Bombs biological

In the winter of 1943, a year and a half after the first sheep had died on Gruinard, the Allies began to manufacture a biological bomb. It weighed 4 lb and was filled with anthrax spores which were given the code-name N . Its design was largely British, its manufacture exclusively American. 

Fig. 2-46. The Ml 14 4-lb biological bomb was the first biological weapon standardized by the U.S. military. Photograph Chemical and Biological Defense Command Historical Research and Response Team, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Germany denied all allegations, including the accusation that biological bombs were being dropped over British positions. In 1924, a subcom-... 

Nitrate has been described as a biological time bomb . Those who enjoy their doom and gloom will be pleased to hear that there may be two such bombs, one with a physical clock and one with a biological clock. Both can be studied with the aid of computer models. 

If there is a biologically timed bomb, it must lie in the accumulation in the soil s organic matter of nitrogen that will be released as nitrate by microbes at some unknown time in the future. The calculations made in the previous section suggest that, when nitrogen fertilizer is given in excess of the needs of the crop, a... 

Most CO and CO2 in the atmosphere contain the mass 12 isotope of carbon. However, due to the reaction of cosmic ray neutrons with nitrogen in the upper atmosphere, C is produced. Nuclear bomb explosions also produce C. The C is oxidized, first to CO and then to C02 by OH- radicals. As a result, all CO2 in the atmosphere contains some 0, currently a fraction of ca. 10 of all CO2. Since C is radioactive (j -emitter, 0.156 MeV, half-life of 5770 years), all atmospheric CO2 is slightly radioactive. Again, since atmospheric CO2 is the carbon source for photos5mthesis, aU biomass contains C and its level of radioactivity can be used to date the age of the biological material. 

Based on the history of terrorist attacks, which have mostly involved hijacking and bombing of aircraft, current threat-detection measures have concentrated on detecting weapons or explosives. In the future, terrorist attacks could also involve the use of toxic chemicals, chemical and biological warfare agents, or even radiological and nuclear materials.1 2... 

Two methods were examined for digestion of biological samples prior to trace element analysis. In the first one a nitric acid-hydrogen peroxide-hydrofluoric acid mixture was used in an open system, and in the second one nitric acid in a closed Teflon bomb. The latter method was superior for Ge determination, however, germanium was lost whenever hydrogen fluoride had to be added for disolving sihcious material. End analysis by ICP-AES was used for Ge concentrations in the Xg/g range13. 

Cronkite, E.P., V.P. Bond, W.H. Chapman, and R.H. Lee. 1955. Biological effect of atomic bomb gamma radiation. Science 122 148-150. 

Chemical and biological weapons (CBW) have long been called the poor man s atomic bomb, but they are actually weapons of mass destruction that once could be afforded only by a few powerful and industrialized nations however, during the twenty-first century, a proliferation of technology has now made them readily available to second and third rate powers, as well as terrorists and one man or woman acting alone... 

The deadly terrorist bombings of July 7, 2005 in London again demonstrated that even sophisticated terrorists capable of planning and executing multiple, coordinated attacks continue to rely on traditional weapons rather than risk the technical and political uncertainty of chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) weapons. While terrorists have the motivations and capabilities to conduct large (and small) attacks worldwide, we have not yet witnessed the use of so called weapons of mass destruction (WMD) foreshadowed by the 1995 Sarin attacks in... 

This suggests that terrorists are driven to use bigger bombs or more deadly weapons. Based on this premise, it seems very likely that in the near future terrorists will elect to use more weapons of mass destruction rather than traditional explosives or firearms. Biological weapons are particularly likely to be used by terrorist groups because they ... 

While the U.S. has had biological weapons, it has not used them. The U.S. Army developed Camp Detrick, Maryland, into a site for biological research and development. The site manufactured anthrax and botulinum bombs in the event they were needed during World War n. After the war, knowing that biological weapons could become very important, the U.S. shielded Unit 731 from prosecution for war crimes in exchange for its research data and expertise. 

There has always been a need to detect the presence of threats. The classical threats from smuggled weapons and poisons remain, but new threats from explosives as well as from chemical and biological agents must also be considered. Threat must be defined rather broadly, to include both immediate threats, for example, a bomb on an airplane, and longer term threats, for example, smuggled drugs. To prevent explosions requires the detection of bombs, bomb makers, and bomb placers. 

Less obvious are the biological and toxicological hazards from bomb scene debris. Apart from the possibility that malefactors may deliberately incorporate noxious substances in their devices, hazards can be generated from the scene itself For example, victims may have been suffering from an infectious disease, and so victims clothing (which is often soaked in blood) needs to be handled and stored with proper biohazard precautions. Scene debris may also contain dismembered body parts. 

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