And if she had hurt or, worse, killed herself or other people? Reckless is not a quality of a scientist. Why didn't we, the public, extend an invitation to "become a scientist" and pour support and legal defense funds to the Novato teenagers arrested for making the exact same thing OFF school property[1]? It's a felony charge in California, as well.
> But officers did arrest a group of teenagers at the end of January for making and setting off Drano bombs in an open space off Palmer Drive.
Let me be clear: mishandling one of these devices can blind you and remove limbs, and even if you buy the "I'm doing a science experiment" angle, she's doing it without training or safety considerations. This is a safety issue, not a science-hating issue, and there have been many charged and convicted before this young lady. I hate that we absolutely cannot have an objective conversation about this.
And if she had hurt or, worse, killed herself or other people?
God damn it this is the whole point! Obviously if she had killed other people the story would be different. But she didn't. She blew shit up in an open place for reasons that were not sinister.
Motive matters. The reason she's getting so much support is because what she did resonates with so many of us, and we sense a kindred spirit.
Maybe you see her as a little terrorist-in-training who will use her new-found knowledge to blow up a marathon or something, but I have no reason to think that. I see a kid who heard about this from someone and thought "Wow, if I mix these ingredients in a plastic bottle there will be an explosion. Cool!" And then because she got off her ass and actually DID something rather than watch youtube videos or TV, she's far ahead of her peers.
I lived at a dorm at MIT which was known for several times a year making a coffee-mate bomb. The explosion was loud and the flames leapt up 5 stories, and then everyone would scatter before the MIT police inevitably arrived. It was fun.
How many people out there didn't do something reckless in their youth? By the standards modern society seems to be applying to youth, the vast majority of present day adults should have been charged with felonies in their teens.
From your link: Police said no one in Novato has been injured by a bottle bomb so far. But officers did arrest a group of teenagers at the end of January for making and setting off Drano bombs in an open space off Palmer Drive.
Note that nobody was hurt, and that the teenagers were using an open space. That sounds like the teenagers were following reasonable safety precautions.
From another HN thread on the subject: ... 2Al + 3H2SO4 -> 3H2 + Al2(SO4)3 is not on the prohibited list of reactions that are federally impermissible without a license. (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5636823)
What felony would these kids be guilty of committing?
You know who should have been arrested? The guy I knew years ago (whose dad was a sheriff letting him off the hook, and who was definitely not a friend) who threw a Drano+foil bomb at a pedestrian and drove off. His favorite part of the story was the "hilarious" screams of the victim as the bomb exploded: "It burns!"
Can you point to any specific incident of anyone anywhere on Earth at any time in human history being blinded or losing a limb, or even a finger, by either a dry ice bomb, draino bomb, or an HCL bomb in a plastic bottle?
As duaneb below points out, her intentions were not sinister. Negligence can be a crime, but do we really charge minors with crimes of negligence? Isn't that part of the problem of being a minor?
Given that it wasn't done with malicious intent, this is a matter for school disciplining, not court time.
> But officers did arrest a group of teenagers at the end of January for making and setting off Drano bombs in an open space off Palmer Drive.
Let me be clear: mishandling one of these devices can blind you and remove limbs, and even if you buy the "I'm doing a science experiment" angle, she's doing it without training or safety considerations. This is a safety issue, not a science-hating issue, and there have been many charged and convicted before this young lady. I hate that we absolutely cannot have an objective conversation about this.
[1]: http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/bottle-bomb-warning-goes-out-t...