Puzzle 3 (Physics)

[shkrobius]

After years of unscrupulous machinations, Dr. Evil succeeded in getting his hands on a 10 kt A-bomb. His plan is to inflict the maximum damage on the Great Satan: the degenerate West. But the yield appears to be too small for such an ambitious goal. Also, his ethical principles forbid him from killing people, at least directly. He cannot, say,

Comments

[arbat]

1. Продать с молотка, надеясь, что америка выложит крупную сумму.
2. Взорвать в верхних слоях атмосферы над крупным финансовым центром, создав EMP.

[shkrobius]

Dr. Evil is not interested in money. EMP may wipe out computers on the ground, but surely the vital financial information is not stored there, and it is multiply copied. Computers will be rapidly reinstalled, and the information reloaded; but his only A-bomb will be gone. He can do better.

[arbat]

1. Dr. Evil is not interested in money? Дело не в том, чтобы деьги получить, а в том, чтобы их отобрать. :-)

2. "but surely the vital financial information is not stored there" - На восстановление уйдут месяцы. Добавьте панику и всевозможные судебные процессы.

[shkrobius]

1. Hmm, I have not thought of that. But what is he going to do with all these money? The governments can always print more. Perhaps he can demand something more precious or, say, require self-destruction. But what if the governments will refuse? Then he would need to show that he is not bluffing. So he still needs to have a plan for the maximum destruction, if only to bluff. We are back to the square one.

2. He wants a more lasting and greater damage.

[arbat]

разумеется, выплаты надо брать не в бумажных деньгах! И, далее, если правительство откажется платить, то он продаст следующему биддеру. Оно не откажется. Иначе оно бы в аукционе не участвовало.

[shkrobius]

Ok, suppose that Dr. Evil demands the US to pay ten times its GDP or he will... He will what? He needs to make the real threat that is commensurate with the sum that he asks for. The governments know that he will not kill its citizens (remember, he has this peculiar ethics of his) and they know he has only one A-bomb. It would be hard to justify why everyone has to make great sacrifices and pay the guy. He needs to make a realistic threat of the maximum value if he wants to extort the maximum of money. And the next bidder would not pay him because once he uses his bomb, he has no more. The puzzle is really about this: what is the most damaging thing you can do with a 10 kt bomb? Any extortion scheme that is optimized to inflict maximum and the most widespread damage would eventually come to that. Neither Dr. Evil nor his evil plan are figments of my imagination.

[arbat]

"It would be hard to justify why everyone has to make great sacrifices and pay the guy. "

Как, то есть? Я ж говорю - иначе бонбу купит следующий биддер. Махмуд Ахмадинежад. Без доктор-евиловских проблем с убиванием.

[shkrobius]

He already got the bomb. He will not sell it.