Comment Re:Really cool, application to rockets not so much (Score 1) 24
But nitroglycerine is very unstable and just looking at it funny can make it go off. That's when Nobel (of prize fame) managed to convert it to TNT, which was far more stable. Though it isn't shelf stable - left alone especially in a hot environment and the TNT starts to decompose into nitroglycerine.
I'm not an expert but I'm fairly sure dynamite, of Dynamit Nobel fame, is regular nitroglycerin that has been desensitised by mixing it with diatomaceous earth. The time to worry is when the nitroglycerine starts seeping out of the clay. AFAIK nitroglycerine and TNT are unrelated.