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

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

A brightly burning magnesium-rich meteor known as a bolide was captured near Bude, Cornwall on January 24, 2020. (Photo by Chris Small/Apex News)

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)

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.

Roxy, a Red Labradoodle, Jaku, a Black and Tan Lurcher, Kobe, a White German Shepherd, Rocky, a Black and Tan German Shepherd, and Busy, an English Springer Spaniel Cross, queue outside an Aldi store in Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK on Monday, December 1, 2025. (Phoot by Lucy Ray/PA Media Assignments)

The Bratz Rock Angels are displayed at the Dream Toys 2005 Pre-Christmas Expo on October 5, 2005 in London. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images)