ANDERS MAGE PAGE 2.0

Standard chemical explosives derive their destructive power from being able to, through rapid combustion, release a large volume of gas and energy in a short time, causing an explosion. One limit to their explosive power is the speed at which normal detonation takes place; the slower the detonation, the weaker the shockwave. The detonation moves at a speed of 6900 m/s in TNT (2,4,6- trinitrotoluene) and in hexogene 8400 m/s (normal gunpowder: 400 m/s). This is not sufficient for certain applications and if the speed of the explosion could be increased, its destructive power could in theory become vastly greater, especially for larger amounts of explosives.

One solution would be to make the explosion happen within a positive temporal field, which speeds up all events inside it (this has previously been used by many scientists to speed up and catalyze many other chemical reactions). In addition to making the explosion faster, the energy release becomes more distinct and, due to the increased speed of molecular movement within the field, the gas becomes much hotter (it is well known that temporal fields amplify energy). In order to test this theory I experimented with burning small pieces of guncotton in the focus of my temporal amplifier. However, the explosions damaged the equipment and proved to be somewhat unreliable.

My next solution was simpler and more elegant. Instead of detonating the explosive inside the temporal amplifier (which would have been rather unusable in a practical situation anyway), I decided to speed up the internal time of the explosive instead. In order to do so, I had to find a method to link a positive temporal field to the molecular structure, which turned out to be a hard problem. But I prevailed, and found a solution: by adding small amounts of a temporally sensitive substance as a catalyst, I could imbue the explosive with an internal positive temporal field. I used both 4,5-dichlorotemporin and beta-chronoamine as catalysts, but practically any positive temporal chemical can be used.

My first experiments dealt with enchanced gunpowder. As a test, I detonated 10 grams of gunpowder and measured its brisance according to Kast to 1350. It was able to remove 30 cubic centimeters of material from a standard slab of lead. Then I detonated 10 grams of gunpowder with a temporal amplification factor of 2. The result was a brisance of 2300 and the removal of 57 cubic centimeters, roughly twice the explosive strength. Encouraged, I moved to test temporally enchanced nitro-glycerine. However, the detonation exceeded my wildest imaginations. The lead slab was vaporized and the entire experimental set-up ruined (including a large area around the abandoned strip-mine in which I experimented). Study of the remains revealed that the temporal amplification had brought up the temperature in the explosion to 9000° Celsius (compared to a normal temperature of 4250° C), which turned the explosion into a plasma fireball with an accompanying shock wave.

Some further experimentation, using TNT (for safety) with a temporal amplification factor of 3 demonstrated that temporally enhanced explosives not only have a greatly enchanced strength, but are also able to synergetically become extremely destructive. The temporal catalyst apparently retains some of its amplification properties even after the temperature destroys the molecule (this is an example of the temporal momentum coherence effect), which causes a greatly enhanced virtual pressure and temperature gradient. The explosion is heated into a plasma (it would not appear impossible to turn it into a fusion reaction with a sufficiently high temporal amplification and sufficient amounts of deuterium) which expands at hyper-supersonic speeds (at least 16 km/s). However, its destructiveness seems also to come from the blueshifted low infrared radiation, which gives the explosions a very typical white color and causes secondary reactions.

One problem I have found with enchanced explosives is that they age much faster than normal explosives. This is especially troublesome with nitro-glycerine and its derivatives, which have shown an unfortunate tendency to spontaneously detonate when left for a longer time (especially when experiencing a chronological shock). However, their sensitivity seems to be decreased in general, which makes handling easier.

To conclude, I have found that temporally enhanced explosives not only are a cost-efficient type of demolition, but also vastly superior to all chemical explosives, and may in some areas be comparable to nuclear explosives. It is interesting to speculate that the elusive Russian "red mercury" is a temporal catalyst.

Johan Nobel, Professor of Thermodynamics at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm.