That's called a Wilson Cloud. They're a common phenomena in nuclear blasts (which this was NOT).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condensation_cloud

The shot at :50 is fascinating to me, because you can see the... vapor? cloud? smoke? hit the edge of the city center and get shoved upwards and off-camera. The shockwave keeps going though, invisible at this angle but for the dust / material blasted off of the buildings as it goes.

Also: woohoo! at 1:43. Didn't expect that.

Fairly sure they're blasting to install a pipeline, not blowing up an existing one.

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My uneducated guess would be because it takes less time carving the trench out. Now they just scoop out the loose dirt and rock.

I did find this but not sure if it's for the same purpose as in the video.

https://www.osmre.gov/resources/blasting/docs/Pipelines/PipelineReport1991.pdf

Why would you blast a pipeline? I'm sure there's some obvious reason

Ammonimum nitrate does require a sensitizer in order to be explosive, however this stuff was intended for blasting, so it presumably already had something mixed in with it. The other requirement is a low explosive detonator, eg blasting caps. In this case it was probably a random accident, so not as efficient as a deliberate blasting setup.

The large, windowless square structure is grain storage. It blocked some of the blast but represents a large fraction of Lebanon's grain supply.

More details from https://www.moonofalabama.org/2020/08/beirut-blast-wrap-up.html#more

-------------------------%<--------------------------------%<------------------------------ RFERL spoke with the captain of the ship that had unintentionally brought the ammonium nitrate to Lebanon. He confirms the ship's arrest. It also reports the cause of the incident:

Lebanon's LBCI-TV reported on August 5 that, according to preliminary information, the fire that set off the explosion was started accidentally by welders who were closing off a gap that allowed unauthorized entry into the warehouse.

LBCI said sparks from a welder's torch are thought to have ignited fireworks stored in a warehouse, which in turn detonated the nearby cargo of ammonium nitrate that had been unloaded from the MV Rhosus years earlier.

Independent experts say orange clouds that followed the massive blast on August 4 were likely from toxic nitrogen dioxide gas that is released after an explosion involving nitrates.

There is a short video of firefighters at the initial fire. Reportedly none survived when the fireworks fire set off the ammonium nitrate. Another video shows the initial fire caused by welding. It burns a while and then sets off fireworks in a first explosion. This takes the roof off the warehouse. A few minutes later the fireworks cause the huge explosion of the ammonium nitrate.

Reuters provides another detail:

The source said a fire had started at port warehouse 9 on Tuesday and spread to warehouse 12, where the ammonium nitrate was stored.

That the ammonium nitrate was stored for seven years was not the responsibility of the port management but was caused by some judicial quarrel:

The head of Beirut port and the head of customs both said on Wednesday that several letters were sent to the judiciary asking for the dangerous material be removed, but no action was taken.

Port General Manager Hassan Koraytem told OTV the material had been put in a warehouse on a court order, adding that they knew then the material was dangerous but “not to this degree”.

“We requested that it be re-exported but that did not happen. We leave it to the experts and those concerned to determine why,” Badri Daher, director general of Lebanese Customs, told broadcaster LBCI.

Two documents seen by Reuters showed Lebanese Customs had asked the judiciary in 2016 and 2017 to request that the “concerned maritime agency” re-export or approve the sale of the ammonium nitrate, which had been removed from cargo vessel Rhosus and deposited in warehouse 12, to ensure port safety.

Apparently a lot of it didn't combust and was expelled by the blast. I saw an estimate of 1kt equivalent which is still massive.

This seems to have been the incident: https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/02/archives/soviet-discloses-nuclear-blast-that-put-out-fire-in-gas-field.html

Details: (i) burning for three years; (ii) bomb in the kiloton range

yeah. it's a blast when it's just talk and no consequences. it was just fun for them, now it's not. how sad for them.

there are predictions that this virus could last into the spring of next year. combine it w/the next flu season this fall and Fox just might have to carry on this tone for over a year.

from anger, venom, and spittle to careful, thoughtful, and measured words? geez. what a loss.

That was screwed up at many levels; never blew the collision alarm blasts (five, to my recollection) so the captain/harbor pilot never even knew they were in trouble.

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Seven executives of top pharmaceutical companies were grilled before a congressional panel Tuesday about the nation's skyrocketing drug prices

Sen. Ron Wyden, the ranking member of the committee, blasted Big Pharma as "morally repugnant" and accused the companies of operating in an "unacceptable" way. He grew testy when he believed the executives weren't being forthcoming about reducing list prices.

"All of this other stuff is window dressing," Wyden snapped. "You are stonewalling on the key issue."

At one point, he pressed the chairman and CEO of AbbVie, maker of the arthritis drug Humira, which, according to a recent New York Times story, has doubled in list price since 2012, from about $19,000 a year to $38,000. Wyden wanted to know whether the company makes money on drugs in Germany and other Westernized nations where patients pay, on average, 40% less than Americans.

"Yes, we do," CEO Richard Gonzalez said.
If that's the case, Wyden said, "you can do the same thing in the United States."

"How is that not gouging the American consumer?" he asked. "You are willing to sit by and hose the American consumer and give breaks to those overseas."

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/26/health/senate-hearing-skyrocketing-drug-prices/index.html

*promote

I'm reminded of how good this song is, been blasting it in my car lately.