Think Before Opening

Folks over at the US Office of Naval Research have announced development of a material as strong as aluminum, dense as steel, and high explosive.


Apparently this is intended to enhance the effectiveness of missiles.  Much of a missile's weight is structure to hold together warhead, motor, and guidance systems.  If this structure is also explosive, the boom factor goes way up.  Brilliant idea; missiles get smaller and cheaper but remain as effective as previous missiles.


Another plan is to replace shell casings, for use in 'no ejection' firearms.  Clever idea; one of the most failure prone systems in a firearm is the ejection system.


Less clever is the idea of an explosive structural material that could replace metal parts in luggage, prosthetics, jewelry, cellphones, pens, hairpins, eyeglasses, keys, batteries - in other words, hundreds of items a terrorist could slip onto an airplane.


Or worse, replacement parts for vehicles and machines.  Practically every machine has aluminum parts or cases. With a bit of planning and work, practically every critical system from power grids to internets could be rigged to self-destruct on command.


Worst idea?  Opening mouth and announcing this discovery to the world at large.