[Pixelguy]

Here's an amazing story today from Ukraine where a university student kills himself after putting caustic chemicals on his chewing gum.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor.../Student-killed-by-exploding-chewing-gum.html

How much you want to bet TSA will now ban all chewing gum and candy on airline flights now?

 

[zombiehunter01]

Thats another one out of the gene pool!

 

[Wolfe]

I don't know what happened there. I do know that chewing on a cartridge primer is a bad idea, but I don't know how you could achieve the same effect with bubblegum.

 

[Pixelguy]

He accidentally put an apparently explosive chemical (or explosive in contact with saliva, sugar and/or chewing pressure) on that gum. The gum itself was not originally explosive.

I don't know what happened there. I do know that chewing on a cartridge primer is a bad idea, but I don't know how you could achieve the same effect with bubblegum.

 

[Zed]

This guy played an idiot, not scientist.

25-years old student of Chemistry playing around with highly explosive stuff without any precautions... This is stupidity itself!

 

[Howey01]

If he was that stupid I guess it is a blessing he didn't reproduce

 

[Zed]

Read the article. I saw this in Russian too. Actually the stuff was identified.
The stuff that blew him up (triacetone triperoxide) is readily available from quite common starting materials. Even a high school boy who is interested in chemistry can produce it. The synthesis is quite simple. And the university student who taught chemistry for 5 years must have known a little bit about properties of organic peroxides - how sensitive they are and how easily they can explode even without initiation.

So - stupid. That's it!

 

[KarlMarx]

Metallic Sodium might do that, in fine powder form, but for the life of me, I don't know how the student would confuse the 2. The Sodium would have to be stored under Rose Oil, or it could ignite from the humidity in the air.

Whoops, should have read through the thread^^^^

 

[tiecuando]

I thought someone made a toxic gas or something. I wouldn't ever do that, but making NG is good enough for me. I wouldn't make a mistake like that.

 

[Singular1ty]

Thats another one out of the gene pool!

darwin award right there.:thumb:

 

[Yabba]

My bet is that it was acetone peroxide. The stuff takes on the appearance of free flowing white crystals, very similar to citric acid. Now how someone could be so moronic as to leave a highly unstable primary explosive laying around near food is beyond me. I have to agree the gene pool is better off without this one.

 

[sesa]

He accidentally put an apparently explosive chemical (or explosive in contact with saliva, sugar and/or chewing pressure) on that gum. The gum itself was not originally explosive.

Don't you just hate it when you accidentally get explosives on your chewing gum, I know I do :

 

[Pixelguy]

Yeah, it sucks. LOL

Don't you just hate it when you accidentally get explosives on your chewing gum, I know I do :

 

[BJJ_Grappler]

Yeah, it sucks. LOL

No, it blows.

 

[letsgetreal]

He accidentally put an apparently explosive chemical (or explosive in contact with saliva, sugar and/or chewing pressure) on that gum. The gum itself was not originally explosive.

Accidentally? I don't think so( sounds like some James Bond stuff).....the inventor of the microwave oven( who had a chocolate bar in his lab coat and noticed it melted when next to micro waves) is accidental. The apple falling on Sir Newton's head was accidental. Franklin( well, he was a total freak- I'd love to have been able to follow him around- hey, maybe I did, just like Gen. Patton thought he was from Alexander's( the Great)Army).

 

[Kroenen117]

tried to get link but couldnt mission impossible had a Gum explosive.

but this takes the cake! did he explode? i need details ahhhhhhhhhhh!

 

[alergyfree]

Think of giving the guy a little credit? A person does learn safety after 25 yrs.
Maybe he was the victim of a prank, or maybe he really pi$$ed some body off.
Primary explosive? Not something someone is likely to have laying about. Good way to off somebody......

 

[letsgetreal]

Think of giving the guy a little credit? A person does learn safety after 25 yrs.......

Only if they're union:thumb non union just keeps doing what they do....forever- believe it or not, before I went unoin, I worked in a non-union shop{who later went union} and worked with a guy {from NH} who had his own shop and was a foreman.....we were on a job and he took 2, 6' ladders and put a walkboard on top of them and that was our work place....OSHA came by and took a pic and the company was fined thousands of dollars{- for extra credit, what's all wrong with that?[ come on liberals, with all your tree hugging, let every man go home to his family, you should know this]})....btw, what credit?

 

[alergyfree]

Only if they're union:thumb non union just keeps doing what they do....forever- believe it or not, before I went unoin, I worked in a non-union shop{who later went union} and worked with a guy {from NH} who had his own shop and was a foreman.....we were on a job and he took 2, 6' ladders and put a walkboard on top of them and that was our work place....OSHA came by and took a pic and the company was fined thousands of dollars{- for extra credit, what's all wrong with that?[ come on liberals, with all your tree hugging, let every man go home to his family, you should know this]})....btw, what credit?

Credit for not being a total idiot.
Maybe just I got a case of tinhatfoilitis. But you add Russian,25 yr scientist, possibly a highly unstable primary explosive laying around and all you get is him being stupid.
Does sound like something out of the James bond script.

 

[Zed]

Credit for not being a total idiot.
Maybe just I got a case of tinhatfoilitis. But you add Russian,25 yr scientist

Excuse me, but he was neither Russian nor scientist.
He was Ukrainian ant 5-th year student.

About that explosive - you know many guys who are interested in chemistry begin their studies from making some fireworks or Big Booms using hand-made explosives. And triacetone triperoxide is quite popular for that purpose as it is readily available from quite usual starting materials everybody can easily purchase. I did it myself too. When I was 15 - 16. But playing around with all this when you are 25 and chemistry student of an University...

Stupid!