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To: BureaucratusMaximus

The answer is yes and no..... sorry.
If you have a computer that is not connected to anything including the AC wall outlet, cable modem or phone line, odds are very good good it will survive.
EMP causes current to flow in conductors. That is why lightning causes spikes in electrical transmission lines. It's the conductors that carry the spikes to the computer (via the AC outlet) and cause it to fail.
A second form of EMP damage is caused when radation (typically alpha/beta radiation) causes damage to the chips themselves. This is why things like the MarsRover use what are referred to as radiation hardened chips. This type of damage can be protected as Alpha particles can be blocked, although beta particles are harder to block.


23 posted on 08/12/2004 6:15:17 AM PDT by ProudVet77 (So many questions for Kerry - so few answers from Kerry)
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To: ProudVet77
If you have a computer that is not connected to anything including the AC wall outlet, cable modem or phone line, odds are very good good it will survive. EMP causes current to flow in conductors. That is why lightning causes spikes in electrical transmission lines. It's the conductors that carry the spikes to the computer (via the AC outlet) and cause it to fail.

Thats what I thought....thx.

29 posted on 08/12/2004 6:27:40 AM PDT by BureaucratusMaximus ("We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good" - Hillary Clinton)
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To: ProudVet77; BureaucratusMaximus
The answer is yes and no..... sorry. If you have a computer that is not connected to anything including the AC wall outlet, cable modem or phone line, odds are very good good it will survive.

I would have my doubts. In an EMP situation, any wire of over a few inches actually generates a current. Blown chips will result. Think of the cableing inside the computer.

EMP causes current to flow in conductors. That is why lightning causes spikes in electrical transmission lines. It's the conductors that carry the spikes to the computer (via the AC outlet) and cause it to fail.

Also the cabling inside the computer (or any "long" wire)

A second form of EMP damage is caused when radation (typically alpha/beta radiation) causes damage to the chips themselves. This is why things like the MarsRover use what are referred to as radiation hardened chips. This type of damage can be protected as Alpha particles can be blocked, although beta particles are harder to block.

This does not fall within the EMP moniker. That is ionization radiation as apposed to RF radiation.

36 posted on 08/12/2004 6:38:48 AM PDT by RadioAstronomer
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