Many of us around the world will enjoy a firework display tonight (or have already); but what are the mechanisms behind the magnificent spectacle?



The story behind fireworks begins about 2000 years ago in China. Alchemists at the time were in search for an elixir which made them immortal. Obviously, they did not find this- what they did find however was a substance consisting of potassium nitrate, charcoal and suphur; or gunpowder,as we know it. The evolution of fireworks from gunpowder took another 1000 years until a monk named Li Tian realised that if you placed gunpowder into a bamboo tube and ignited it, an impressive explosion on sound and light ensued. Fireworks were born!

The gunpowder is responsible for the trajectory of the firework, ...

Near the town of Tragöß in Styria, Austria you can find this stunning lake known as Grüner See (Green Lake). Named Green Lake for its amazingly clear emerald green water it’s mostly the result of seasonal snowmelt from the surrounding Hochschwab Mountains and forests.



During winter months the lake is only 1-2m deep with the rest of the area used as a county park, however as spring arrives the lake grows in size from all the melting snow reaching at its peak around mid-May 12m deep in places. Not surprisingly the waters are a little chilly at 6-7oC, although it remains popular among divers during the peak months who love to pose on the underwater bench and visit the flooded green meadows. ...

Infection control experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital have found that a combination of robot-like devices that disperse hydrogen peroxide vapor into the air and then detoxify the disinfecting chemical are highly effective at killing and preventing the spread of multiple-drug-resistant bacteria.


Of special note, researchers say, was that enhanced cleaning with the vapor reduced by 80 percent a patient's chances of becoming colonized by a particularly aggressive and hard-to-treat bacterium, vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). ...

Solifuges are a variety of arachnids found in deserts. While they are called Camel Spiders, they belong to a different order from true spiders. It may appear terrifying. However, it seems the internet blows its fear factor out of proportion. After a few photos circulated around the internet, outlandish claims about their astounding physical abilities and voracious appetite for human flesh arose.



No. They cannot run at 30 mph. (They do run at 10 mph, which is still incredibly fast.) They cannot kill humans, although they have a painful, albeit non-venomous bite. They can only grow to about 6 inches. They do not subsist on a diet of camel stomachs. Solifuges are content with eating insects, small reptiles, birds and rodents. ...

Only about 100 cases are documented around the world. The true human tail upon birth is caused by a lack of cell destruction of the distal end of the embryonic tail.


According to some experts, the true human tail is not really a tail at all. It is thought to be linked to spina bifida or a hiccup in the natural human development process. While others thing that it is due to mutation of the genes that produce cellular destruction of the tail component

As it is well known that it is derived from the most distal remnant of the embryonic tail. It contains adipose and connective tissue, central bundles of striated muscle, blood vessels, and nerves and is covered by skin while it lacks Bone, cartilage, notochord, and spinal cord. The true tail aris ...

Check out this amazing image of am urodid moth cocoon. According to entomologist and Amazon explorer Phil Torres, It has a really beautiful woven lattice structure that hangs about a foot below a leaf on a thin silk string.

This is an unusual structure because the pupa, resting inside the cocoon, seems fairly exposed to the elements. The hanging likely helps to prevent predation from ants, and the bright orange color may serve as an aposematic signal to predators to prevent it from getting eaten. The tube part at the bottom is the 'escape hatch' from which it eventually will exit as an adult moth. There is not a lot of research that has been done on the evolutionary origin structure - this is one of the many mysteries of the Amazon you can c ...