Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's off-topic: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
I disagree, based on the same evidence you've linked.
"If they'd cover it on TV news, it's probably off-topic."
Large explosion in Beirut
31–40 of 43 posts
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#32Another angle of the explosion - https://twitter.com/FadyRoumieh/status/1290672517733064705
A user has compiled this synced compound video:
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#33Unconfirmed reports that a fireworks depot fire caused a secondary benzene explosion. src: https://twitter.com/mattparlmer/status/1290679715892690945
I've seen one report that cites the Lebanese government that it was sodium nitrate seized from a ship that was temporarily stored there and was slated to be moved.
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#34Anyone know why this has been flagged?
This seems ideal as an HN post to me - generating fruitful discussion and bringing in various viewpoints and areas of expertise. And the fact that it's a current event means that people have a bit of leeway in speculation: we all have the same limited source of information (on the ground video).
I agree. This has components of science and policy. There are people in the community who can contribute valuable insight.
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#35Unconfirmed reports that a fireworks depot fire caused a secondary benzene explosion. src: https://twitter.com/mattparlmer/status/1290679715892690945
That sounds plausible - it won’t be fireworks alone, black powder won’t make that kind of bang. Ammonium nitrate would fit the bill, too, which is the sort of thing you often have in warehouses or bulk carriers in quantities that would make an explosion of that order. Honestly, it’s somewhat amazing that this kind of thing doesn’t happen far more often than the ~1 incident per year, globally.
Quite prescient. Early reports from Lebanon's Interior Minister seemed to implicate ammonium nitrate.[0]
[0]https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/huge-explosion-rocks-...
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#36What was that red material?
This is what I've been trying to work out, but am having problems Googling for suggestions. The only things I've in the past read as causing red smoke are highly carcinogenic/toxic hypergolic rocket fuels (hydrazine?), but I'm having a hard time imagining anyone storing a cache of that sort of thing anywhere near a built-up area. The form of the explosion here points in my mind to something significantly more explosi…
The red material is almost certainly nitrogen dioxide, which is characteristic of spontaneous decomposition of nitrates. It is often associated with runaway exothermic reactions in nitrate chemistry and is generally a Bad Thing. Whatever reaction caused the spontaneous decomposition of nitrates was probably the catalyst for the much larger secondary explosion.
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#37Unconfirmed reports that a fireworks depot fire caused a secondary benzene explosion. src: https://twitter.com/mattparlmer/status/1290679715892690945
I’ve also seen reports of grain silos in the area being destroyed; grain is an astonishingly powerful explosive.
I really feel sorry for the Lebanese people today.
They were in a tough spot already before this happened :-/
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#38Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#39What was that red material?
This is what I've been trying to work out, but am having problems Googling for suggestions. The only things I've in the past read as causing red smoke are highly carcinogenic/toxic hypergolic rocket fuels (hydrazine?), but I'm having a hard time imagining anyone storing a cache of that sort of thing anywhere near a built-up area. The form of the explosion here points in my mind to something significantly more explosi…
I've read a number of reports saying that there was a large amount of sodium nitrate stored at the port (some sources say ammonium nitrate).
Re: Large explosion in Beirut
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is what I've been trying to work out, but am having problems Googling for suggestions. The only things I've in the past read as causing red smoke are highly carcinogenic/toxic hypergolic rocket fuels (hydrazine?), but I'm having a hard time imagining anyone storing a cache of that sort of thing anywhere near a built-up area. The form of the explosion here points in my mind to something significantly more explosi…
I've read a number of reports saying that there was a large amount of sodium nitrate stored at the port (some sources say ammonium nitrate).
Just read this too, and it's looking like it's just under three times what Timothy McVeigh unleashed in Oklahoma City.
This kind of unnerves me a little.
Seemingly, a couple of tons of this not-entirely-impossible-to-get-ahold-of-chemical could seriously screw up national infrastructure.
We've had decades of fairly organised terrorism here in the UK, so perhaps I should know better, but it's a bit of a shock to realise that a 'manageable' quantity of otherwise fairly standard chemical stock is capable of producing something as dramatic as this.