You have commented 339 times on Rantburg.

Your Name
Your e-mail (optional)
Website (optional)
My Original Nic        Pic-a-Nic        Sorry. Comments have been closed on this article.
Bold Italic Underline Strike Bullet Blockquote Small Big Link Squish Foto Photo
Submit your comments on this article
Science & Technology
`Hellbrew' is cheap, simple to make
2006-08-12
In the Middle East, they call it Hellbrew.
In Tennessee they call it 'moonshine'.
British police are now saying the 24 alleged bombers arrested in Britain yesterday were probably planning to use a homemade, peroxide-based liquid to blow up the 10 U.S.-bound planes they had targeted.

John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, a Canadian think-tank on organized violence, said he's pretty sure he recognizes which solution the terrorists had in mind. "Triacetone triperoxide was the weapon of choice for the Palestinians during the second intifada. It's the preferred weapon for a lot of jihadists," said Thompson, who's been studying terrorist bomb-making techniques for over 20 years. "It's really powerful for its weight, so it's used a lot in suicide bombers' vests."

Anyone with half an hour, a set of instructions found online and about $75 can easily make the stuff. "You could make it in your kitchen," said Prof. Bhibou Mohanty, an explosives expert at the University of Toronto.

Mohanty said the major ingredients are peroxide, which is found in hair bleach, and acetone, which is found in most types of paint. Mix them in the right quantities, use some aluminium powder to increase potency — and you've got yourself a ready-made bomb.

The compound has advantages beyond its simple makeup. For instance, said Mohanty, it's really easy to get it to explode. "It can be ignited, as opposed to detonated," he said. That means that a simple match or lighter would be enough to start an explosion.
Or any simple electronic device with a current. You could pull a battery out of a cheap radio, clip on a couple wires, and voila.
Because it's a liquid, it can be stored in places where airport security officials might not look. Thompson said just a small eyedrop container could hold enough of the solution (properly mixed, of course) to bring down an aircraft.
I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. But since hair bleach and nail polish will do, the security nightmare is easy to see.
British police have not confirmed the use of a peroxide-based solution. All they know for sure so far is that the explosives came in liquid form. So in theory, there's still a whole range of possibilities as to what the bombers planned to use. Thompson said there are lots of ways to make a cheap liquid bomb. The only common denominator is that just about anyone can do it.
Posted by:Steve White

#15  To stay ahead of the "Silicon Simians", this would probably be a good thread to keep alive somehow...Our basic collective H.S. Chem. smarts is better than theirs anyway. We just don't "dwell" on it like they do. I say, keep the insights flowing.
Posted by: Asymmetrical Triangulation   2006-08-12 21:06  

#14  Well if the device beeps or buzzes the model rocketry fix was say a radio shack timer hook up a 9 volt battery in series with the buzzer with a flash bulb when the buzzer circut is triggered the 9volt battery sets off the flashbulb that ignites a length of thermalite fuse that sets off your pyro.
BTW i have read that this explosive might be familiar to most rantburgers as those cracker balls you know toss and they go bang fireworks. Makes me really want to be next to a couple kilos of the stuff.
Posted by: bruce   2006-08-12 20:35  

#13  You can put batteries in iPods?
Posted by: 6   2006-08-12 19:32  

#12  I/O ports usually are current limited.

Just put heavy duty batteries in the iPod and short them thru a bit of resistance wire, as someone else mentioned. Not exactly rocket surgery!
Posted by: SteveS   2006-08-12 12:17  

#11  I have a couple of iPods as I suspect many here do. I'm trying to figure out how you get enough power out of it to spark something

What? What? Yeah, it's north of hear. What? mmmmmmm...
Posted by: 6   2006-08-12 11:35  

#10  Another possibility is that the iPod case is opened, the contents modified and the case reclosed.
Posted by: lotp   2006-08-12 09:47  

#9  #2: I have a couple of iPods as I suspect many here do. I'm trying to figure out how you get enough power out of it to spark something

I don't own one, do they have earphone(s)? That would be enough power.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2006-08-12 09:36  

#8  With an inherently unstable mixture, a medium length section of nichrome wire and single matchhead would be enough to ignite it. That is what the old Estes model rocket engine igniters were, basically.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-08-12 04:34  

#7  Baba Tutu, yea, ya' nailed it, I thunk.
Posted by: twobyfour   2006-08-12 03:30  

#6  They may also be modifying the ignition system to look like an ipod or other harmless device. Few inspectors would look twice.
Posted by: Baba Tutu   2006-08-12 03:22  

#5  The Brits were very specific about NOT allowing disposable cameras onboard any aircraft, at the very beginning of the alert. The built-in flash unit is what concerned them : small electric igniter if the outer casing is removed.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-08-12 02:27  

#4  The religion of peace (TM) paving the road to hell.
Posted by: newc   2006-08-12 00:28  

#3  Michael Chertoff's press conference the morning of the alert stated that "they wake up every morning thinking about ways to kill infidels" (really more of a paraphrase there, but the gist is correct). My thought was, "Why aren't we doing the same?"

We do here at the 'burg, but everywhere else, it's crickets and condemnation. Bah.
Posted by: Seafarious   2006-08-12 00:18  

#2  I have a couple of iPods as I suspect many here do. I'm trying to figure out how you get enough power out of it to spark something. The port at the bottom is my guess, but you have to get to the USB/Firewire pins, and I think they only support 500 (200 ??) mA max. Not sure if that can set off a peroxide/nail polish bomb.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-08-12 00:18  

#1  'Or any simple electronic device with a current.'
And hence the specific concern about IPod's. I wonder if Apple is going to start a new 'think diffrent' campaign?
Posted by: robisen   2006-08-12 00:09  

00:00