Word: metallic
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...under U.N. economic sanctions since April 1992. Last week Thurman was on the scene in Long Island as parts of the TWA plane were dragged out of the surf. He and his lab team will conduct microscopic examinations of pieces of the plane's skin and infrastructure, looking for metal damage characteristic of a powerful bomb blast. "An explosion generates temperatures and velocities of detonation that are far greater than those encountered in a crash scenario due to mechanical failure," says Chris Ronay, Thurman's predecessor as chief of the FBI bomb unit. "You get torturing, feathering, pitting and tearing...
...analysis can determine which way metal was torn and whether it was ripped by the compression of a blast or by being struck by a heavy object. Rivets that loosened or popped off will be examined to determine the direction and force of the pressures to which they were subjected. FBI lab chemists will do a chemical analysis of the metal to see if there are embedded nitrates, the molecular building blocks of all known explosives...
...reality, though, is that as terrorists have progressed, creating schemes of ever greater sophistication, deviousness and danger, U.S. airports have remained mired in the past, with preventive measures--such as metal detectors--that were developed in the 1970s. Those worked well for the problem of that era--hijacking--but do little to combat the threats posed by plastique or suicide bombers. "Our security system is not a model that one would hold up with any pride," says Billie Vincent, who was head of FAA security from 1982 to 1986 and now runs a consulting firm...
...undercover agents from the inspector general's office reached dramatically different conclusions. In 15 out of 20 attempts to gain entry to supposedly secure areas, agents had little trouble: they got into aircraft-parking areas, baggage areas, and one agent managed to slip an unarmed hand grenade through a metal detector...
Three have already hit the road. Lollapalooza, the five-year-old alternative-rock extravaganza, defied expectations this time around by booking Metallica, a mainstream metal band, as its headliner. (Says Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich: "We wanted to throw this concert for a loop.") H.O.R.D.E., which has built a reputation over the past four years as a haven for tie-dyed twentysomethings, has a solid lineup featuring Blues Traveler and Lenny Kravitz. Meanwhile, the scrappy, year-old Warped Tour has won a following among the particular set of youngsters who enjoy punk rock, ska and skateboarding. Next week the House...