Nuclear explosions are generally classified as air bursts, surface bursts, subsurface bursts, or high altitude bursts.

In contrast with air bursts, local fallout can be a hazard over a much larger downwind area than that which is affected by blast and thermal radiation.

But some syllables such as "ba" and "da" can be misheard as "pa" and "ta" when small bursts of air are simultaneously squirted onto the skin from a compressor, the researchers report.