Who needs to know how to make a bomb?

[DrP]

19 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

How do you know that?

 

6 hours ago, DrP said:

I work with a substance called pentaerythritol

A few years back we had a couple of companies from the middle east trying to buy a product that contains a lot of the above chemical. They didn't want the finished product - just 'the powders that go into it'....  they would add their own water, additives and polymers and so on.   Our MD got excited as they wanted quite a lot.  I vito'd it...  I hope I wasn't being racist or anything but I did NOT want to be the one responsible for sending a tonne of penta out to the middle east in a powdered form. I can't say for sure...  I am probably wrong and the request was innocent...  but they aren't getting that from me thank you very much.  

Did I do the right thing here do you think John or was I being over cautious? 

[Raider5678]

2 hours ago, dimreepr said:

Why in this context?

I mean it's true in any context, however this one in particular.

Because bombs.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to see something done about it, however I'm not sure how it could be done. The U.S. government doesn't control the internet. It could, but only for the U.S. And it'd require a lot of work and ultimate end in the U.S. government being able to control the flow of information. And especially with the current administration, I don't want them to have that kind of power, regardless of who wields it.

[John Cuthber]

10 hours ago, DrP said:

I'm an industrial chemist.

OK, Industrial chemists are allowed to know that nitrating things can cause trouble.
 

 

10 hours ago, DrP said:

I think I might have been told that at school. ...  also - that's how you get TNT from toluene, no? 

OK, so it's OK to teach schoolkids how to make explosives?
 

 

10 hours ago, DrP said:

I work with a substance called pentaerythritol - I am certain that I do not want to nitrate that one as it is a precursor for a number of things that go bang.

People work with cornflour...

3 hours ago, DrP said:

A few years back we had a couple of companies from the middle east trying to buy a product that contains a lot of the above chemical. They didn't want the finished product - just 'the powders that go into it'....  they would add their own water, additives and polymers and so on. 

There's no way to know. But it's fair to say that you can nitrate sawdust...

 

[Airbrush]

Once as a kid I heard a bomb go off about a block from home.  Someone put it under a guy's truck.  It blew the truck into pieces and put a hole in the pavement a foot deep and 6 feet across.  The thing I will always remember about the sound, I heard it very clearly since I was sleeping outside on a porch on a hot summer night.  It was such an ugly, short, intense sound.  It sounded so foul that I thought to myself "I wish they would stop doing that!"  It was nothing like in the movies or TV with big spectacular fireworks sound.  This bomb was a short nasty sound that went off the scale.  Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are, we only hear them on TV or in the movies?

Edited October 31, 2018 by Airbrush

[StringJunky]

11 minutes ago, Airbrush said:

Once as a kid I heard a bomb go off about a block from home.  Someone put it under a guy's truck.  It blew the truck into pieces and put a hole in the pavement a foot deep and 6 feet across.  The thing I will always remember about the sound, I heard it very clearly since I was sleeping outside on a porch on a hot summer night.  It was such an ugly, short, intense sound.  It sounded so foul that I thought to myself "I wish they would stop doing that!"  It was nothing like in the movies or TV with big spectacular fireworks sound.  This bomb was a short nasty sound that went off the scale.  Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are, we only hear them on TV or in the movies?

A bomb is usually just a single transient peak of air pressure.

[Raider5678]

30 minutes ago, Airbrush said:

Once as a kid I heard a bomb go off about a block from home.  Someone put it under a guy's truck.  It blew the truck into pieces and put a hole in the pavement a foot deep and 6 feet across.  The thing I will always remember about the sound, I heard it very clearly since I was sleeping outside on a porch on a hot summer night.  It was such an ugly, short, intense sound.  It sounded so foul that I thought to myself "I wish they would stop doing that!"  It was nothing like in the movies or TV with big spectacular fireworks sound.  This bomb was a short nasty sound that went off the scale.  Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are, we only hear them on TV or in the movies?

I watched an artillery bombardment once. That was pretty loud.

(The Indian Town Gap held a drill. Wasn't on a city or something.)

[dimreepr]

15 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Once as a kid I heard a bomb go off about a block from home.  Someone put it under a guy's truck.  It blew the truck into pieces and put a hole in the pavement a foot deep and 6 feet across.  The thing I will always remember about the sound, I heard it very clearly since I was sleeping outside on a porch on a hot summer night.  It was such an ugly, short, intense sound.  It sounded so foul that I thought to myself "I wish they would stop doing that!"  It was nothing like in the movies or TV with big spectacular fireworks sound.  This bomb was a short nasty sound that went off the scale.  Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are, we only hear them on TV or in the movies?

 

bomb's don't go up to 11; there is no evil sound setting. emotive language only helps them...

[John Cuthber]

21 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Once as a kid I heard a bomb go off about a block from home.  Someone put it under a guy's truck.  It blew the truck into pieces and put a hole in the pavement a foot deep and 6 feet across.  The thing I will always remember about the sound, I heard it very clearly since I was sleeping outside on a porch on a hot summer night.  It was such an ugly, short, intense sound.  It sounded so foul that I thought to myself "I wish they would stop doing that!"  It was nothing like in the movies or TV with big spectacular fireworks sound.  This bomb was a short nasty sound that went off the scale.  Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are, we only hear them on TV or in the movies?

I'm sorry, but to me this " Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are" seems silly.

I heard the Paddington bomb go off.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_station_and_Paddington_station_bombings

And I saw the aftermath of this one
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Staples_Corner_bombing

It really wasn't the noise that struck me as important, so much as the damage, and disruption

[Airbrush]

21 hours ago, John Cuthber said:

I'm sorry, but to me this " Maybe many people think bombs are not so bad because they never heard how LOUD they are" seems silly.

It really wasn't the noise that struck me as important, so much as the damage, and disruption

The vast majority of people only know what they see on TV or the movies.  We see big, spectacular special effects explosions.  That is comparable to fireworks.    It is impossible for the TV volume control to accurately represent the intensity of loudness of the actual blast of a pipe bomb.  The true volume is off the scale of human experience.  Only if they were in war zones or experimented by setting off pipe bombs in the wilderness.  I would like to know if Cesar Sayoc actually set off some pipe bombs?  I hope the police try to track down any such explosions in the wilderness to see who is doing it.

Edited November 2, 2018 by Airbrush

[John Cuthber]

It's true that most people don't fully understand how loud a bomb is.
So what?

The purpose of a bomb is to terrify, maim and kill, not to make a noise.

Imagine that you could make a bomb that was just as destructive as normal, but a lot quieter.

Would it be less of a problem somehow?

The noise isn't relevant.

[Airbrush]

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2018 at 11:10 AM, John Cuthber said:

It's true that most people don't fully understand how loud a bomb is.
So what?

The purpose of a bomb is to terrify, maim and kill, not to make a noise.

Imagine that you could make a bomb that was just as destructive as normal, but a lot quieter.

Would it be less of a problem somehow?

The noise isn't relevant.

I agree with you.  Just as much damage may be caused silently using gasoline and a match.  The only point I was trying to make is the sound of your average pipe bomb is beyond the experience of most people interested in bombs.  Believe me it is not an interesting sound.  It's NOT like in the movies.  Gun fire is also much more intense than any movie.  That sanitizes the violence for the vast majority of people.  At shooting ranges people all wear ear protection.

Edited November 6, 2018 by Airbrush

[dimreepr]

59 minutes ago, Airbrush said:

Gun fire is also much more intense than any movie. 

That depends on your sound system...  

[John Cuthber]

1 hour ago, dimreepr said:

That depends on your sound system...  

It depends how far you are from the guns too.
But sound level isn't what makes bombs scary. It's irrelevant

2 hours ago, Airbrush said:

Believe me it is not an interesting sound.  It's NOT like in the movies. 

I have heard terrorist bomb. I work on a site that tests explosives.

I know what the bangs sound like.

Stop banging on about it in this patronising manner.