--- title: "College Student “Accidentally” Builds Explosive, Forcing Bomb Squad to Detonate It" description: "A University of Delaware student \"accidentally\" created a small amount of a \"shock-sensitive explosive chemical\" in one of the university's labs." date: "2023-02-09" modified: "2023-02-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/college-student-explosive-bomb-squad" categories: - "Chemistry" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "bomb" - "chemistry" - "the digest" --- # College Student “Accidentally” Builds Explosive, Forcing Bomb Squad to Detonate It ![A University of Delaware student "accidentally" created a small amount of a "shock-sensitive explosive chemical" in one of the university's labs.]() *\Image: TikTok\* ## Accidental Bomb It's like something straight out of 60s "[Batman]()." A University of Delaware student "accidentally" created a small amount of a "shock-sensitive explosive chemical" in one of the university's labs, prompting the evacuation of several campus buildings on Wednesday, the [*Newark Post* reports](). According to a school spokesperson, emergency officials were called in to deal with an "isolated hazardous materials situation related to an experiment." It's unclear what the substance was — let alone how a student managed to make a bomb in a chemistry lab. ## Blast! Hilariously, police officers started to dig a hole in front of the university's Memorial Hall, presumably to safely detonate the chemical. A [video]() obtained by the *Newark Post* shows a huge crowd of students watching as a loud and surprisingly percussive boom echoed through the campus at around 5:45 pm, followed by smoke and flames. As expected, the crowd — dozens of students were literally waiting for hours with excitement — reacted by bursting into cheers. "We don't really have any homework to be doing so far, so here we are waiting for the explosion," a student [told *Delaware Online*](). https://twitter.com/nwkpost/status/1623467325046358016 ## And the Crowd Goes Wild Of course, videos and memes of the unusual event started flooding social media on Wednesday. [Footage]() shared on TikTok, which garnered well over 180,000 likes, shows the sizable explosion, while evacuated students watch on in amazement. "GREAT start to syllabus week," one student [wrote]() in their video's caption. "Accidentally???" another [chimed in](). "Girl that’s not a bomb threat that’s a bomb promise," another student commented on a [different video](). Fortunately, life on campus largely returned back to normal with classes [resuming this morning](). **More on bombs:** *[The World's First Nuclear Bomb Test Forged a Strange Object]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()