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This Is What a Real Bomb Looks Like
szczys writes: You see them all the time in movies and TV shows, but is that what an actual bomb looks like? Probably not... here's what a real bomb looks like. This story stems from a millionaire gone bust from gambling addiction who decided to extort riches back from the casino. He built a bomb and got it into the building, then ransomed the organization for $3 million. The FBI documented the mechanisms in great detail — including the 8 independent trigger systems that made it impossible for them to disarm the thing. The design was so nefarious it's still used today as a training tool.
a clock to me
Real bombs can look like anything. The ones that get the military right now look like anything from dolls to bits of debris by the side of the road. Telling people what bombs really look like is misleading. The limitations governing shape and size come primarily from the intended use: if you want to kill a few soldiers by tricking them, then you disguise the bomb to look like something innocent, hiding the trigger and explosives from view. If you want to blow up a big building at a certain time or on a certain command, then you're limited by the amount of explosive and whatever sort of elaborate trigger mechanism you want to ensure it doesn't get disarmed, can be safely transported to its deployment area, and can be activated by your favorite method. If you want to drop one from a plane, launch one from a missile, or drop one on a sub, you additionally have other problems...
The PD didn't even think it looked like a bomb, that's why the school wasn't evacuated.
Yes, it's a neat story, but no there was zero reason to tie this into recent events.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
They tried that with a shaped charge of C4, but the few sticks of dynamite he put in it for just in case they tried that caused the TNT to explode.
Since this is something that seems like it would be difficult to defuse or even work on, what would be the best way to handle the situation where it's found in a location like this? The linked article indicates that attempts to diffuse the bomb failed and it left a five-story crater in the building where it was located, which is probably less than ideal.
The only thing I can really think of would to try to build some kind of reinforced blast cage around it in order to minimize the amount of damage it can do or perhaps try to direct the explosion to minimize hard, much like a gun directs the force of a blast out of the barrel.
Also, would scanning it even be safe as what's to stop someone from building some kind of trigger that would respond to x-ray exposure? Even if there weren't such a trigger, could anyone even call that bluff?
If it weren't for the recent unpleasantness in Texas this article wouldn't have appeared here. I in no way condone this kid being hauled off to prison without more cause but let's not act like "that's not a bomb, this is a bomb" about it. These devices take all kinds of shapes, sizes and formats. Let's not let one example dismantle an entire range of possibilities. It's an unfortunate trait anymore, this idea that if our ideal vision of something doesn't fit the reality of it all then it's not worth considering the possibilities. This is why we get into endless (read: pointless) shouting matches about education, politics and many social constructs.
We're not going to rise from the quagmire we're in by thinking this way.
No, more like:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wi...
Table-ized A.I.
Cutting open the case to get to the wires would have cause the aluminum foil to complete the circuit. The only option was the cut open the case and the wires simultaneously. To do that required a shaped charge. This is the only detonator that the FBI has come accost that couldn't even be disarmed by its creator for a reason. The ransom was just for the switch code to disable the tilt switch so they could move it to a safe place to explode.
It was disguised as an IBM copy machine in order to sneak it into the casino after hours.
..so that's what they look like.
Read this somewhere, humor with a hint of truth (and I paraphrase):
Girl: They thought he had a bomb
Guy: No they didn't think he had a bomb
Girl: Yes they did
Guy:
They didn't evacuate the school like you would if he had a bomb.
They didn't call bomb squad like you would if he had a bomb.
They took pictures of the contraption which you wouldn't have time for if it was a bomb.
They put the contraption in a cop car which you wouldn't do if he had a bomb.
They didn't think it was a bomb.
Damn Interesting has an awesome write-up all about this bomb. Definitely recommend this site for anybody interested. They've actually got a lot of really awesome articles there.
When I'm working around live wires I will frequently test the circuit, trip the breaker and then re-test the circuit just to be sure. And even after all that I still will occasionally brush wires to frame to make sure I haven't over looked something. I'll readily admit to a bit of irrationality where all that is concerned.
That said I can't imagine buttoning up all that Rube Goldberg contraption, transporting and then setting it to armed without a lot of trepidation that it would just go boom. Maybe the tilt mechanism got stuck in the contact position, maybe there was a short somewhere, maybe maybe maybe.
I'm really curious what his heart rate was the second he threw the switch. Did he have 100% confidence in the design or did he flinch.
Couldn't they use a drill made of non-conductive material to drill into the case?
you didn't RTFA closely enough, the agents considered this but chips from the drilling process would have completed the circuit regardless of the drill's conductiveness.
> The only thing I can really think of would to try to build some kind of reinforced blast cage around it in order to minimize the amount of damage it can do or perhaps try to direct the explosion to minimize hard, much like a gun directs the force of a blast out of the barrel.
Directing the blast is certainly a reasonable approach. You can't really contain it. The container has to be maybe 1,000 times as big as the bomb, and very strong. So not feasible in most cases.
A great many explosives only explode BECAUSE they are confined. If you light a pile of gun powder in the open, you get fire. If you light the same quantity of gun powder inside of a container such as a cannon ball or gun, you get an explosion. The explosion occurs when the pressure gets high enough to burst open the containment.
Other explosives can self-confine - provided there is a significant quantity, the part in the middle is contained by the explosive around it, and that can start a chain reaction of pressure.
All that to say - if it were near an outside wall, assembling a vault around it to direct the energy through that wall would be the way to go. Maybe go ahead and cut a hole in the wall too.
What about Ted Stravinsky, the tunabomber?