Editing Self-destruct

{{Short description|Mechanism to cause a device to destroy itself}}
{{about||the album by The Original Sins|Self Destruct (album)|other uses|Self Destruction (disambiguation)}}
A '''self-destruct''' is a mechanism that can cause an object to destroy itself or render itself inoperable after a predefined set of circumstances has occurred.

Self-destruct mechanisms are typically found on devices and systems where malfunction could endanger large numbers of people.

==Uses==
{{refimprove section|date=May 2022}}

===Land mines===
[[File:Mine_POM-3.jpg|thumb|A Russian anti-personnel land mine [[POM-3]] ({{Langx|ru|Противопехотная Осколочная Мина|lit=Infantry shrapnel mine}}) with a self-deactivation mechanism that disables the mine upon expiration of battery charge.]]
Some types of modern [[land mine]]s are designed to self-destruct, or chemically render themselves inert after a period of weeks or months to reduce the likelihood of friendly casualties during the conflict or civilian casualties after the conflict's end.  The Amended Protocol II to the [[Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons]] (CCW), amended in 1996, requires that [[anti-personnel land mine]]s deactivate and self-destruct, and sets standards for both.<ref name=NR>{{cite news|last1=Groves|first1=Steven|last2=Bromund|first2=Ted R.|title=Obama Says No to Landmines: The president is denying the U.S. armed forces a crucial weapon.|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/388807/obama-says-no-landmines-steven-groves-ted-r-bromund|access-date=26 September 2014|publisher=National Review|date=September 25, 2014}}</ref>  Landmines currently used by the [[United States military]] are designed to self-destruct after between 4 hours and 15 days depending upon the type.<ref name=USState>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/asmp/campaigns/landmines/FactSheet_FAQ_NewUSLandminePolicy_2-27-04.htm |title=Frequently Asked Questions on the New United States Landmine Policy |publisher=U.S. Department of State |access-date=26 September 2014 |date=February 27, 2004 }}</ref>  The landmines have a battery and when the battery dies, the land mine self-destructs.<ref name=USState />  The self-destruct system never failed in over 67,000 tested landmines in a variety of conditions.<ref name=USState />  Not all self-destruct mechanisms are absolutely reliable,{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} and most landmines that have been laid throughout history are not equipped to self-destruct. Landmines can also be designed to self-deactivate, for instance by a battery running out of a charge, but deactivation is considered a different mechanism from self-destruction.<ref name=USState />

===Military ships===
Another form of a self-destruct system can be seen in the [[Navy|naval]] procedure of [[scuttling]], which is used to destroy a ship or ships to prevent them from being seized<ref>{{cite web|title=Scapa Flow Scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet|url=http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/scuttle.html|work=World War 1 Naval Combat|publisher=World War I UK|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Scuttling the Navy August 29, 1943: August 29, 1943 - the turning point|url=http://www.navalhistory.dk/english/history/1939_1945/us_safari.htm|work=Danish Naval History|publisher=Johnny E. Balsved|access-date=28 May 2012}}</ref> and/or [[Reverse engineering|reverse engineered]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Eilam|first=Eldad|title=Reversing: Secrets of Reverse Engineering|url=https://archive.org/details/reversingsecrets00eila_683|url-access=limited|year=2005|publisher=Wily Publishing|isbn=978-0-7645-7481-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/reversingsecrets00eila_683/page/n32 3]}}</ref>

Generally the scuttling of a ship uses strategically-placed explosive charges by a demolition crew and/or the deliberate cutting open of the hull rather than an in-built self-destruct system.

===Rockets===
{{Further information|Range safety}}
Launch vehicles self-destruct when they go errant, to prevent the endangerment of nearby ground personnel, spectators, buildings and infrastructure. When a rocket flies outside of a prescribed safety zone, personnel monitoring the launch or onboard computers activate the rocket's flight termination system. This usually detonates explosives mounted on the rocket, which sever its propellant tanks or solid fuel casing, leading to a controlled breakup of the vehicle.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rice |first=Tony |date=2015-07-06 |title=When good rockets go bad |url=https://www.rocketstem.org/2015/07/05/when-good-rockets-go-bad/ |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=RocketSTEM |language=en-US}}</ref> 

===Anti-aircraft cannon shells===

Since [[anti-aircraft weapon]]s are used in the [[home front]] or in the rear of friendly forces anti-aircraft cannon [[Shell (projectile)|shells]] are often equipped with self-destruct mechanisms to prevent missed shots from falling down and causing damage to friendly targets. Different self-destruct types exists: in [[tracer ammunition]] the burning tracer material can trigger a self-destruct fuse at the end. Other self-destruct types are mechanical where a spring is held back by the [[centrifugal force]] of the rotating projectile; as the drag slows down the rotation the force is eventually no longer able to prevent the spring from triggering the self-destruct fuse. Heavy anti-aircraft cannons typically fired [[time fuse]]d shells which did not need a separate self-destruct since they were intended to detonate in the air after a set time.<ref>{{Cite book
 | last1 = Vehviläinen
 | first1 = Raimo
 | last2 = Lappi
 | first2 = Ahti
 | last3 = Palokangas
 | first3 = Markku
 | title = Itsenäisen Suomen ilmatorjuntatykit 1917-2000
 | trans-title = Anti-aircraft cannons of independent Finland 1917-2000
 | chapter = 2. Ilmatorjuntatykistön teoriaa ja käytöntöä
 | trans-chapter = 2. Theory and practice of anti-aircraft artillery
 | language = Finnish
  | publisher = Sotamuseo
 | year = 2005
 | location = Helsinki
 | page = 42
 | url =
 | doi =
 | id =
 | isbn = 952-91-8449-2}}</ref>

===<span class="anchor" id="Deep sea oil drilling"></span>Deep-sea oil drilling===
A form of self-destruct system can also be observed in deep-sea oil drilling. In the event of an oil well becoming disconnected from its oil rig, a [[dead man's switch]] may trigger activation of a [[blowout preventer]] blind shear ram, which cuts the drill pipe and permanently seals the well to prevent an oil leak.  The [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill|oil spill]] that followed the [[Deepwater Horizon explosion|''Deepwater Horizon'' explosion]] is an example where the self-destruct system failed to operate correctly (due to the pipe buckling and moving outside of the blind shear ram's reach).

===Data storage===
Self-destruct mechanisms are sometimes employed to prevent an apparatus or information from being used by unauthorized persons in the event of loss or capture. For example, they may be found in high-security [[data storage device]]s (e.g. [[IronKey]]), where it is important for the data to be destroyed to prevent compromise.

Similarly, some online [[social media platform]]s are equipped with a ''Stories'' feature, where posted content is automatically erased after a predetermined time, commonly 24 hours. This concept has been popularized by [[Snapchat]] and later adapted by [[Instagram]] and [[YouTube]].

=== Artwork ===
Some artworks may have mechanisms in them to destruct themselves in front of many eyes watching. An example is the painting [[Love is in the Bin]] by [[Banksy]], which shredded itself right after a £1 million auction at [[Sotheby's]] London on 5 October 2018.<ref>{{cite news|title=Banksy: Love in the Bin's internal shredder deactivated |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-47123606 |work=BBC News |date=2019-02-04 |access-date=2023-01-18}}</ref>

==Use in fiction==
In the 1960s television series ''[[The Man from U.N.C.L.E.]]'' and ''[[Mission: Impossible (1966 TV series)|Mission: Impossible]]'', sensitive intelligence or equipment is shown to self-destruct in order to prevent it from falling into enemy hands.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fiftiesweb.com/tv/mission-impossible/|title=Classic TV Shows - Mission Impossible with Peter Graves |website=FiftiesWeb|date=24 July 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref>  Notably, the usage of "self-destruct" as a verb is said to have been coined on ''Mission: Impossible''.<ref>{{cite web |title='Self-destruct' is a verb. Does that mean 'destruct' is too? |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/self-destruct-is-a-verb-does-that-mean-destruct-is-too |website=www.merriam-webster.com |access-date=2021-03-13}}</ref>

Self-destruct mechanisms are frequent plot devices in [[science fiction]] stories, such as those in the ''[[Star Trek III: The Search for Spock|Star Trek]]'' or ''[[Alien (film)|Alien]]'' fictional universes.  They are generally found on [[military base|military installations]] and [[starship]]s too valuable to allow an enemy to capture.  In many such stories, these mechanisms not only obliterate the object protected by the device, but cause massive destruction in a large surrounding area.  Often, the characters have a limited amount of time to escape the destruction, or to disable the mechanism, creating story tension.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://matthewwatchesyoutube.blogspot.com/2014/09/alien-nostromo-self-destruct-sequence.html|title=Matthew Watches YouTube: Alien: Nostromo Self-Destruct Sequence (1979)|last=Dovey|first=Matthew|date=2014-09-11|website=Matthew Watches YouTube|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref>  In some cases, an [[artificial intelligence]] will invoke self-destruct due to [[cognitive dissonance]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://io9.gizmodo.com/5715101/all-the-greatest-scenes-where-someone-talks-a-computer-into-self-destructing|title=All the greatest scenes where someone talks a computer into self-destructing|last=Anders|first=Charlie Jane|work=io9 |date=22 December 2010 |language=en-US|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref>

Usually the method required to initiate a self-destruct sequence is lengthy and complex, as in ''Alien'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://typesetinthefuture.com/2014/12/01/alien/|title=Alien|date=2014-12-01|website=Typeset In The Future|access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref> or else requires multiple officers aboard the ship with individual passcodes to concur,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-trek-deaths-uss-enterprise-906645|title='Star Trek': The Many Deaths of the USS Enterprise|website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=27 June 2016 |access-date=2016-07-16}}</ref> while audible and/or visible countdown timers allow audiences to track the growing urgency of the characters' escape.  Passwords in 1970s and 1980s movies are often clearly insecure for their purposes as self-destruct triggers, considering accounts with even low-level security—let alone the high-security measures which would come for a self-destruct mechanism—in modern times generally have far more complex password requirements (the writers of the era not anticipating the issues soon to be raised by the easy affordability of fast computer hardware for conducting [[brute-force attack]]s).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://blog.agilebits.com/2013/05/08/star-trek-worst-passwords-self-destruct/|title=The top 6 worst passwords from the Star Trek universe [Updated]|last=Chartier|first=David|date=2013-05-08|website=AgileBits Blog|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310080715/https://blog.agilebits.com/2013/05/08/star-trek-worst-passwords-self-destruct/ |access-date=2016-07-16|archive-date=2016-03-10 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Apoptosis]]
* [[Autothysis]]
* [[Doomsday device]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Wiktionary-inline}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Self-Destruct}}
[[Category:Data security]]
[[Category:Fictional technology]]
[[Category:Safety equipment]]