The Nuclear age and a new Friend

    So I left Albequerque in a few different rides, didn't really expect to make it to Los Alamos that day, since I left kind of late, but I eventually made it as the sun was going down. My ride into town was one of the fun conspiracy types, but he knew all the secluded places so he dropped me off by a nature trail where nobody would bother me and he was right. A little cold but a good nights sleep, I went to Starbucks to charge my camera and then to the Bradbury Science Museum, the main reason for my visit to Los Alamos.

Model of "The Device", the first ever nuclear bomb

    I have had an intellectual curiosity for the atomic bomb for a long time. I have read many articles and a book about them, so the museum near the lab where they made it should have been a sweet visit. Half of the small museum is dedicated to the science and history of the bombs, while the other half is for the other works still being done at the laboratory. I thought the museum was in a great place to talk about the issue of nuclear proliferation, the difference between weaponized nuclear power, and nuclear power used to produce energy, lowering existential risk, and having an objective opinion about the use of the bombs on Japan. NOPE!

Model of "Fat Man" the bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki

    There was nothing on existential risk, the only talk about the ramifications of the technology was in the comments of the scientists who built the bombs, nothing on the difference between nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and the use of the bombs on Japan were relegated to a corner where 2 groups not affiliated with the museum were allowed to put up completely biased displays. One side basically playing the flower child, and the other, I would say being slightly more fair, talked about the casualty estimations of an over land invasion, compared to the loss of life of the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This didn't stop them from pointing out that the Japanese were also huge jerks and probably deserved it. Swing and a miss.

The anti bomb side.
Read: we should really feel bad guys

Pro bomb side, a little more coherent.

    I left the museum not satisfied, but looking forward to meeting up with TheWindAnRain, a redditor I had been talking to on r/hitchhiking who was in Santa Fe. I didn't expect to be in that day, but my luck worked out, and I even got a little bit of time at the Black Jack tables, and learned an important lesson about quitting when you are ahead.

A fun book were stupid people get to write inane opinions.

    We met up in his spot behind the McDonalds, watched a movie, and swapped road stories all night. He is much more traveled than I and had a lot of good advice to give. In the morning he split, and I am now waking up in the McDonalds we slept behind, getting ready to hit the road again. My current path is not super well laid out, so I might just end up on a dirt road in the desert, although I hope not.

See you all next time.