# Best way to blow up the Pyramids? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 23, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469 "2017-08-23T15:53:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/61 "2017-08-24T17:28:26Z")
> [@Renz\_Medicinal](#): > > No miners here? Just drill blast holes in a 10m x 10m grid through the whole thing, pump in ANFO, stand back a safe (very safe) distance and boom! Sorry, the thing won’t disappear. It will just collapse on all sides into a pile or broken limestone. Collapsing into a pile of broken limestone. So no change then? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/62 "2017-08-24T19:01:22Z")
Thinking about it for a day, I don’t know that I can think of anything (within the realm of practicality) better than Rods from God. But after a couple dozen of those, you’d still just have pulverized a single pyramid. From there, it’s probably just as efficient to use a row of high-powered fans as anything to try and disperse the sand and gravel. ---
**Author:** ![Renz\_Medicinal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Renz\_Medicinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renz_Medicinal)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/63 "2017-08-24T23:13:41Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Collapsing into a pile of broken limestone. So no change then? During actual blasting? Actually little change. In situ limestone has a density of around 1.9 If you drill and blast it with dynamite, you fragment and loosen it, giving a density of around 1.2 for the same volume as in situ rock. Just makes it easier to shovel out. ---
**Author:** ![JHBoom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JHBoom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JHBoom)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/64 "2017-08-24T23:38:03Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Or tell them there’s a log of chew and a carton of reds SOMEWHERE in there. > > Sent from my FRD-L04 using Tapatalk Add a case of Monster, Red Bull, or Rip-It to that mix, and you might just see a giant crater form before your eyes as the prives tear shit up looking for the Precious. ---
**Author:** ![Reddy\_Mercury](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Reddy\_Mercury](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reddy_Mercury)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/65 "2017-08-25T04:54:39Z")
I really hope you people aren’t serious in support of this. For real? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/66 "2017-08-25T05:55:16Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > I really hope you people aren’t serious in support of this. For real? I’m generally in support of mind exercises, yes. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/67 "2017-08-25T06:06:25Z")
66 posts and nobody has mentioned the OP’s username/post combo? ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/68 "2017-08-25T07:36:43Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > 66 posts and nobody has mentioned the OP’s username/post combo? I do think a strike with thermonuclear tipped ICBM’s would probably be entertaining, you could even sell tickets for ringside seats with dark-tinted glasses as well as streaming it live. 😉 Thanks for the answers everyone, all the ideas are pretty entertaining! btw that picture showing the Pyramids are basically inside Cairo has blown my mind, I really did assume they were out in the desert somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/69 "2017-08-25T11:10:43Z")
> [@Reddy\_Mercury](#): > > I really hope you people aren’t serious in support of this. For real? You have a relatively small number of posts here. This forum is full of thought experiments for things that would not or could not really be done. People ask what would happen if the sun suddenly was gone. I would hope you don’t seriously think that anybody here (or anywhere) would actually have the will and wherewithal to destroy the great pyramids. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/70 "2017-08-25T11:52:59Z")
Speak for yourself–I’m taking those bitches _down_. I’m currently attempting to breed gigantic mutant badgers using gamma radiation. Then, I only need [slather the pyramids with cow juices](http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/04/04/522598144/video-badger-burying-a-cow-surprises-scientists). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/71 "2017-08-25T12:31:28Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Speak for yourself–I’m taking those bitches _down_. I’m currently attempting to breed gigantic mutant badgers using gamma radiation. Badgers? We don’t got no badgers! I don’t have to show you no stinking badgers! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/72 "2017-08-25T12:55:01Z")
[Fill them with grain](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/05/ben-carson-egyptian-pyramids-were-grain-stores-not-pharoahs-tombs) and [blow them up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion). ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/73 "2017-08-25T14:36:14Z")
I think Heinlein solved this in _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_. Build a moon base, a rail gun, and a series of iron clad rocks. Move the aiming point from Cheyenne Mountain to Giza and you’re good. Someone else can figure out how many and what size of rocks are needed, but you up the entertainment factor by varying the angle of attack, sending in groups sometimes, singles others. I would guess that if you add various elements to the iron cladding you could also vary the colors the meteorites display as they come crashing down (like in fireworks). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/74 "2017-08-25T15:09:09Z")
> [@Folacin](#): > > I would guess that if you add various elements to the iron cladding you could also vary the colors the meteorites display as they come crashing down (like in fireworks). Cool! We can sell tickets, hot dogs and beer. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/75 "2017-08-25T18:05:37Z")
Plant stories worldwide that powdered pyramid stone is a sure cure for impotence. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/76 "2017-08-25T19:26:17Z")
> [@Renz\_Medicinal](#): > > During actual blasting? Actually little change. In situ limestone has a density of around 1.9 If you drill and blast it with dynamite, you fragment and loosen it, giving a density of around 1.2 for the same volume as in situ rock. Just makes it easier to shovel out. Well, all you’ve done is change the pyramids from piles of blocks to piles of slightly crushed blocks. If you have to shovel the crushed blocks out afterwards, you might as well just move the uncrushed blocks themselves. That’s not “blowing up the pyramids”, that’s carting off the pyramids. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/77 "2017-08-25T20:15:56Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > That’s not “blowing up the pyramids”, that’s carting off the pyramids. Well, yeah, but “Best Way to Cart Off the Pyramids” doesn’t have the same ring to it. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/78 "2017-08-25T21:15:38Z")
> [@Atomic\_Alex](#): > > They’ve decided to make this pay per view and a bit more entertaining than just dismantling them with jackhammers and trucks or letting busloads of tourists tramp up and down them all day so they’re going to use military weapons to do so. I think a lot of people are ignoring the above part of the OP. In particular, I do **not** including the suggestion of [QUOTE=silenus] 2 five-year-olds, a plastic hammer and a puppy. Pyramid to pile of rubble in 15 minutes. [/QUOTE] in this chastisement. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/79 "2017-08-25T21:30:01Z")
Blow up the Pyramids? I didn’t even know they were inflatable! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2017, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469/80 "2017-08-25T21:50:59Z")
A retaining wall and billions of gallons of concentrated HCL. Plop, plop, fizz, fizz… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-way-to-blow-up-the-pyramids/794469.md?page=5)