Special effects are constantly evolving. They’re just one of the many challenges that filmmakers must overcome in crafting their visions. When it comes to monsters, they’ve employed a number of tricks. Suits, puppets, and miniatures were just a few of the practical techniques used to bring these fantastic creatures to life. While these methods aren’t perfect, they actually have something in front of the camera, thereby making these fictional figures feel more real. However, advancing technology heralded a radical change.

More and more filmmakers opt for computer-generated imagery, rendering the monsters in a digital landscape. This innovation obviously yields new possibilities. Creators can now craft anything imaginable and place it in existing footage. It’s a chance for old icons to gain the fluidity that they never had before. The catch is that such retrofitting doesn’t always work out. Some digital updates actually look worse due to inferior textures, unnatural movements, or lazy presentation. Like the practical effects of old, these CG creatures require immense passion and attention to detail. Otherwise, audiences will reject the fakery and go back to the immersive originals.

Related: 10 Mind-Blowing Special Effects behind Iconic Movie Scenes

10 King Kong

How ironic that a giant like King Kong is really a tiny action figure. Standing dozens of feet tall, this big ape dwarfs all other primates. He uses that size and strength to reign over Skull Island, regularly combatting the prehistoric creatures roaming the remote locale. In the 1933 classic, these explosive brawls came down to stop motion: photographing small models frame-by-frame and stitching them together into a fight sequence. Later takes in the ’60s and ’70s opted for animatronics and placing actors in gorilla suits. It wasn’t until the new millennium that things changed.

The 2000s revived Kong for several projects. The most notable was a 2005 remake of the 1933 film, but subsequent appearances were blockbuster crossovers with other monsters. What these takes had in common was the wealth of CGI. Namely, Kong was a product of motion capture—recording an actor’s movements and transferring them to a digital character. Although he lost some of his prior tangibility, the king was now capable of incredible nuance. That increased expression lets you empathize with him like never before, which was ultimately the point of the character.^[1]

9 Godzilla

The king of the monsters has had a similarly storied history. Godzilla is a colossal saurian awakened by nuclear radiation. Big enough to trample cities and impervious to most weapons, he’s an unstoppable force of destruction. His grand finale is his atomic breath, which reduces targets to fiery, irradiated rubble. Such wanton ruin required a new strategy to shoot.

The filmmakers had neither the time nor the budget for stop motion, so they placed an actor in a rubber suit amid a miniature city. This innovation pioneered kaiju flicks, defining the franchise for decades. It wasn’t until recently that things changed.

With the 2000 Godzilla movie, they began rendering the radioactive reptile on the computer. Though they initially limited this swap to a few shots, the creators eventually forewent the rubber suits entirely. That’s not to say the creators forgot their roots. Godzilla’s proportions and movements still echoed those of an upright human. Films like Shin Godzilla even used motion capture to emulate the lumbering visuals of old. Combined with the detailed textures, these techniques allowed the movies to up the spectacle while matching the slow menace of yesteryear.^[2]

8 Xenomorphs

In space, no one can see the seams in the suit. The xenomorph is an extraterrestrial life form said to be a perfect species. It lays eggs in its victims, which then burst out of the prey’s chest, grow at an exponential rate, and slaughter everything in sight. Not only is the xenomorph incredibly cunning in its predatory tactics, but its acidic blood means you can’t kill it without sustaining wounds yourself. The first two Alien movies brought these parasites to life through puppets and suits, hiding any shortcomings through shadows or close-ups. They couldn’t remain shrouded forever, though.

Later Alien movies had entire armies of xenomorphs. As the series progressed, the practical effects faded away and were replaced by CGI. The quality ebbed and flowed, with the well-lit environments and flashy set pieces often destroying the illusion. This decision prevented the xenomorphs from ever regaining the tangible terror of their early incarnations.^[3]

7 The Thing

Sometimes, our neighbors are the greatest monsters. The Thing is a movie about an alien lying dormant in the Arctic. Once awakened, it possesses and absorbs any organism within reach. It can morph its host to grotesque degrees as a defense mechanism, but it prefers to stay hidden as a doppelganger. This tactic meant that most of the 1982 movie consisted of normal-looking actors. On rare occasions where the creature revealed itself, it did so through horrifying animatronics. Before you could spot any seams, it retreated into the night. Apparently, that restraint was relatively recent.

The 2011 prequel repeated the same beats as its predecessor. The difference was that the titular Thing was far more visible. Not only was it in brighter locations, but it repeatedly burst forth in all its tentacled glory. It was now a digital demon, and it looked atrocious. You didn’t believe it could even touch the characters, let alone kill them.^[4]

6 Dracula

One of the oldest movie monsters required few effects. Dracula is the quintessential vampire. His enigmatic allure draws in unsuspecting victims, enabling him to drink their blood and retain his youth. If seduction doesn’t work, his superhuman strength and dominion over animals are enough to thwart most enemies. Most 20th-century interpretations used simple tricks to portray these gifts, ranging from fake fangs to bats on strings. Of course, these scare tactics weren’t big enough.

Modern filmmakers wanted to show the full extent of Dracula’s vampiric gifts. That’s why relatively recent takes like Dracula Untold had him morph into bat swarms and single-handedly slaughter whole armies. Most of these set pieces look formidable, with the chaotic visuals making it difficult to discern the CGI. Unfortunately, such bombastic effects diminished the subtle scares that defined the character.^[5]

5 The Mummy

Despite its gruesome roots, the mummy should be one of the easier horror icons to adapt. An Egyptian priest comes back to life thanks to an ancient curse. His decayed remains are still wrapped in ritualistic bandages, but he can withstand virtually any attack as he slowly walks toward his targets. That inevitability was enough for early entries as the actors lumbered around in bandaged bodysuits. They were essentially Egyptian zombies. That said, future films wanted to expand that image.

The Mummy remakes in 1999 and 2017 both bestowed catastrophic gifts to their undead antagonists. The bandages were gone in lieu of grisly flesh stretching to unpleasant lengths. In addition, the villains could control swarms of scarabs, conjure massive walls of sand, and bring forth disastrous plagues. All of it amounted to CGI layered over the actors. The glossy textures and exaggerated movements weren’t particularly convincing, but the ’90s flick was excusable. It opted for high-flying adventure over creeping horror, so it didn’t have to be scary.^[6]

4 The Wolfman

Nearly as infamous as Dracula is the Wolfman. Portraying him was similarly simple in the 1941 film. As a guy suffering a canine curse, he’s a humanoid figure even after transforming. The difference is the wolflike head, killer claws, and hairy body. These accompany a feral desire to kill, making for an unpredictable foe. That said, all that you needed to create this animalistic adversary were masks, gloves, and prosthetics. Those days are long gone.

Filmmakers soon prioritized the wolf over the man. Werewolves continued appearing in fantasy franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight, where they became increasingly malformed. Some depictions just had them transform into giant dogs. Obviously, these renditions were computerized creations, the quality varying with the movie. As ever, the well-lit examples looked the worst. The poetic justice came with the 2010 Wolfman remake. This project resurrected the masked approach and blew its competition out of the water.^[7]

3 The Terminator

There is no fake but what we make. Terminators are cyborg assassins. They may look human, but beneath their skin are metallic endoskeletons. They use their fleshy disguises to infiltrate human societies and get close to their targets. Upon locating their quarry, these robotic villains execute their programming with unparalleled precision.

The Terminator films all used real actors to convey that deadly precision, but early entries had to improvise whenever these cyborgs sustained damage. Prosthetics worked for light wounds, but heavier injuries call for animatronics and stop motion. Filmmakers eventually began mixing in CGI, but practical effects were always present in some capacity.

Terminator Genisys and Dark Fate changed that by going all-in on digital imagery. The cyborgs in these flicks leaned heavily into liquid metal and nanotech. Combined with ever-more explosive chase scenes, these aspects left little room for practical tricks. Even the partial damage on the fleshy Terminators was now CGI. Sadly, it all looked utterly weightless and failed to blend with the organic bits at all. There’s a tragic irony in killer robots being made entirely on the computer.^[8]

2 The Kraken

The ocean holds many unseen calamities, but the greatest one is the Kraken. This giant squid has haunted sailors’ nightmares for centuries, and movie-goers easily could see why. Films like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea depicted this creature as a colossal killer preying on unsuspecting vessels. Long tentacles could pull an entire ship to the depths, and its submerged body made it nearly impossible to fight. That also meant that early filmmakers could get away with not showing the monster. The most that viewers got were the tentacles, which were a combination of stop motion and wirework. Of course, this workaround couldn’t last forever.

CGI eventually showed the Kraken in all its glory. The results predictably varied. Films like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest kept the creature somewhat obscured underwater, thereby sparing the FX artists from rendering the details and retaining the fear through mystery. Unfortunately, works like the Clash of the Titans remake had the Kraken leave the sea. At that point, it looked like any other semi-convincing monster. Long story short, it should have stayed in the depths.^[9]

1 Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs may have been real, but that didn’t make them any less spectacular. Thus, they’re Hollywood’s most enduring movie monsters. Since the dawn of cinema, these prehistoric lizards have terrified audiences through sheer size and crushing strength. A plethora of tricks have gone into recreating these titans. They range from stop motion to animatronics to costumes. One movie, however, changed everything.

That movie was Jurassic Park. Although it retained the animatronic approach for close-ups, it used revolutionary digital effects for wide shots. The detailed skin and fluid musculature created living, breathing animals. This achievement meant that subsequent filmmakers never looked back. Digital dinosaurs were soon running all over movies, TV shows, and documentaries. While these effects were rarely terrible, the best examples were those that mixed in the animatronics of old. You felt like you could touch them without waiting for rendering. ^[10]

These days, there are numerous commercials of girls diving into pools or frolicking through wildflower fields, all because they can, thanks to their awesome tampons and other feminine products. But the first pads were not invented until 1888, and even then, it wasn’t an everyday item. Women oftentimes could not afford the product, and it wasn’t until much later that they became more affordable and common. Tampons didn’t come till 1929. So what did women do before then?

10Rags

Rags are an obvious stand-in for a pad. Fabric is absorbent and can be relatively long-lasting, as well as abundant. Since at least the 10th century, women used rags or some kind of cloth as a way to absorb the flow. These were also reusable; once the rags had done their job, women would just wash them.

This practice lasted up until the nineteenth century, at least, since that is when the pad was invented. Of course, since not all women could afford pads at the time of their invention, it’s likely, if not certain, that women continued to use rags up into the 20th century.

9Papyrus

The Ancient Egyptians supposedly used softened papyrus as a tampon. Papyrus is a plant that grows naturally in Egypt and was used for numerous purposes in antiquity, primarily as paper for writing. To make papyrus pliable, women would simply soak it in water. The water softened it and would bring out a natural stickiness to hold multiple pieces together.

The characteristic of pliability and softness, as well its abundance, certainly makes it a decent tampon. Unfortunately, we cannot know for sure this was done. Since ancient texts were often written on papyrus itself, which is a very vulnerable material, any documentation of such a thing, if there ever was any, is lost.

8Wool

In Ancient Greece, wool was supposedly used as a tampon. Typically, ancient uses are left to just evidence and reasoning, but in this case, there is better record. The wool tampon was a treatment written by (or on behalf of) Hippocrates. Wool tampons are also logical, as that’s a resource the Greeks had.

Hippocrates was a physician from Ancient Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries, and he is considered the father of medicine. He has many written works that describe his plethora of diagnoses and “discoveries.” Some are groundbreaking, but others are not entirely so, as our modern medicine has shown. For example, he said that fat women could not conceive because their fat crushed down on the uterus, and that the only way to conceive, therefore, was to lose the weight. Of course, without proper technology and understanding, it is reasonable that someone of his time would deduce something that, in today’s world, is outrageous.

7Cedar Bark

Cedar bark, as painful as that might sound, was used by Native American women as a menstrual pad and even as diapers. Typically, when we think of bark, we think of the rough hard side of a tree. When it comes to cedar, it is true that it is hard on the side of the tree; however, it does have a few special properties that could make it a decent, though still not very comfortable, pad. First of all, cedar bark is very lightweight and thin. Secondly, and most importantly, it is absorbent.

The moisture retention qualities as well as its lightness make cedar a good candidate for a pad or diaper, especially with relatively limited resources.

6Buffalo Hide

Buffalo hide was used by the Arikara women as a sanitary pad.

The Arikira tribe, related linguistically to the more well-known Pawnee tribe, is located in the northern United States in North Dakota, Montana, and parts of Wyoming. Buffalo had a multitude of uses in Native American life. Of course, the meat was used for food, but the other parts of the beast were far from wasted. The bones were made into knives and tools, even boiled for glue. The hooves and horns were used for cups or other vessels. The sinews were made into bowstrings and other threads, to sew clothes with. Clothes were made from the buffalo skin. Other items made from buffalo skin were tipis and bags, among other useful items, including sanitary pads.

Tanning buffalo hides involves soaking and scraping. The skin, just off the buffalo, is soaked in water, stretched, and then scraped to remove the hair. This process of soaking, stretching, and scraping continues until it is finished. Then it is time to dry it. To dry it, and to make the hide, the Native Americans would smoke it. That is, they would have it held over a fire and let the heat dry it and allow properties from the smoke enhance the hide.

By the end of this process, the skin becomes relatively soft and pliable. This would make it a decent menstrual pad, especially compared to cedar bark.

5Natural Sponges

In ancient times, women in coastal areas, like Greece, used natural sea sponges as tampons. Sponges, as we all know, are very absorbent. Whether using a sponge straight from the sea is safe is worth questioning, though.

Since this was thousands of years ago, there is little information of this topic available, so it is difficult, if not impossible, to know what harm using the sponges might have caused and whether the sponges were even treated in any way before they were used. Today, however, this has been looked at, and it has been decided that sponges might not be so safe. With an increased fear of toxic shock syndrome, the use of sponges in modern times grew, so the Federal Drug Administration stepped in and, after analyzing scientific studies, declared that they’re “significant risk devices” due to bacteria, yeast, and other harms. Despite this, these sponges are still sold and used by numerous companies, and technology has advanced since the FDA made that statement in 1995. With more advanced technology comes more thorough cleaning and disinfecting processes, so the risks might be less.

The ancient Mediterranean women, however, did not have the FDA, nor did they have much to clean the sponges, except perhaps boiling them in water. If these sponges are risky in today’s world, they were most likely much more so thousands of years ago.

4Grass

Grass was used in some form—a pad or a tampon—by women in Africa as well as Australia. The first form, a pad, was simply a bandage of sorts made of grass and vegetable fiber. Vegetable fibers are materials like flax or cotton that go into making fabrics. The tampons were made by constructing rolls of grass and roots.

The use of grass in either form could not have been very pleasant. Some species of grass, like carpet grass, can be soft enough that it might be suitable to use. Other grasses, perhaps more often than not, are itchy, rough, dry, or painful. Africa has many of these grasses, like nine awned grass. Of course, some other grasses are not as pointy and painful, given how many animals graze and would have to eat the grass. Nevertheless, grass in any form was probably not ideal for menstrual care.

It is fair to note, however, that menstrual care in Africa is still lacking. In many places, women still have to use rags and rewash them daily. Sometimes they don’t dry completely by the time they need to be used, so bacterial infections and other diseases can occur. Still others have to resort to leaves or paper.

3Paper

In Ancient Japan, women would supposedly use rolls of paper as a tampon and bandaged it in place. This paper was held in place by a bandage called kama (totally unrelated to the Hindu text Kama Sutra). Understandably, this device had to be changed an average of about 10 times a day.

Paper in Japan at this time, though, was surprisingly durable and absorbent as far as paper goes. Good-quality paper, called washi, was made in Japan at an unmatched pace by AD 800. This paper was made of plant fibers, and during production, they were left long, instead of crushed up like Western paper. Between the production method and the sheer nature of the plants, this paper was relatively strong, absorbent, and lightweight.

These qualities are superior to today’s paper, so if these women were changing eight to twelve times a day, imagine how often women would have to change with today’s inferior paper.

2Rabbit Fur

Supposedly, women used rabbit fur back in the day as a menstrual pad. There are multiple contexts that state this, but there are very limited, and few sources verify this claim. As frequently as it is written in passing, there might be some weight to it, but take it with a grain of salt.

Just because there is a lack of sourcing does not necessarily mean it is not possible. Cultures like the Native Americans, African cultures, and others certainly used the fur of rabbits and many other animals for a variety of purposes, like clothing and blankets.

Given how soft and pliable the fur is, it would not be surprising if women chose to use this to catch their monthly flow, but we do not know for sure.

1Nothing!

In 19th-century Europe, women just let nature run its course naturally. This was due mostly to the fact that one, nothing was invented yet, so they had nothing to go buy. Two, they couldn’t afford to buy anything if they could. Three, they could have used a homemade pad, but sparing rags or tearing up sheets might have been too costly to spare. In this case, it is mostly poor women who opted out of any kind of pad.

This practice can’t be just centered on 19th-century women. Common sense leaves room for these circumstances to apply to women throughout the ages. Even today, any woman can get in a bind and have no choice but to free bleed. In fact, some women even do it intentionally.

In all of human history, the most devastating weapon has been the nuclear bomb. With just one piece of ordnance, a military can (and has) wiped out entire cities. Still, the engineers who make weapons weren’t done with those early models.

In the years since the bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, scientists and engineers have continued to improve their designs. The results are both fascinating and horrifying. These 10 nukes were designed, created, or both by various militaries, and with any luck, they’ll never see the light of day.

Top 10 Near Misses With Nuclear Weapons

10 W54
Man-Portable Rocket-Launched Nuclear Weapon

When nuclear weapons were invented, they were large, bulky objects with relatively low yields. Over time, the size of these weapon systems got much smaller while the nuclear yields grew larger. As far as we know, the smallest nuke developed and deployed by any military is the W54.

The United States developed the bomb in the 1950s as a tactical, low-yield nuclear weapon capable of delivering a 10-ton to 1-kiloton blast. It was created for use in the M-28 and M-29 Davy Crockett short-range rockets and had a range of 2–4 kilometers (1–2.5 mi).

The W54 was adapted into a man-portable Special Atomic Demolition Munition. Specifically, it was to be used if the Soviet Union invaded Europe. It was designed to be carried and fired short distances as an artillery munition.^[1]

W54s were enhanced to become nuclear-tipped, air-to-air missiles. The W72 model was a rebuilt W54 used with the AGM-62 Walleye-guided bomb, which was capable of delivering a 600-ton nuclear yield. However, no models are believed to have been completed.

The W54 was extensively tested before the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963. Between 1957 and 1979, the US produced around 400 W54 bombs.

9 Mark-18
Ivy King

Some people feel that nuclear bombs should be precise, low-yield weapons, while others favor more of a “go big or go home” attitude. The Mark-18 Ivy King satisfies the latter as it was the largest pure-fission nuclear bomb tested by the US.

In direct response to the Soviet Union’s development of high-yield nukes in the 1950s, the Truman administration launched Operation Ivy, which resulted in the aptly named Ivy King. On November 16, 1952, the bomb was tested, and it achieved a yield of a 500-kiloton blast.^[2]

The massive bomb weighed 3,900 kilograms (8,600 lb). It used a 92-point implosion system and contained an enormous amount of highly enriched uranium (equivalent to four critical masses). This put the bomb on the edge of criticality safety, so aluminum and boron chains filled the central chamber to prohibit accidental collapse.

The chains absorbed neutrons, which were needed to achieve the desired reaction. To arm the bomb, the chain was removed. Overall, the US produced 90 Mark 18 bombs from March 1953 to 1956.

8 W82
Nuclear Artillery Shell

There are two types of deployments concerning the use of nuclear weapons: tactical and strategic. The bombs dropped in Japan were strategic. Their purpose wasn’t to destroy two Japanese cities. Rather, it was a display of force meant to compel a Japanese surrender.

Tactical nuclear weapons were meant to be used in specific combat operations alongside conventional weapons. The best example is the W82, a low-yield tactical nuclear warhead designed to be used in a 155 mm artillery weapon system.

The W82 was a dual-purpose weapon with a blast yield that reached two kilotons. It came with interchangeable components that would enable the shell to function as either an “enhanced radiation” or a “standard” fission device.

Like many nuclear weapons developed by the United States, the W82 was meant to provide a “cohesive forward defense” of NATO territory if the Soviet Union invaded. The ordnance could be fired to a range of 30 kilometers (18.6 mi) via an additional rocket assist.^[3]

The United States planned to produce 2,500 rounds of W82 ordnance. But the government only developed around 1,000 before the program was canceled in 1991 after the Cold War ended.

7 W44
Nuclear Depth Charge

Submarines have proven to be one of the most effective naval vessels in combat as they represent a clear and present danger to surface vessels during warfare. To counter this, navies across the world have developed torpedoes and depth charges designed to find and destroy submarines.

As the United States had to put a nuke on every type of ordnance during the Cold War, one was developed for use in the RUR-5 ASROC (Anti-Submarine ROCket) in 1961. The system fired a Mark 44/46 torpedo fitted with a W44 nuclear warhead.

These torpedoes were only launched by surface ships, and they carried a great deal of explosive energy. The W44 achieved a yield of 10 kilotons, making it particularly deadly if it was fired and detonated anywhere near a submarine.^[4]

The ASROC would fire on a sub’s position with a rocket carrying an acoustic homing torpedo to deploy the system. After entering the water, the depth charge detached from the torpedo and sank quickly to a predetermined depth. There, it detonated.

Placed into service in 1961, the W44 was only tested one or two times, although 575 were produced. The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty in 1963 put an end to underwater nuclear testing.

6 B61 Mod 11/12
Nuclear Bunker Buster

For the most part, keeping yourself safe from a nuclear weapon requires staying deep underground. This protects you from the blast and ensuing radiation, but that presents a problem for the people trying to take out the target. To mitigate bunkers, the United States developed the Mod 11 for the B61 thermonuclear gravity bomb.

The device works by combining ground shock with earth penetration of around 3 meters (10 ft). This combination works to force the bulk of the explosive energy further into the Earth, resulting in the target’s destruction.^[5]

Bunker buster bombs carrying the B61 Mod 11 can carry one of three nuclear yields: 0.3, 340, or 400 kilotons. Beginning in 2019, the US started developing the GPS-guided Mod 12, which will produce yields of 0.3, 1.5, 10, or 50 kilotons. It is believed that the weapon was designed to penetrate up to 304 meters (1,000 ft) of solid granite to counter the continuity of government facility at Kosvinsky Kamen in Russia.

10 Sobering Facts About The US Nuclear Arsenal

5 MK-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition

While the W54 was designed to be launched via rocket, the MK-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM) was meant to be carried by personnel into combat. The SADM was intended to be used to counter a Soviet invasion of Europe.

The device was relatively lightweight at 23 kilograms (51 lb) and able to fit inside a duffel bag. The warhead carried a yield of between 10 tons and one kiloton. It was equipped with a time delay, so troops could place the weapon and escape the target location before detonation.

Three hundred MK-54s were developed, and airborne troops were trained in their use. Ideally, paratroopers would jump from an aircraft over enemy or occupied territory. They would head to a predetermined target, which would be a power plant, bridge, or another resource. Then they would remove it from the battlefield.

The bomb is enveloped in controversy . . . more than other nuclear weapon. This is due to allegations that any mission carried out by a paratrooper was a suicide mission. It wasn’t practical to outrun the timer or the blast radius. According to Mark Bentley, a soldier trained in the deployment of atomic bombs, “We all knew it was a one-way mission, a suicide mission.”^[6]

4 RA-115
Suitcase Nuke

The United States’ development of the MK-54 wasn’t something that the Soviet Union was willing to let slide, so the USSR created its own so-called “suitcase nuke.” The RA-115 weighed 22–27 kilograms (50–60 lb). They were designed to be placed for long periods at a target location for eventual detonation.

The bombs were connected to a small power source with a battery backup, which would signal a potential loss of power to a GRU post at a Russian embassy or consulate office. Numerous RA-115s were placed at strategic locations around the world.

Much of what is known about the RA-115 weapon system has been provided to the West by Stanislav Lunev, the GRU’s highest-ranking defector. According to him and the former Russian National Security Adviser Aleksandr Lebed, the USSR created 250 of these weapon systems and more than 100 are missing.^[7]

That’s a frightening proposition as the weapons were designed to be placed inside the United States to eliminate targets and politicians if the Cold War turned hot. The Russian Security Council has investigated these claims and suggested that they are misleading. But with so much secrecy, there’s no way to know for certain.

3 Blue Peacock
Nuclear Land Mine

The United Kingdom developed a nuclear land mine to support a NATO defense if the Soviet Union crossed north Germany in a European invasion. The project was known as Brown Bunny before the name was switched to Blue Bunny and finally became Blue Peacock.

The mines were designed to produce a yield of 10 kilotons. They would either be detonated via an eight-day timer or by wire manually. According to a policy paper, the thinking was that “a skillfully sited atomic mine would not only destroy facilities and installations over a large area but would deny occupation of the area to an enemy for an appreciable time due to contamination.”^[8]

The Blue Peacock program went through development but was never deployed. There was too much risk of fallout and the contamination of territory that NATO nations wanted back.

Interestingly, the system had a problem in keeping the electronics from freezing. One suggestion was to seal live chickens with food and water inside the casing. The chickens’ body heat would theoretically keep the weapon system from freezing.

The proposal was so outlandish that many thought it was an April Fools’ joke when the project was declassified in 2004. It wasn’t.

2 9M730 Burevestnik
Nuclear-Powered, Nuclear-Armed Cruise Missile

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled six new Russian strategic weapons in March 2018, with the 9M730 Burevestnik being the most extraordinary. It’s a nuclear-tipped cruise missile that’s also nuclear-powered.

The intercontinental cruise missile was in development shortly after the United States deployed the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, which was intended to counter nuclear ICBMs. The 9M730 Burevestnik was designed to counter the THAAD.

According to Russian claims about the weapon, it has an unlimited range and “is invincible to all the existing and advanced air and missile defense systems.” Theoretically, the THAAD can’t stop them.

As the weapon is relatively new, no declassified or confirmed information exists about its potential yield. It is believed that the development of the system caused the Nyonoksa radiation accident in August 2019. This resulted in the deaths of five weapons scientists following a test of an “isotope power source for a liquid-fueled rocket engine.”^[9]

Aleksei Karpov, the Russian envoy to international organizations in Vienna, stated that the accident was related to “one of the tit-for-tat measures in the wake of the United States’ withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.”

1 RDS-220
Tsar Bomba

The RDS-220 Tsar Bomba is probably the best-known nuclear weapon. Tested in October 1961, it was the largest man-made explosive ever detonated.

The device was developed as more of a proof of concept than a usable weapon system. It was 8 meters (26 ft) long and weighed a massive 27,000 kilograms (60,000 lb). Only one was ever built and tested.

There are various claims about the atomic yield, which might have reached 100 megatons if a uranium-238 fusion tamper had been included. Instead, the RDS-220 Tsar Bomba is estimated to have achieved a yield of 50 megatons, as measured by Soviet scientists at the time. That was more than 3,300 times the size of the Hiroshima blast.^[10]

The aircraft used to deploy it was stripped down to support the massive ordnance. The craft’s outer hull was covered in a special white reflective paint, and the crew was given only a 50 percent chance of survival. Despite this, they dropped the bomb, which unleashed a mushroom cloud that reached 67 kilometers (42 mi) high.

10 Times The Military Mistakenly Dropped Nuclear Bombs

About The Author: Jonathan is a graphic artist, illustrator, and writer. He is a Retired Soldier and enjoys researching and writing about history, science, theology, and many other subjects.

On the one hand, extending life to the point of practical immortality (longevity escape velocity, or LEV) is an absurdly bad idea, the epitome of human hubris, fraught with all manner of social, economic, and philosophical problems—many of which we probably can’t foresee.

On the other hand, if aging is a disease like any other (as epigeneticists tend to think), and our number one killer at that, aren’t we morally obliged to work on a cure—especially if, as researchers claim, a cure most definitely exists? Aubrey de Grey, one of the most public advocates of life extension research, answers the question of why he wants to cure aging with another: “What the hell is wrong with everyone else that stops them from being motivated to cure aging? It’s responsible for the overwhelming majority of global suffering. WTF?”

On yet another hand (who knows, maybe we’ll graft one on next), if you’re enjoying life, why not prolong it indefinitely? It’s not like we’re going to eliminate death entirely and force everyone to live forever; we’re just looking at ways to tackle its primary cause.

In any case, wherever you stand on life extension, there are certain things you can do right now to improve your odds of living long enough to see it happen. And, even if when that day comes you opt out of “living forever,” these top 10 tips for practical immortality can only improve your health in the meantime. For the most part anyway.

10. Take supplements

Although there’s very little evidence in favor of supplementing nutrients for longevity (something de Grey himself points out), life extension zealot Ray Kurzweil takes hundreds of pills every day. If you want to stand a chance of living forever, he insists, you must “be aggressive with your supplementation.”

Stephen Coles, another life extension enthusiast, appears to agree, prescribing a daunting nutrient cocktail of vitamins (B, C, E, etc.), fish oil, soya lecithin, and many, many other supplements.

Obviously the cost of so many pills can rapidly get out of control. It’s also no small feat keeping up with the often contradictory research and adjusting your regimen accordingly, while at the same time accounting for differences in size, weight, gender, health, lifestyle, diet, and so on. Given that individual supplements could end up interfering with, duplicating, or even counteracting the effects of the others, fine-tuning your intake can become a rather tedious full-time job. And it’s probably not worth the hassle.

But if you’re serious about supplementation (because there is in fact reason to be), then the best way to get started is to plan out your own “personal supplement pyramid.” The idea is to start with a reliable foundation of supplements recommended for everyone—multivitamin, CoQ10, essential fatty acids, probiotics, and so on—before customizing your intake from there. First, you’ll add supplements recommended for your own medical profile (e.g. pomegranate extract for a family history of heart disease), and then you’ll top off your pyramid with some of the more faddish or experimental wonder-supplements (or drugs) of the day. These might include protein-refolding supplements, Basis, or metformin. Ned David, co-founder of Unity Biotechnology, is said to look 20 years younger, in part because he uses metformin—a diabetes drug that helped even elderly diabetics live longer than a healthy control group.

9. Watch what you eat…

As with supplements, Aubrey de Grey doesn’t think much of fad diets when it comes to extending longevity. Obviously an unhealthy diet can significantly shorten your lifespan, but slavishly following the Atkins or paleo diet (for instance) might be a waste of your time—unless of course you’re overweight.

That said, you can’t go wrong with a traditionally healthy diet. That means ample fiber (prunes, whole grains, potato skins, etc.), fatty acids (from oily fish or vegetarian supplements), and plenty of vegetables. Antioxidants are especially useful for slowing the production of free radicals that cause havoc to aging cells. Antioxidant foods include walnuts, pomegranates, ginger, and blackberries. Red wine contains the powerful antioxidant resveratrol and evidence suggests drinking it in small quantities could help protect against a variety of age-related disorders, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Green tea, with its polyphenols, antioxidants, and antibacterial qualities, is also recommended. Meanwhile, you should limit your consumption of saturated/trans fats, meat, dairy, chemical additives, sugar, starches, and heavily processed foods. And you should never eat brains.

Some nutritionists believe we should eat the same as “Blue Zone” residents, i.e. those living in areas with the most centenarians. People in Sardinia (Italy), Okinawa (Japan), Ikaria (Greece), and Loma Linda (California), for instance, have longer lifespans on average, perhaps because of their seafood-rich and otherwise plant-based diets.

It should be noted, however, that such a diet is not really feasible for most of us. Our use of chemical pesticides has rendered many foods (especially apples, peppers, peaches, spinach, and strawberries) actually toxic, and our polluted seas have increased methylmercury levels in fish to potentially dangerous levels.

In short, it’s probably best to follow de Grey’s golden rule for diet and eat whatever doesn’t make you feel ill.

8. …but eat less of it

People in “Blue Zones” also tend to eat less, for example by stopping when they’re “80% full” as opposed to fully stuffed. According to many life extension fanatics, this kind of calorie restriction may be key to extending longevity.

In fact, we’ve actually found that animals tend to live longer when they’re kept hungry—perhaps because a starving body focuses less on reproduction and more on surviving the famine, investing energy and resources into repairing cells and boosting resilience. One monkey put on a 30% calorie restricted diet at the age of 16, for example, turned 43 in 2017 (the equivalent of 130 in human years), breaking the longevity record for his species. Other studies have demonstrated the same effect in smaller animals such as nematode worms and rats.

Calorie restriction is tough, though, even if it’s only temporary. In one study, participants who restricted their calories on only five days per month for just three months of the year had a dropout rate of 25%. For some, calorie restriction just isn’t worth it. It diminishes their quality of life too much, even if it does extend the duration. And it could also be harmful. Many researchers are keen to point out that calorie restriction is really more of a focus for studying aging in the lab than a practical lifestyle recommendation. A drug with the same effect, i.e. of dampening the mTOR signalling pathway to regulate cellular metabolism, would be far preferable.

Still, calorie restriction might be a good idea if you’re currently overweight.

7. Get into shape

De Grey doesn’t live much of a temperate lifestyle himself; he drinks as much as he likes and doesn’t even bother with exercise because he’s “so well optimized” genetically (i.e. with high glucose tolerance, low insulin, and low triglycerides). Nor does he think it’s essential for anyone to lose weight or stop smoking to stand a chance of reaching LEV. You might gain a couple of extra years but this is nothing compared to the long-term goals of de Grey’s SENS (Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence) Research Foundation. Within 30 years, he insists, we should be able to reverse any kind of lifestyle damage anyway. And we’ve already seen the first stirrings of the gene therapy era with the “impossible” advent of CRISPR, a revolutionary gene-editing system.

For many, though, especially if another 30 years would be pushing it, adopting a healthy lifestyle now is probably a good idea. For one thing, just like calorie restriction, exercise puts the body under strain and dampens the mTOR signalling pathway. Adopting a healthy lifestyle can also reduce your chance of mortality from any cause by a massive 61%, potentially increasing your lifespan by more than a decade.

But you don’t need to go crazy. The best (and safest) exercise might just be walking. Evidence suggests that it’s just as effective as vigorous exercise for lowering cholesterol and preventing hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease. It also lowers blood sugar, improves digestion, eases fatigue, boosts mood, and enhances sleep, all of which are vital for getting into (and staying in) shape.

6. Stay safe

Even if you do live to see age and possibly disease eliminated, you’ll still be at risk of accidental death and murder.

You can actually run your own simulation here to see how long humans would live in a world without age or disease, based on data from the Insurance Information Institute. In one simulation of 500 practical immortals, for instance, the oldest person to die was 54,258 years old and the cause of death was a car accident. Other causes of death, including shooting and drowning, limited the average life expectancy to a paltry 8,938 years.

Setting aside the question of how car safety and other factors will have improved by the 563rd century (around the time that last quadragintiquinquagintimilliquinquagintiducentinarian crashes his car), these statistics can help us frame the dangers that we face every day. After age and disease, car accidents are the most common cause of death by far. You have a 0.011% chance of dying this way every year. The next most common cause of death, in the US at least, is assault by firearm. You have a 0.0035% chance of this.

Obviously the answer is to invest in self-driving cars, or to avoid driving altogether. Tighter gun laws might help too (although armed police apparently pose the real threat, killing more American civilians every year than mass shooters, terrorists, and gangsters put together). Then there are the freak accidents none of us see coming.

Unfortunately, you can’t eliminate risk entirely without severely limiting your quality of life. So you’re better off sticking with the essentials. Keep a first aid kit handy (and know how to use it); learn CPR and the Heimlich maneuver (and make sure those around you do too); and know exactly what to do in a variety of life-threatening situations.

While you wait around for LEV, you should also stay on top of regular medical and dental check-ups, including twice-yearly prophylactic cleaning in the latter case, and all essential vaccinations.

5. Minimize stress and get plenty of sleep

Importantly, don’t freak out about the risks that surround you each day. Avoid all stress in general, including about your age. Frequent bursts of adrenaline can be dangerous and cortisol can actually corrode bodily tissues. Stress also constricts blood vessels, potentially leading to angina.

De-stressing your life doesn’t have to be stressful. Some common tips are to avoid routine emergency deadlines, take time out when you need it, and use public transport instead of driving in big cities.

Getting good quality sleep is also important, so you should never go to bed on an argument or with unfinished business in mind. Sleeping pills are a bad idea because they interfere with the crucial REM phase of sleep. Take naps if you need to, but try to stick to a regular schedule that allows at least seven hours of sleep.

Incidentally, if you snore, you should get it checked out by a doctor. Snoring is often a symptom of sleep apnea and may indicate your blood and brain aren’t getting enough oxygen while you sleep.

4. Get out more

Research suggests that getting out into nature can also help to reduce stress levels. It’s such a powerful remedy, in fact, that even just looking at pictures has been found to produce similar effects. Indeed, spending time outdoors is often more effective than pharmaceuticals for treating a range of unhelpful conditions, including depression and dementia.

Untreated depression in particular can dramatically shorten your life expectancy, and this has little to do with suicide rates. Depressed individuals are at greater risk of heart disease and stroke and tend to have unhealthier lifestyles, being more prone to heavy drinking and smoking. In other words, if you want to “live forever” but you’re depressed, getting un-depressed should be your top priority.

It’s also important to surround yourself with good friends. Studies have consistently shown a correlation between good friendships and better health and well-being, including a lower incidence of disease and depression. According to a 2010 study, loneliness and isolation is as bad for your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and actually worse than being obese. The right friends can also help to promote healthier behaviors in general. Interestingly, relationships with family members do not appear to be quite as beneficial.

3. Have sex daily

Less than a third of Americans aged between 18 and 59 have sex more than twice a week. And this isn’t anywhere near enough. According to a 1997 study, 45 to 59-year-old men having sex less than once a month were twice as likely to die over a 10-year follow-up period as those having sex the most frequently. The optimum, according to L. Stephen Coles, is to have sex with a (willing) sexually healthy partner every single day, and this goes for any age group, so long as it doesn’t risk aggravating existing problems like heart conditions. But there’s apparently no requirement for orgasm. It’s just the intercourse that’s important.

It may also be important, particularly if you’re male, to avoid being single too long. On average, married men tend to live longer than their unmarried counterparts, and this may have something to do with taking fewer risks, as well as benefiting from a wider social circle.

2. Support causes

When Aubrey de Grey was asked what the best thing anyone can do to extend their life is, his answer was simple: “Give SRF [SENS Research Foundation] lots of money.” The next best thing? “Persuade others to.”

As far as he’s concerned, there’s really nothing else to do at this point. Our hopes for practical immortality rest squarely with longevity research. If you want to live forever, it makes sense to give what you can.

So why aren’t more of us investing? De Grey suggests it may have something to do with selfishness. Older investors may believe they stand little chance of personally benefiting from the research and refuse to part with their cash. Younger tycoons tend to be more enthusiastic.

But the odds aren’t actually that slim, even for the oldest billionaires. At 50-odd, de Grey gives himself a roughly 50/50 chance of reaching LEV, which not only means halting aging but actually reverting his body to the biological age of 30 and keeping it there indefinitely. More promisingly, he believes the first person to live to the age of 150 has already been born, and that they’re already over 60. Couple that with Kurzweil’s prediction that we could reach LEV by 2029 and there’s every reason to give money to SENS—just to hurry things up and improve your own chances of living long enough to benefit from the breakthroughs. (Then again, maybe that’s the idea; all religions make bold claims to get us to cough up donations.)

But there are other reasons to support causes in the name of longevity. Having something to believe in obviously gives you something to live for. And of course making the world a better place should be a priority if you’re planning to stay in it. You might therefore want to change your political alignment (and work to change others’) to vote for the most peaceful, science-literate, and non-climate-change-denying politicians. You might also want to campaign for nuclear disarmament, for preserving the oceans, and against Monsanto killing our bees. Ensuring you’ve actually got a world to live in is a no-brainer if you want to live forever.

Again, though, it’s important not to stress out over it. Having a purpose is one thing, and improving the world is fantastic. But go with the flow wherever you can and live and let live for longevity.

1. Have a backup plan

So you’re taking the right supplements, watching what you eat (and eating less of it), you’re in shape, keeping safe, getting plenty of peaceful sleep (after nightly sex), and you’re spending a lot of your time outdoors with friends. You’re even supporting SENS research with some of your (not too stressfully) hard-earned cash. You’re well on your way to reaching LEV and attaining practical immortality.

But everyone needs a backup plan.

Many life extension enthusiasts see cryonics as the next best thing, opting to have their bodies or heads cryogenically frozen in case they die before reaching LEV. This could also be a safeguard, going forward, against accidental death—even as a practical immortal. If you die in a car accident, for example, you could simply be frozen until we figure out a way to resurrect you. There’s no guarantee we ever will, of course, but it’s safer than rotting in the ground.

Some life extensionists also look to the 2045 Initiative, which seeks to eliminate the body entirely by uploading human consciousness to a digital format. Even the Dalai Lama is said to support this so-called “Avatar” project, whereby uploaded consciousnesses will be installed into humanoid robots.

While this might sound totally far-fetched, many just think it’s inevitable. In fact, as the name of the initiative suggests, they think it’s inevitable by 2045.

So it’s 30 years (ish) again. All signs point to this as the golden number. Live another 30 years and you stand a fairly good chance of “living forever”—in one form or another.

Just so long as there’s still a world in which you can do so.

Everybody loves a good prank! Pranks are supposed to be a harmless way to play a joke on a friend or family member in an innocuous and good-natured way. However, small pranks sometimes start “prank wars,” causing the practical jokes to spiral out of control, becoming mean and dangerous.

While a good prank is a work of art, some jokesters just don’t know when to stop! Others simply should never have started pranking in the first place. Our list today includes 10 practical jokes that went too far. These “hilarious” pranksters touch on political corruption, lacing drugs into baked goods, fake national disasters, and pregnancy. What a gas!

As we go through this list of ill-advised pranks, remember this advice. When it comes to practical jokes, less is almost always more. Also, consider safety because none of the pranks below ended the way the jokesters thought they would. Let’s get into it!

10 Richard Nixon Running for President in 1992?

The first prankster on our list decided to take things way too far. As we all know, religion and politics are two things people do not take lightly. A fake presidential candidate? Sure, that could be funny. But, this practical joker took things to a whole new level by deciding to impersonate one of the most infamous presidents in United States history.

In 1992, this prankster claimed to be the notorious Richard Nixon. He conducted a radio interview with NPR, in which he said that he was running for president. In the interview, he doubled down on his famous “I am not a crook!” statement and said he “never did anything wrong, and I won’t do it again.”

While I can admit that is a funny thing to say (and made even funnier with a convincing Nixon impersonation), it was not funny when thousands of people thought that the disgraced Republican was actually re-seeking the presidency.

9 Pot-Laced Muffins

All sorts of “senior pranks” have backfired in high schools across the country, but this one takes the cake. Or at least the muffin.

Two Dallas area high school students decided to bake up some special treats for their high school faculty. These weren’t ordinary muffins; the students laced them with a secret ingredient: marijuana. Reportedly the two seniors put their special muffins into the teacher’s lounge. Obviously, the muffins looked tasty because many teachers ate them. However, the boys must have done something wrong because 19 staff members had to take trips to the emergency room in the aftermath. It is safe to say that this prank did not go how the students intended.

8 UFO Sighting in Jafr, Jordan?

With some of these pranks, it is really hard to figure out what the “jokesters” were thinking. The next prank falls squarely into that category.

Being the editor of a newspaper in a small city in Jordan is probably a challenging job. What are the best ways to draw people to your city and attract tourists? Here are three possibilities: writing about improved infrastructure, local festivals, and beautiful architecture. In 2010, the local newspaper of Jafr, Jordan, took a different approach—an otherworldly one.

In order to draw attention to their city, the newspaper ran an article indicating that a UFO had landed near their fair city. Instead of increasing interest, this article caused panic. The mayor of Jafr evacuated more than 10,000 people. While it is hard to figure out exactly what the newspaper was thinking, at least the article was printed on April Fools Day, so maybe that should have been a clue to the citizens of Jafr.

7 Exploding Chair Gag

A couple that pranks together also laughs and… sometimes cries together. The next prank on our list comes from a couple of professional prankers. Comedian Robin Armstrong and his girlfriend had a YouTube channel where they would share the various pranks that they played on one another. His girlfriend came up with a prank she thought their subscribers would love.

Armstrong’s girlfriend rigged a chair to explode, planning for it to launch Armstrong into a pool. While Armstrong did not see the prank coming, when the chair exploded, things went awry. He was shot more than 10 feet (3 meters) into the air and did not land in the pool. Instead, he landed on the ground and broke his back. The fortunate news for this prankster couple is that Armstrong did not suffer any permanent damage, although he had to spend several weeks at the hospital.

6 Covered Stop Sign

Maybe it is just me, but I have never seen much humor in messing with traffic signs that are designed to keep everyone safe. I guess I am not cut out to be a prankster!

Two teenage boys near Columbus, Ohio, thought traffic signs did not provide them with enough entertainment and decided to make some adjustments. They covered a stop sign (arguably the most important of all traffic signs) and made it so drivers could not see it. The teenage pranksters did this by wrapping the stop sign completely with plastic wrap and petroleum jelly. They were so proud of the work that they even talked about it on social media.

Fortunately, many drivers were familiar with the area and stopped, even without a visible sign. But, eventually, their luck ran out. Two elderly sisters were driving and did not see the stop sign (thanks to this prank). The vehicle was struck by oncoming traffic and killed the passenger immediately, while the driver eventually had to have her leg amputated above the knee.

Both pranksters were eventually held accountable for their actions, taking guilty pleas for reckless homicide.

5 Pregnancy Prank

The next prank on our list is a two-parter! It took place on the most famous of pranking holidays, April Fools Day, in 2013. Strap in because this one is extra ridiculous! These pranks relate to a young couple in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the time, Tori Wheeler, an 18-year-old, came up with a two-part practical joke to play on her boyfriend (at the time) Derek Bauer.

Wheeler’s premise was pretty straightforward. She told Bauer that she was pregnant. However, Wheeler was far from finished. Bauer did not respond to her practical joke in the way she liked, so Wheeler pulled out a knife. The police were called before anyone was hurt, but Wheeler claimed that she pulled the knife out as a prank, too!

All kidding aside, this prank clearly went too far, and we should all be thankful that no one was injured.

4 Twins Prank a Bank

Throughout this list, we have seen pranks on politics, road signs, knives, and pregnancies. What else is hilarious? That’s right, robbing a bank!

The twin pranksters Alex and Alan Stokes thought of this inarguably clever and funny idea. The twins at least had the wisdom not to go inside the bank to attempt their practical joke. They brought their own cash (in bags) and had masks covering their face outside the bank’s front entrance. Then, they called an Uber driver who was intended to be the prank victim. Like a reasonable citizen, the Uber driver refused to give a ride to two people who appeared to have robbed a bank.

Nearby observers must not have gotten the joke, as the police were called on the twins. The police were kind and let the boys go. However, they couldn’t let this funny joke die and tried it again the same day. This time, they were charged. For supposedly professional pranksters with a significant YouTube following, this practical joke was poorly thought out and went way too far.

3 Blue Hill Eruption?

Next on our list is a prank from a Boston television news segment. It took place on April Fools Day back in 1980. Producer Homer Cilley created an entire broadcast as a prank.

In the report, the news station alerted citizens about a hill in nearby Milton, Massachusetts. It indicates that (although it is just a hill and has never shown any seismic activity) the Great Blue Hill was beginning to erupt. The newscasters described the lava and danger in great detail. There were also warnings from the American president at the time, Jimmy Carter.

As the cherry on top, the producer also included real volcano footage to really sell his prank. Well, it worked! Citizens definitely thought there was a volcanic eruption and panicked, many taking out their ire on the TV station. Cilley was fired for the practical joke.

2 Students Try to Teach Their Teachers a Lesson

Three high school pranksters from Brooklyn had a similar prank to number nine above, but it was far more malicious. The students made some tasty cakes for their teachers. These were covered on top with what appeared to be red candy. The candy? It was actually a laxative!

As you might expect, none of the teachers found this prank amusing. Five reported significant health concerns. To be honest, I don’t know how these practical jokers ever expected this prank to go any differently. They are just fortunate that nobody got more seriously hurt.

1 Gas Prank (Not What You’re Thinking)

We have another butt-related prank as the final item on our list. This one involves a specific tool used in manufacturing, compressed air. Compressed air is used for a variety of things in manufacturing. It is not intended to be used for practical jokes.

The compressed air comes with enormous force, enough to push through the skin. In 2018, in Japan, one man thought it would be funny to use the air unconventionally. He directed the compressed air toward a colleague’s backside. The results, as you might expect, were horrific. The air shot through the victim’s clothes and into his body, all the way into his lungs. This led to his eventual death.

Remember, keeping pranks small and harmless is the way to keep them funny..