Watching Forrest Gump for the fifth time or so, a few weeks ago, my wife (yet again my wife), asked me if Bubba would survive whilst Forrest Gump was trying to find him. The air strike was imminent and Napalm was about to descend from them airplane' belies. That's when my wife asks me wearing this intrepid stare...
How does Napalm work?
Well the when and the why should always outrun the how in this specific case, it is indeed a sad story that deserves to be told to everyone, not only those who found themselves involved in the Vietnam war, or the preceding Cambodian armed conflicts. But this is not the right place to do it.
A QuickFix on Napalm urges one to visit Medscape's webpage on Napalm exposure.
Napalm is an incendiary substance produced by the combination of a gelling powder (like the one in baby's nappies only the Napalm one contains Naphtalene and Palmitic acid) and gasoline in different concentrations. This will form a white, cloudy, gelatinous inflammable matter, that is very stable (not temperamental like nitroglycerin) tolerating temperatures in between 4 to 66 degrees Celsius. Thermal stability on such a range of temperatures make of Napalm the "right" ingredient to roast tropical forests or debunk bunkers hidden deep in icy landscapes.
Sated curiosity?... just don't Napalm your coming Summer barbecues. Keep watching movies and reading The Toxicologist Today, it's safer and peaceful.
Medscape, Napalm exposure, [http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/833665-overview], last visited on the 29th of April 2014, last update unknown.
I want to overdose redirects you to the web page based on articles by Lisandro Irizarry, Assistant Professor at the Weill Cornell School of Medicine.
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