Over at Hackaday they've gone a bit fiery destruction crazy, and posted a guide on how to destroy HDDs with thermite—that's the super-high temperature chemical mix used in welding, fireworks, and generalized military destruction. The guide shows how a kilo of burning thermite melts clean through a PC case, hard drive platters and all, turning them into pools of melted metal...which may be handy if you, uh, ever need to, um, "destroy" your data in an emergency. Hmmm. Check out the video, which is pyrotechnically cool, then see the hard drives post-incineration.
Yup, that glowing mess was once a hard drive. Thermite's a blend of iron oxide and aluminum, and when it goes off it's pretty crazy, reaching iron-melting temperatures in seconds, and spitting gobbets of metal everywhere. So don't try this at home. Really. 'Cause it might not stop reacting at the bottom of your PC case, and molten metal dropping through your floor is just bloody dangerous. [Hackaday]