Year: 2010

Mercury(II) thiocyanate aka Paraoh’s snake

Possibly the creepiest thing we’ve seen all season, here’s mercury(II) thiocyanate’s decomposition initiated by heating. The terrarium adds a nice effect, like we’re watching some kind of sand monster out of Star Trek. Video queued to 1:20, when the action starts. One Facebook commenter noted, “I guess when you burn mercury thiocyanate, it opens up […]

China launches Moon mission

China launches Moon mission… A Chinese rocket carrying a probe destined for the Moon has blasted into space. A Long March 3C rocket with the Chang’e-2 probe took off from Xichang launch centre at about 1100 GMT. The rocket will shoot the craft into the trans-lunar orbit, after which the satellite is expected to reach […]