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Another powder, invented in the US and used for a short while before nitroglycerin was invented, was yellow powder. It was made out of 50% salpeter, 34% potash and 16% sulfur. Melted together, it was considered three times more powerful than black powder, though the melting process is very dangerous and may cause the mixture to explode.

The mixture of saltpeter and sugar was published in Abby Hoffman's "Steal This Book."

(I know, I tried it.)

(The instructions gave the correct mixture, but suggested heating it so it turned into a brown solid. I did this on my mom's stove, using an aluminum pie pan she had thrown away. It was a gas stove, the mixture ignited, and melted the aluminam pan over the burner. It also made a tremendous amount of smoke and flame. I cleaned up the mess, aired out the house and mom never suspected.)


Cary Grant never got an Oscar for best actor.

(You should have done the melting in a water bath. First you put the container with the mixture in a saucepan with water, then heat the water up to the boling point. The sugar will melt but the salpeter won't get ignited. No gas stove.)

You can concentrate sulfuric acid to 98.2% by simply boiling the water out of it. The boling point for water is 100 C and the boiling point for pure sulfuric acid is 326 C, so the water will become steam long before the acid boils. Then you quickly put it in a Pyrex bottle, because sulfuric acid is hydrogenous and will take up water from the surrounding air.

Hydrogen peroxide molecules are made up of two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms.

No, I won't let them turn this mountain into a goddamn zoo". Dian Fossey in the movie "Gorillas in the Mist". In the year 1990 more than 10.000 tourists visited the Virungas whilst the Gorilla population is ca. 350. In 2005 eight gorillas died of measles which were transmitted by tourists.

And have almost exactly the same freezing point and density as water, which has only one oxygen atom. But pure hydrogen peroxide will boil at a lower teperature and you can make explosive organic peroxides of most concentrations of water/hydrogen peroxide down to 6% hydrogen peroxide.

You know a lot about bombs, don't you?

Ehm, yes, a little bit...

Cyanide is a singularly charged anion consisting of one carbon atom and one nitrogen atom joined with a triple bond, CN-. The most toxic form of cyanide is free cyanide, which includes the cyanide anion itself and hydrogen cyanide, HCN, either in a gaseous or aqueous state

Denatonium, usually available as denatonium benzoate (or under the trade names such as Bitrex or Aversion) and as denatonium saccharide, is the bitterest compound known.
It was discovered in 1958 during research on local anesthetics by Macfarlan Smith of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Dilutions of as little as 10 ppm are unbearably bitter to most humans. Denatonium salts are usually colorless and odorless solids but are often traded as solutions. They are used as aversive agents to prevent accidental ingestion.
Denatonium is used in denatured alcohol, antifreeze, nail biting preventions, animal repellents, liquid soaps, and shampoos. It is not known to pose any long-term health risks although exposure may be irritating and unpleasant.

Most explosives were made by coincidence, while trying to make medicines. Black powder is said to have been invented by a taoist monk, that wanted to make a life elixire. Most modern explosives were invented in Germany, France, Italy and Sweden.

Many of the homemade explosives used by terrorists but not commercially available due to their instability were made in Germany at the end of the 19th century while trying to make new pain killers..

I'm pretty sure nitroglycerin molecules are made up of three carbon atoms, five hydrogen atoms, three nitrogen atoms, and nine oxygen atoms. I could be wrong.

In 1891, Karl Elsener, then owner of a company that made surgical equipment discovered (to his dismay) that the pocket knives supplied to the Swiss Army were in fact made in Germany. Outraged, he founded the Association of Swiss Master Cutlers. Its goal was simple: Swiss knives for the Swiss Army.