Ah, the good old thermite reaction

I like thermite. I've had a lot of fun with it in the past.

Hugo may remember one Guy Fawkes evening, involving about five pounds of the stuff, a hole in the back field, and a long fuse. You could see the flare for miles, probably.

The white-hot hole in the ground that glowed for two hours was pretty impressive as well.

I've always wanted to bury about fifty pounds of thermite in damp sand, and see how big a glass sphere I could make, but unfortunately recreational experimental pyrotechnics are frowned upon in this country, even though strictly speaking thermite isn't an explosive.

Mind you, I've also always wanted to fill a five-gallon glass jar with fine magnesium wool, pressurise it to about 40 psi with pure oxygen, and put it on a high hill with a timer. World's biggest flashbulb...

Oh well, I'm getting too old for that sort of irresponsible applied chemistry.

Patrick.

Opinions expressed in this email may contain up to 42% water by weight, and are mine. All mine.