A team of ten acrobats form the shape of a racehorse crossing the winning post ridden by Stefanie Hofer to celebrate the upcoming Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup at Ascot Racecourse on July 29, 2014 in Ascot, England. The Dubai Duty Free Shergar Cup is the only team-format raceday in the UK and takes place on 9th August. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse)

Lagoon Master. These amazing pictures of nebula thousands of light years from Earth have been captured by an amateur astronomer Dr. Dennis Roscoe snapped the beautiful celestial formations from his own personal observatory. His telescope looks into deep space at the nebula, which show both the birth and death of stars, like our very own Sun. (Photo by Dennis Roscoe/Caters News)

This April 30, 2016 image made available by NOAA shows a deep sea anglerfish living between pillow basalt rock formations, during a deepwater exploration of the Marianas Trench Marine National Monument area in the Pacific Ocean near Guam and Saipan. The ambush predator waits for prey to be attracted by its lure, located between its eyes, and gulps it with its large mouth. (Photo by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research via AP Photo)

Rome marks 74th Festa della Repubblica on 2 June 2020. Italy's celebrate the national day, Festa della Repubblica in 2020 with the events for the 74th edition of Republic Day reduced due to the covid-19 crisis. The Frecce Tricolori, the aerobatic demonstration team of the Italian Air Force, popular aeronautical display featuring fighter jets, fly in formation over the centre of Rome, emitting plumes of the three colours from the Italian flag. (Photo by Giuseppe Pino Fama/Pacific Press/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

An aerial view of sinkholes (obruk), caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer, in Konya, Turkiye on September 17, 2024. Many sinkholes are observed in the fields of Eseli Plateau located within the borders of Resadiye Neighborhood in the north-west of Karapinar district, where sinkhole formation has increased rapidly in recent years. (Photo by Serhat Cetinkaya/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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.

An Indian farmer from Tamil Nadu state wearing a necklace of human skulls representing suicides by agricultural workers takes part in a protest with other farmers in New Delhi on March 15, 2017. Tamil Nadu state farmers protested to demand a profitable price for their agricultral products, and called for the formation of management committee for solving Cauvery river water disputes. More than 200 farmers have committed suicide in Tamil Nadu in recent months following crop failure due to poor rainfall and inadequate water for irrigation. (Photo by Prakash Singh/AFP Photo)

Pete McLeod of Canada flies in formation with Nigel Lamb of Great Britain, Martin Sonka of the Czech Republic and Kirby Chambliss of the United States during a Recon flight prior to the seventh stage of the Red Bull Air Race World Championship over the Hoover Dam on October 09, 2014 on the border between the U.S. states of Arizona and Nevada. (Photo by Joerg Mitter/Red Bull via Getty Images)