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CIA Left Inert Explosives On School Bus After Exercise (reuters.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Students were transported in a Virginia school bus carrying inert explosives left by the CIA, officials said. The explosives were discovered in the engine, only after the Loudoun County Public Schools bus was undergoing maintenance. "The CIA assured Loudoun officials the training material used in this exercise is stable and posed no danger to students on board the bus," it said in a statement. The school district said the inert explosives, left behind by a CIA canine team, were inside a container and part of them apparently fell out into the engine space.
Inert is a munitions that won't explode, period. Often a device filled with concrete. In the case of trying to imitate a c4 device, clay or playdo.
However, almost anything can be made to explode if know what you're doing. So long ago in junior high (this was before all the stupid paranoia) in science class we made explosives from many things, including charcoal, sugar, and steel. It's just basic chemistry. As to the sugar, we didn't just make it explode, we also made some rocket motors from it. It's a high caloric material, so that kind of stuff is really easy with it. The worst of the lot was the steel. Needed oxidizers and stuff. It's been too long, and I don't remember what all we did with it. Oh well, posting that kind of stuff these days would probably have a swat team running a tank through your front door. It's amazing how ignorant and cowardly people are anymore.