All language subtitles for The Explosion Show Series 1 Part 2 FBI Bomb Squad 1080p EN SUB

Tory: Coming up on
"the explosion show,"

we're meeting up
with the fbi's top bomb experts

to see how they use forensics
and science

to investigate bomb cases.

At a crime scene,
you cannot face one way.

Tory: And then we're heading
to new mexico tech

to learn about the awesome
power of shaped charges...

You're going to use glass

to go through steel?
Yep.

...And to see what kind
of damage they can do.

Ohh!
[ laughs ]

I'm tory belleci,
and as a special effects artist,

I've spent years
blowing stuff up for a living.

That was insane!

This is my buddy
tommy passemante.

He blows up stuff just for fun.

That was sick.

So on this show,
we're going to meet

people that are experts
in the world of explosives.

We won't throw
our explosives around.

We will not throw
our explosives around.

These are the lucky
few professionals

that get to spend their careers
making things go boom.

Do you guys love your job
or what?

It's a blast.
[ laughs ]

with their help,
we're going to blow stuff up

in the name of science.

Pop quiz, guys.
Where did the bomb go off?

Tory: And then we're going to
blow stuff up because why not?

Aah,
it sneaks up on ya!

It's just plain awesome.

♪ here come the boom ♪

ohh, god!

♪ get back, I'm the fuse ♪

♪ here come the boom ♪

[ both laugh ]

♪ here come the boom ♪

-- captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com

captions paid for by
discovery communications

we're here at the fbi,

where they're going to train us
how to be agents

and hopefully let us
blow some stuff up.

Hopefully
you can get in.

So sad.

We're kidding.
Alright.

You can open the door.
Let him in.

[ beeping ]

oh, access granted.
You're in.

You're in.

Were you afraid they weren't
going to let you in?

No, I'm afraid they're
not going to let me out.

♪

tory:
The fbi is on constant alert

for bomb threats
around the country.

To learn how they stay
one step ahead of criminals,

we're here at the fbi's
state-of-the-art, high-tech,

cutting-edge,
kind of creepy tool shed.

Nothing like meeting
two random dudes

in a shed
out in the middle of nowhere.

Hi. Are we deep-frying
a turkey?

-Not quite.
-How are you? I'm tory.

-Jack barrow.
-Jack? How are you, jack?

-Pat race.
-Tommy. Nice to meet you.

Tory. Nice to meet you.
So, you guys are fbi?

-Yes, sir.
-Yes.

Okay. Not what
I was picturing.

I figured you guys
would be, like, in your suits.

More of
an actual laboratory.

We have that, but sometimes
for field work,

the way that we do our preps
has to adjust.

This is the way
a lot of the bad guys

are going to be
doing their stuff.

So, what exactly
do each of you guys do?

I'm a special agent
bomb technician.

Anytime there's
an explosive involved

or the things that make them

or someone who's thinking about
making them, we get involved.

And I am one of our improvised
explosives, chemistry experts.

A lot of what I focus on
is using my chemistry

to understand

the improvised explosives
that the bad guys are making

so that we can appropriately
assess our threat.

When we have something that's
potentially an improvised lab,

jack and his colleagues
are my first phone call.

So, what are we
cooking up today?

Fertilizer bombs.
Okay.

They have been used as a weapon
against our country

on a few occasions.

Tory: One of the most notorious
fertilizer bombs

was used to attack
a federal building

in oklahoma city
on April 19, 1995.

Anti-government conspirators
built a fertilizer bomb

inside a rental truck
and detonated it,

killing 168 people and
nearly leveling the building.

You're actually going to show us
how to make explosives?

I'm going to walk you through
how I make explosives.

I'm not going to teach you
how to build a bomb.

-Yeah, probably wise.
-Don't take this wrong way.

I really don't want
to visit your house.

No, I appreciate it.

Tory:
Fbi chemistry experts like jack

have to continually analyze
bomb compositions

so that agents in the field,
like pat,

know what clues
to watch out for.

There's different size gloves.
Most people are large.

-You don't have any magnums?
-Oh, we got x.L. Yep.

Normally, this stuff
is sensitive information.

-Copyright.
-Alright. Bend over.

But I think jack and pat
could tell

that tommy and I
are professionals.

Jack: So, just like
dissolving sugar in tea,

you're going
to pour that in slowly.

And how much water
to fertilizer do you need?

What's the ratio?

[ laughs ]

tory: Uh, our tax dollars do pay
your salary, federal agent jack,

so tell us the damn
bomb recipe already.

Not too much.
Not too little.

Little of this,
little of that.

Some of jack's chemistry
is like baking a cake.

Baking is very precise.

But only grandma knows
what that recipe really is.

So, you're not going to tell us
the exact measurements?

No, sir.
I have a feeling

there's going to be
a lot of beeping out,

but it won't be
us cussing.

Next, we're going to do
some chemistry on this

to convert it into
[no audio]

so we need to put
some hazmat gear on.

♪

we're going to be adding
a very corrosive acid

called [no audio]

with a touch of [no audio]

to our fertilizer solution.

So we're putting on hazmat gear,

because, hey,
I like my [no audio]

I'd like to keep it.

How do you protect
your precious face?

I saw you crash that bike
on "mythbusters."

my face is very important.
[ laughter ]

I feel like the julia childs
of boom right now.

[ as julia ]
before the cake can rise,

we have to get the proper
mixture of fertilizer and --

aah!
[ laughter ]

we're going to transfer
the fertilizer solution

into our bucket. That's going
to be our reaction vessel.

Tory:
The idea behind this process

is to get the nitrogen
in this fertilizer

into a high-energy,
unstable state,

kind of like a toddler
on a sugar rush.

Pour it in the side here.

Once the process is complete,

the nitrogen compound's
unstable chemical bonds

can be broken
by a detonated charge,

triggering a massive
energy release

in the form of an explosion.

But we still got
some work to do

before we can set
this charge off.

[ coughs ]

yeah, it's strong, right?

It's not really like a smell.
It just burns my nose.

Smells like burning.

The burning means it's working.

You can slowly pour.
Try to minimize splashing,

'cause there is still acid
in there.

For some reason, the fbi
is trusting tommy

to handle the explosive material
with total precision.

Just slowly pour.

There we go.

He said "slowly," tommy.

Well, at least we aren't dead.

Oh, this is just like
making cheese.

I've never
made cheese before,

but I imagine this is
what it would be like.

Making homemade explosives
helps the fbi know

what kinds of materials
to look for

when they're investigating
a bomb site.

I feel like a columbian
drug dealer right now.

Using forensic testing,
the fbi is able to detect

traces of chemical compounds
used in bomb making.

"freeze!"
"hey, I'm just making cheese."

[ laughter ]

"I'm just making cheese."

if we walked through
the airport,

we would get dinged
instantly, right?

I hope so.
[ laughter ]

good answer.

Our work here is done,

so it's time to get out
of the hazmat suits.

Takes me back to my "thunder
from down under" days.

Wait, we're supposed
to reuse those.

Huh? Well,
we're not anymore.

There's our
taxpayer dollars.

If you follow me,
we'll get something going boom.

-Cool.
-Alright.

♪

tory: Now that we've converted
this fertilizer

into a high-energy,
unstable form of nitrogen...

We're going
to transfer that...

-Yes.
-...Into this bag.

...It's time to pack
this explosive powder

into an actual bomb.

I'm going have you guys
make a ball out of this.

Gonna get that started.

Just keep rolling,
and you'll have your nice ball.

Alright.
You guys happy with that?

Love it.

I think you're
probably there, tommy.

I like to be thorough.
Pretty crazy to think

that we actually made
this explosive ourselves

without burning off
our eyebrows.

Luckily, jack was there
supervising,

making sure we didn't
do anything dumb.

We won't throw
our explosives around.

We will not throw
our explosives around.

[ giggles ]
and...

At least not,
like, super dumb.

Not only did he
catch it midair,

but he hit me
with the dad face.

Tory:
We both were like, "eee!"

"we don't throw
the explosives."

"sorry, dad."

alright, we ready
to blow this up?

-Let's go. Get it done.
-Let's go.

Tommy, go long.

Pat: We do not throw
our explosives.

This is like both of our
first time making explosives.

And we're not
going to jail.

I know.
That's the best part.

Pat: Yet.

[ laughter ]

well, yeah.
Thanks for letting us

do illegal stuff
and not go to jail.

And most importantly,

we're keeping you
from killing yourselves.

That's important.

♪

tory: We made this
with our own two hands.

Tommy, you got
your big-boy voice?

Fire in the hole!

It's a good thing
I had these in.

You know the drill.
Here we go!

3, 2, 1!

-[ laughing ] oh, my god.
-Whoa!

-Nice.
-That's awesome!

Tory: In the replay, you can
actually see the blast wave

that's created when
our 5-pound fertilizer bomb,

which is equivalent to about
10 sticks of dynamite,

breaks down the chemical bonds
in the nitrogen

and releases
all of that energy at once.

See the smoke ring?
[ laughs ]

that's art, baby.

The blast wave
wraps around the sides

of the circular barrel
our bomb is sitting on,

creating a low-pressure vortex.

So when the blast wave hits
the ground, bounces back up,

and it kicks some dirt up.

Tory: The dust maintains
that shape as it travels upward.

That was awesome.

Told you it would work.

Just a little taped-up bag.

That's all it is.
There's no magic to it.

I don't know.
I felt like a wizard.

You kind of look
like a wizard.

You just need to go
a little bit gray.

This looks like an explosive
out of a cartoon.

Dropping it is a bad thing,
though.

No, dropping is bad.

Fire in the hole!

-Oh!
-Whoa! [ laughs ]

tory: Today, we're at one
of the fbi's explosive labs

to see how they
investigate bomb cases.

We already worked with jack
in the lab

to see what kind of chemicals
are used in bombs.

Now pat is going to show us
how his team

can analyze the blast site
for clues about the bomb.

So, what we've done is we've
built three charges identical

out of commercial dynamite.

This looks like an explosive
out of a cartoon.

Cartoon explosives are patterned
after the real thing.

It looks like dynamite,
which it is.

Probably stop handling it
like that.

Like -- like what?
You just reached into the box

and grabbed it.
Maybe we use two hands.

Yeah, how about
you just wait for him

to tell you to touch stuff?
So, what we have here is --

whoa.

♪

okay.
These are cartridges of dynamite

with what we call
a hasty whip.

This concentration
of det cord

will actually crush
these sticks hard enough

so that the explosive in it
initiates,

and we get detonation.
This hasty whip knot

is a knot that bomb technicians
use to concentrate explosives

so explosives can set off
other explosives,

and that's what
we're doing here.

We're about to perform what's
called a 3-3-3 explosion,

where we set off three identical
charges at varying depths.

What do you hope to gain
from these three explosions?

If we've used these shots
to train crime scene teams

and bomb technicians
on how this looks

when it's buried,
when it's not buried,

then when they're called
to the scene of an explosion,

we can use forensics to figure
out what explosive was used,

perhaps how big the charge was,
and then how it was configured.

And that many times leads us
back to who the bomber was.

One bomber that definitely
had a profile

was the mad bomber,
who set off 33 bombs

in new york city
between 1940 and 1956.

He detonated crude pipe bombs
made of metal and black powder

in public places
like phone booths,

train stations,
and movie theaters.

With the help of an expert

in the newly developed field
of criminal profiling,

police were eventually able
to track down george metesky.

Do bombers always have, like,
a signature or something?

We look for patterns.
Yeah.

I'm left-handed, for example.
Yeah.

You may find a twist as
a left handed versus right hand,

so we do see profiles
and signatures.

Pretty sure
I'd be easy to catch.

Feel like your bombs
might have

a bunch of your
beard hair in it.

Barbecue sauce.
And barbecue sauce.

[ both laugh ]

to the bomb range?
To the bomb range. Let's go.

Fun part.

It's time to place the dynamite

in three different
configurations...

-Don't drop those, tommy.
-[ laughs ]

...On the ground, in a hole...

Dropping it is a bad thing,
though, right?

No, dropping is bad.
Tory: ...And buried.

You guys are going to tie in
so we can blow these up?

Yeah, we're going
to make it go boom.

♪

confirm green?

Got it! Check!

So exciting.

-Wait for me.
-Right now?

Yep. Do it right now.

In 3, 2, 1!

-Oh!
-Whoa! [ laughs ]

whoa!

Boys, we get 'em every time.
[ car alarms blaring ]

tory:
The size difference of each
explosion plume is easy to see.

All three charges were the same
3 pounds of dynamite.

Because the charge on the right
is highly compressed,

it launched projectiles
of rocks and dirt

hundreds of feet in the air,

while on the far left,
the uncovered charge

sitting on the ground
created a minor cloud of dust.

And the charge in the middle
that sat uncovered in the hole

had a decent-sized plume
but no projectiles.

It's kind of like goldilocks,

except every explosion
is just right.

That was awesome.
Should we go check the damage?

Yeah, let's go.

-So --
-I mean, just from the shot,

you can tell
which one did more damage.

Exactly, right?

Like, dust,
little bit of dirt,

and then that far right one
just looked like a big --

tory: As expected, the one
that was just laid on the ground

created the smallest impact.

But, I mean, it still
made a decent crater.

Well, it's 3 pounds
of explosives.

It's got some kick.

The one we placed in a hole
and left uncovered

created a bigger impact.

The fbi's bomb specialists
can measure an impact like this

and reverse-engineer the charge.

Then we can start
to actually piece together

what the bomb looked like.

Now go over to the one
that was buried.

Oh, my god!
I mean, this is like

a good 2 feet deeper
than that other hole.

It's the identical charge to
the first one and the other one.

And its size, dimension,

you start to accumulate
those data points --

the smell, sound,
the color of the smoke.

Those are all very good
questions we ask of witnesses

that help us figure out
what happened here.

So we do this
in a training environment

so then when we roll up
on something,

not knowing what happened,

it helps us kind of
follow a logic tree.

Tory:
The size and type of crater

made by an improvised
explosive device, or I.E.D.,

gives fbi bomb techs
valuable information

on what type
of explosives were used

and where the I.E.D.
Was planted.

Tommy: It's like you guys just
get to blow up whatever you want

and be like, "oh, we're testing.
We're testing." [ laughs ]

the watermelons are designed
to show you

the effects of the blast.

Fire in the hole!

Geez.

That went right
in the ballistic gelatin.

That's crazy.

Tory: Here at the fbi's
testing facility,

we've already studied

the chemicals
used to make a bomb,

and we've seen
how pat and his team

find clues at a blast site.

Now we're meeting with
the evidence response team

to see how fragmentation
can help identify a bomb.

-Hi, rebecca.
-Hi, pat.

-Tory.
-Nice to meet you. I'm rebecca.

-Tommy. Very nice to meet you.
-Nice to meet you.

So, rebecca is our
senior team leader

for our evidence
response team.

That's the real-world csi
for this division.

What exactly do you do?
I collect the evidence.

Tory: When rebecca gets called
to a bomb site,

her job is to meticulously
investigate the scene

and capture every single shred
of evidence

so that it can be sent back

to jack's team
in the lab for analysis.

Typically,
after a blast goes off,

there's evidence left
of what it was,

not only
the destruction itself.

Have you worked on any cases
that we've heard of?

San bernardino?

Oh, no way.
Mm-hmm.

On December 2, 2015,

two attackers opened fire
on a holiday party

at the san bernardino
health department,

killing 16 people
and wounding many more.

They also planted a pipe bomb,

which thankfully
failed to explode.

Later, a dozen more
remote-controlled pipe bombs

were found at the residence
of the attackers.

♪

pat and rebecca have another
demonstration set up for us.

Inside that mailbox is a bomb.

The watermelons are designed
to show you

the effects of the blast

and what fragmentation
coming off of the mailbox

will do to people
and things.

There's also some ballistic
gelatin that was set out,

which is a great way
to capture the effects of blast

and the things coming off
of an explosion.

How cool.

Once this bomb goes off,

rebecca will show us
how she approaches a bomb scene

to make sure that
she captures all the clues.

Are you guys ready
to do the shot,

and then rebecca
can go to work?

I was wondering
what was taking so long.

[ chuckles ]

♪

-you got a green light?
-Yep.

Firing in 3, 2, 1!

Tommy: Geez.

♪

wow. That was --

that was pretty serious.

Pat:
Secure up-range. We're safe.

This side of that thing
was doing cartwheels --

holy crap.

It's time to go
check out the damage.

You all may be focused here,
but when I'm walking up...

You're already looking for frag.
...I'm already looking.

We know where the charge
was planted

because, well,
we watched it explode.

But if rebecca were to come
onto the scene cold,

she could find
the bomb's origin

just by looking at
the pattern of fragmentation.

So, this is ground zero.
Correct.

Now, when you
step onto a scene,

what are you looking for?

We have watermelons here
that haven't been touched,

but this one over here was.

So the blast is going
in this particular direction.

Tory: Bomb blast waves
explode their energy

equidistant in all directions.

Since the bomb was placed
inside the mailbox,

some of the blast wave
ricocheted

and pushed
in that particular direction.

So if I look out here, notice
I'm not seeing as much debris,

but I'm seeing a lot more of it
going this way.

Tory: The first test for rebecca
is securing the scene

so she can collect
all the evidence.

I would do
a perimeter walk,

and we would find
the farthest points

of where we can
see evidence.

And that would become
my crime scene

where I would then
go in with my team,

and we would begin
collecting the evidence.

Now, a lot of the watermelons
and the ballistics,

they didn't seem to catch
a lot of frag.

Well, it doesn't appear, but you
got your face turned this way.

At a crime scene,
you cannot face one way.

You've got to look around.
Turn around.

Look what we've got.

Tory:
Oh, my god! What?

There's where
your crime scene went to.

Man. That went right
in the ballistic gelatin.

That's crazy.

Rebecca: Those are the things
that actually took the blast

and went outward.

Yeah. That's where all those
big chunks of metal went flying.

Exactly.

So you can even see...

-Oh, whoa.
-Here...

-Yeah.
-...That it did get hit,

but it wasn't strong enough
to even knock it over.

I'm going to say that was
probably from the mailbox.

The frame of the mailbox

and the placement of the bomb
inside of it

dictated the shape
of the blast wave

and direction of the shrapnel,

which is why the explosion
was mitigated

in part of the perimeter,
while the damage was excessive

in other directions
of the scene.

Of course, this was
just a demonstration.

So we're not going
to make rebecca pick up

all the little pieces.
Besides, I'm pretty sure

the crime scene
is contaminated anyways.

Tory: He's getting friendly
with the ballistics gel.

Rebecca:
Oh. Let's get you out more.

We'll give tommy a moment.
Everyone, turn the cameras off.

The battery actually
got stuck in --

[ clattering ]

[ laughter ]

[ sighing ]

are we, like, just completely
contaminating your crime scene?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah.

So now that we know what to do
at a bomb scene --

well, mainly
what not to do...

We got to interrogate
some of these witnesses.

What farm did you come from?!
Are you organic?!

What are these chemicals?!
He's had a hard day.

Nah, forget this guy!
He's not going to save you.

You're going to spend
the rest of your life in jail!

I'm not watching this.
We're going to be over here.

You guys go ahead.
I'm not gonna watch this.

Tory: ...We're ready
to put our knowledge to the test

and investigate
a full-on car bomb scene.

Jack: Car bombs generally
come in two forms.

Fire in the hole!

♪

who's cleaning that up?

Not it.
You. [ laughs ]

not it.

Tory:
We received a crash course

at the fbi's
bomb testing facility

that's been, well, the bomb.

-Oh!
-Whoa! [ laughs ]

dang!

Now we're putting it
all together

by setting off
our own car bomb.

Car bombs generally
come in two forms.

It's the smaller charge --
somebody's trying to maybe

assassinate the person
that is in the car --

or it's
the large-vehicle bomb

using the car
as a transport mechanism

to take down a target,
like a large building.

We're talking like
oklahoma city

or bali
or world trade center one

are the large-vehicle bombs that
you've seen all over the news.

One deadly use of a car bomb
was in the 1993 bombing

of the world trade center
in new york.

The attackers detonated
a truck full of urea nitrate

in a parking garage
underneath one of the towers.

The blast left a 100-foot hole
and killed six people.

300 fbi investigators

dug through the rubble
looking for clues.

They found a truck axle
containing a vin number

which led them
to the rental contract

the attackers had signed
for the truck.

♪

pat is going to place some bombs
somewhere in the car,

and it's up to us to use the
knowledge we've acquired today

to look for clues and determine
where the bomb was placed,

what type of explosive was used,
and how big was the charge.

Tommy:
I feel like this is a really
cool game of clue right now.

-Yeah.
-I'm excited.

I'm going to win this.

[ laughter ]

♪

pat:
You guys ready? Okay.

Rebecca: Good.

Push and hold.
Wait for my count.

Green light.

Car in 3, 2, 1!

♪

♪

wow, that was spectacular.

Tory: You made a mess!

Who's cleaning that up?

Not it.
You. [ laughs ]

not it.

Tory: That was fun,
but now it's time

to put our fbi skills
to the test

and survey the crime scene.

Oh, my god.
We got a moon roof now.

Alright. Pop quiz, guys.
Where did the bomb go off?

I would say in the back seat,
right behind the console.

I'd say favoring that side
a little bit.

Why do you say that?

Because it looks like
the roof is like this,

and then the floorboards
are poking out.

That ain't gonna
buff out.

Well, you're not
gonna drive it home.

The hood and the engine block
is completely intact,

so it didn't hit here.

There goes our producer,
tampering with evidence.

Now you have to eat it.

Mmm.

Alright, you guys want to look
at the high-speed?

-Absolutely.
-I want to see that --

tory:
We correctly figured out

that the bomb was detonated
in the back seat.

Now let's see if we can estimate
the size of the charge.

-Right out the windows.
-Yep. Middle --

look at the front of the car
not really being touched.

The engine's
protecting it.

Pat: Compare this
to the mailbox shot.

No flash, right? We're dealing
with something different here.

Tory: There was no flash
like the mailbox.

And unlike the dynamite
in the 3-3-3 shot,

which kicked up
a lot of dust

but didn't produce
any actual smoke,

this one produced a puffy cloud
of bright-white smoke.

When we see that fluffy
white smoke like that,

thinking in
the fertilizer family.

This looks a lot
the fertilizer bomb we made.

Tells me it's one of a couple
of basic groups of oxidizers.

We still want to know
how big the charge was.

The car is still there. Like,
it just got peeled open.

So, we've seen what happens
when you put 500 pounds in.

It literally disappeared.

Hey, I remember that episode!
I love my job.

So this was definitely
less than 500 pounds,

but it feels like more than
the 3 pounds of dynamite

we used earlier.
Not much more, though.

5 pounds-ish?

It was
in that neighborhood.

Yeah, you're dealing with
a fairly small charge here.

But, I mean, you call that
a small charge.

It took out a car.
I mean, look, it literally

peeled the car open.

It doesn't take much,
especially in a car like that,

where you've got closed windows
and you're over-pressuring it.

♪

you know what was impressive was
how much goes into the forensics

after an explosion goes off.

Like, they literally
walk in blind.

They don't know
what explosive was used.

They don't know where it was.
And then they can go in

and assess the situation
and figure out what happened.

Thank you.
Thanks for having me.

Thank you guys for showing us
what you guys do.

Tommy:
We're in the perfect environment
of having an explosion.

It's like having a lab
for explosives.

But to think about
the real-world situation,

I mean, you're dealing with
a whole new animal of variables,

like screaming people
and e.M.S.

And first responders of
all kinds and fire departments,

and everything's getting wet
and destroying your crime scene.

Like, you're doing all that
with all those variables.

It's insane.

Tory:
We learned a lot today,

but for now,
we're perfectly happy

to keep all of our explosions
on the test range.

We'll leave the real-world
stuff to the fbi.

Hopefully, we never see you guys
knocking on our doors.

Stay on this side of the law,
and you'll be okay.

Don't take it this way, but
I hope I don't see you again.

Especially you, tommy.

[ laughter ]

tory: So, john, we're dealing
with shaped charges today?

Yes, we are dealing
with shaped charges today.

You're going to use glass
to go through steel?

Yep.

Tommy, I'm excited.

You know why?
No.

'cause we're blowing
[no audio] up today.

[ laughing ] yeah, it's
"the explosion show," bro.

But I'm especially
excited today,

because we're going to be
talking about shaped charges.

Now, shaped charges have
been around for 100 years,

but I am still blown away by
what they're capable of doing.

I'm super excited, too, man.
This is going to be fun.

That was a pretty easy
setup for a segment.

Mm-hmm.
Now what?

I don't know.
Maybe walk out of frame,

find john,
get some shaped charges?

That works for me.

♪

oh, I guess
we're going that way.

♪

tory:
We're here at new mexico tech,

the premiere school
for all things explosive

with our good, old buddy john.

Technically, he's the ordnance
technician at new mexico tech,

but we like to think of him
as professor boom-boom.

-Hi, john.
-Hi, guys.

And he's going to help us
blow some stuff up.

No wisecracks
about our mini-van?

Oh, I got loads of wisecracks
about your mini-van.

I got some capri sun
in the back if you want one.

[ laughter ]

so, john, we're dealing
with shaped charges today?

Yes, we are dealing
with shaped charges today.

Shaped charges specifically

are anything that you pack
into a given shape

to create
an explosive effect.

You know what that sounds like
to me, john?

What?

A voiceover.

The discovery of shaped charges
was first applied

in mining practices
in the 1900s,

but shaped charges
weren't widely used

until world war ii in the form
of anti-tank missiles

and torpedoes.

This is called
an oil well perforator.

They load these in a gun, so
there's a whole bunch of these

that they lower down
into a wellhead,

and this actually punctures the
casing to let the oil flow up.

So this is actually
punching through rock --

this is actually punching
through rock and steel.

Shaped charges make explosives
more efficient and focused.

When detonated,
an explosive like tnt or c-4

will merely dent steel.

But when the same
explosive material

is inside a shaped charge,

the explosive shockwave
collapses the ballistic liners,

stretching it
into a molten jet formation

that penetrates
through materials

like thick plated steel,
oil wells, and armored trucks.

Shaped charges are still used
today in anti-tank missiles,

torpedoes, and the oil
and gas industry.

How this works,

since tommy doesn't know
anything about shaped charges...

Unh-unh.

[ chuckling ]
that's not very nice, john.

You put that on your piece
of steel, and we set it off.

Projects that molten metal slug
down through the plate.

This is a linear
shaped charge.

You end-initiate it.
It crushes this down,

and you end up
with a linear flier plate.

So you can cut
a straight line.

You can cut
a straight line.

How thick of steel can you
cut through with this?

That's not normal steel.

That's r.H.A., which is
rolled homogenous armor.

What's the difference?
It's a lot tougher.

Oh.
And it's a lot heavier.

Holy --
it's very dense.

♪

[ laughing ]
that's ridiculous.

That is --
[ coughs ]

we're shooting through armor
steel just to give you an idea

of what they will
actually do.

Shaped charges are designed
to do one thing.

They're designed to cut.
They are very hard to stop.

I feel like we've talked
to this subject to death.

Let's blow some stuff up.
Okay, let's blow some stuff up.

Yeah.
Tory, grab that piece.

Tommy, grab that piece,
and let's go for a walk.

Things are heavy.

Just a little bit.

[ grunts ]
just get a little quick pump-up

before we get this scene going.

We're power-lifting
these armored steel plates

to demonstrate the ballistic
blow of the shaped charges.

One charge for that one,
and one charge for that one.

Tory:
The linear shaped charge

will cut straight
across the plate,

while the oil well perforator

should punch a round hole
through the armored steel.

And isn't it just
the most adorable

little deadly explosive?

Dude, we're going to have so
many cool souvenirs from this.

I don't know that you want
to put that in checked luggage.

That's really heavy.

[ both laugh ]

tory: John is tying into
the charges with a shock tube,

a thin plastic tube filled
with explosive material,

while we head to the bunker

and make some extra room
in our luggage.

-Okay, eric, you ready?
-I'm ready.

Okay, here we go.
In 3...

2, 1.

Whoa!

There was a fireball.
It was kind of neat.

Tory:
The dust has settled.

Now we'll see
how things have shaped up.

Oh, wow.
Look at that.

Okay, so, this was
the little charge.

-Oh, whoa.
-So, we went through both sides.

Oh, my gosh.

It just punched a perfect hole
through the steel.

We learned with shaped charges,
size doesn't matter.

It's all about
how you penetrate.

Okay, now if you want
to grab that piece,

I'll grab this piece.

Look at that.

So, set them down like that
so they can see them.

Now, here's something
that I couldn't show you

off the other one.
That is a piece of your jet.

That small piece of metal
is a fragment of the jet.

That's what actually
did the cutting.

The jet is the molten liner
of the shaped charge

that travels at speeds
of 6 miles per second

to penetrate its target
with pure kinetic energy.

John, this is very impressive.
We cut a hole in steel.

We cut steel in half. But
when you said shaped charges,

I was picturing more like
we were going to breach

a bunker door
or something.

Would it impress you more
if I told you

I'm going to use
a wine bottle to do it?

You're going to use glass
to go through steel?

Yep.

Tory:
Copper is the most commonly used
material in shaped charges,

but metal can fragment
into dangerous projectiles,

so various powders
and even glass

can be used as the liner jet.

How exactly does that punch
a hole through steel?

You're thinking of glass like it
is now where you can shatter it.

We're talking explosively
compressed and heated glass.

I'm just having
a hard time.

I know you're having
a hard time.

I know you won't believe it
until you see it.

Some of the bottle will shatter,
but this part turns into a jet.

And that's what does the work
getting through the steel.

We're going to do
two variations. First one's

going to be a bottle filled
with sensitized nitromethane.

The second one, because I know
how much you guys like c-4 --

-[ laughs ]
-hey, it looks like a candle.

Lavender?

Yeah, sure.
It's lavender. Right.

So, we're going to use c-4
on this one.

This one we'll actually
put on the table

so you can watch it shoot
through the bottom.

You're very romantic --
bottle of wine, candle.

-Candles.
-Think of everything, john.

Romancing tommy.

Ah...
[ laughter ]

tory: John is truly
the perfect date --

an exploding glass wine bottle
and a cozy bunker in the desert.

Who wouldn't swipe right?

You guys are never satisfied
till we go over the top.

Why are you always
playing games, john?

♪

well, well, well,
the table's gone.

Tory: Earlier, john showed us
some shaped charges

that were, well, kind of meh.

You guys are never satisfied
till we go over the top.

Why are you always
playing games, john?

Tory: So john claims
a glass wine bottle

can be made
into a shaped charge

and cut through armored steel.

I thought you and tommy polished
all these off yesterday.

Sorry, john.
We drink white.

Tory:
So johnny bordeaux is setting up

the wine bottle
shaped charge experiment.

We're kicking it up a notch

with three armored
steel plates per charge.

John: C-4 on the table.
Nitromethane on the ground.

Tory: We wanted to test
different surfaces,

so we're using this table
and the ground.

I'm having a hard time believing
that a wine bottle

is going to go through
three pieces

of armor plating.

We hope to detect
the subtle hints of kaboom

and taste the sweet notes
of kablooey.

-You guys ready?
-Yes, sir.

Okay, here we go.
In 3...

2, 1.

♪

well, well, well,
the table's gone.

It always smells so good.

Tory:
Let's go check out the damage.

Shut up.
Are you kidding me?

Our nitromethane
wine bottle shaped charge

went through
two armored steel plates

and stopped halfway
through the third.

He put a hole through a steel
plate using a wine bottle.

Alright, should we take
a look at the c-4?

The c-4 half wine bottle
shaped charge on the table

had the bigger explosion
and totally destroyed the table.

We're ready to see
some smoldering steel.

Oh, so we
only got through --

we didn't even get through
one of the plates.

This is what happens
when you don't have enough mass

behind what
you are shooting.

So, as it's trying
to punch through it,

everything's moving away
from it at the same time.

As the table explodes,

the plates fall away
from the shaped charge.

More space is created, and the
time of collision is extended,

which lessens the impact force
of the charge.

This makes it more difficult

for the c-4 half wine bottle
shaped charge

to pierce the plates.

The jet came out
and hit the plate.

It started
moving the plates,

so as it's trying
to punch through it,

everything's moving away
from it at the same time,

so it doesn't have
enough mass behind it

to allow the jet
to do its job.

Just like how it's difficult
for a boxer

to land a knockout punch
when their opponent leans back.

One of the easiest ways to
defeat a shaped charge is space.

Basically there,
you created space

because the plate's moving.

Still an impressive amount
of damage for it falling.

To defeat anti-tank
missile shaped charges,

modern tanks sometimes use
explosive reactive armor.

It's designed to create
a counter-explosion

to disrupt
the shaped charge jet,

directing it
away from the tank.

Now, one last thing.
Did you notice --

the sparklies?
The sparklies.

It's melted glass.

Melted glass.

That's hot as hell.

Oh, yeah, it's hot.

I wouldn't hold it for too long,
but yeah, that's hot.

Hope you enjoyed that.
Oh, man.

Tommy's over here trying
to singe his fingerprints off.

That was impressive,
the fact that you were able

to punch holes
in the armor with glass.

You guys figure out
they're really hard to stop.

Biggest takeaway is
don't get in front of them.

Basically
stay in the bunker.

Exactly.

Alright, so what's next?
What else could we put holes in?

Got a lot of stuff here.
What about that tank?

No.
What about a dump truck?

No.
What about that tractor?

No. How about we pick something
that you think we can blow up?

What can we blow up?

Can we blow up
that rock?

Why don't we blow up the rock?
We can blow up the rock.

We can blow up the rock.
With glass?

With glass.

Alright, let's try that.

I bet you
we're going to find gold

or something cool
underneath.

Tory: John made us believers
in this ballistic wine bottle,

so let's see if an entire
six pack can crack this rock.

John: We're going to put
the wine bottles on tables,

and then we'll ring them
around the rock.

I'll try and line them up
across from each other.

Tie them all together,
so they all go off

at the same time,
and boom.

What should we
expect to see?

I honestly don't know.

I've never tried to blow up
a rock this big

with wine bottles,
so let's find out.

Okay.
Can I move the rock now?

Sure. I'm going
to go prep charges.

You guys take care
of getting the rock moved.

[ laughing ]
yeah.

Thanks, john.

♪

well, what happened was
they went and got people

that work here
to move the rock.

I'm sorry, tommy. I really
wanted you to move the rock.

I didn't want to move
the stupid rock anyway.

♪

move a rock.
Stupid car.

Tory:
Tommy can't get no satisfaction

from that rolling stone.

Can I pee on the rock?

Maybe.
I have to ask.

That's not a no.

Tory: But at least we get to do
the super-interesting task

of setting up these tables.

We want to find out if six
wine bottle shaped charges

can blow up this big boulder.
And we're using the tables

so that the shaped charges
are lined up

with the midpoint of the rock.

Have a hard time believing
that this is going to work.

We did pick that rock
because it's the only thing

that sourpuss john
would let us blow up.

Shaped charges
are used in mining

and quarrying practices
to bore holes in rock.

♪

this kind of feels like one
of those bad morning talk shows.

♪

welcome back to "goodbye rock."
on today's episode,

we're going to be
blowing up this rock.

For today's show, we have
a good example

of problems in life
like this rock.

Once you blow them up
and make your pieces smaller,

they're not such
a big problem.

That's so good.

That is such good advice.

Life lesson.

[ studio audience applauding ]

♪

tory: Since the nitromethane
wine bottle shaped charge

cut through three steel
armor plates earlier,

we're using that
same explosive once again

to turn these six wine bottles
into shaped charges.

John, how's your wine bar
coming along?

Oh, it looks gorgeous.

Tory: We're hoping that
the six pack of shaped charges

cracks the rock down the middle
and shatters it into chunks.

On second thought, could we
just keep the rock as it is?

It looks really cool.

Too late.

Tory: John is tying in
using shock tube.

Do you think
this is going to work?

Yeah, I think
it's going to work.

It's almost boom time.

How many of you guys
think it's going to work?

-What do you think?
-What do you guys think?

Alright, so how many bottles
did you put out there?

Six.
You think that's going to be

enough to split this rock?

If it works, great.

If not, well,
we learned something.

Alright, let's see
what happens.

Okay, here we go.

3, 2, 1.

♪

[ laughing ]
ohh!

Damn!

[ tommy laughs ]

oh, wait.
The rock's still there.

Still looks like a rock.

[ laughter ]

better get the --
out, buddy.

Whoa.

Jackhammer.

Tory: The rock remained solid,
solid as a -- something solid,

but let's see if our
wine bottle shaped charges

did any damage,
in the name science.

Whoa! I mean,
it did some damage.

From the video monitor,
it looked like nothing happened.

Oh, no, no. No,
you blew some chunks off.

I mean, see
where it hit here?

Totally.
It went in a little ways.

Look at how deep
that hole is.

Dude, it fractured
the entire rock.

It fractured
all this up here.

It didn't do
a complete split, though.

But, I mean, this wasn't such
a ridiculous idea after all.

The other thing you're fighting
against with rock

is rock is porous.

Every time you hit
an opening in the rock,

it's slowing that jet down
a little bit versus steel.

Steel's pretty solid.

The rock was able to defeat
the shaped charge jet

because it is very porous,
with many pockets of air

similar to the design
of non-reactive armor on tanks.

The shaped charge jet
was slowed down

and redirected by
the air pockets inside the rock,

making it less effective.

You'd have been much better off
drilling a hole through this

and filling it with dynamite
and blowing it up.

Well, why didn't you
tell us that in the first place?

It takes more than wine bottles
to break a rock.

And let's face it. I mean,
nothing good really comes

after emptying
more than two bottles of wine.

[ laughs ]

are we done
walking yet?

No, they're
still filming.

Hi.

[ laughs ]
whiff.