A piece in the documentary "9/11 Science & Conspiracy" by National Geographic goes to great lengths to debunk the idea that thermite could have brought down the twin towers. From their piece: Thermite burns at 4500°F. Their question is "Can thermite of any type burn through steel beams?" They used a 6" x 6" x ½" column to demonstrate their point. They pack 175lbs of thermite around the column and ignite it. The column remains intact. Their conclusion: thermite couldn't cut through this thin column, so it couldn't cut through the larger columns of the WTC. The actual composition of what National Geographic used in the demonstration is unknown. Black powder and iron filings combust in a very similar manner to thermite, but at a much lower temperature. The demonstration proves another point. "The jet fuel probably burned out in less than 10 minutes. And what did burn over the next hour, or hour and a half, was much of the contents of the buildings." [firehouse.com] Office fires would generate nowhere near enough heat to cause all of WTC 1's massive core columns to synchronously fail. If no reasonable quantity of the explosive thermite, which is used for engineered demolition, could damage the powerful buildings, the measly energy from an airliner, a bit of jet fuel, and gravity could not have collapsed the buildings. [Peoples Voice]