A gallery assistant poses for a photograph with an artwork entitled “John Perreault, 1972” by US artist Alice Neel during a press preview of “Alice Neel: Hot Off The Griddle” at the Barbican Art Gallery in London on February 15, 2023. (Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP Photo)

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.

Отава Ё – Яблочко (Otava Yo – Yablochko; Russian: Яблочко, “Little Apple”). Yablochko is a Russian folk song of chastushka style and dance, traditionally presented as sailors' dance. The choreographed version of the dance first appeared in the 1926 Reinhold Glière ballet The Red Poppy and from there is known in the West as the Russian Sailors Dance.

The world's longest moustache (belonging to one Ram Singh Chauhan of Rajasthan, India) measures a staggering 11.5 feet, or nearly 4 metres.

Russian riot policemen beat young PREGNANT female anti-Putin activist during a protest rally against the Presidential inauguration of Vladimir Putin on May 6, 2012 in Moscow, Russia.

A local miner wades through water as he walks down from a mountain in Benguet a day after Typhoon Haima struck northern Philippines, October 21, 2016. Super Typhoon Haima slammed into the northeastern Philippine coast late Wednesday with ferocious winds and rain that rekindled fears and memories from the catastrophe wrought by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. (Photo by Erik De Castro/Reuters)

A man sits in the back of a taxi with a goat after purchasing it from a livestock market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival in Kolkata, India, September 8, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

The kinetic sculptures created by Anthony Howe are nothing short of a miracle. You simply cannot wrap your mind around the fact that these creations are real. The magic comes from the fact that all the creations of Anthony Howe were first digitally modeled and only then wrought from metal. The resulting pieces of art are mystifying, entrancing, and sometimes even terrifying. For example, one of the earlier creations of Howe is an installation called “About Face”. It is a human face, pieces of which move from side to side, even if there is just a gentle breeze. However, most of his creations are mesmerizing, capturing your mind, as you marvel at their intricacy.