The explosion had a dramatic impact on Imperial's business as it took one of the company's two refining plants offline for 18 months.

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The impact: an explosion of business applications were developed in response to better serve the American people and the federal agencies.

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But before the first 24 hours were out, and while the search-and-rescue operation was ongoing, the Coast Guard was eyeing the potential environmental impact of the explosion.

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Emotion can make just as much impact as a huge explosion, as the death of Ethel Skinner in EastEnders showed.

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Shatter cones are surface features with distinctive wavy patterns that are known to be created only by the tremendous force of a meteorite impact or an underground nuclear explosion.

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He likens the online explosion of the late twentieth century to television's impact in the 1950s and '60s, and notes that the Web extends well beyond TV's leisure niche.

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