Developed by the China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s (CSSC) 705 Research Institute, the bomb uses magnesium hydride, a silvery powder that stores hydrogen more efficiently than pressurised tanks.
Archived version: https://archive.is/newest/https://www.indiatoday.in/science/story/china-detonates-non-nuclear-hydrogen-bomb-blast-creates-1000degc-fireball-2712094-2025-04-21
Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.
Yes, non-nuclear hydrogen bombs are also a common school experiment.
Fucking clickbait headlines.
Not like this, no. Please consider reading articles further before making such statements. I cannot speak for the veracity of the experimental claims, but it isn’t a simple clickbait about hydrogen gas - it’s a breakthrough in chemical engineering.
In a controlled field test, as reported by the South China Morning Post, the 2kg device produced a white-hot inferno exceeding 1,000C for over two seconds—15 times longer than equivalent TNT blasts
This is similar to napalm in temperature, but rather than spraying hot burning goo, you’re effectively igniting the air itself. For two entire seconds, which is a lot longer than it sounds when discussing a literal ball of fire.
When triggered by conventional explosives, the material fractures into micron-scale particles, releasing hydrogen gas that mixes with air and ignites. This creates a self-sustaining combustion loop: the heat from the initial explosion propagates further decomposition of magnesium hydride, releasing more hydrogen and extending the fireball’s duration.
This isn’t an article about a hydrogen gas experiment like in school. It’s about them finding a way to mass produce the amount of magnesium hydride required for such a potentially devastating firebomb. It’s more hydrogen-dense (and therefore more energy dense) than pure liquid hydrogen, which is used as rocket fuel.
For comparison, one cubic meter can contain 45 kg of hydrogen pressurized at 700 atm, 70 kg of liquid hydrogen, or up to 106 kg of hydrogen bound in magnesium hydride
Dumbasses aside, thank you for the explanation
It’s essentially hydrogen combustion, so it has nothing to do with a hydrogen bomb (which is fusion). Still shitty clickbait.
It’s a device - full of hydrogen - that explodes. Do you really believe it’s just clickbait to call that a hydrogen bomb?
Maybe not “just.” But the clear intent is to confound the reader so they will click the link.
Yes.
¯\_ (ツ) _/¯
Really good point
“WOW Local Man STRIKES a MATCH, which reached TemperaTures of MORE THAN 500°C !! 🤯”
That is really how headlines like that sound. Stop writing crap like that. Who becomes a journalist just to write clickbait, seriously?
Sorry for the hate OP, but please post a headline which is less clickbaity. It does not paint the article in a good light, no matter how interesting the subject might be.
Noobs. I have a MAPP gas/oxygen torch that burns at 2900° C in my garage.
Wow, that’s only 200 degrees cooler than the sparklers I bought at 11 cents a piece.
