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" Could a metallic cylinder survive a major explosion unscathed? Crane accidents at New York City construction sites are all too commonplace these days, but when a crane collapsed and killed three people at the start of &amp;quot;The Arrival&amp;quot; in Williamsburg in Brooklyn, its cause wasn&amp;#039;t a strap failure or faulty weld, but an explosion. The fiery eruption happened when a mysterious cylinder blasted through an unused subway tunnel and into a gas main. When the dust settled, the cylinder was the only thing intact among the rubble. If the cylinder was at the center of the explosion, how did it not break apart, melt or bend in that fireball? &amp;quot;It was probably kryptonite or unobtainium,&amp;quot; jokes Jack Waddell, the president of Florida-based BlastGard. Waddell&amp;#039;s company produces BlastWrap, a lining consisting of mineral-filled pockets that, when placed on an object, mitigates shock waves and quenches fireballs. According to Waddell, something like BlastWrap would have worked in this situation because the cylinder was right where the blast began. &amp;quot;The sooner the mitigation process starts, the greater the degree to which it prevents the full development of the energy release.&amp;quot; Assuming this cylinder wasn&amp;#039;t wrapped in Waddell&amp;#039;s perlite-pellet blanket or some similar protective lining, he says the shape of the object might be a reason for its safety. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s the perfect vessel to survive because it manages internal and external pressure more efficiently than any shape on the planet,&amp;quot; he says. Alan Pense, professor emeritus of material science at Lehigh University&amp;#039;s ATLSS Research Center, is no stranger to superstrong materials either. Engineers at the center have been experimenting with high-melting-point steels and oxides that can bend, stretch and compress without breaking. But superstrength might not even have been necessary for this object. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s not outlandish at all,&amp;quot; he says. &amp;quot;In order to melt a structure, you have to have a very high temperature--close to 3000 degrees Fahrenheit--for an extended period of time.&amp;quot; This is a hard threshold to reach, so in a normal, contained explosion, the material would typically survive. &amp;quot;Now, if you had a nuclear explosion, there&amp;#039;s no question you could melt anything.&amp;quot;     RELATED STORIES * HOLLYWOOD SCI-FI VS. REALITY: Experts on Fringe Episode 3  * PLUS: Fringe Gets Fast Aging and Frozen Optics Wrong  * DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD: New Movie F/X, Fall TV Sci-Fi &amp;amp;amp; More Fringe!   (Photograph by Craig Blankenhorn/FOX) Is it possible for the cylinder to tunnel through the earth&amp;#039;s core? The mysterious cylinder may be able to survive fiery explosions, but what about its supposed ability to tunnel through the planet at any point in the world and come out on the other side? On the show, another cylinder--discovered in 1987--quickly disappeared when it shot like a missile down into the Earth&amp;#039;s core.  ahren &amp;quot;The idea that you could somehow send something through the Earth&amp;#039;s core is very unlikely because there are no materials I know that can survive that temperature,&amp;quot; Pense says. The inner core is thought to have a temperature up to about 13,000 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hotter than the surface of the sun. When refractory materials that can handle very high temperatures--bricks, ceramics and so on--begin to melt at 5000 F, it seems impossible for a material such as this cylinder to survive the trip. Even if melting weren&amp;#039;t an issue, Pense says the metal might dissolve into the core. He explains that when you throw salt on an icy road, those two solid materials are not at a temperature where they would individually melt. But if you clamp them together, they form an alloy where they are in contact and they dissolve. &amp;quot;What you may find is that these materials, when put in the iron core of the planet, may dissolve into that.&amp;quot; Pense wonders if perhaps the cylinder isn&amp;#039;t going so deep that it actually hits the Earth&amp;#039;s core. &amp;quot;We can drill many miles into the Earth&amp;#039;s surface and not melt the drilling equipment or the piping, so certainly it could travel at that level,&amp;quot; he says. But then, what about its ability to tunnel through the core at all? &amp;quot;What would be the energy source?&amp;quot; Pense asks. &amp;quot;How would it eliminate the material in front of it? Would it get so hot that the rocks would melt? That&amp;#039;s not a good idea because you might begin to erode the surface of the cylinder.&amp;quot;  RELATED STORIES * HOLLYWOOD SCI-FI VS. REALITY: Experts on Fringe Episode 3  * PLUS: Fringe Gets Fast Aging and Frozen Optics Wrong  * DIGITAL HOLLYWOOD: New Movie F/X, Fall TV Sci-Fi &amp;amp;amp; More Fringe!   (Photograph by Craig Blankenhorn/FOX) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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