Researchers at America's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) are developing machine learning techniques to help the Feds crack down on potentially rogue nuclear weapons. Suffice to say, it's generally illegal for any individual or group to own a nuclear weapon, certainly in the United States. Yes, there are the five officially recognized nuclear-armed nations – France, Russia, China, the UK, and the US – whose governments have a stash of these devices. And there are countries that have signed the United Nations' Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, meaning they've promised not to "develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use" these gadgets. So if anyone has a nuke in their possession, it's because they are a country in the official nuclear-armed club, they are a government that's produced its own nukes, a terrorist who stole, bought, or somehow built one themselves, or some other sketchy scenario, in America's eyes at least.

From Threads to The Day After, 'nuclear winter' has been portrayed in science fiction blockbusters for years - but what would the cataclysmic aftermath of a nuclear attack really be like? Smoke from the fires started by nuclear weapons would rise into the atmosphere, blocking out the sun. The resulting perpetual darkness would mean freezing temperatures and crop failure, followed by mass starvation and death. While it sounds very much like a fictional scenario, an expert describes a nuclear winter as a real and'horribly contemporary' risk due to Russia's war on Ukraine. It follows scientific advice of how best to survive a nuclear attack, after Putin has made a series of nuclear threats since the start of Russia's war on Ukraine last year.