Comment NASA Ames Research Center (Score 2) 241
Liquid nitrogen will do the same thing.
As an intern at NASA Ames during summer break, I thought it would be fun to do a little experiment on the expansion of gas inside a contained vessel. So I put a small amount of LN2 into a 2-liter cola bottle and set it in an unoccupied back parking lot surrounded by 3-story, nearly windowless buildings. As the LN2 changes to gaseous form, the bottle began to expand, almost in-noticeably. After a minute or two, the glued on, wrap around label snapped off, and few seconds later, I heard one of the loudest bangs that I have ever heard in my life.
Before I knew what was happening, we were surrounded by MPs. But before the situation got out of hand, my Senior Researcher came out of the building to explain to the worried guards that this was merely a case of an ignorant intern forgetting to remove the cap before disposing of the harmless liquid. There were some stern looks, but that was the end of it. Unsurprisingly, I was not charged with a felony.
Lesson learned: don't blow up things on NASA bases. I think I can live with that.