Liquid explosive plot
If you’ve seen any kind of news over the last 12 hours, you will be well aware that British security forces have uncovered a terrorist plot to bomb flights from the UK to the US by way of bombs in hand luggage.
As usual when terrorism is raised, Al Qaeda is generally the first name mentioned in the news, but this is probably more credible than usual owing to the coordinated nature and size of the potential attack, traits that are often seen in their attacks.
The interesting details coming out are that the group intended to bring on liquid explosives disguised as beverages, and to assemble a bomb mid-flight possibly with electronic components from everyday items. There are many liquid explosives that could be used, but Nitroglycerin would certainly be a candidate, being easy enough to make (on the downside it is notorious for it’s volatility). Another explosive speculated about in this Independent article is Methyl Nitrate, offering the benefit of not requiring a detonator but can be set off by mixing with another (unnamed) chemical. Yet another candidate is an explosive named Astrolite, a powerful binary liquid explosive.
We’ll have to wait and see what else comes out from this once the immediate chaos dissipates.