A few years ago, boy scout David Hahn went beyond the call of duty for a boy scout when he managed to obtain the materials and almost build a real working nuclear reactor for his merit badge. The original Harpers Magazine story can be read here.

When the police arrived, David told them he was waiting to meet a friend. Unconvinced, officers decided to search his car. When they opened the trunk they discovered a toolbox shut with a padlock and sealed with duct tape for good measure. The trunk also contained over fifty foil-wrapped cubes of mysterious gray powder, small disks and cylindrical metal objects, lantern mantles, mercury switches, a clock face, ores, fireworks, vacuum tubes, and assorted chemicals and acids.The police were especially alarmed by the toolbox, which David warned them was radioactive and which they feared was an atomic bomb.

David has since been back in the news, as despite being banned he’s back stealing smoke detectors again to fuel his cazy quest to generate home-made nuclear power.

Something that is more worrying however is the impact that his obsession has had on his features.