of uranium, the repulsive electrostatic energy between the two fission daughter nuclei, translates into the kinetic energy of the fission products that results in both the primary driver of the blackbody radiation that rapidly generates the hot dense plasma/nuclear fireball formation and thus also both later blast and thermal effects. At least one scientific paper suggests that coulomb explosion (specifically, the electrostatic repulsion of dissociated carboxyl groups of polyglutamic acid) may be part of the explosive action of nematocytes, the stinging cells in aquatic organisms of the phylum Cnidaria. Coulomb Explosion Imaging Molecules are held together by a balance of charge between negative electrons and positive nuclei. When multiple electrons are expelled, either by laser irradiation or bombardment using highly charged ions, the remaining, mutually repulsive, nuclei fly apart in a Coulomb explosion. The structure of simple gas phase molecules can be determined by tracking the fragment trajectories. As of 2022 the method can work with up to 11-atom molecules. See also Laser engraving Laser ablation Laser cutting Tunnel ionization List of plasma (physics) articles Coherent x-ray diffraction imaging References Materials science Laser applications Electrostatics Explosions