Wasn't really aware of these details. Very interesting article.

Despite having used various nitrogen-based compounds that go bang in the past (and like many techies, that I find them interesting), I'm rather glad that I've never been involved with them in a big way professionally.

Perhaps I'm a bit timid, but it's always seemed to me there's always a reasonable probability of an accident, usually when one's least expecting it. I recall some time around the early 1970s a friend of mine who used to go prospecting for gold always having a large box of gelignite in the back of his car and he'd keep it there even if he hadn't been prospecting for some considerable time. In fact, I recall his stock of it getting so old that it used to get to the sweaty stage (this means it's unstable).

It used to scare the hell out of me and I'd keep well away but it never worried him. Still, it never went bang and he's still around. These days, he's a licensed fireworks maker.