When it comes to nuclear attack Twinkies, Cher, and cockroaches will survive.
False fact.
It has been a long running joke that the only things to survive a nuclear attack would be Twinkies, Cher and cockroaches. Personally my money would be on Cher. Lies, rumors and myths have fed these topics to the top of the chart of survival.
What do most people think of when the thought of a Twinkie pops into their head? Junk food comes to mind, filled with irresistible creamy sugar and caked in a golden brown, sponge-like mixture. The snack is, undeniably, delicious but lies have fed its stardom. I know we all have heard the expression, “Twinkies would survive a nuclear attack.” This myth is directly related to another misconception commonly referred to Twinkies having a shelf-life of 30 years or longer, they never go bad: wrong. If you ate a Twinkie even after a couple of months, it would be disgusting and probably give you food poisoning. The shelf-life is approximately 25 days.
Some people commonly bring up the point in which Twinkies are composed of around 68 percent air so they would have a likelier chance of making it out untouched by radiation. However, the other ingredients matter too and would definitely not survive the rays. Twinkies have about as much chance as any human being.
The rumor Cher would make it out alive obviously is a joke. In her day she had so many comebacks that people would say after a nuclear attack somehow she’d pop back up. Honestly, if I were to place a bet on Twinkies, cockroaches or Cher I would definitely place my money on her being the survivor.
Cockroaches, the creepy, crawly vermin that crawl up sink pipes and are you can never quite catch them before they sneak into another hiding spot. They have outlived the dinosaurs, survived every kind of weather, they can even live with their head chopped off for two weeks. Why wouldn’t they be able to survive a nuclear attack? This has been a long standing rumor.
However, when it comes to radiation, cockroaches are only slightly more equipped to handle the attack. Humans can handle between 400-1000 rads, whereas cockroaches are killed off between 1,000-6,400 rads. In the world of surviving radiation cockroaches are wimps. A nuclear war would definitely solve our cockroach problem
A scare of a nuclear attack was a lot more prevalent during the Cold War and arms race with Russia, which is when a lot of these rumors were made up or joked about. Over the years the myths spread from generation to generation. When it comes to an attack, covering your body in Twinkies or hiding out in a pit of cockroaches isn’t going to save you any more than standing in the middle of the streets. If the day ever comes just hope you’re not near the radiation.