The Pharaoh’s Serpent

Mercury(II) thiocyanate (Hg(SCN)2) is a chemical compound. It is a white powder that produces a large, winding “snake” when ignited in an effect known as the Pharaoh’s Serpent. Mercury thiocyanate was first discovered by Wöhler  in 1821, soon after the first synthesis of mercury thiocyanate he commented that: "winding out from itself at the same time worm-like processes, to many times its former bulk, a very light material the colour of Graphite." The effect is created when the compound of mercury & thiocyanate, is in the presence of a strong enough heat source. A rapid Exothermic reaction ensues. It produces a large mass of coiling serpent-like, solids. An inconspicuous flame accompanies the combustion. The resulting solid has a small range of colours, usually being tan or light grey, the inside however is much darker than the outside.

 The compound was available to the public in Germany, but was eventually banned when the toxic properties of the product were discovered through the death of several children who mistakenly ate the resulting solid.

Mercury thiocyanate, is still used however, and is quite a spectacle on the occasion someone with the materials and know-how can ignite The Pharaoh’s Serpent.

See the video bellow for an example:

Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power is undoubtedly the an incredible power, producing no carbon emissions whatsoever. The Nuclear Energy Institute (http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/World-Statistics) states that there are 438 nuclear reactors in 30 different countries and 67 nuclear reactors under construction in 15 countries.
Roughly 10% of the worlds energy is generated by nuclear power, but people are terrified of the potential destruction of a meltdown in a nuclear reactor.

http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/World-Statistics

A uranium pellet the size of a Pencil eraser produces the same amount of energy of 738 tonnes of coal. Unfortunately, nuclear reactor disasters in the past like Chernobyl and Fukushima have created a fear in many countries that refuse to allow nuclear reactors. For example, Australia has 31% of the worlds uranium and geologically stable ground, but the country has only one nuclear reactor in Sydney that produces medicine. OPAL (or Open Pool Australia Light-Water Reactor) is Australia's only functioning nuclear reactor (http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Country-Profiles/Countries-A-F/Appendices/Australian-Research-Reactors/) produces many medical substances along with irradiating silicon. By irradiating silicon, it changes a very small amount of the silicon into phosphorous, making it significantly more conductive.

The Science of Firearms

Guns are a hot topic in USA and many other places, their destructive abilities and availability means that murders are frequent in the many places.
But, many who own guns don't even know how guns work, let alone the rest of us gun free people across the world
The basic principle behind a firearm, at least a modern one, is that a bullet or projectile is loaded into a chamber, the bulled consists of a casing a projectile and gunpowder or cordite and the casing is at the base. It is filled with gunpowder and then the projectile is loaded into the casing sitting on the gunpowder. Then, when the trigger is pulled the hammer pulls back and slams forward creating a spark, that hits the primer ,which is a small explosive, that ignites the gunpowder pushing the projectile forward at incredible speeds. the casing is then ejected, this can happen by many methods and most of these mechanisms are unique to a specific weapon manufacturers. following the ejection of the casing a spring in the magazine pushes up the next bullet ready to have the process repeated. but that is only a semi automatic weapon the most common modern firearm, There are many types of guns including; manual action firearms; that can only be fired once per equipped barrel before it must be reloaded or charged via an external mechanism or series of steps. A semi-automatic, or self-loading, firearm is one that performs all steps necessary to prepare the it to discharge again after firing—assuming cartridges remain in the weapon's feed device or magazine. An automatic firearm is one that continues to load and fire cartridges from its magazine as long as the trigger is depressed (or until the magazine is depleted).

Poisonous vs Venomous

Many people get confused by the difference between poison and venom.

Poison is dangerous if you ingest it or get it inside the digestive system. Venom on the other hand is dangerous if you get it in your bloodstream or lymphatic system. That is why people can bath in venom or drink venom- they will be completely fine if they don't have any open sores in their mouth, skin or stomach.

Nuclear Fission and Fusion

Nuclear Fission and Fusion are both forms of nuclear energy but vary on the production of such energy.

Nuclear Fission

Nuclear Fission uses either Plutonium or Uranium for fuel. Fission starts when a fast moving neutron strikes a nucleus. The whole nucleus breaks apart into two smaller nuclei. In the process of splitting several neutrons split off from the nuclei and continue the reaction. A Nuclear Reactor requires a controlled reaction. An uncontrolled reaction will lead to incredible heat being generated, and this is how a Nuclear Bomb is created. 

Nuclear Fusion

Nuclear Fusion uses Hydrogen as fuel and occurs when atoms fuse together. To start a fusion reaction, pairs of nuclei must meet so that they fuse together. When they fuse a neutron will be left over. The fused nucleus will move off at high speed producing astronomical amounts of heat. There is no radiation, but the neutrons are harmful. To make the nuclei fuse the temperature of the atoms must reach millions of degrees. 

E=mc2

Perhaps the most famous equation known to man is E=mc², but what does it actually mean?

The "E" in the equation is energy. The "m" is the change in mass and the "c" is the speed of light. Therefore the equation is, "Energy is equal to the mass of the object multiplied by the speed of light squared." An example is an object that weighs 12 grams. The equation would be 12 x 8.98755179 x 10¹⁶. This is equal to 1,078,506,219,000,000,000 joules. That is equal to 107,850,621,900,000 kilojoules or 299,585,061 Watts.

-Einstein

Water

The most unusual compound known to science is water. The liquid form is denser than the solid form, and it is the only known compound that is naturally found in the three most basic states of matter. It is also made up of oxygen and hydrogen, two elements that are known to react violently. An example is that liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen are used to create rocket fuel. Also, water is now the basis of the celsius scale, with water freezing at roughly zero and boiling at roughly 100.

-H20