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.

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

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.

Mates Jimi Hunt and Dan Drupstee dug the 650m slippery slide on a property at Helensville, northwest of Auckland and opened it this weekend as part of a festival to help combat depression.

American actress Kathryn Newton during the Chloe Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2024-2025 fashion show as part of the Paris Fashion Week on February 29, 2024 in Paris, France. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

A London-based designer has come up with a collection of zombie-proof vehicles, just in time for Halloween. Donal O’Keeffe from Cork in Ireland, created the Zombie Survival Series with 3D rendering after being inspired by his love of horror films. The 31-year-old put the collection together after imagining what city-life would be like if the streets were taken over by wandering undead, from which there would be no safer escape than one of these modified, mobile fortresses.

A Palestinian woman paints a mural, depicting a masked Palestinian holding a knife, in support of Palestinians committing stabbing attacks against Israelis, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 3, 2015. (Photo by Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters)

On Set with David Bowie and Tilda Swinton. A photo taken by Director Floria Sigismondi on set of The Stars (Are Out Tonight), featuring Tilda Swinton.