Boston Marathon Bombing

[Regulus]

Hmmm... let me look through my house and see how many things I can find that have warning labels.

Explosives are all around us. You just have to know how to read.

The pressure cooker acts as a chamber to build up pressure, while the nails are the lethal projectiles.

For a bomb to be ignited at a certain time, the ignition must be electric, with a simple radio-activated switch from the battery to the fuse. Heck, even an overvolted lithium-ion battery can produce quite an explosion.

[DGFone]

The pressure cooker acts as a chamber to build up pressure, while the nails are the lethal projectiles.

For a bomb to be ignited at a certain time, the ignition must be electric, with a simple radio-activated switch from the battery to the fuse. Heck, even an overvolted lithium-ion battery can produce quite an explosion.

Not on the order of the explosions in Boston. Yes, you can make a bomb out of almost anything, but it's not as simple of a matter as simply going "I need this, need this, this, that, and presto! Instant bomb!"

That bomb-making recipe in "Fight Club" that turns soap into a bomb? Yeah, it's wrong on purpose: it excludes the key ingredient and the special process that turns hand soap into a big bang, just so that if anyone with a smart idea followed the movie will get severely disappointed.

Same with "pressure cooker and nails". The nails are the shrapnel and the cooker provides the... pressure. Everyone know that. But how to make it explode, I somehow don't think you know the magic third ingredient[s].

And just to add my opinion: I don't think those bombs exploded on command. If I were the terrorist, I would detonate when the first guy (sorry girls, it's always a guy, usually Kenyan or Ethiopian) is coming up to the finish line and is right next to the bomb. Not only is the crowd most eager and most packed, but the possibility of killing a champion would greatly increase the international attention.

The fact that it exploded four hours into the run, when the slower runners are finishing, this fact makes me think that the bomb was armed, and left to its own devices until it blew.

[Woeler]

Anyone can make a bomb with that stuff. That's why anyone could have done it.

Just because there's terrorists in the middle east doesn't mean some domestic nut didn't do it.

If you completely reject history, then yes, everyone is equally suspected. But in a world with a history that tells us that these kind of attacks are common in one certain area of the world chances are rather big it came from there.

I'm not saying I'm sure. I'm saying if I had to bet, I'd bet on the Middle-East.

[Regulus]

But how to make it explode, I somehow don't think you know the magic third ingredient[s].

Gee, I dunno. Explosives, maybe?

You see, there's these things called volatile materials, and under the right conditions, they explode.

As a more common example, an overcharged lead acid battery (like those found in cars) leaks hydrogen. Then, all you need is a little spark before the gas goes up in flames.

It's all chemistry, really.

Creating fire was so easy, even cavemen could figure it out. Today, we have become so experienced in dealing with volatile materials that we can safely travel from one city to another using a machine that creates thousands of explosions every minute.

Anyone can make a bomb with that stuff. That's why anyone could have done it.

Just because there's terrorists in the middle east doesn't mean some domestic nut didn't do it.

If you completely reject history, then yes, everyone is equally suspected. But in a world with a history that tells us that these kind of attacks are common in one certain area of the world chances are rather big it came from there.

I'm not saying I'm sure. I'm saying if I had to bet, I'd bet on the Middle-East.

[Woeler]

Yes, I'm almost in tears... But help me, in what way does this picture say ''The chances an islamic idiot is the bomber is equal to the chances of your average American being the bomber''?

Many terrorists come from that area and DO follow a certain ideology. I know our society cowardly pretends that isn't the case when we all know it bloody well is, but please do not act as if history is completely irrelevant in this situation.

Munich massacre, 9/11, 7/7, Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, Buynaksk, Moscow, and Volgodonsk (and hundreds, if not thousands of bombings and attacks in middle-eastern countries + Israel. Many in which the same explosive devices were used). Coincidence? I think not.

[SlayerOfLight]

I even doubt those brats in that picture should be taken seriously because of the hand sign one of them performs.

[DGFone]

Regulus and Woeler: That picture of the two boys holding the Boston sign means that they will not become terrorists.

Out of the Middle Eastern population, terrorists are something like this: The tiny fraction of a percent of "educated" terrorists who run the show and make life miserable for everyone. Apart from that, the actual bombers are almost entirely composed of people who meet both of these two criteria:

They are dirt poor, and are completely uneducated.

So the fact that these two boys are holding a sign with writing on it means that we can be reassured that chances are, they are only regular civilians, and will not become suicide bombers. If you can read and write, you are smart enough to avoid blowing yourself up.

[TheLionPrince]

The bombs used are not a new design. The things were made out of pressure cookers and nails, and are already commonly used in Pakistan...

And Afghanistan, France, India and Nepal (source)

So I looked at the link you provided, and from what it said is that these bombs were used in France, India, Nepal, etc..., but the teachings on how to make them come from terrorist training camps in Afghanistan. And all such bombs were discovered in possession by radical Islamist. So it really does narrow the number of suspects down, doesn't it?

My mistake. Perhaps I should have used this link; Richard Clarke (former White House counter-terrorism advisor) states in this article that pressure cooker bombs have been found in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but that doesn't necessarily point to foreign involvement, as the pots used in the bomb are so widely available from retail stores to those founds in home, and instructions for how to build the bombs are easily accessed online by anyone.

So, I may have to take Regulus's side until further information about those involved are confirmed. So, it really doesn't narrow the nationality of suspects...at least for now.

[Lauren]

I was shocked about the bombings two days ago. I came home from school and stared at the TV screen for 3-5 minutes. I send my love and prayers to the injured ones and RIP to the 3 victims who died.

[Kal]

Shocking..

RIP to those who lost their lives.