In this photo provided by Tasnim News Agency, relatives weep over the body of an earthquake victim, in Sarpol-e-Zahab, western Iran, Monday, November 13, 2017. An earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale rocked northern Iraq and Iran, the U.S. Geological Survey said on Sunday evening. Photo by Farzad Menati/Tasnim News Agency via AP Photo)

A relative of a victim of the Ukraine International Airlines PS 752 plane that crashed after taking off from Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport reacts at Boryspil International Airport, outside Kiev, Ukraine on January 8, 2020. (Photo by Serhii Nuzhnenko/Reuters)

French climber Alain Robert, also known as “Spiderman”, holds the flag of Nepal as he scales the Tour Montparnasse, a 210-metre (689 ft) building in central Paris, France April 28, 2015, to show support for the victims after the earthquake in Nepal. (Photo by Gonzalo Fuentes/Reuters)

A man wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) cremates a body of a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) victim at the crematory as the country recorded the highest daily increase in deaths since the pandemic began, in Kathmandu, Nepal on May 3, 2021. (Photo by Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters)

If we were to burn NH4Cr2O7 with HgSCN in the Dark Ages in Europe and show it to anyone, it is us who would be burning next on a fiery cross of Inquisition. And it’s no wonder, since this experiment produces a truly marvelous result. At first, as you ignite the mixture of NH4Cr2O7 and HgSCN, all you can see is that it is slowly burning with a reddish flame. After a while, however, a crater is formed in the middle of the burning pile, and then, suddenly, tentacle-like appendages start sprouting from the burning mixture. And you can almost hear the scream of the mad occultist – “Come forth, Kraken! Come forth!” But of course, this is simply a chemical reaction that is called the "Pharoah's Serpent". It was also often sold in firework stores until people realized that it was toxic.

A Houthi follower with fake blood on his clothes lies on the ground to represent a victim as others perform a war dance during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of the Houthi movement's takeover of Yemen's capital Sanaa September 21, 2015. (Photo by Khaled Abdullah/Reuters)

A woman sits on a curb at the scene of a shooting outside of a music festival along the Las Vegas Strip, Monday, October 2, 2017, in Las Vegas. Multiple victims were being transported to hospitals after a shooting late Sunday at a music festival on the Las Vegas Strip. (Photo by John Locher/AP Photo)

Nicaraguan army members carry a participant playing the role of a victim during a national multi-hazard drill organized by the National System for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters (SINAPRED), in the 30 de Mayo neighborhood in Managua, Nicaragua, September 26, 2016. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)