Eco-Friendly Bombs: Insert Punchline Here

Final proof that green living has moved from the domain of granola munching hippies into the mainstream. Get ready for weapons that don’t harm (?) the environment.

The technology is being developed by scientists at Germany’s University of Munich.

Common explosives often generate toxic gases upon detonation that pollute the environment. They are also extremely dangerous to handle.

So the scientists are working with synthetic compounds called tetrazoles that derive their energy from nitrogen instead of carbon as TNT and others do. Performance was also improved, the scientists said. (Tetrazoles are already used in some automotive airbags.)

The scientists’ findings are scheduled to be published in the June 24 issue of the journal Chemistry of Materials.

Here’s a short video that shows one of the miniature bombs they built in action.

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