I know this is simplistic. Why can't they just attach explosives and blow it up to pieces?

:shrug:

you'd do what, tape a firecracker to it?

Pretty much the same concept, right?

That's pretty much the same situation.

Except its not. It just doesn't scale (and a firecracker wont blow up that 4" slab of concrete, will it?)

Read:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http://www.kp.ru/daily/24482/640124/

It just seems to me, based on uneducated common sense, that there's a strong possibility it could make matter worse.

However, there's also a strong possibility that I am wrong about that.

If they blew it up enough to cause a cave in that would plug it up and that was completely safe, I think they would have done it by now. Even entertaining the most cynical point of view, that BP doesn't care about the environment and just wants to save the oil, capping it with an explosion would ensure the oil stays under the ground where it would still be extractable instead of floating around the the ocean where its not really salvagable.

11 people died.

I don't get it.

Pinch it essentially with blunt force

Just my theory but, there is a tremendous amount of frozen methane on the bottom of the gulf. In fact this is what exploded to begin with. So another explosive could set off even more explosive methane and liberate vast amounts of frozen methane into the ocean and thus into the atmosphere. It has been theorized that a giant methane gas release was responsible for one the earths mass extinctions (50 -65 million years ago?). Another theory about massive methane releases in the ocean can swallow up ships (Bermuda triangle type stuff).

So basically, I think the scientists are worried about the effects of exploding a giant methane hydrate/ oil reserve.

has the consistency of heavy pudding..

No rocks etc for several thousand feet down..

Regular explosive just not effective....