Posted 03.28.2006 at 5:10 pm
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Apparently, this is oxymoron day. Healthy bacon. Silent snowmobiles... What's next—eco-friendly bombs? Well, sort of: Scientists have developed a novel substance that will blow things up without scattering the surrounding terrain with poisonous lead. Called nitrotetrazole, the chemical is good for use as a primary explosive—the highly sensitive, low-power compounds that set off ultra-powerful high explosives. Even better, the compound is inert when wet but recovers all its explosive punch once it dries out again. —Martha Harbison
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If it is explosive again once it dries out, wouldn't every place it is used become a sort or perpetual minefield?
I think the point is it just doesn't contain lead right?
ghi - no. Too little of the uncombusted nitrotetrazole would be left in the environment to pose a hazard. One would need a lot of the compound concentrated in a very small area to cause any problems.
Mathias - yes. The stability of the compound while wet was a unexpected finding.