History Main / AndSomeOtherStuff

** Interestingly, if it's not explosives-related, there is apparently little shame on the part of the writers in describing how Michael pulls something off. In the last three episodes of the second season alone, he describes in cheerily sociopathic detail how to: give someone a mixture of drugs to cause a temporary mild heart murmur (mix anti-depressants with anti-histamines in a energy drink); how to create pepper spray with common household materials and turn it into an effective grenade (mix the chemicals and attach to a paint sprayer with the handle taped down); and how to create ''water-bullet shotgun shells''. Not to mention the best way to take out an target entrenched in a room with a bulletproof door (it involves duct tape and a stud finder) and a quick and simple way to get someone to talk (high building with large windows, two blindfolds, two captives, a wire, some duct tape, and most importantly, the ability to kick someone out of the window).
** From the episode "Noble Causes", the construction of the microwave bomb is described in great detail.
** From "Breach of Faith", he describes how to take out a floor safe using a microwave and bullets.

-->--''BurnNotice'', "Lesser Evil"

-> '''Adam''': This ingredient is made of blur. And this has some blur in it too. Blur is very dangerous. You don't want to mix blur with blur.
-->--''{{Mythbusters}}''

-> '''Adam''': This ingredient is made of blur. Blur is very dangerous stuff. Don't try this at home.

* [[DoctorWho The Doctor]] from ''Scream of the Shalka'' makes a bomb out of a trash-can filled with fertilizer, newspaper and..."a little something" white and powdery from a bag in his pocket. The most likely candidate is probably aluminum powder, but it's hard to say.

* [[{{Discworld}} It's made of apples. Well, mainly apples."]] The substance in question? [[GargleBlaster Scumble.]]

* [[{{Discworld}} It's made of apples. Well, mainly apples."]] The substance in question, scumble, is the Discworld version of the [[HitchikersGuideToTheGalaxy Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster]].

* It's not explosive, but it is dangerous: "moon tea" in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is based on natural abortifacients which were historically used, but produced nasty side effects at best and would straight-up kill a woman if the mixture was even slightly off. George R R Martin [[http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/A_Myriad_of_Questions/ "added a few fantasy touches"]] because he didn't want anybody trying this at home.

* It's not explosive, but it is dangerous: Moon tea in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' is based on natural abortifacients, but they're very, very dangerous/poisonous. George R R Martin [[http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/A_Myriad_of_Questions/ "added a few fantasy touches"]] because he didn't want anybody trying this at home.

* Parodied as a ShoutOut in {{Main/LadyGaga}}'s video for ''Telephone'', where a poison recipe requires the use of [[{{Main/CommandAndConquer}} Tiberium]], [[{{Main/Dune}} Meta-cyanide]], and [[{{Main/StarWars}} Fex-M3]].

* ''MetroidPrime3'' has an explosive liquid substance called "fuel gel."

* ''FightClub's'' soap to plastic explosives description gave a cute Mr. Wizard convention an anarchist application that probably turned explosive descriptions from edu-tainment to public hazard.
** Chuck Palahniuk gives more details in the books, neatly extracted here [[http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/exorcist/842/askmehowto.htm#fightclubfacts]], including the doubtful [[{{MacGyvering}} Diet Coke + orange juice + cat litter = napalm recipe]].
*** Maxim Magazine tried to perform the "orange juice + gasoline = napalm" recipe and found that it sort of works, but you need ''two'' parts orange juice to ''one'' part gasoline. Which isn't that far off from the movie's description of "equal parts concentrated orange juice and gasoline".
**** Actually, there's hundreds of ways to make napalm as napalm is nothing but thickened gasoline. Easiest would probably be dissolving foamed polystyrene in gasoline.
***** Foamed polystyrene is more commonly known as Styrofoam. There's a reason it's generally considered a bad thing to mix the two.

** Most likely common diesel fuel and [[spoiler:fertilizer]]. Seriously, it's what blew up the Oklahoma City building. Also great for clearing stumps if you don't have C4 handy.
*** Actually ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: the common name for said explosive (used in mining as well) is ANFO: Ammonium Nitrate Fuel Oil.
* The drugs that Zeke makes in ''TheFaculty'' are made from "caffeine pills and some other household shit."
** The Other Stuff in this case is likely [=NaCl=] and [[YourMindMakesItReal dehydrated Placebo]] according to how the drugs affect [[spoiler: the aliens, [[DidNotDoTheResearch unless it's a case of]] BizzareAlienBiology]].
*** The above means dry sugar and salt, who knew that could result in such a reaction...

** And whilst we're on the subject of nitro - and as per the flavor quotes at the top of the page - sawdust ''will'' work as a stabilizer for nitro if you're making expedient dynamite ... it's just that it tends to sweat more easily than keiselguhr and you have more trouble getting a consistent mix. Sawdust stabilized nitro was quite common in the mining industry in the period directly after dynamite was introduced when the real thing was still rare, expensive and had some pretty heavy patent controls in place.

** (Note to readers: do ''not'' attempt to find the Anarchist Cookbook. It's very very illegal, and the US Border Patrol will ''not'' be happy to see it in your carry-through luggage).
*** [Side note: while the latter is undoubtedly true, the former appears to only be relevant if [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anarchist_Cookbook#Legality_and_the_Relationship_to_terrorism you're British]].]
** Not to mention it contains quite a few mistakes and nothing that you couldn't find online anyway.

** It was just to help him sleep at night.

** Similarly, Diana Gabaldon's ''{{Outlander}}'' series is factually based but vague about abortifacents and penicillin, lest those playing along at home want to try, while perfectly candid about other medical subjects.

* Don't remember it well, but Michael Crichton's book ''A Case of Need'' had, in the edition this editor read, a note indicating that the relatively simple synthesis of LSD from lysergic acid had been removed due to legal concerns.

* The ''BlueHeelers'' episode Kicking Over the Traces refers to an online guide to, essentially, being a terrorist, from guides to bombs and how to make weapons to how to be the giggest anarchist you possibly can. PJ doesn't call it by its real name, instead he calls it the Anarchist's Handbook.
** Several times (such as when Tahni and Ryan torch Tom's car) it's described how it was done...with omissions.
** This troper has books stored on his old computer, everything from how to make C-4 and landmines to how to disable a tank.

*** It was subverted in the end as they showed a completed method involving a photocopy of a fingerprint. Due to the boasts of the lock making company, they didn't think it'd work -- '''WRONG!!!'''
** There was an episode involving thermite. Its formula was bleeped. This was followed by an episode of another show (I think ''{{Survivorman}}'', but I could be dead wrong) in which the formula for a thermite mixture was explicitly stated.
*** For the uninformed, it's roughly 8 grams of iron oxide per 3 grams of magnesium (or another highly reactive metal, like aluminium), which in volume should be approximately a 1-1 relationship. Iron oxide is also known as "rust" and can easily be obtained from paint stores, while aluminium can be found by breaking open an Etch-a-sketch! TheMoreYouKnow!
**** Actually, they didn't bleep how to make the thermite, which is notoriously hard to light. What they did blur was a pair of chemicals that enable significantly easier ignition.
**** Which is, in retrospect, quite humorous- any college chemistry student can tell you that the best way to ignite thermite without using magnesium sticks is to mix potassium permanganate with glycerol.

* Both ''{{Metroid}}'' and ''{{Warhammer 40000}}'' make up names, when you can tell they really really want to just say 'napalm'.
** 'Fuel Gel' and 'Promethium' respectively.
*** To be fair, those would be ''upgraded'' versions of napalm.
*** ''Blessed'' napalm.
*** Since when did napalm burn underwater?
*** Since they added in oxidiser. There are several substances that burn underwater, and even some that are ''lit'' by moisture.
*** Though Fuel Gel is usually just starship fuel that acts like napalm.

* RealLife: In Louisville, Kentucky, they put up huge billboards indicating ingredients used to make methamphetamine. One of which was lithium rechargeable batteries. The billboards say something along the lines of "They use this to make meth. Report suspicious activity to the LMPD (Louisville Metro Police Department) immediately." Some billboards indicated a different ingredient, but I can't remember what it is.
** Considering the wide ranges of possible ingredients to make meth, these billboards were vastly more unintentionally funny than helpful.
** [[CompletelyMissingThePoint The ads serve to shock people out of amphetamines by stating it's made with battery acid cut with sawdust, moth balls and styrofoam cooked in a toilet bowel.]]

->''"Kieselguhr is a naturally occurring siliceous material and presumably what Tyler is referring to when he says 'add a dash of saw dust'".''
-->-- '''Dr. Hare''', The Creative Science Centre [[http://www.creative-science.org.uk/hollywood5.html]]

**** ''Blessed'' napalm.
**** Since when did napalm burn underwater?

* Chemical X from ''ThePowerpuffGirls''. The recipe is sugar+spice+everything nice+chemical x for "the perfect little girls". The formula doesn't work without Chemical X as lampshaded in one episode where one character says "Sugar and spice and everything nice makes mush" but no one (except maybe the professor) know what Chemical X is. That hasn't stopped fans from trying to recreate the formula though.

->[[spoiler:'''Victor:''']] Braking fluid? That won't burn fast enough to do anything!

----

->[[spoiler:'''Victor:''']] Braking fluid? That won't burn fast enough to do anything!"

->[[spoiler:'''Victor:''']] "Braking fluid? That won't burn fast enough to do anything!"
->'''Mike:''' (taping bottles together and tossing them out a car window) "It will, if it's mixed with chlorine dioxide and some other stuff."

->''Kieselguhr is a naturally occurring siliceous material and presumably what Tyler is referring to when he says 'add a dash of saw dust'.''
-->-- Dr. Hare, The Creative Science Centre [[http://www.creative-science.org.uk/hollywood5.html]]