NASA astronauts Stan Love and Loral O’Hara test Axiom Space’s lunar spacesuits underwater on October 1, 2025. The AxEMU suit is designed for the Artemis III mission to the moon’s south pole, due to lift off no earlier than mid-2027. (Photo by NBL/NASA via South West News Service)

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.

Eleonora Brunacci and Mariano Di Vaio walk the red carpet ahead of the “Racer And The Jailbird (Le Fidele)” screening during the 74th Venice Film Festival at Sala Grande on September 8, 2017 in Venice, Italy. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)

Shakira and Jennifer Lopez perform onstage during the Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mike Blake/Reuters)

British rock singer, musician, one of the founders and member of the band Black Sabbath, which had a significant influence on the emergence of such musical styles as hard rock and heavy metal Ozzy Osbourne, pictured at home two weeks after the birth of his baby boy Jack. 25th November 1985. The heavy metal star, who fronted Black Sabbath before a long solo career, has died aged 76 in Birmingham, UK on July 22, 2025. (Photo by Mike Maloney/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

A guest takes a selfie during the show of Laura Biagiotti at the Milan Fashion Week, in Milan, Italy, 24 February 2019. The Fall-Winter 2019/20 Women's collections are presented at the Milano Moda Donna from 20 to 25 February 2019. (Photo by Matteo Bazzi/EPA/EFE)