“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation
From 1945 to the early 1960s, the US government undertook numerous atomic and hydrogen bomb tests. These full-scale explosions were recorded on film from various angles, and at different speeds. Indeed, it soon became required to obtain images of the very first milli-seconds of the expanding phase o...
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doaj-b97bbce7fb614f0988666fd0d35ec07d2020-11-25T02:55:53ZengUniversity of BolognaCinergie2280-94812020-07-0191717318210.6092/issn.2280-9481/103289355“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time SynchronisationAntoine Prévost-Balga0Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris 3From 1945 to the early 1960s, the US government undertook numerous atomic and hydrogen bomb tests. These full-scale explosions were recorded on film from various angles, and at different speeds. Indeed, it soon became required to obtain images of the very first milli-seconds of the expanding phase of the atomic fireball. Ultrahigh-speed cameras able to produce such images were specifically developed for that purpose. This article explores the different “media-temporalities” that intersect in those images. I focus on the “micro-processes happening on a technical level that are very fast,” and more specifically the ones that go into the “Rapatronic camera” designed by Harold Edgerton (head of the US national defense contractor company EG&G) to record the atomic fireball early formation. The scientific slow-motion films and high-speed photographic images operate at the junction of the micro-scale temporality of the atomic explosions’ early phases, and the macro-scale temporality of the political and ecological implications of these explosions. I argue that these films are the objects and inscriptions of micro-temporalities, macro-history and geological times.https://cinergie.unibo.it/article/view/10328high-speed photographymedia temporalitymicro-processessynchronization |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Antoine Prévost-Balga |
spellingShingle |
Antoine Prévost-Balga “Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation Cinergie high-speed photography media temporality micro-processes synchronization |
author_facet |
Antoine Prévost-Balga |
author_sort |
Antoine Prévost-Balga |
title |
“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation |
title_short |
“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation |
title_full |
“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation |
title_fullStr |
“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation |
title_full_unstemmed |
“Atomic Explosion Stopped at Millionths of A Second”: Media Microtemporalities and Time Synchronisation |
title_sort |
“atomic explosion stopped at millionths of a second”: media microtemporalities and time synchronisation |
publisher |
University of Bologna |
series |
Cinergie |
issn |
2280-9481 |
publishDate |
2020-07-01 |
description |
From 1945 to the early 1960s, the US government undertook numerous atomic and hydrogen bomb tests. These full-scale explosions were recorded on film from various angles, and at different speeds. Indeed, it soon became required to obtain images of the very first milli-seconds of the expanding phase of the atomic fireball. Ultrahigh-speed cameras able to produce such images were specifically developed for that purpose. This article explores the different “media-temporalities” that intersect in those images. I focus on the “micro-processes happening on a technical level that are very fast,” and more specifically the ones that go into the “Rapatronic camera” designed by Harold Edgerton (head of the US national defense contractor company EG&G) to record the atomic fireball early formation. The scientific slow-motion films and high-speed photographic images operate at the junction of the micro-scale temporality of the atomic explosions’ early phases, and the macro-scale temporality of the political and ecological implications of these explosions. I argue that these films are the objects and inscriptions of micro-temporalities, macro-history and geological times. |
topic |
high-speed photography media temporality micro-processes synchronization |
url |
https://cinergie.unibo.it/article/view/10328 |
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