can you mix 2 liquids to make a bomb? On a plane?

[Hamlette]

Maybe, if you have lots of ice, and several hours. We've been duped. Again. I want to take my toothpaste on the plane again!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_08/009357.php

Don't forget to bring several frozen gel-packs (preferably in a Styrofoam chiller deceptively marked "perishable foods"), a thermometer, a large beaker, a stirring rod, and a medicine dropper. You're going to need them.

It's best to fly first class and order Champagne. The bucket full of ice water, which the airline ought to supply, might possibly be adequate — especially if you have those cold gel-packs handy to supplement the ice, and the Styrofoam chiller handy for insulation — to get you through the cookery without starting a fire in the lavvie.

Once the plane is over the ocean, very discreetly bring all of your gear into the toilet. You might need to make several trips to avoid drawing attention. Once your kit is in place, put a beaker containing the peroxide / acetone mixture into the ice water bath (Champagne bucket), and start adding the acid, drop by drop, while stirring constantly. Watch the reaction temperature carefully. The mixture will heat, and if it gets too hot, you'll end up with a weak explosive. In fact, if it gets really hot, you'll get a premature explosion possibly sufficient to kill you, but probably no one else.

After a few hours — assuming, by some miracle, that the fumes haven't overcome you or alerted passengers or the flight crew to your activities — you'll have a quantity of TATP with which to carry out your mission. Now all you need to do is dry it for an hour or two.

[bluerum]

1. I would definitely ask a couple of passengers or a flight attendant

to help me out with this. I would not want to screw it up!:rofl:

[arwalden]

10. As Long As You Don't Look Muslim, You Should Be Fine.

:rofl:

[Parche]

15. United diverted flight to Boston

But that woman tried to mix her own 'pee' with another liquid.........and it didnt work

[elehhhhna]

12. LOL

[napi21]

2. Actually, I'm sure it's much easier than that.

I'm old now and don't remember a lot from chemistry class anymore, but I'm quite sure you could mix two compounds and create an explosion.

[Poiuyt]

5. I used to be an organic chemist and I can tell you that it would not be

easy. Temperature control would be extremely important, difficult to do under laboratory conditions, much less on an airplane. And I think synthesizing the required amount of explosive to bring down a large plane would also add to the complexity. I can't imagine that test tube quantities of acetone and peroxide would be enough.

OTOH, I heard that someone tested the evildoers formula and said it worked, so what do I know?

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. So far the "evildoers formula" remains an mystery, so no tests.

The cops probably didn't validate any claims anybody made about this & simply pulled a ham-fisted raid.

[napi21]

8. There's another possibility. Do we really know these folks intended to

BRIng down THe planes? That would seem like the natural thought, but what if they viewed that as a possibility, but the prime intent was to scare the sh*t out of the ppassengers, flight crew, and every other person who might consider flying?

You and I both know of things that can be mixed to cause an explosion, though not a REALLY BIG ONE!

See, I'm not 100% sure that the intent of most terrorists are the destruction on people, or things, as much as they really want to destroy the western way of thinking. If they can create enough FEAR in everyone, haven't they destroyed the western style of civilization?

[serryjw]

13. Why is no one worried

a vile of bio/chem?

[muriel_volestrangler]

20. I looked up dimethylmercury, mentioned at the end of this article

and feel considerably more worried than I have from most descriptions of bathtub explosive making.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/08/17/flying_toilet_terror_labs/page2.html

However, its effects are slow acting - which would mean (a) no spectacular for terrorists to get it into the headlines, and (b) if the victims were known at once, there is a possible treatment (but no-one has known a human has been poisoned by this chemical in time to be able to try it).

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

19. Well, you'd have to get it just right, wouldn't you?

You'd have to get it right within the explosion limit, otherwise you'd just end up with a short nasty fire.

[eridani]

24. That claim has to be nonsense

The JACS article cited gives the original very dangerous method of synthesizing TATP and a much safer but slower method. The latter involves less concentrated H2O2 (30% instead of 50%) and only 5 drops of concentrated sulfuric acid. There are still quite a few flies in the ointment.

-you have to add the acid slowly to the acetone/peroxide mix at freezing temperatures.
--you then have to let the reaction go to completion at room temperature for 24 hours
--you then need to filter and air-dry the precipitate

The notion that this could be accomplished in an airplane bathroom during a flight is preposterous., assuming they could easily get their hands on 30% peroxide and concentrated sulfuric acid in the first place. Drug store peroxide is 1%, and battery acid is pretty dilute.

http://www.dickdestiny.com/blog/2006/08/peroxide-bomb-tatp-synthesis-methods.html

The original syntheses, which the authors utilize, shed light on why stories of terrorists throwing together acetone, peroxide and a little acid from the household into an insta-bomb inside an airplane washroom needed better editing. Can you purchase 50 percent hydrogen peroxide at your pharmacy? Do the syntheses cited mix up instantly? No and no.

[Hamlette]

9. yes, the article makes it clear you can get an explosion without all

of this, but the explosion wouldn't be big enough to do any damage without going through these steps.

hmmmmm, a guy in the bathroom for hours with an odd odor coming out. Sure, that could happen unnoticed.

[sweetheart]

3. I mix speed with intelligence

I put a pencil through the eye of the cabin attendent and
ruthlessly gain entry to the cockpit where a ball point pen
dispatches all the pilots with ease.

Then what is a trained assassin to do? I merely crash the plane on
whatever target and bail out, or not, depending on my mission parameters.

A living human being is a devastating weapon, and one need only mix
sperm with an egg to find the ultimate explosive.

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. I want my toothpaste back.

[johnaries]

6. When I mix rum and coke I usually get bombed.

Sorry - SOMEONE had to say it! :evilgrin:

[guinivere]

22. lol I was thinking more along the lines of

Red Bull + Jagermeister = Jagey Bomb

[lonestarnot]

23. bwwwwwwwwwwwwwa

:rofl:

[arwalden]

11. I'd Be More Fearful Of An Aerosol Can Of Hairspray + 1 Bic Lighter =

= Flamethrower.

[TrogL]

14. Smoke bomb would be easy enough

No, I'm not going into details

[kaygore]

16. This is a keeper! Thanks!!!

[Bill McBlueState]

17. it depends

Are there snakes present? That would make it harder to concentrate.

[meldroc]

18. I can think of a couple more field-friendly attacks...

First, there's thermite. Powdered aluminum and iron oxide, ignited with a magnesium strip (or a 4th of July sparkler).

The thermite itself wouldn't set off the explosives sniffers, and can be concealed in your carry-on if you're careful. The ignition source (easiest would be the 4th of July sparkler - which has magnesium in it and burns really hot, but might have nitrates in it that would set off the sniffers. You could also use a magnesium strip, but you would need a very hot flame to ignite it. A blowtorch would work, but good luck getting it past security. A standard butane lighter wouldn't be hot enough.

Once the thermite's ignited, there's absolutely no stopping it. It would burn straight through the floor of the passenger cabin, and likely ignite the aluminum in the aircraft's floor, creating a huge fire. If you ignited it over the wing, it could burn its way into the center fuel tank, with potentially spectacular results.

Alternatively, there's sulfuric acid (with the usual handling and containment problems) and potassium cyanide. Mix them together and you turn the plane's cabin into a gas chamber.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

21. I'm no expert but you could mix bleach and Ammonia

to create what I understand produces a toxic Ammonia gas. I have'nt tried this personally so I don't know how accurate it is and if I did, I probably would'nt be posting now.

HOWEVER!!!!!!

You could mix diet Coke with Mentos.
Don't take my word for it, Google it. The results are quite spectacular.

Personally, I don't intend to spend my life worrying about Coke and Mentos or, for tht matter, anything else this lying admin tells us. Hell, the only thing I am absolutly sure of is that I am going to die. I face that risk every time I wake up and don't find my name in the obits.

Fuck them! Fuck their fear! I am more afraid of my government that I am of it's opponents.