Starfish Prime: What the H*ll Were We Thinking?

The Bad Astronomer asks (about nuclear tests):

"What the hell were we thinking?"

This was at the end of a post on Starfish Prime, the nuclear test that established the dangers of EMP. If Starfish Prime had not taken place, we might not know how dangerous EMPs are … and the next Carrington event might destroy civilization.

Maybe that’s what they were thinking, not about the specific danger but that we should have our eyes open. What experiments should we be doing today that we aren’t because of the potential opposition of people who keep asking “What were they thinking?”?