technology

Until recently, magnesium hydride could only be produced in laboratories at the pace of a few grams per day.

This is because binding hydrogen with magnesium requires high temperatures and pressure. Accidental exposure to the air during the manufacturing process can lead to deadly explosions.

Earlier this year, China launched a magnesium hydride plant in the northwestern province of Shaanxi that can produce a staggering 150 tonnes of the material per year. Developed by the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, the plant has achieved low production costs using a “one-pot synthesis” method, according to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

at this point its actually comedic how china is effortlessly having the '96 Bulls season of national development lmfao

oh good, between this and hypersonic suborbital kinetic bombardment, we're really starting to see some of the weapons ww3 will be fought with! what fun!

The hydrogen bomb can cause extended thermal damage because the white-hot fireball it produces – sufficient to melt aluminium alloys – lasts much longer than TNT’s fleeting 0.12-second flash, according to the paper.

the device uses a magnesium-based solid-state hydrogen storage material. This material – a silvery powder known as magnesium hydride – stores considerably more hydrogen than a pressurised tank. It was originally developed to bring the gas to off-grid areas, where it could power fuel cells for clean electricity and heat.

The chain reaction begins when detonation shock waves fracture magnesium hydride into micron-scale particles, exposing fresh surfaces, according to the study. Thermal decomposition rapidly releases hydrogen gas, which mixes with ambient air. Upon reaching the lower explosive limit, the mixture ignites, triggering exothermic combustion. This liberated heat further propagates magnesium hydride decomposition, creating a self-sustaining loop until fuel exhaustion – a synergistic cascading of mechanical fracturing, hydrogen release, and thermal feedback, according to the paper.

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck

It's interesting how the US guards developments anything like this yet China just releases them to the public. I get they're trying to deter the US by showing they have technology knowledge to deter and intimidate defense/military people to prevent/delay war but I have to wonder if part of the reasoning they do this is because their spies have revealed the US already has everything they reveal like this and so it's not any advantage to the US to have a paper on how to do this new thing, more just a show "hey we have this too now".

"Some Troubled Science Reporting at South China Morning Post" indeed!

Interesting a "shipbuilding" segment developed this, but cool. I wonder if this has potential beyond just weapons. Obviously weapons and if they can step up to deviststion without radiation game changer. Bad thing about arms races is once one has it, every other "competitor" is going to want it. After proliferation - say Pissreal or the US how reckless would they use it in say Palestine or giving it to fascists in their proxy wars?

Rockets maybe? 🚀

From that coughing baby meme? So who won?