A burning tank is in Daraa, on March 9, 2013. (Photo by Ali Abu-Salah/Reuters/Shaam News Network via The Atlantic)

A playground burns in a residential neighbourhood during the Eaton fire in Pasadena on January 7, 2025. (Photo by Josh Edelson/AFP Photo)

Couples dance samba as smoke rises from a burning pyrotechnics warehouse in Moscow on June 19 2021. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

A policeman stands by a burning car, set alight during a communist march in the East End of London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images). Circa 1936

Flames engulf a structure as the Eaton Fire burns in Pasadena, California, U.S. January 7, 2025. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni/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.

Embers remain among the debris after most of the buildings were burned to the ground in a wildfire at Gounsa Temple in Uiseong on March 26, 2025. At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea's worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing “unprecedented damage”, the acting president said. (Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP Photo)

Flames burn in a field in Capaci, near Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy, Wednesday, July 26, 2023. On the island of Sicily, two people were found dead Tuesday in a home burned by a wildfire that temporarily shut down Palermo's international airport, according to Italian news reports. Regional officials said 55 fires were active on Sicily, amid temperatures in the 40s Celsius. (Photo by Alberto Lo Bianco/LaPresse via AP Photo)