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.

A sign advising to pray for rain hangs above an exhibit area at the 47th Annual World Ag Expo in Tulare, February 12, 2014. About a hundred years ago, when urban water systems were being developed throughout the state, the city of Sacramento wrote protections from metering into its charter, vowing that residents would always have the right to use as much water as they needed. But on Tuesday, the state's top water regulators released a framework for enforcing California's first statewide mandatory restrictions on urban water use – cuts of 25 percent for non-agricultural users ordered last week by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown as a devastating drought enters its fourth year. (Photo by David McNew/Reuters)

A man removes ice from an ice-covered car with a hammer in Postojna, Slovenia, on February 5, 2014. Cars stand entombed in a crystal-like casing near the deserted railway station in Postojna. Trees and electricity pylons lie felled in the snow by the sheer weight of ice enveloping them. (Photo by Srdjan Zivulovic/Reuters)

A combination picture shows Will Adam, 14, snowboarding down a street on Beacon Hill during a large winter blizzard in Boston, Massachusetts, United States January 27, 2015 (top), and a woman looking at her phone as she walks down the same street June 13, 2015. Outdoor scenes in Boston show local residents enjoying balmy weather amid lush greenery as the summer solstice approaches on 21 June. The very same locations suffered heavy snowstorms last winter, with snow ploughs, skiers and snowboarders battling the drifts. Boston got 275.8 cm of snow over the winter, the most since 1872, when records began. A few months after the snowstorms, Brian Snyder revisited the same places and shot pictures at exactly the same locations. (Photo by Brian Snyder/Reuters)

A man participates in the Red Bull Jump & Freeze Lebanon at Mzaar Kfardebian Ski Resort in mount Lebanon February 28, 2016. (Photo by Jamal Saidi/Reuters)

A participant jumps during the Red Bull Jump and Freeze competition at the ski resort of Gudauri, Georgia, March 20, 2016. (Photo by David Mdzinarishvili/Reuters)

A snowboarder performs during the Red Bull Jump and Freeze competition at ski resort Shimbulak outside Almaty March 22, 2015. Participants wearing festive costumes perform tricks before getting into a pond with icy water. (Photo by Shamil Zhumatov/Reuters)

A man dressed in a condom costume walks at Caleta Portales beach, during a summer awareness campaign by the Chilean Corporation for the Prevention of AIDS in Valparaiso city, northwest of Santiago January 9, 2015. (Photo by Rodrigo Garrido/Reuters)