As a frequent flyer, that scares the crap out of me. Of course airport security will now make sure that no water mellons get on board. Seriously, how do protect ourselves against this type of device. I guess that banning matches, lighters, or any other heat source on board would make sense but that becomes very difficult to enforce.
Wayne
__________________
Don't get caught dead, sitting on your seat belt.
I did notice one thing where they may have tripped up. They never pushed the button on top of the pen to see if it would actually write or not. With that fuse cord in there, they should have tried to see if the pen worked. It wouldn't have and they could have taken it apart and found out why. But with that small amount doing that damage, think what a piece the size of a golf ball could do.
Bainary explosives, lot's of examples are around. Oklahoma City bombing was a "fertilizer bomb", thats a binary explosive! Variation's on the basic recipe require variations on the method of detonation. The ingredients, generally two, are legal and can be transported without permits of any kind. Once they are MIXED however, you just made yourself a bomb. Transporting a bomb requires permits, insurance, etc. So don't mix 'em until you get to that remote site where your gonna play.
A bulk ingrediant, the white powder in the movie link, and a "sensitizer" are the two agents to get mixed. In a fertilizer bomb diesel fuel would be the "sensitizer".
You've heard of the "bomb squad" blowing up some suspicious package? They use "disabling devices" to do that, generally binary explosives. Sometimes in conjunction with WATER! The water is expelled at high speed and cut's through anything up to light metal. You could use sand, nails, pellets and other nasty stuff though, just saying...
Fertilizer and diesel will make an explosive mix but what is very scary about this video is the force of this very tiny device. It was equal in size to the head of a match but it blew that water mellon to bits. The force of the explosion from such a tiny amount of material is what makes this particular recipe so worrysome. The amount required to blow a good size hole in an aircraft is almost impossible to detect.
Wayne
__________________
Don't get caught dead, sitting on your seat belt.
Fertilizer and diesel will make an explosive mix but what is very scary about this video is the force of this very tiny device. It was equal in size to the head of a match but it blew that water mellon to bits. The force of the explosion from such a tiny amount of material is what makes this particular recipe so worrysome. The amount required to blow a good size hole in an aircraft is almost impossible to detect.
Wayne
I was talking to a local game warden/agent last year and he is also their explosives expert...One big problem around here in huge population of beavers and their destructive nature damming up any and every little stream they are in....
He told me he spent more time blowing up beaver dams than enfocing game laws. When they were out of dynamite or running short he used fertilizer bombs he made using gasoline as the agent. Said a two liter plastic coke bottle full was about equal to two medium sticks fo dynamite!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One one of the Ice Truckers shows last year they showed two big trucks hauling fertilizer and diesel oil to a remote open pit diamond mine. That was what they used to blow the sides of that mine in as they said it was more effective than dynamite and less dangerous as long as they stored it away from each other. They used the same type of holes as for a stick of dynamite and when they set it off the whole side of that mine just vanished and was a pile of rubble at the bottom.
One big difference in this particular example is it has to set for 30 minutes before it can be used. When I was a kid my uncle had a big gas generator for his welding and it used carbide which he got in 20 gallon cans. The carbide was in powder form. My cousin and I used to slip in and get a bunch of it and then put it in a bottle which used a cap, add some water, put the cap on, and wait about 2 to 3 minutes depending on how much we put in and we had some great explosions. Until we got to much in one and blew a hole in the side of his shop.
The question I have with the video is where is the remains of the watermelon? I find it difficult to believe that it vaporized the melon, so there should be chunks of it. I am sure it split it open, but I am thinking that the creator was trying to exaggerate the effectiveness by saying it blew it to bits, when in fact it did blow a chunk off, and the force knocked the melon off. I have dealt with binary explosives before and while it is true that some can be very potent at small doses, I still wonder about this. Normally speaking when you want to show the extent of the damage, you show EXACTLY what is left over and not make the viewer come up with their own conclusion.
Just my thoughts.
__________________
Why do they call it "Common Sense" when it is so rare?
Cobra Make, Engine: CSX 6022, navy blue, period correct 427 SO
Posts: 2,154
Not Ranked
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Wicked
The question I have with the video is where is the remains of the watermelon? I find it difficult to believe that it vaporized the melon, so there should be chunks of it. I am sure it split it open, but I am thinking that the creator was trying to exaggerate the effectiveness by saying it blew it to bits, when in fact it did blow a chunk off, and the force knocked the melon off.
It could have easily just blown it off the post, but they don't show that because they are trying to be sensationalist. Camera angle was too tight to tell.
__________________
“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games.”
It could have easily just blown it off the post, but they don't show that because they are trying to be sensationalist. Camera angle was too tight to tell.
Yea that was my point exactly.
__________________
Why do they call it "Common Sense" when it is so rare?
Impressive, yes, but a good Black Cat firecracker would have done as much damage. We used to blow up stuff all the time - and that's with only slightly more black powder than the amount of material shown in this example.
No question, some very powerful explosives can be formulated from readily available ingredients. No question, binaries are pretty scary - but you have to note that is not technically a binary explosive. A binary is something that is field-mixed or field-fabricated just before detonation. This example is just an explosive made from two ingredients and required significant time and effort to prep for use. I doubt both chemicals would clear most airport scanning if sniffers are in use. Even the simplest binaries tend to use one very active, detectable component, no matter if the other component is dirt or flour.
Does airport security, with all its warts and faults, keep most explosives and such off aircraft? Evidently so. Is it possible to keep exploding shoes, underwear and pens off of planes? Probably not - certainly not 100%.
Are the odds of some fanatical convert (note they are nearly always converts!) getting an exploding swizzle stick on a plane enough to stop flying? Not IMHO. Because if we let the minisicule odds of these f*ckheads actually accomplishing their pathetic mission make us avoid the millions of unaffected flights, the c*cks*ckers win! And so far, win without actually firing a shot!
__________________
= Si Opus Quadratum vis, angulos praecidere noli. =
I'm a little skeptical... just about the small amount used and the end result. It seems to defy physics. Unless you are splitting the atom, a given amount (mass) of any material can only give off so much energy.
The amount of energy given off seems to be disproportionate to the amount of mass.
__________________
Just enough knowledge to build a cobra and be dangerous...
Cobra Make, Engine: 90% of a 428 friggin SCJ Engine!
Posts: 4,474
Not Ranked
Snopes is already researching this one. Too early to say if it is real. It does not look real. But, we will see. In the mean time, I will leave you with this
Mike
__________________
Happy to be back at Club Cobra!
There are some very potent explosives that would blow the watermelon off the post and to pieces with that much goo. I do question "vaporized" no matter how you spell it.
__________________
= Si Opus Quadratum vis, angulos praecidere noli. =
Binary Explosive
Hybrid Mode
