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Authorities are questioning the cause of death of a South Korean man who was initially thought to have been killed in a cell phone battery explosion, according to news reports.

The unidentified 33-year-old man had been found dead next to an electric shovel at the quarry where he worked, and a mobile handset with a melted battery was discovered in his shirt pocket. His injuries reportedly included a punctured heart, ruptured lungs, and broken ribs and spine.

But the National Institute of Scientific Investigation determined that those injuries were too severe to be attributed to a phone battery explosion, according to the Associated Press, citing reports from the Yonhap news agency. Final results from an autopsy are expected in about 15 days.

LG, which makes the phone model in question, reportedly said an explosion as originally described was virtually impossible.

While research scientists are still grappling with the possibility of harmful effects from cellular handset use on the human body, a fatal accident involving a mobile phone occurred recently in South Korea. The TelecomsKorea News Service reported that a 33-year-old man was found dead, presumably killed by an explosion of a mobile phone battery identified to be from LG, though no specific model was cited.

It was reported that the man was found lying beside an electronic shovel at a quarry where he worked. A co-worker described him as bleeding from the nose and having a phone with a melted battery in his left shirt pocket. A professor from the Chungbuk National University examined the body and speculated that a phone battery explosion, which punctured his heart and lungs, was the main cause of death. He added that the victim's ribs and spine were broken.

This is the first time a cell phone battery explosion is believed to have taken a life in South Korea. Earlier this year, a man in China was reportedly killed by a mobile phone explosion.

(Source: Crave Asia)

"Mother of Satan"--that's what bomb makers call peroxide-based explosives like triacetone triperoxide (TATP), which are easy to make and hard to detect. But a new pen-shaped detector doodad offers hope for those doing time in airport security lines.

(Credit: Acro)

The Peroxide Explosives Tester, or PET, by Acro is supposed to help security personnel quickly and accurately identify peroxide-based explosives, from diacetone diperoxide and hexam-methalene-triperoxidediamine to the notorious TATP, a component allegedly used by Mr. Goofy in the shoe bomb he tried to detonate on a trans-Atlantic flight in 2001.

Acro announced this month that it had licensed the explosives testing kit technology from Life Science Research Israel, a subsidiary of the Israel Institute for Biological Research.

Peroxide is what bombers from London and Madrid to Casablanca and the streets of Israel all have in common nowadays, and unfortunately we're not talking about their roots. It's also what caused the hoopla over liquid explosives in London in 2006 and subsequent banning of all carry-on bottled goods.

The chemical generally comes as an innocuous-appearing solid that looks like sugar, a class of explosive that's almost impossible to detect with dogs or conventional high-tech methods. To make matters worse, it's easy to whip up at home with ingredients available at any supermarket.

Testing with the new device sounds easy enough: Insert the sample into PET and inject the secret sauce; if it turns green-blue, dive for cover. The company says it's also disposable and nonpolluting, but there's no word on how it's expected to be applied to mass screenings.

There's already a constituency opposed to readmitting fluids to your carry-on--the people who charge $2 for a pint of water in the departure lounge.

(Credit: Computer Dynamics)

Turns out the "explosion-proof" computer that's been making the rounds on the gizmo circuit may be safe to use at the gas pump, but it won't do you any good to sit on it while cruising Karbala.

The Ruffneck Zone 1 Computer can be used for virtually any application, in the harshest of environments by the most careless and abusive operators, according to Computer Dynamics. It has a 15-inch touch screen that's readable in any light condition (including direct sunlight), is impact-resistant and can be operated by gloved hands. But no, it's not bomb-proof.

So what, exactly, can it withstand? Ian McMurray of Computer Dynamics explains it this way: "The term 'explosion-proof' in this instance describes the fact that the Ruffneck can contain an internal explosion rather than withstand an external explosion."

He gives this example. The Zone 1 is deployed near an open oil well where explosive gas is known to lurk. Some of this gas makes its way into the computer, where an inverter is generating some very high voltage to drive the backlights that illuminate the display.

"For some reason, the inverter fails and causes a spark. The spark ignites the gas that is inside our Zone 1 enclosure. Boom. The force of the explosion rapidly expands the air volume inside the Zone 1. Due to the way the Zone 1 is designed, the explosion is contained and the energy from the explosion is released, in a controlled manner, to the outside world at an energy level so low that the external atmosphere is not ignited and a catastrophic accident is avoided."

In other words, without this hazardous-location feature, a computer could go from faithful friend to fuel-air bomb in a femtosecond.

To know your zones, go to the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and U.S. Class I Zone.

The notebook battery recall isn't over yet.

Acer, the fast-growing Taiwanese PC maker, announced on Wednesday a voluntary recall of 27,000 lithium ion notebook batteries made by Sony. A danger exists that the batteries can short-circuit and burst into flames.

Millions of notebook batteries produced by Sony have been recalled since last year. Acer was one of the few major companies not impacted by the battery recall to date. Apple, Dell, Lenovo and Toshiba have all had to recall batteries.

The Acer TravelMate notebooks containing the batteries subject to the recall were sold from May 2004 through November 2006. More details can be found on Acer's corporate Web site.

Sony has paid millions to PC makers under the recall programs. The recall also added to the pile of recent woes for the Japanese giant.

So far, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has received reports of 16 batteries overheating, according to Acer. When they do overheat, however, the results are spectacular. A video of a Dell notebook spontaneously bursting into flames was a big hit on YouTube.

Several start-ups and established companies have been tinkering with making batteries out of less volatile materials such as zinc to make batteries. Other companies, meanwhile, such as Boston Power and Panasonic, have come out with safer lithium ion batteries.