Any 14 year-old could probably make an atomic bomb with a critical mass of uranium or plutonium. Such a bomb would be huge and require lots of shielding to be safe to handle - like attaching to an aircraft or loading into a shipping container.
Err, a bare-sphere (no neutron energy manipulation or reflective shielding) critical mass of a plutonium-239 core is only 10kg and with the density of plutonium that translates to a sphere smaller than an orange (9.9cm to be exact).
The reason the original plutonium weapons were so huge is because of low purity of the fissionable materials available, massive over engineering resulting from poor understanding of materials and nuclear processes etc
On the other hand, what is required to detonate a subcritical mass is a little bit tricky.
No such thing exists. All nuclear explosions are accomplished by achieving criticality in some fission material. The critical mass however varies with shape and external factors such as shielding materials capable of changing energies of neutrons or reflecting them back onto their source, temperature of the material, its degree of compression etc.
That sounds very credible, but the handle IgnoramusMaximus does not.
Put it this way: A. There are some countries who should not be allowed nuclear weapons because they will probably use them.
There is only one country that has used nuclear weapons in an offensive manner. Should the United States not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons?
If this goes to court they have a great case against the finder of the iPhone and Gizmodo. Can't say I feel sorry for any of them
I do feel a bit sorry for them.
I don't feel that the "theft" was a malicious act to deprive someone of property, as much as it was an attempt to cash in on cheap opportunity. Apple got their property back, and it didn't cost them anything other than admitting that it was theirs.
I think they way that Gizmodo and the guy that found it acted was certainly a bit stupid and shortsighted, but unless the guy that "found it" picked Gray Powell's pocket for the thing, calling it "theft" seems a bit of a stretch to me.
Any way you slice it, Apple sure got a whole lot buzz about the next iPhone as a result. I don't know how any reasonable person could think that a new generation iPhone wasn't due in the very near future. The three stooges (Gray Powell, Jason Chen and the dude that found it) that brought them all that buzz are probably going to pay a good deal for it. The letter of the law may very well be against them (IANAL), but personally, I see it as a case of three probably otherwise reasonable guys, making some dumb mistakes and no one getting hurt. Don't we have rapists and murderers and, you know, people that really steal shit to prosecute in this country?
"Been through Hell? Whaddya bring back for me?" -- A. Brilliant