World War 3
”You know exactly why we can’t use mustard gas or anything similar. Our country signed the Geneva Protocol, it’d be a war crime to use chemical weapons like these.”
”But Hank! Do you really think anyone cares about signed contracts anymore? This war has gotten so big, everyone is involved. And several countries have not signed the protocol. Do you think they will shy away from using chemical warfare on us? Do you really think that?”
No, Zachary was right, Hank didn’t think that. He also knew, that there were several labs already researching all kinds of bio weapons and new, dangerous chemicals.
Nobody really knew what had triggered the Third World War, so many things were going on. But suddenly, they had been at war one day. The internet was no longer accessible, at least not for the average citizen. Cable companies had been forced to shut all their services down.
Young men and women were forced into the military, to fight an enemy they didn’t even know, to protect an ideology they didn’t believe in. Sure, in some countries riots had started, but they didn’t last long. The first bombs that rained down the country took away every sense of security people had built up over the last few decades of peace.
It had only been a matter of weeks until the government decided that the need for biological weapons was greater than the one for atomic bombs. Every side knew, that an atomic war would leave nothing behind for the winner to rule or salvage. As sick as it sounded, more environmental-friendly weapons were desired.
And that was the reason Hank and Zachary were now standing in a lab together, discussing the ethical implications of using chemical warfare on their opponent’s soldiers.
”I’m sorry, Zachary, but I didn’t spend almost a decade on my education as a biologist to create weaponry. I wanted to find new ways to treat cancer or stop the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.”
”It’s not like I wouldn’t prefer that too, Hank. But you must be realistic. Either we develop a new weapon that ends this war, or the others do.”
”Whoever those others are”, mumbled Hank. He shook his head. ”Alright. Let’s talk about your idea with the pulmonary surfactant. You want to damage it?”
Zachary seemed relieved that Hank had finally stopped arguing and nodded eagerly.
“As you know, this surfactant is a phospholipoprotein that reduces surface tension in our lungs. If there isn’t enough of it, the lung collapses or even inflates completely.”
”And your plan is what, a gas that causes the proteins to break down?”
”Almost! Nanoparticles.”
”Nanoparticles?”
”Yes. There have been studies about the effects of nanoparticles on pulmonary surfactant. If we do it right, a small dose will completely ruin an individual’s lung without affecting the environment around them.”
”So the soldiers will just suffocate where they stand”, concluded Hank. ”Nefarious.”
”And absolutely deadly”, added Zachary proudly.
Hank looked at his young colleague with deep sorrow. Zachary was too excited about killing people he didn’t even know. People that probably didn’t want to fight in the first place. Nevertheless, he couldn’t just refuse to work on this project. He had to think of his wife and children at home. If he didn’t comply, they wouldn’t be safe.
”Alright, let’s start working on this.”
He could already hear the choking of thousands of poor souls on the battlefield. They wouldn’t even know what hit them.
Sources:
Imaging the interaction of atelectasis and overdistension in surfactant-depleted lungs
Biophysical inhibition of pulmonary surfactant function by polymeric nanoparticles
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This is very dangerous if this happens, but based on the current political scenario can happen. Because this is seen from the readiness of each superpower.
Even as the conflict in Syria is still war and there are countries that intervene in turbulent conflicts every day dozens of people die by inhaling poison gas, so maybe this will trigger a third world war in the future.
If the war happens again, there may be many casualties, all the activities on earth will be destroyed slowly, very unfortunate if the event occurs, many children become orphans, and vice versa. Hopefully this deadly event will not happen.
Nice!! It is always interesting to see how the chemical weapon is "discovered". One was like the VX gas used by the North Korean recently was actually initially designed as pesticides.
Nanoparticles application is really a great debate with it toxicity. People in the field always claim that they wont create health issue, which i am quite doubtful with that . One never knows how toxic it is, perhaps until someone died because of it.
This would make for a very scary and realistic screen play.Start writing!
I wonder if a chemo/bio weapon which just temporarily disables opponents could be developed. Maybe a nerve agent which paralyzes to the point that people can't walk or shoot for a few hours, but can still breathe and think. Drop the bomb, go in and scoop up the paralyzed enemies, and take the objective with minimum casualties.
Oh, but who am I kidding. Surely it's easier to just kill everyone.
I can totally see how the desire for knowledge and research in a lab can just override the thought of all the people that will die in agony as a result. It's a shame us humans are so bad at seeing the bigger picture. And how easy it is for fear of the "other" side winning to draw us in.
Cool story @suesa though the only part I wasn't sure of was how nanoparticles were presumed to be harmless for the environment but deadly to us. Countless examples from the scientific community with the same kind of certainty was proven wrong. Whether you point to DDT, agent Orange, PCBs, CFCs the list goes on. All were a brilliant idea at the start. Micro beads in soap were also seemingly harmless, now people get the nutritional benefits in their fishsticks. My request for a science post would be POLE SHIFT. I have my own article that has research you can draw on, but I'm sure you have your own thoughts/sources. But feel free to take whatever you like from here: https://steemit.com/science/@ecoknowme/anyone-know-anything-about-pole-shift-should-i-start-googling-underground-gardening ....in order to make your own conclusions and orchestrate your signature fiction and science story twist. Plus I'd be curious what direction YOU would take it. Cheers @ecoknowme
Thanks for the feedback!
True, nanoparticles aren't safe for the environment either, but for the sake of the story safer than the alternatives.
On the subject of pole shift, I doubt that I could write a good story about it as it's far outside my field of expertise. Maybe @fredrikaa has some thoughts on this.
is your area of expertise more in chemistry/biology? Perhaps it wouldn't need to be pole shift specifically, but perhaps your take on the impact of cosmic waves on evolution. WHY are there periods in the fossil record where all life forms went through periodic change, then looooong periods of normal evolution? What was that about? What would that be like in a modern context, say, a first date? I dunno, then again, I dunno how you are able to spin such tales with a few fascinating scientific principles you want to touch on for guidance, but thank you so much for the tag, I will check out @fredrikaa 's stuff too
Yes, biology/chemistry/health is more my area. And I'll keep your suggestion in mind and see if I can think of anything interesting!
Cheers, Steem on!
Good story. Scary thought the gas concept. Invisible warfare.
God forbid, if a World War 3 happens, it will definitely be way different from the earlier two wars!
Nice @suesa
I've heard sentences, "I don't know what weapons will be used in the world war III. But it looks like a world war IV will use rocks."
That's a quote from Albert Einstein, as far as I know
Cool, you know it... I forget that sentence source. LOL
Definitely worth an upvote and a resteem :]