated myxedema and cataracts", while skiing [8] 
   26 rad (0.26 Gy) gamma   
 Samuel Allan Kline Chicago, Illinois 26 Physics student, later patent attorney Died in 2001 (55 years after the accident) at the age of 81; refused to take part in studies and was prevented from obtaining his own medical records from the incident [8] 
 Marion Edward Cieslicki Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania 23 Physicist 12 rad (0.12 Gy) neutron Died of acute myelocytic leukemia in 1965 (19 years after the accident)  [8] 
   4 rad (0.040 Gy) gamma   
 Dwight Smith Young Chicago, Illinois 54 Photographer 51 rad (0.51 Gy) neutron Died of aplastic anemia and bacterial endocarditis in 1975 (29 years after the accident) at the age of 83 [8] 
   11 rad (0.11 Gy) gamma   
 Raemer Edgar Schreiber McMinnville, Oregon 36 Physicist 9 rad (0.090 Gy) neutron Died of natural causes in 1998 (52 years after the accident), at the age of 88  [8][16]
   3 rad (0.030 Gy) gamma   
 Theodore Perlman New Orleans, Louisiana[21] 23 Engineer 7 rad (0.070 Gy) neutron "Alive and in good health and spirits" as of 1978; probably died in June 1988 (42 years after the accident), in Livermore, California[22] [8] 
   2 rad (0.020 Gy) gamma   
 Private Patrick Joseph Cleary New York City, New York 21 Security guard 33 rad (0.33 Gy) neutron Sergeant 1st Class Cleary was KIA on 3 September 1950 (4 years after the accident) while fighting in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, US Army in the Korean War[23][24] [8] 
   9 rad (0.090 Gy) gamma   
 

 Two machinists, Paul Long and another, unidentified, in another part of the building, 20–25 ft (6–7.5 m) away, were not treated.[25]

 After these incidents the core, originally known as "Rufus", was referred to as the "demon core".[3][26] Hands-on criticality experiments were stopped, and remote-control machines and TV cameras were designed by Schreiber, one of the survivors, to perform such experiments with all personnel at a quarter-mile distance.[16]

 Planned uses and fate of the core [ edit ]

 The demon core was intended for use in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests, but after the criticality accident, time was needed for its radioactivity to decline and for it to be re-evaluated for the effects of the fission products it held, some of which were highly neutron poisonous to the desired level of fission. The next two cores were shipped for use in Able and Baker, and the demon core was scheduled to be shipped later for the third test of the series, provisionally named Charlie, but that test was cancelled due to the unexpected level of radioactivity resulting from the underwater Baker test and the inability to decontaminate the target warships. The core was later melted down and the material recycled for use in other cores.[26][27]

 See also [ edit ]

 * Cecil Kelley criticality accident

 References [ edit ]

 1. ^ Wellerstein, Alex. "You don't know Fat Man". Restricted data blog. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014 . Retrieved April 4, 2014 .
 2. ^ Coster-Mullen, John (2010). Core Differences, from "Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man". Archived from the original on April 27, 2014 . Retrieved April 4, 2014 . An error: the illustration caption states the Fat Man core was plated in silver; it was plated in nickel, as the silver plating on the gadget core blistered. The disk in the drawings is a gold foil gasket.
 3. ^ a b c d e Wellerstein, Alex. "The Third Core's Revenge". Restricted data blog. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014 . Retrieved April 4, 2014 .
 4. ^ Baker, Richard D.; Hecker, Siegfried S.; Harbur, Delbert R. (1983). "Plutonium: A Wartime Nightmare but a Metallurgist's Dream" (PDF) . Los Alamos Science. Los Alamos National Laboratory (Winter/Spring): 142–151. Archived (PDF) from the original on 17 October 2011 . Retrieved 22 November 2010 .
 5. ^ Shreiber, Raemer; Rhodes, Richard (1993). "Raemer Schreiber's Interview". Archived from the original on April 29, 2015 . Retrieved May 28, 2015 . Raemer Schreiber being interviewed by Richard Rhodes
 6. ^ a b c McLaughlin, Thomas P.; Monahan, Shean P.; Pruvost, Norman L.; Frolov, Vladimir V.; Ryazanov, Boris G.; Sviridov, Victor I. (May 2000). A review of criticality incidents, 2000 Revision (LA-13638) (PDF) (Report). pp. 70–78. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 22, 2014 . Retrieved May 18, 2014 .
 7. ^ Stater, Robert G. (December 13, 2012). "Prompt Criticality: A Concept with False Credentials". Nuke Facts. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016 . Retrieved September 27, 2015 .
 8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hempelman, Louis Henry; Lushbaugh, Clarence C.; Voelz, George L. (October 19, 1979). What Has Happened to the Survivors of the Early Los Alamos Nuclear Accidents? (PDF) . Conference for Radiation Accident Preparedness. Oak Ridge: Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. LA-UR-79-2802. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 12, 2014 . Retrieved January 5, 2013 . Patient numbers in this document have been identified as: 1 – Daghlian, 2 – Hemmerly, 3 – Slotin, 4 – Graves, 5 – Kline, 6 – Young, 7 – Cleary, 8 – Cieleski, 9 – Schreiber, 10 – Perlman
 9. ^ Miller, Richard L. (1991). Under the Cloud: The Decades of Nuclear Testing. The Woodlands, Texas: Two Sixty Press. pp. 68, 77. ISBN 0-02-921620-6.
 10. ^ a b Dion, Arnold. "Acute Radiation Sickness". Tripod. Archived from the original on September 10, 2015 . Retrieved August 12, 2015 .
 11. ^ a b "A Review of Criticality Accidents" (PDF) . Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. September 26, 1967. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 18, 2017 . Retrieved August 12, 2015 .
 12. ^ "The Demon Core: How One Man Intervened With His Bare Hands During A Nuclear Accident". IFLScience.
 13. ^ Welsome, Eileen (1999). The Plutonium Files. New York: Dial Press. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-385-31402-2 . Retrieved November 18, 2012 .
 14. ^ Weber, Bruce (10 April 2001). "Theater Review; A Scientist's Tragic Hubris Attains Critical Mass Onstage". New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 November 2012 . Retrieved 12 November 2007 .
 15. ^ Shepherd-Barr, Kirsten; Lustig, Harry (November–December 2002). "Science as Theater: The Slip of the Screwdriver". American Scientist. Sigma Xi. 90 (6): 550–555. Bibcode:2002AmSci..90..550S. doi:10.1511/2002.6.550. Archived from the original on May 20, 2017.
 16. ^ a b c Calloway, Larry (July 1995). "Nuclear Naiveté" (PDF) . Albuquerque Journal. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 16, 2015 . Retrieved August 12, 2015 .
 17. ^ Clifford T. Honicker (November 19, 1989). "America's Radiation Victims: The Hidden Files". New York Times. p. 11. Archived from the original on August 31, 2016.
 18. ^ Alsop, Stewart; Robert E. Lapp (March 6, 1954). "The Strange Death of Louis Slotin" (PDF) . Saturday Evening Post. Vol. 226, no. 36. pp. 25ff. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 17, 2014 . Retrieved April 3, 2014 .
 19. ^ Clifford T. Honicker (November 19, 1989). "America's Radiation Victims: The Hidden Files". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012 . Retrieved April 23, 2011 .
 20. ^ Associated Press, "Several at Atomic Bomb Laboratory Injured", The San Bernardino Daily Sun , San Bernardino, California, Monday 27 May 1946, Volume 52, page 1.
 21. ^ "Theodore Perlman in the 1940 Census | Ancestry®". Ancestry.com.
 22. ^ State of California. California Death Index, 1940–1997. Sacramento, CA, USA: State of California Department of Health Services, Center for Health Statistics.
 23. ^ American Battle Monuments Commission. Korean War Veterans Honor Roll. Ancestry.com. WWI, WWII, and Korean War Casualty Listings [database on-line]
 24. ^ K. White (18 April 2019). "Find a Grave: Patrick Joseph Cleary". Find a Grave. Archived from the original on 29 July 2020 . Retrieved 22 January 2020 .
 25. ^ "Louis Slotin". Archived from the original on April 7, 2014 . Retrieved April 4, 2014 . {{cite journal}} : Cite journal requires |journal= ( help )
 26. ^ a b Wellerstein, Alex (May 21, 2016). "The Demon Core and the Strange Death of Louis Slotin". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on May 24, 2016 . Retrieved May 22, 2016 .
 27. ^ Wellerstein, Alex (May 23, 2016). "The blue flash". Restricted Data. Archived from the original on 24 May 2016 . Retrieved 23 May 2016 .

 External links [ edit ]

 * Media related to Demon core at Wikimedia Commons
 * v 
 * t 
 * e 
 Manhattan Project
 Timeline 
 * Ames 
 * Berkeley 
 * Chicago 
 * Dayton 
 * Hanford 
 * Inyokern 
 Sites * Los Alamos 
 * Montreal 
 * New York 
 * Oak Ridge 
 * Salt Wells Pilot Plant 
 * Trinity 
 * Wendover 
 * Heavy water sites 
 * Vannevar Bush 
 * Arthur Compton 
 * James B. Conant 
 * Priscilla Duffield 
 * Thomas Farrell 
 * Leslie Groves 
 * John Lansdale 
 * Ernest Lawrence 
 * James Marshall 
 * Franklin Matthias 
 * Dorothy McKibbin 
 Administrators * Kenneth Nichols 
 * Robert Oppenheimer 
 * Deak Parsons 
 * William Purnell 
 * Frank Spedding 
 * Charles Thomas 
 * Paul Tibbets 
 * Bud Uanna 
 * Harold Urey 
 * Stafford Warren 
 * Ed Westcott 
 * Roscoe Wilson 
 * Luis Alvarez 
 * Robert Bacher 
 * Hans Bethe 
 * Aage Bohr 
 * Niels Bohr 
 * Norris Bradbury 
 * James Chadwick 
 * John Cockcroft 
 * Charles Critchfield 
 * Harry Daghlian 
 * Enrico Fermi 
 * Richard Feynman 
 * Val Fitch 
 * James Franck 
 * Klaus Fuchs 
 * Maria Goeppert Mayer 
 * George Kistiakowsky 
 * George Koval 
 Scientists * Willard Libby 
 * Edwin McMillan 
 * Mark Oliphant 
 * Norman Ramsey 
 * Isidor Isaac Rabi 
 * James Rainwater 
 * Bruno Rossi 
 * Glenn Seaborg 
 * Emilio Segrè 
 * Louis Slotin 
 * Henry DeWolf Smyth 
 * Leo Szilard 
 * Edward Teller 
 * Stanisław Ulam 
 * John von Neumann 
 * John Wheeler 
 * Eugene Wigner 
 * Robert Wilson 
 * Leona Woods 
 * Chien-Shiung Wu 
 * Alsos Mission 
 * Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
 * Operation Crossroads 
 * Operation Peppermint 
 Operations * Project Alberta 
 * Silverplate 
 * 509th Composite Group 
 * Enola Gay 
 * Bockscar 
 * The Great Artiste 
 * Fat Man 
 Weapons * Little Boy 
 * Pumpkin bomb 
 * Thin Man 
 * Atomic Energy Act of 1946 
 * Bismuth phosphate process 
 * British contribution 
 * Calutron Girls 
 * Chicago Pile-1 
 * Demon core 
 * Einstein–Szilard letter 
 * Franck Report 
 * Interim Committee 
 Related topics * Oppenheimer security hearing 
 * Plutonium 
 * Quebec Agreement 
 * RaLa Experiment 
 * S-1 Executive Committee 
 * S-50 Project 
 * Smyth Report 
 * Uranium 
 * USS Indianapolis 
 * X-10 Graphite Reactor 
 Manhattan Project
 
 Portals :
 * History of Science
 * Nuclear technology
 * Physics
 * World War II
 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demon_core&oldid=1133882056"
 Categories:
 * Nuclear weapons
 * Plutonium
 * Nuclear weapons program of the United States
 * Nuclear accidents and incidents in the United States
 * History of the Manhattan Project
 * Former objects
 Hidden categories:
 * CS1 errors: missing periodical
 * Articles with short description
 * Short description is different from Wikidata
 * Good articles
 * Articles containing Greek-language text
 * Commons category link is on Wikidata
 * This page was last edited on 16 January 2023, at 00:02 (UTC) .
 * Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
 * Privacy policy
 * About Wikipedia
 * Disclaimers
 * Contact Wikipedia
 * Mobile view
 * Developers
 * Statistics
 * Cookie statement
 * 
 * 
Demon core - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demon_core
Philipp
2021-05-18
<div><section>
<h2>About</h2>
<p><strong>Demon Core</strong> is a nickname given to a spherical core that was experimented on as a part of the Manhattan Project. The core was involved in two fatal incidents in 1945 and 1946, with one of the incidents caused by severe safety protocol violations as a physicist let a screwdriver, with which a beryllium hemisphere was held, slip. Starting in 2018, the incident gained popularity as a historic reference, particularly among Japanese artists, inspiring <a href="/memes/memes">memes</a> and <a href="/memes/cultures/fan-art">fan art</a> of <a href="/memes/cultures/anime-manga">anime</a> girls experimenting with the core.</p>
 <h2>Origin</h2>
<h4>Fatal Incidents</h4>
<p>The demon core, known as "Rufus" before the incidents, was a spherical 6.2-kilogram subcritical mass of plutonium 3.5 inches (89 millimeters) in diameter that was used in experiments at Los Alamos Laboratory as a part of the Manhattan project in 1945 and 1946 and originally intended to be used in nuclear tests in 1946.<sup><a href="#fn1">[1]</a></sup> In 1946, the core was melted down, with the material used to create other cores.</p>
<p>On August 21st, 1945, the core produced a burst of neutron radiation after physicist Harry Daghian dropped a tungsten carbide brick into it, causing it to go supercritical. Daghlian quickly removed the brick, but received a fatal dose of radiation, dying 25 days later.</p>
<p>On May 21st, 1946, physicist Louis Slotin and seven others conducted an experiment to verify the closeness of the core to criticality. During the experiment, Slotin, as he had done a number of times before, violated the safety measures by using a screwdriver instead of shims to prevent beryllium hemispheres placed around the core from closing together, which would result in the core going critical. At one point during the experiment, the screwdriver slipped outward from the core, with the hemispheres closing and the core becoming supercritical. An intense burst of neutron radiation was emitted for about a half-second before Slotin manually knocked the top hemisphere to the floor, stopping the accident. A flash of blue light was observed by the experimenters when the accident occurred. Slotin, who received a lethal 1,000 rad dose of radiation, died nine days after the accident.</p>
<a href="/photos/2103551"></a> <a href="/photos/2103589"></a> <br />
Photographs from a re-creation of the 1946 experiment<br />
<h2>Spread</h2>
<h4>In Popular Culture</h4>
<p>In the 1989 war film <em>Fat Man and the Little Boy</em>,<sup><a href="#fn2">[2]</a></sup> events of the second incident are depicted, with actor John Cusack portraying Louis Slotin (scene shown below).</p>
<br />
<h4>YouTube Videos</h4>
<p>On <a href="/memes/sites/youtube">YouTube</a>, a number of documentary and popular science videos about the incident were posted starting in 2017. On October 13th, 2017, YouTube<sup><a href="#fn3">[3]</a></sup> channel Qxir posted the first such video to go viral, with the upload gaining over 920,000 vies in four years (shown below, left). On November 27th, 2020, YouTuber<sup><a href="#fn4">[4]</a></sup> Kyle Hill posted a video that as of May 2021 was the most-viewed video on the topic with over 6 million views (shown below, right).</p>
 
<br />
<h4>Anime Girls Experimenting With the Demon Core</h4>
<p>On April 4th, 2018, artist nibi <a href="/memes/sites/twitter">tweeted</a><sup><a href="#fn5">[5]</a></sup> a fan art of <a href="/memes/subcultures/touhou-project-%E6%9D%B1%E6%96%B9project"><em>Touhou</em></a> character Aunn Komano using a screwdriver to experiment with the core that gained over 300 retweets and 570 likes (shown below, left).</p>
<p>On April 18th, 2018, artist shirosato tweeted<sup><a href="#fn6">[6]</a></sup> a similar fan art of <em>Touhou</em> character Koakuma that received over 220 retweets and 400 likes, with a <a href="/memes/sites/pixiv">Pixiv</a><sup><a href="#fn7">[7]</a></sup> post gaining over 540 smiles and 460 likes.</p>
<a href="/photos/2103552"></a> <a href="/photos/2103554"></a> 
<p>Following the posts, drawing fan art in which various characters used a screwdriver to experiment with the Demon Core became popular among Japanese artists on Twitter,<sup><a href="#fn8">[8]</a></sup> Pixiv<sup><a href="#fn9">[9]</a></sup> and <a href="/memes/sites/niconico">niconico</a><sup><a href="#fn10">[10]</a></sup> (examples shown below).</p>
<a href="/photos/2103558"></a> <a href="/photos/2103560"></a> <a href="/photos/2103564"></a> 
<p>On December 17th, 2018, Twitter<sup><a href="#fn15">[15]</a></sup> user @wellestrein highlighted the popularity of Demon Core fan art among Japanese users, with their tweet gaining over 1,300 retweets and 1,600 likes in two years.</p>
<p>On March 13th, 2019, YouTuber<sup><a href="#fn11">[11]</a></sup> Karameru (からめる) posted a humorous video titled "Demon Core-kun" that gained over 3.2 million views in two years (shown below).</p>
<p>In May 2021, following a fan art posted by Twitter<sup><a href="#fn12">[12]</a></sup> user @HellOnEarthIII on May 6th (shown below, left) and a tweet<sup><a href="#fn13">[13]</a></sup> posted by user @drab_makyo on May 10th (shown below, right; based on a 2020 artwork by <a href="/memes/sites/tumblr">Tumblr</a><sup><a href="#fn14">[14]</a></sup> user bepisode), the Japanese trend gained recognition among the Western social media users.</p>
<a href="/photos/2103553"></a> <a href="/photos/2103582"></a> <br />
<h4>Elephant's Foot</h4>
<p>The <strong><a href="/memes/elephants-foot/">Elephant's Foot</a></strong> is the nickname given to a large radioactive mass of corium and other materials that formed underneath the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during the <a href="/memes/events/chernobyl-disaster">Chernobyl disaster</a> of April 1986. Following the rise of general awareness of the <em>Chernobyl</em> Disaster assisted by the <a href="/memes/subcultures/chernobyl-tv-series">Chernobyl television series</a>, the foot has been referenced in various memes.</p>
<a href="/photos/2400317"></a> <a href="/photos/1750651"></a> <a href="/photos/2400310"></a> <br />
<h2>Various Examples</h2>
<a href="/photos/2103572"></a> <a href="/photos/2103570"></a> <a href="/photos/1954921"></a> <br />
<a href="/photos/2103579"></a> <a href="/photos/2103578"></a> <a href="/photos/2103561"></a> <br />
<h2>Search Interest</h2>
<h2>External References</h2>
</section>||||I|||| 🗳 Cast Your Vote To Select The Meme Of The Month! 🗳

 Advanced Search Protips
 * About
 * Rules
 * Chat
 * Random
 * Activity

 Welcome! Login or signup now!

 * Home
 * Memes
 + Confirmed
 + Submissions
 + Researching
 + Newsworthy
 + Popular
 + Deadpool
 + All
 + 
 + Submit an Entry
 * Categories
 + Cultures
 + Events
 + Memes
 + People
 + Sites
 + Subcultures
 * News
 * Images
 + Trending
 + Most Commented
 + Most Favorited
 + Most Liked
 + Least Liked
 + Most Viewed
 + All
 + 
 + Templates
 + 
 + Upload an Image
 * Videos
 + Trending
 + Most Commented
 + Most Favorited
 + Most Liked
 + Most Viewed
 + All
 + 
 + Upload a Video
 * Forums
 + Discussion
 + General
 + Meme Research
 + Serious Debate
 + Q & A
 + 
 + Media
 + Video Games
 + Moving Images
 + Books & Comics
 + Music
 + Websites
 + 
 + Fun!
 + Creative
 + Forum Games
 + Just For Fun
 + Riff-Raff
 + Memeory Lane
 + 
 + Maintenance
 + Report Problems
 + Announcements
 + Suggest Ideas
 + 
 + All
 * Editorials
 + Interviews
 + In the Media
 + White Papers
 + Episode Notes
 + Behind the Scenes
 + Meme Review
 + Collections
 + Poll
 + Guides
 + Meme Insider
 + Insights
 + All
 * Episodes
 * Meme Insider
 * Newsletter
 * Guy Slamming Credit Card
 * 'Corn' Has Taken On A Whole New Meaning On TikTok
 * 'Hey, You Wanna See Something Cool?' From 'Puss In Boots' Grows Steadily As Exploitable Meme
 * Gohan Didn't Actually Say 'You Retard,' But A Funny Fansub Fail Has Made It An Iconic Line
 * Giving A Whole New Meaning To 'Forever Alone': Fringe Groups Make It A Habit To Harrass People On V-Day

 Also Trending:

 ChatGPT DAN Jailbreak Chinese Spy Balloon MrBeast "Blind People See for First Time" Video Corn Meaning On TikTok Neglected Pou Telltale Games Bajrang Dal On Valentines Day Super Mario Bros. Film (2023)
 24

 Demon Core

 90,472 13 67 62

 Updated Jul 08, 2022 at 06:50PM EDT by Philipp .

 Added May 18, 2021 at 03:50PM EDT by Philipp .

 Like us on Facebook!
 Pin Tweet

 PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

 Meme Status Confirmed Type: Pop Culture Reference Year 2018 Origin Twitter Tags radiation, demon core, screwdriver, experiment, manhattan project, plutonium, nuclear, demoncore, デーモンコア, rufus, demon core meme, demon core memes Additional References
 Urban Dictionary
 Wikipedia

 About

 Demon Core is a nickname given to a spherical core that was experimented on as a part of the Manhattan Project. The core was involved in two fatal incidents in 1945 and 1946, with one of the incidents caused by severe safety protocol violations as a physicist let a screwdriver, with which a beryllium hemisphere was held, slip. Starting in 2018, the incident gained popularity as a historic reference, particularly among Japanese artists, inspiring memes and fan art of anime girls experimenting with the core.

 Origin

 Fatal Incidents

 The demon core, known as "Rufus" before the incidents, was a spherical 6.2-kilogram subcritical mass of plutonium 3.5 inches (89 millimeters) in diameter that was used in experiments at Los Alamos Laboratory as a part of the Manhattan project in 1945 and 1946 and originally intended to be used in nuclear tests in 1946.[1] In 1946, the core was melted down, with the material used to create other cores.

 On August 21st, 1945, the core produced a burst of neutron radiation after physicist Harry Daghian dropped a tungsten carbide brick into it, causing it to go supercritical. Daghlian quickly removed the brick, but received a fatal dose of radiation, dying 25 days later.

 On May 21st, 1946, physicist Louis Slotin and seven others conducted an experiment to verify the closeness of the core to criticality. During the experiment, Slotin, as he had done a number of times before, violated the safety measures by using a screwdriver instead of shims to prevent beryllium hemispheres placed around the core from closing together, which would result in the core going critical. At one point during the experiment, the screwdriver slipped outward from the core, with the hemispheres closing and the core becoming supercritical. An intense burst of neutron radiation was emitted for about a half-second before Slotin manually knocked the top hemisphere to the floor, stopping the accident. A flash of blue light was observed by the experimenters when the accident occurred. Slotin, who received a lethal 1,000 rad dose of radiation, died nine days after the accident.



 Photographs from a re-creation of the 1946 experiment

 Spread

 In Popular Culture

 In the 1989 war film Fat Man and the Little Boy,[2] events of the second incident are depicted, with actor John Cusack portraying Louis Slotin (scene shown below).



 YouTube Videos

 On YouTube, a number of documentary and popular science videos about the incident were posted starting in 2017. On October 13th, 2017, YouTube[3] channel Qxir posted the first such video to go viral, with the upload gaining over 920,000 vies in four years (shown below, left). On November 27th, 2020, YouTuber[4] Kyle Hill posted a video that as of May 2021 was the most-viewed video on the topic with over 6 million views (shown below, right).



 Anime Girls Experimenting With the Demon Core

 On April 4th, 2018, artist nibi tweeted[5] a fan art of Touhou character Aunn Komano using a screwdriver to experiment with the core that gained over 300 retweets and 570 likes (shown below, left).

 On April 18th, 2018, artist shirosato tweeted[6] a similar fan art of Touhou character Koakuma that received over 220 retweets and 400 likes, with a Pixiv[7] post gaining over 540 smiles and 460 likes.



 Following the posts, drawing fan art in which various characters used a screwdriver to experiment with the Demon Core became popular among Japanese artists on Twitter,[8] Pixiv[9] and niconico[10] (examples shown below).



 On December 17th, 2018, Twitter[15] user @wellestrein highlighted the popularity of Demon Core fan art among Japanese users, with their tweet gaining over 1,300 retweets and 1,600 likes in two years.

 On March 13th, 2019, YouTuber[11] Karameru (からめる) posted a humorous video titled "Demon Core-kun" that gained over 3.2 million views in two years (shown below).



 In May 2021, following a fan art posted by Twitter[12] user @HellOnEarthIII on May 6th (shown below, left) and a tweet[13] posted by user @drab_makyo on May 10th (shown below, right; based on a 2020 artwork by Tumblr[14] user bepisode), the Japanese trend gained recognition among the Western social media users.



 Related Memes

 Elephant's Foot

 The Elephant's Foot is the nickname given to a large radioactive mass of corium and other materials that formed underneath the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during the Chernobyl disaster of April 1986. Following the rise of general awareness of the Chernobyl Disaster assisted by the Chernobyl television series, the foot has been referenced in various memes.



 Various Examples




 Search Interest

 External References

 [1] Wikipedia – Demon core

 [2] Wikipedia – Fat Man and Little Boy

 [3] YouTube – The Bomb That Killed People WITHOUT Exploding | Tales From the Bottle

 [4] YouTube – The True Story of The Demon Core

 [5] Twitter – @nibiqn

 [6] Twitter – @shirosato_town

 [7] Pixiv – デーモン・こあ

 [8] Twitter – @kemhok

 [9] Pixiv – 「プロデューサーさん、この玉の上にこれをかぶせるんですね、わかりました！」

 [10] niconico – デーモンコアクルマユ

 [11] YouTube – Demon Core-kun

 [12] Twitter – @HellOnEarthIII

 [13] Twitter – @drab_makyo

 [14] Tumblr – bepisode

 [15] Twitter – @wellerstein

 Recent Videos 13 total

 SCP-095-FR The Demon Core Demon Core Memes Are My Fault? Keep Your Hands Away From The... `Demon Core-Kun 2' 
 Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core 
 Uploaded by memes_matthews Uploaded by rerere284 Uploaded by rerere284 Uploaded by RWallace514 
 `Demon Core-Kun' Demon Core goes supercritical Fat Man and Little Boy (6/9) ... History And Physics: The Demo...
 Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core 
 Uploaded by RWallace514 Uploaded by andcallmeshirley Uploaded by andcallmeshirley Uploaded by andcallmeshirley 
 
 + Add a Video

 View All Videos

 Recent Images 67 total

 Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core 
 Uploaded by Philipp Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look
 Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core 
 Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look
 Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core Demon Core 
 Uploaded by As Dumb As They Look Uploaded by Squibblyskadew Uploaded by Nyazilla Uploaded by MinionLover6969 
 
 + Add an Image

 View All Images

 Top Comments

 Delete
 NSFW

 Richard Roe

 May 19, 2021 at 12:57AM EDT

 >anime girls experimenting with the demon core
 That's certainly NSFW

 +110
 Reply
 Delete
 NSFW

 LastAngryWrestleman

 May 18, 2021 at 07:57PM EDT

 So apparently the "Too Soon" threshold has passed in Japan?

 +69
 Reply


 + Add a Comment

 Comments (62)


 Display Comments

 Add a Comment


 Top Entries This Month

 Meme

 Loss

 Event

 Atrioc Deepfake Controversy

 Culture

 AI Porn

 Person

 GasprArt

 Subculture

 Clackers

 Site

 AI-Generated Seinfeld Twitch

 View More

 Suggest a Change Edit History

 Entry Editors (3)

 Philipp

 Memesplainer

 andcallmeshirley

 Digital Archaeologist & Treasurer & Collection Butler

 Zach

 Memenator

 + Request Editorship

 View All Editors

 Today's Top Image Galleries

 AI Anime Girls as Creepypasta Images Robot Fetishism / ASFR 
  
 Gohan's "You Retard." Big Jack Horner (Puss In Boots)
  
 

 Entry Categories

 Cultures 263 Events 2,771 Memes 25,387 People 2,194 Sites 725 Subcultures 2,482
 Infinite Scroll
 Privacy Policy
 About KYM Meme DB Extras! KYM Social 
 KYM News 
 * Our Story * Memes * Chat * Facebook 
 * Site Rules * Episodes * Newsfeed * Forums * Pinterest
 * Credits * Editorials * Staff * Style Guide * Twitter 
 * Contact * Images * Contact * RSS Feeds * YouTube 
 * Videos * Tumblr 
 

 Legal Information: Know Your Meme ® is a trademark of Literally Media Ltd. By using this site, you are agreeing by the site's terms of use and privacy policy and DMCA policy.
 © 2007-2023 Literally Media Ltd.

 Hey! You must login or signup first!

 Already a memeber? Don't have an account?
 
 Login Now! Sign up Now! 
 
 
Demon Core
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/demon-core
Don
2017-05-22T11:27:29-04:00
<div><section>
<h6>This submission is currently being researched &amp; evaluated!</h6>
<p>You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.</p>
</section><section>
<h2>About</h2>
<p><strong>Donald Trump's Glowing Orb</strong>, also known as <strong>Trump Orb</strong>, refers to a lit globe that United States president <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/people/donald-trump">Donald Trump</a> was photographed touching while visiting Saudi Arabia in late May 2017. After the picture was released on <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/sites/twitter">Twitter</a>, many joked that the bizarre pose appeared ominous and disturbing.</p>

 <h2>Origin</h2>
<p>On May 21st, 2017, Donald Trump, Saudi Arabian king Salman and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held a ceremony to launch the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During the ceremony, the three men joined together to place their hands on a large, glowing globe in the center of the room (shown below).</p>

<p>That day, the @SaudiEmbassyUSA<sup><a href="#fn1">[1]</a></sup> Twitter feed posted a photograph of the men touching the globe in which many of the countries were obscured by their hands (shown below).</p>
<br/>

 <h2>Spread</h2>
<p>That day, the photograph was widely circulated on Twitter, with many expressing confusion about the context of the photo. Additionally, the photograph was captioned with various jokes mocking the bizarre pose.</p>

<p>Meanwhile, The Church of Satan retweeted the photo with the caption "For clarification, this is not a Satanic ritual" (shown below, left).<sup><a href="#fn2">[2]</a></sup> Within 24 hours, the tweet received upwards of 52,000 likes and 33,000 retweets. Also on May 21st, Twitter user @nice_mustard pointed out a tweet posted nine days prior about Trump touching a "pulsing orb" (shown below, right).</p>

<p>In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to the photo, including The Washington Post,<sup><a href="#fn3">[3]</a></sup> The Guardian,<sup><a href="#fn4">[4]</a></sup> The Daily Dot,<sup><a href="#fn5">[5]</a></sup> Bustle,<sup><a href="#fn6">[6]</a></sup> Breitbart,<sup><a href="#fn7">[7]</a></sup> Huffpost<sup><a href="#fn8">[8]</a></sup> and UpRoxx.<sup><a href="#fn9">[9]</a></sup></p>
<h4>Nordic Prime Minister Photo</h4>
<p>On May 30th, five Prime Ministers of Norway met to discuss how to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To mark the occasion the Prime Ministers were photographed all touching a soccer ball (shown below).</p>

<p>The photograph's resemblance to Trump's Orb photo immediately caught Twitter users' attention, though it is unclear if the Prime Ministers were intentionally <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cultures/trolling">trolling</a> Trump. The moment was covered by Twitter Moments<sup><a href="#fn10">[10]</a></sup> that day.</p>
<br/>
<h4>Trump Possesses The Orb</h4>
<p>On March 4th, 2020, The Guardian<sup><a href="#fn11">[11]</a></sup> reported that Trump is in possession of the orb, but keeps it hidden in case of scandal. The factoid was published by Ben Hubbard in his upcoming book <em>MBS</em>. According to Hubbard, “It sat in a hallway for a number of days, where diplomats passing by would pose for photos… someone apparently worried that the photos would make their way online and cause a scandal, so the orb was hidden away in embassy storage.”</p>
<h2>Search Interest</h2>

<h2>External References</h2>

</section></div>||||I||||          Advanced Search Protips
          * About
          * Rules
          * Chat
          * Random
          * Activity

        Welcome! Login or signup now!

        * Home
        * Memes
            + Confirmed
            + Submissions
            + Researching
            + Newsworthy
            + Popular
            + Deadpool
            + All
            + 
            + Submit an Entry
        * Meme Store
        * Trending
        * News
        * Images
            + Trending
            + Most Commented
            + Most Favorited
            + Most Liked
            + Least Liked
            + Most Viewed
            + All
            + 
            + Templates
            + 
            + Upload an Image
        * Videos
            + Trending
            + Most Commented
            + Most Favorited
            + Most Liked
            + Most Viewed
            + All
            + 
            + Upload a Video
        * Forums
            + Discussion
            + General
            + Meme Research
            + Serious Debate
            + Q & A
            + 
            + Media
            + Video Games
            + Moving Images
            + Books & Comics
            + Music
            + Websites
            + 
            + Fun!
            + Creative
            + Forum Games
            + Just For Fun
            + Riff-Raff
            + Memeory Lane
            + 
            + Maintenance
            + Report Problems
            + Announcements
            + Suggest Ideas
            + 
            + All
        * Editorials
            + Interviews
            + In the Media
            + White Papers
            + Episode Notes
            + Behind the Scenes
            + Meme Review
            + Collections
            + Poll
            + Guides
            + Meme Insider
            + Insights
            + All
        * Episodes
        * Meme Insider
        * Newsletter
            * Who Is XiaoPang? The Viral Chinese Dog Who Loves Roast Duck On TikTok Explained
            * Who Is The 'There We Land' Kid And Why Is He Going Viral? Winnertshipa's 'Fabrizio Romano' Inspired Catchphrase Explained
            * DogPack404's 'MrBeast Is A Fraud' Video Becomes Massive Parody Meme On X, YouTube
            * What Are The Rumors About Barron Trump's Supposed Behavioral Issues? The Recent Accusations Surrounding Donald Trump's Son Explained
            * Where Is The 'Yellow Horse' Meme From? The 'Ugly Carousel Horse' Meme Explained

      Also Trending:

      White People Tacos OSRS Pronouns Controversy War Criminal :( Disney+ Wrongful Death Lawsuit Loophole
      17

    Donald Trump's Glowing Orb

      43,096 1 49 84

      Part of a series on Donald Trump . [View Related Entries]

      Updated Mar 04, 2020 at 04:26PM EST by Adam .

      Added May 22, 2017 at 11:27AM EDT by Don .

            Like us on Facebook! Like 1.8M
          Share Save Tweet

        PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

      This submission is currently being researched & evaluated!

      You can help confirm this entry by contributing facts, media, and other evidence of notability and mutation.

      Meme Status Submission Year 2017 Origin Twitter Tags photograph, saudi arabia, donald trump, politics Additional References
      Wikipedia

      About

      Donald Trump's Glowing Orb, also known as Trump Orb, refers to a lit globe that United States president Donald Trump was photographed touching while visiting Saudi Arabia in late May 2017. After the picture was released on Twitter, many joked that the bizarre pose appeared ominous and disturbing.

      Origin

      On May 21st, 2017, Donald Trump, Saudi Arabian king Salman and Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held a ceremony to launch the opening of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During the ceremony, the three men joined together to place their hands on a large, glowing globe in the center of the room (shown below).



      That day, the @SaudiEmbassyUSA[1] Twitter feed posted a photograph of the men touching the globe in which many of the countries were obscured by their hands (shown below).



      Spread

      That day, the photograph was widely circulated on Twitter, with many expressing confusion about the context of the photo. Additionally, the photograph was captioned with various jokes mocking the bizarre pose.



      Meanwhile, The Church of Satan retweeted the photo with the caption "For clarification, this is not a Satanic ritual" (shown below, left).[2] Within 24 hours, the tweet received upwards of 52,000 likes and 33,000 retweets. Also on May 21st, Twitter user @nice_mustard pointed out a tweet posted nine days prior about Trump touching a "pulsing orb" (shown below, right).



      In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the online reaction to the photo, including The Washington Post,[3] The Guardian,[4] The Daily Dot,[5] Bustle,[6] Breitbart,[7] Huffpost[8] and UpRoxx.[9]

      Nordic Prime Minister Photo

      On May 30th, five Prime Ministers of Norway met to discuss how to achieve the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. To mark the occasion the Prime Ministers were photographed all touching a soccer ball (shown below).



      The photograph's resemblance to Trump's Orb photo immediately caught Twitter users' attention, though it is unclear if the Prime Ministers were intentionally trolling Trump. The moment was covered by Twitter Moments[10] that day.



      Trump Possesses The Orb

      On March 4th, 2020, The Guardian[11] reported that Trump is in possession of the orb, but keeps it hidden in case of scandal. The factoid was published by Ben Hubbard in his upcoming book MBS. According to Hubbard, “It sat in a hallway for a number of days, where diplomats passing by would pose for photos… someone apparently worried that the photos would make their way online and cause a scandal, so the orb was hidden away in embassy storage.”

      Search Interest

      External References

        [1] Twitter – @SaudiEmbassyUSA

        [2] Twitter – @ChurchofSatan

        [3] The Washington Post – Behold! President Trump and the mysterious glowing orb

        [4] The Guardian – One orb to rule them all

        [5] The Daily Dot – Donald Trumps mysterious orb incident

        [6] Bustle – These Trump Orb Memes and Jokes Were Heard Round the World

        [7] Breitbart – Donald Trump Touches Glowing Orb with Middle East Leaders

        [8] HuffPost – Trump Touched A Glowing Orb In Saudi Arabia And Folks Found It Just A Bit Odd

        [9] UpRoxx – President Trump Clutched A Glowing Orb In Saudi Arabia

        [10] Twitter Moments – This photo of Nordic prime ministers looks mighty familiar

        [11] The Guardian – 'One orb, slightly used' MBS book reveals fate of Trump's mysterious Saudi sphere

      Related Entries 272 total

          Carl the Cuck and AIDS Skrillex    Thank You Kanye, Very Cool!          Trump Is Playing 4D Chess  The Worst Trade Deal
                                                                                                                                 
          A Small Loan of a Million Dollars  It's Called We Do a Little Trolling  Orange Man Bad             Covfefe             
                                                                                                                                 
          Donald Trump's "Sad" Tweets        Donald Trump's Tennis Photo          Two Scoops                 Obamna              
                                                                                                                                 
          

            View All Related Entries

      Recent Videos 1 total

                The Best Memes of Donald Trum...      
                Donald Trump's Glowing Orb            
                Uploaded by MemesnMusic               
          
          + Add a Video

        Recent Images 49 total

                  Donald Trump's Glowing Orb          Donald Trump's Glowing Orb                 Donald Trump's Glowing Orb        Donald Trump's Glowing Orb     
                  Uploaded by Billkwando              Uploaded by A Guy You'll Never Know        Uploaded by Adam                  Uploaded by Adam               
                  Donald Trump's Glowing Orb          Donald Trump's Glowing Orb                 Donald Trump's Glowing Orb        Donald Trump's Glowing Orb     
                  Uploaded by Adam                    Uploaded by Adam                           Uploaded by ThatOtherGuy80        Uploaded by the_transpirator   
                  Donald Trump's Glowing Orb          Donald Trump's Glowing Orb                 Donald Trump's Glowing Orb        Donald Trump's Glowing Orb     
                  Uploaded by the_transpirator        Uploaded by Cory Corson                    Uploaded by Greeneyre             Uploaded by Gandalf the Tsaagan
            
            + Add an Image

            View All Images

            Sign up for our Newsletter


            Top Comments

              Delete
              Sensitive

            Orange Circle

            May 22, 2017 at 12:35PM EDT

              No thanks, my President With Glowing Orb needs are already being met.

                +64
                Reply
              Delete
              Sensitive

            Drokash

            May 22, 2017 at 04:13PM EDT

                +42
                Reply


          + Add a Comment

          Comments (84)


          Display Comments

            Add a Comment


        Top Entries This Month

              Meme

            Gal Gadot's "Imagine" Video

              Person

            Yusuf Dikeç Turkish Pistol Shooter

              Event

            James Charles Leaked Video

              Subculture

            Skibidi Toilet

              Site

            Sinfest

              Culture

            Continental Breakfast Chair

        View More

        Suggest a Change Edit History

      Entry Editors (3)

        Don

        Administrator & Meme Daddy

        Adam

        Know Your Meme Universal Champion

        Y F

        Digital Archaeologist & Treasurer & Media Maid

      + Request Editorship

      View All Editors

        Today's Top Image Galleries

          Merrivius Elf and Human Comics

          Crossover

          Yusuf Dikeç Turkish Pistol Shooter

          Pokémon

                Know Your Meme

                Like Page 1.8M likes
          Infinite Scroll
        About KYM                    Meme DB                       Extras!          KYM Social   
                                                     KYM News                                    
          * Our Story                  * Memes                       * Chat           * Facebook 
          * Site Rules                 * Episodes      * Newsfeed    * Forums         * Pinterest
          * Policies and Guidelines    * Editorials    * Staff       * Style Guide    * Twitter  
          * Credits                    * Images        * Contact     * RSS Feeds      * YouTube  
          * Contact                    * Videos                                                  
        

        Legal Information: Know Your Meme ® is a trademark of Literally Media Ltd. By using this site, you are agreeing by the site's terms of use and privacy policy and DMCA policy.
        © 2007-2024 Literally Media Ltd.

        O HAI! You must login or signup first!

          Already a memeber?  Don't have an account?
                                                    
          Login Now!          Sign up Now!          
                                                    
          
Donald Trump's Glowing Orb
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/donald-trumps-glowing-orb
DramaticUnicycle
2018-02-22T15:54:52-05:00
<div><div> <h2>Image Details</h2> <p> <span>1,024</span> views <span>(3 from today)</span> </p> <p>Uploaded <abbr>May 23, 2017 at 03:21AM EDT</abbr></p> <div> <h6> Origin Entry </h6> <p> <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/donald-trumps-glowing-orb">Donald Trump's Glowing Orb</a> </p> </div>  <div> <h6>Tags</h6> <p><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/search?context=images&amp;q=tags%3A%28%22orb+of+confusion%22%29">orb of confusion</a>, <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/search?context=images&amp;q=tags%3A%28%22spongebob%22%29">spongebob</a>, <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/search?context=images&amp;q=tags%3A%28%22trump%22%29">trump</a></p> </div> <div> <p><a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/contact?image=https%3A%2F%2Fknowyourmeme.com%2Fphotos%2F1257859-donald-trumps-glowing-orb">Claim Authorship</a> <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1257859-donald-trumps-glowing-orb/edits">Edit History</a> </p></div> <div> <h4>About the Uploader</h4> <section> <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/users/dramaticunicycle">  </a> <div> <h6> <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/users/dramaticunicycle">DramaticUnicycle</a> </h6>  </div> </section> </div>  <div> <h6>Textile Embed</h6> </div> </div></div>||||I||||          Advanced Search Protips
          * About
          * Rules
          * Chat
          * Random
          * Activity

        Welcome! Login or signup now!

        * Home
        * Memes
            + Confirmed
            + Submissions
            + Researching
            + Newsworthy
            + Popular
            + Deadpool
            + All
            + 
            + Submit an Entry
        * Meme Store
        * Trending
        * News
        * Images
            + Trending
            + Most Commented
            + Most Favorited
            + Most Liked
            + Least Liked
            + Most Viewed
            + All
            + 
            + Templates
            + 
            + Upload an Image
        * Videos
            + Trending
            + Most Commented
            + Most Favorited
            + Most Liked
            + Most Viewed
            + All
            + 
            + Upload a Video
        * Forums
            + Discussion
            + General
            + Meme Research
            + Serious Debate
            + Q & A
            + 
            + Media
            + Video Games
            + Moving Images
            + Books & Comics
            + Music
            + Websites
            + 
            + Fun!
            + Creative
            + Forum Games
            + Just For Fun
            + Riff-Raff
            + Memeory Lane
            + 
            + Maintenance
            + Report Problems
            + Announcements
            + Suggest Ideas
            + 
            + All
        * Editorials
            + Interviews
            + In the Media
            + White Papers
            + Episode Notes
            + Behind the Scenes
            + Meme Review
            + Collections
            + Poll
            + Guides
            + Meme Insider
            + Insights
            + All
        * Episodes
        * Meme Insider
        * Newsletter
            * Who Is XiaoPang? The Viral Chinese Dog Who Loves Roast Duck On TikTok Explained
            * Who Is The 'There We Land' Kid And Why Is He Going Viral? Winnertshipa's 'Fabrizio Romano' Inspired Catchphrase Explained
            * DogPack404's 'MrBeast Is A Fraud' Video Becomes Massive Parody Meme On X, YouTube
            * What Are The Rumors About Barron Trump's Supposed Behavioral Issues? The Recent Accusations Surrounding Donald Trump's Son Explained
            * Where Is The 'Yellow Horse' Meme From? The 'Ugly Carousel Horse' Meme Explained

      Also Trending:

      White People Tacos OSRS Pronouns Controversy War Criminal :( Disney+ Wrongful Death Lawsuit Loophole
          8
        +30

      Donald Trump's Glowing Orb - Trump and the Orb of Confusion

              Like us on Facebook! Like 1.8M
            Share Save Tweet

          PROTIP: Press the ← and → keys to navigate the gallery, 'g' to view the gallery, or 'r' to view a random image.


        ◄ Previous  View Gallery Random Image  Next ►
        

          More:

                  Donald Trump's Glowing Orb        Donald Trump's Glowing Orb        Donald Trump's Glowing Orb             Donald Trump's Glowing Orb
                  Uploaded by Don                   Uploaded by Lintboy               Uploaded by BillytheMagicToilet        Uploaded by ThatOtherGuy80
            


        + Add a Comment

        Comments (0)

        There are no comments currently available.

        Display Comments

          Add a Comment


        + Add an Image

        Image Details

          1,024 views (3 from today)

          Uploaded May 23, 2017 at 03:21AM EDT

          Origin Entry

          Donald Trump's Glowing Orb

          Tags

          orb of confusion, spongebob, trump

            Claim Authorship Edit History

            About the Uploader

              DramaticUnicycle

          Textile Embed

          !https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/257/859/801.png!

        Today's Top Image Galleries

          Merrivius Elf and Human Comics

          Crossover

          Yusuf Dikeç Turkish Pistol Shooter

          Pokémon

                Know Your Meme

                Like Page 1.8M likes
          Infinite Scroll
        About KYM                    Meme DB                       Extras!          KYM Social   
                                                     KYM News                                    
          * Our Story                  * Memes                       * Chat           * Facebook 
          * Site Rules                 * Episodes      * Newsfeed    * Forums         * Pinterest
          * Policies and Guidelines    * Editorials    * Staff       * Style Guide    * Twitter  
          * Credits                    * Images        * Contact     * RSS Feeds      * YouTube  
          * Contact                    * Videos                                                  
        

        Legal Information: Know Your Meme ® is a trademark of Literally Media Ltd. By using this site, you are agreeing by the site's terms of use and privacy policy and DMCA policy.
        © 2007-2024 Literally Media Ltd.

        Hello! You must login or signup first!

          Already a memeber?  Don't have an account?
                                                    
          Login Now!          Sign up Now!          
                                                    
          
Trump and the Orb of Confusion
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1257859-donald-trumps-glowing-orb