Shouldn't an EMP bomb kill you?

Pages: 1234
I had a random thought today. Some kids on my bus were talking about Call of Duty 4: Exact Replica, and about how you can "EMP" (because it's a verb, not an acronym) people and it disables the "red-dot sight" and their UAV and what-not; and I got to thinking... shouldn't an Electro-Magnetic Pulse bomb kill you?

Think about it.
What does the nervous system do? Allows the brain to control the body; including the movement of the heart (which I believe is controlled by the lymbic system) and diaphragm (the contraction of which causes the lungs to draw in air).
What does an EMP bomb do? Disables electronic signals.
What does the brain use to pass messages across the nervous system? Electronic signals.
What does an EMP bomb do? Disables electronic signals, and by extension, the nervous system (?)

So shouldn't you die if you're in it's blast radius? Surely you'd asphixiate?
Last edited on
LOL! i don't know but that's funny!
:(
The only joke was "Call of Duty 4: Exact Replica," but that's pretty much true anyway...
Hmm. The EMP is surrounded in science fiction.
Theoretically, it unleashes an electromagnetic pulse that is strong enough to disrupt, or at least render erratic to the point of being unusable, various electronic systems. So in theory, yes, it would kill you.
However nobody's actually tested it. It doesn't help that the weapon is not really existent to be tested. In addition, the average electric field probably wouldn't kill you. After all, the damage is presumed to be inflicted upon the circuitry, so there's no way to tell if it would have effect on "organic" circuitry (ie humans).
Check wikipedia, they have information on *everything*.
Finally, a good scifi thread...
Hmm. The EMP is surrounded in science fiction.

You know, I should have remembered the fact that they don't yet exist. Now I can make fun of my call of duty adoring (literally) "friend," who bores me to tears with his constant talk of it being "amazing," and "the best game ever" (impossible), and "so realistic." Well, EMPs don't exist. Ha!
Oh yeah, and a riot shield can't deflect bullets. The point of kevlar, bomb-squad armour, etc. is to slow down projectiles that would otherwise kill you instead of just severely maiming you.

And if your wondering why I'm talking about this stuff... well, Biology is my third favourite subject, after Computer Science and Physics. Chemistry, for one reason or another, is waaaaaaay down below maths (at least I can do some maths).

After all, the damage is presumed to be inflicted upon the circuitry, so there's no way to tell if it would have effect on "organic" circuitry (ie humans).

Does it matter whether the circuit is copper and silicon or flesh? It's still electric current, it still has ampage, voltage, wattage and resistance (which is futile). Doesn't an EMP throw too much [voltage/current] at a circuit to the point of disruption or even destruction?

Which would it be, actually? I know it's the current that counts as per killing you (a single amp is enough, isn't it? I have heard a rhyme, "Volts jolts, mils kill," which implies that a number of milliamps will kill you). But a high enough voltage would kill you, too. A too-high voltage across memory on a motherboard, for example, destroys DIMMs...
Last edited on
In my day when something weird happened in a game, we didn't check it for it matching up to reality.
sorry for my lack of knowledge on anatomy or whatever it is..
In my day when something weird happened in a game, we didn't check it for it matching up to reality.

That is my point. He's claiming this game is ultra-realistic, but it's not. And it shouldn't be. Games are meant to allow you to forget about the stress of real-life, as a form of escapism, to have fun. Not to be exactly like real life. If you're going to kill people in the most realistic way possible, do it in real life. Also, "your day" is today, so stop using the past tense.

Oh and another thing that annoys me; when people say "video game graphics will one day surpass those of real life."
Yeah? Well that'll be a damn waste, because we won't be able to tell! You may as well keep them at the same level as real life, and just improve efficiency; because humans won't know the difference.

Idiots.

sorry for my lack of knowledge on anatomy or whatever it is..

You probably know more about it than me, with my crappy British education. I've actually learnt more about Physics, Computer Science and Biology (collectively) on my own initiative (using the Internet) than I have in school... Alas.

Edit: lost my train of thought.
Last edited on
Hmm. The EMP is surrounded in science fiction.
Theoretically, it unleashes an electromagnetic pulse that is strong enough to disrupt, or at least render erratic to the point of being unusable, various electronic systems. So in theory, yes, it would kill you.
However nobody's actually tested it. It doesn't help that the weapon is not really existent to be tested.


What do you mean it doesn't exist? Nuclear weapons generate EMP blasts and there are numerous non nuclear devices that generate them as well. We test them all the time! In fact the United States even runs drills against EMP attacks. Whether it could kill you would depend on several factors such as at how high an altitude the bomb was detonated, how close you are to the epicenter of the blast, materials, etc...

Games are meant to allow you to forget about the stress of real-life, as a form of escapism, to have fun.


It's only fun if your winning... once you start to lose, reality seems a bit more appealing...
Last edited on
It's only fun if your winning... once you start to lose, reality seems a bit more appealing...

You probably take games too seriously, then. Personally, I find it fun regardless of whether I win or not. Of course, if I consistently am unable to get past a certain point in a game, I get frustrated. But when I manage it, it cheers me up. That's a similar reason to that which many people cite as what they enjoy about programming: overcoming a thought-provoking problem.
It usually takes more than just losing to piss me off. In fact it doesn't bother me being defeated by someone if it was legitimate. What bothers me are when glitches can be exploited or some bizzare software logic prevents you from progressing like an NPC being stuck inside a tree, but it continues to beat the hell out of you from a mile away until you die... I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me... or of course when all of a sudden you just fall through the ground... and keep falling never dying lol
Ahh, that kind of thing does piss me off. Usually with a legitimate defeat, I even commend the other person in my head, like "How did he flank me? That was really smart!" But when it's something like a guy on Halo 3 (called "YMI So Gud," which irritated me anyway) who went straight for the overshield, rocket launcher and energy sword, sat himself on a grenade spawn point (where 2 grenades spawn every 30 seconds) and started spamming grenades... that pissed me off.
How the hell are video game graphics supposed to surpass r/l? There's nothing better than r/l, the brain can't even interpret something beyond there.
Nuclear weapons generate EMP blasts

Undeniably true but how close can you stand to a nuclear blast to try and get killed by the EMP? You know, I get a funny feeling that some other extenuating circumstances would be responsible for your death first...
It's only fun if your winning... once you start to lose, reality seems a bit more appealing...

I laughed. But it was a pained, sorrowful laugh because I sympathized... which said some sad things about my life...
crappy British education

What? British education?
But when it's something like a guy on Halo 3 (called "YMI So Gud," which irritated me anyway) who went straight for the overshield, rocket launcher and energy sword, sat himself on a grenade spawn point (where 2 grenades spawn every 30 seconds) and started spamming grenades... that pissed me off.

Hehehehe. Says nothing about his skill but that's undeniably clever. Killing everybody is one thing but bragging because you can camp at the grenades is something else entirely.

EDIT: You notice how this went from a sci-fi intellectual discussion to one about how there are so many retards in video games?
Last edited on
How the hell are video game graphics supposed to surpass r/l? There's nothing better than r/l, the brain can't even interpret something beyond there.

My point exactly.

Undeniably true but how close can you stand to a nuclear blast to try and get killed by the EMP? You know, I get a funny feeling that some other extenuating circumstances would be responsible for your death first...

If you stand in the exact centre of the blast radius, do you survive?

Hehehehe. Says nothing about his skill but that's undeniably clever. Killing everybody is one thing but bragging because you can camp at the grenades is something else entirely.

I raged hard at that time.

You notice how this went from a sci-fi intellectual discussion to one about how there are so many retards in video games?

Yes. Threads in the lounge tend to do that. More often than not, it's partially my fault. :)
If you stand in the exact centre of the blast radius, do you survive?

Difficult to say. But I've got a feeling...
Well, let's test it. Someone get us a nuclear fusion bomb. Tummychow, you stand in the exact middle of the Arizona desert; and I'll try dropping it on your exact co-ordinates, so that you're in the exact centre (horizontally, at least) of the blast radius.
I propose that we switch places.
Overruled. I propose that we find a third person...

DrChill, are you doing anything this weekend?
*laugh* Threads get so off-topic if they aren't carefully kept to the point.
It went from EMPs, to video games vs r/l, to video games and the idiots therein... to determining if nuking people kills them.
This place is awesome.
Yeah... You can guarantee the topic won't stay the same for more than a few days, which keeps it interesting.
Pages: 1234