The Demon Core: One Screwdriver Slip Killed Louis Slotin

On May 21, 1946, the Pajarito Laboratory at Los Alamos was home to the most dangerous object on Earth: a 6.2-kilogram sphere of plutonium nicknamed "Rufus." To verify the weapon's design, scientists performed a high-risk experiment known as "tickling the dragon's tail." This involved pushing the core to the very edge of criticality, a state where a nuclear chain reaction begins. The only thing preventing a lethal excursion was a single mechanical boundary: the tip of a flat-head screwdriver held by physicist Louis Slotin. 00:08 The Most Dangerous Object 01:02 What Is Criticality? 02:18 Tickling the Dragon’s Tail 04:41 The Slip 04:48 The Blue Flash 06:50 Radiation Sickness 07:32 What Changed After #demoncore #LouisSlotin #PajaritoSite #LosAlamos #LosAlamosLaboratory.