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Shocking moment barrel of liquid nitrogen EXPLODES during school science experiment – leaving 15 people injured

• Adrian Zorzut
• Published : 21:09, 30 Sep 2022
• Updated : 21:17, 30 Sep 2022
• Published : Invalid Date,

THIS is the shocking moment a barrel of liquid nitrogen exploded during a school science experiment - leaving 15 people injured.

Nine children were rushed to hospital with varying degrees of burns after an experiment went wrong at the House of Culture in Girona, Spain on Friday.

All 15 - including the professor behind the experiment, Deni Jaminez, and his assistant - have taken to Plaça de l'Hospital, the local Fire Department said, according to local press .

One of the injured, according to a government officials, is said to be "between a serious and less serious" condition in hospital.

The horror blast took place while an experiment was being carried out on the barrel of liquid nitrogen as part of a research night in front of crowd of mostly children.

Footage from the event showed a person pouring an unknown substance into a barrel, causing a controlled plume of smoke to rise.

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A man in a grey suit jacket then walks over and lifts a second empty barrel on top of the other with the help of an assistant.

The assistant, who can be seen wearing heavy duty gloves, places a brace around the barrels to keep them in position.

The professor walks back over as the assistant struggles to move the barrels to count down when the barrels suddenly explode, causing a giant smoke of white smoke to rush towards the crowd.

Seconds later, the footage shows distressed bystanders running away.

Authorities have activated an alert and are asking residents to stay away.

Girona's mayor, Marta Madrenas, said the event was organised by the local university.

She said that at the time of the explosion there were "many people" in the yard watching.

Madrenas said the assistant holding the barrel was most affected by the explosion and had been transferred to Trueta hospital.

Police, emergency crews and fireman are currently at the scene.

More to follow... For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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Barrel of liquid nitrogen EXPLODES in botched chemistry experiment in Spain, hospitalising 15 including nine children

• The blast at the House of Culture in Girona, Spain meant 15 taken to hospital
• The crowd mainly consisted of schoolchildren, nine who later suffered burns
• Huge thick white clouds of smoke suddenly spread to the crowd in the blast 
• Organisers were hyping up the crowd with a Bruno Mars song and countdown 

By Eleanor Dye For Mailonline

Published: 02:09 BST, 1 October 2022 | Updated: 08:41 BST, 1 October 2022

View comments

A shocking video shows the moment a barrel of liquid nitrogen exploded in a botched chemistry experiment in Spain - causing 15 people, including nine children, to be hospitalised. 

The blast from the experiment at the House of Culture in Girona left victims with burns, which were treated at Placa de l'Hospital, reported The Sun . 

The footage shows the crowd, consisting mainly of children and a few parents, waiting expectantly to see the experiment - some with their cameras out. 

The event, which Girona's mayor Marta Madrenas said was organised by the local university, saw organisers hyping up the crowd by playing Bruno Mars ' Uptown Funk and encouraging them to look in the barrels. 

One barrel is lightly smoking at the start of the video.  

A shocking video shows the moment a barrel of liquid nitrogen exploded in a botched chemistry experiment at the House of Culture in Girona, Spain. The video begins with one barrel smoking and a man pouring in an unknown substance

The event, which Girona's mayor Marta Madrenas said was organised by the local university, saw those taking part get their audience prepared by playing Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk and encouraging them to look in the barrels

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One man pours an unknown substance into one barrel before they are placed on top of one another. 

The end of a tense countdown from four to zero results in a blast that is clearly much larger than expected, exploding into the crowd and obscuring the view of the camera. 

Huge, thick clouds of white smoke suddenly spread towards the crowd in a matter of seconds. 

The barrels are placed on top of one another before a countdown from four to zero

The blast is clearly much larger than expected, exploding into the crowd and obscuring the view of the camera

The panicked bystanders can be seen fleeing - as authorities alerted residents to stay away and police, emergency crews and firemen attended. 

Among those hurt were the professor behind the experiment, Deni Jaminez, and the assistant holding the barrel - who Mayor Madrenas said was most affected by the explosion and was transferred to Trueta hospital.

One of the injured is said to be 'between a serious and less serious' condition in hospital. 

Huge, thick clouds of white smoke suddenly spread towards the crowd in a matter of seconds

Madrenas said 'many people' were watching the explosion. 

Liquid nitrogen is a cryogenic liquid, a gas that's kept in a liquid state at extremely low temperatures. 

Top restaurants occasionally use it to make impressive clouds when exposed to air, for example in cocktails. 

But it can cause frostbite or cryogenic burns if it is not used and handled properly.  

Share or comment on this article: Barrel of liquid nitrogen EXPLODES in botched chemistry experiment at Spanish school [VIDEO]

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Horrific video shows barrel of liquid nitrogen exploding in botched chemistry experiment injuring crowd

GIRONA, SPAIN: A horrifying video shows the moment when a barrel of liquid nitrogen exploded during a school science experiment in Spain which caused 15 people including 9 children to be hospitalized. The blast from the botched experiment left the victims with severe burns which took place at the House of Culture in Girona, Spain. They were later treated at Placa de l'Hospital, according to   Daily Mail. 

The footage shows the crowd consisting mainly of students and their parents, waiting eagerly to see the experiment, some even took their phones out to record the event. Deni Jaminez, the professor behind the experiment, and his assistant were most affected by the explosion and were also rushed to Trueta hospital for emergency treatment . One of the injured is said to be 'between a serious and less serious' condition in hospital. Girona's mayor Marta Madrenas said the event was organized by the local university. The crowd was hyped by the organizers when they played 'Bruno Mars' Uptown Funk and encouraged them to look in the barrels. 

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In the footage a person can be seen pouring an unknown substance into a barrel, causing a controlled plume of smoke to rise. A second empty barrel on top of the other by another man in a grey suit jacket with the help of an assistant. The professor walks back over as the assistant struggles to move the barrels to a tense count down when the barrels suddenly explode , causing a giant smoke of white fumes to rush towards the crowd. Seconds later, the panicking bystanders can be seen fleeing while authorities alerted residents to stay away and police, emergency crews, and firemen attended. Madrenas said 'many people' were watching the explosion. 

Footage shows barrel of liquid nitrogen exploding during a school science experiment at the House of Culture in Girona Spain #Footage #barrel #liquid #nitrogen #school #science #experiment #House #Culture #Girona pic.twitter.com/V0RTF706MD — Shahryar Sultan (@Shahryar_Sultan) October 1, 2022

Liquid nitrogen is a cryogenic liquid which means it is a gas that's kept in a liquid state at extremely low temperatures. It is used in famous restaurants occasionally, to make impressive clouds when exposed to air, for example in cocktails. If it is not used and handled properly, it can cause frostbite or cryogenic burns. 

Moment de l'explosió a la Casa de Cultura de Girona aquest vespre, en un experiment de Dani Jiménez durant la Nit Europea de Recerca. pic.twitter.com/1IoHpBgiFW — SER CATALUNYA (@SERCatalunya) September 30, 2022

MEAWW previously reported that a former chemistry teacher has been declared guilty of executing a botched experiment that burned a student’s body parts and left him in extreme pain. Garry Brodersen was convicted on March 9, last year, after a jury found him guilty of reckless conduct and endangering the health or life of a child. Both the charges that the 66-year-old man faced are misdemeanors. DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in a written statement, “Mr. Brodersen displayed extremely poor judgment when he doused a student with a dangerous chemical during a science demonstration.” The prosecutors said the former teacher of Bartlett High School poured liquid nitrogen on a student’s chest and groin area while carrying out a science demonstration in front of the class three years ago. The failed experiment burned the victim’s finger and groin. A spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office said, though the student’s consent was taken before carrying out the demonstration, he thought the chemical would be poured over his chest area, not on his groin area.

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Explosion at outreach event under investigation after 18 people injured in Spain

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Eighteen people were injured, 10 of them children, by an explosion at a science outreach event in Girona, Spain on 30 September. The accident – which involved the release of nitrogen gas and water vapour – happened during one of the demonstrations on European Research Night, co-organised by the local university. All those injured had been discharged from hospital three days later .

The event has a huge tradition in Girona, according to Marcel Swart, theoretical chemist and director of the Institute of Computational Chemistry and Catalysis (IQCC). ‘It’s wonderful to see the excitement of the kids,’ he says. ‘Since I started working [here] in 2006 … this has been organised every year, with great success.’ Among other activities, this year children could use virtual reality headsets to step inside enzymes and navigate their active sites.

As part of the evening’s entertainment, Dani Jiménez, a science populariser, was performing one of his most popular demonstrations – a controlled combination of liquid nitrogen, boiling water and ping pong balls. When mixed together inside a barrel, the evolving gas propels the ping pong balls into the air, creating a colourful display that is so popular it has become the main attraction of the event in promotional materials and on social media. However, on this occasion, an unexpected explosion shocked the audience.

On videos shared on Twitter of the incident, it appears that the explosion occurred due to the failure of a metallic strap that joined two barrels – supposedly to create a more spectacular display. Jiménez seems to give the go-ahead despite warnings from his colleague, in charge of handling the liquid nitrogen. ‘Well, it’s fine, just hold it … hold it tight and we’ll start,’ Jiménez can be heard saying in one of the videos of the accident posted on Twitter.

Tres vídeos de l'explosió de nitrogen vista per diferents angles, succeïda durant la nit europea de la recerca a a #Girona #NitRecerCat22 pic.twitter.com/tSkLm2kU3p — Locarium🌀 (@Locarium) September 30, 2022

Another problem, explains a science populariser who spoke to Chemistry World on condition of anonymity, is the lack of reproducibility. In this type of demonstration, rigorously repeating the experimental setup, reagent quantities and timing is the key to both success and safety. ‘The gas production varies with the amounts of liquid nitrogen and water,’ explains the popularisation expert. ‘It looks like they didn’t measure the quantity of the products, which made it very difficult to predict what was about to happen,’ she adds.

Many chemists expressed similar views on social media – the distance between the experiment and the audience, including very young children, appeared quite small. ‘ It was way too close, ’ said Chemistry World contributor Chemjobber. Moreover, the lack of physical barriers between the barrel and the public left people completely exposed. ‘Usually, when handling experiments with big gas releases, you should ensure a safe enough distance, at least 15m in a case like this,’ says the science populariser. ‘Additionally, you would ideally block the stage with thick protective plastic screens, to protect the public from potential explosions and debris,’ she adds. Beyond the dangers of the sudden release of large amounts of nitrogen and water vapour – the only danger identified by the University of Girona in their original official statement – broken pieces of barrels also injured spectators.

Spanish newspapers have reported that the explosion is currently being investigated by the police, and Jiménez has offered to help with inquiries. Other reports claim that some spectators have already filed lawsuits against Jiménez.

Until now, Jiménez and his company, CreaCiència, had an impeccable 20-year-plus track record of organising outreach events, theatre shows and producing popular science programmes on TV – mostly in Catalonia.

Swart hopes that the accident won’t harm the public perception of chemistry in the region. ‘Our university is very active in [outreach activities], always valued very positively,’ he says. Over the years, ‘safety measures were there and they were followed’. Further investigation is expected to clarify what caused the accident.

The University of Girona was approached for comment but no response had been received by publication time.

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Children among 18 injured in explosion at Spanish science festival

The accident occurred friday evening during the demonstration of an experiment in the house of culture in the catalan city of girona , about 100 kilometres north-east of barcelona, media reported on saturday, citing the authorities and hospital spokespersons..

An explosion at a science festival in north-eastern Spain has injured 18 people, some of them seriously, including 10 children aged between 3 and 13. The accident occurred Friday evening during the demonstration of an experiment in the House of Culture in the Catalan city of Girona , about 100 kilometres north-east of Barcelona, media reported on Saturday, citing the authorities and hospital spokespersons. During a demonstration at the festival organized by the University of Girona (UdG), a container of liquid nitrogen exploded in front of an audience of 200 to 300 people, mostly families, they said. Those affected did not suffer burns. However, most of them were injured by parts of the exploded metal canister.

Moment de l'explosió a la Casa de Cultura de Girona aquest vespre, en un experiment de Dani Jiménez durant la Nit Europea de Recerca. pic.twitter.com/1IoHpBgiFW — SER CATALUNYA (@SERCatalunya) September 30, 2022

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Gas explosion rips through Madrid building, killing 4

Police officers cordon off Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A powerful explosion apparently caused by a gas leak has ripped the facade off a residential building in central Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Fire-fighters work on a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

In this image made from video provided by Emergencias Madrid, firefighters attend the scene after an explosion in Madrid, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Madrid’s emergency services say rescue teams, firefighters and police are working in a central area of the Spanish capital following an explosion that witnesses described as “extremely loud.” (Emergencias Madrid via AP)

Police officers cordon off Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Fire-fighters carry a dead body next to a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A powerful explosion apparently caused by a gas leak has ripped the facade off a residential building in central Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Firefighters inspect the debris caused by an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An injured is transferred from the scene of an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Press stand near the scene of a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Fire-fighters work next to a dead body following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A powerful explosion apparently caused by a gas leak has ripped the facade off a residential building in central Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

An injured man is taken in an ambulance following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

View of a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

Firefighters work next to a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Health professionals evacuate an injured from the scene of an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Paul White)

Members of emergency team work on a damaged building at Toledo Street following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

People are evacuated by emergency services following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion of unknown origin has partially destroyed a six-floor-tall building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital, Madrid. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A firefighter works at the scene of an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

A car is covered by debris following an explosion in downtown Madrid, Spain, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. A loud explosion has partially destroyed a small building flanked by a school and a nursing home in the center of Spain’s capital. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

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MADRID (AP) — A powerful gas explosion tore through a residential building in central Madrid on Wednesday, killing four people and ripping the facade off the structure.

A tower of smoke rose from the building, where repairs were being done to a gas boiler, and billowed through Toledo Street, near the city’s center. Aerial footage shared by Spain’s National Police showed rubble covering a nearby schoolyard — though Madrid’s mayor said no one was seriously injured at the school.

All students and staff were inside the school buildings at the time of the blast.

At least 11 people were injured in the explosion, one seriously, the Madrid emergency service said in a tweet.

The Spanish government’s representative for the Madrid region, José Manuel Franco, confirmed three casualties and the Catholic parish that owned the damaged building said the fourth victim was an electrician, a father of four, who was working on the boiler and had initially been considered missing.

A police spokesman on the ground told reporters that firefighters were trying to put out a small fire inside the building before they could bring in dogs, rescue teams, and experts to assess the structure of the damaged premises.

An Associated Press reporter saw emergency workers carry two bodies away from the area, one that firefighters covered with a blue blanket and another shrouded in reflective emergency sheeting.

The building belongs to the nearby La Paloma Catholic Parish and hosted the offices and apartments for some of its priests, Madrid Archbishop Carlos Osoro told Spanish public broadcaster, TVE. He confirmed that none of the clerics were among the victims.

Emy Lee Grau, a local resident who was watching television in a building across the street, said that the moment of the blast was “terrifying.”

“Everything shook, it felt like the roof was falling on us. We were terrified when we saw the amount of smoke coming out of the church’s building,” the 20-year-old Madrid resident told The Associated Press.

A nearby nursing home was evacuated and no injuries were initially reported among the 55 residents, Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida told reporters. They were taken to a hotel across the street and were later sent to other care homes, officials said.

Martínez Almeida also said that some mild damage had been identified in the school, where he said people suffered no more than “scratches.”

Neighborhood resident Leire Reparaz said she heard the explosion and wasn’t immediately sure where it was coming from.

“We all thought it was from the school. We went up the stairs to the top of our building and we could see the structure of the building and lots of gray smoke,” the 24-year-old said.

Associated Press photographer Paul White contributed to this report.

Explosion in Madrid building kills 2 people, injures 18

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Two people found dead in rubble after explosion rocks building in Madrid

An explosion has ripped through a four-storey residential building in central Madrid, Spain, killing two people and injuring at least 18.

Spanish emergency services initially said they were searching for two people who had been working on the building.

Firefighters later said the bodies of two people, aged 21 and 27, had been found amid the rubble.

Video released by the city of Madrid showed paramedics attending to the injured at the scene in the upmarket neighbourhood of Salamanca, as police and firefighters cordoned off streets cluttered with glass and debris.

Four of the injured were taken to hospital, including one person in a serious condition, after the blast sent plumes of smoke billowing over parts of the area.

Emergency crews combed the building to check the structure and to search for anyone trapped inside, Madrid mayor Jose Luis Martinez Almeida told broadcaster Telemadrid.

Asked about reports saying a gas leak had caused the explosion, the mayor said it was too early to know.

“What is known is that some work was being done in the building, and neighbours said there was a powerful explosion,” he said.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said in a tweet that his office was closely following the situation.

“I’ve just called Mayor Almeida in order to convey my solidarity and support to the victims of an explosion in a building in Madrid,” he said.

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Emergencies service spokeswoman Gema Martin earlier said that a school across the road from the building was not damaged and that there was no need to evacuate the children.

Firefighters and police had rushed to the scene of the blast in the upmarket district of the Spanish capital.

Three storeys of the building were said to have been affected.

A spokesman for the regional government-run emergency coordination centre said in a tweet: “There has been an explosion in Ayala Street.

“Firefighters, paramedics and police are working in the area. Avoid the area to facilitate the movement of vehicles.

A field hospital was set up in the area, with initial reports pointing to emergency responders treating six people for injuries.

The explosion was reported to have happened on a rooftop terrace where building work was going on.

Footage from the scene showed shocked locals leaving an area covered by a huge plume of white smoke.

In January last year an explosion occurred in a building in Madrid which caused it to partially collapse.

It killed four people and wounded ten others.

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Elden ring: how to access the northeast of the dlc map, the releases of the week with the return of a very popular series, number of domestic flights low: international air traffic approaches pre-crisis levels, philippe bouvard decides to end his career at the age of 95, 18 injured after explosion in spain: experiment goes wrong.

An unplanned explosion occurred at a science festival in northeastern Spain on Friday. 18 people were injured, a five-year-old particularly badly.

(dpa) An explosion at a science festival in northeastern Spain has injured 18 people, some seriously. Ten children between the ages of three and 13 are among the injured. The accident happened late Friday evening during the demonstration of an experiment in the House of Culture in Girona, Catalonia, 100 kilometers northeast of Barcelona, ​​as reported by the media over the weekend, citing authorities and hospital spokesmen.

Una explosion in a festival scientific causa 18 heridos in the Casa de Cultura de Girona. El video es impactante. pic.twitter.com/GvkMt0OKkC — #PorQuéTT (@xqTTs) October 1, 2022

A five-year-old suffered the worst injuries. In addition, four other people, two children aged ten and twelve, a 47-year-old and a 31-year-old man were seriously injured. They were all treated longer in Girona in the hospital. According to the circumstances, everyone is doing better again, hospital spokesmen reported at the weekend. Except for the five-year-old, all those affected are back home, it said.

The accident happened at a screening as part of the festival organized by the University of Girona (UdG) in front of around 200 to 300 visitors, mostly families. Parts of a metal canister with liquid nitrogen flew through the air in the courtyard of the House of Culture during the explosion.

UdG spokesman Salvador Martí assured that the experiment with the liquid nitrogen had often been carried out without any problems. It was “incomprehensible” why the accident happened this time. The Catalan police will investigate, Martí said.

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Dangerous Liquid nitrogen explosion during science experiment gone wrong, Spain.

Top 12 Explosive Science Experiments: Ignite Your Curiosity

There’s something thrilling about science experiments that pop, sizzle, and explode. While they must always be conducted with utmost safety, these explosive experiments offer an exhilarating way to explore fundamental principles of chemistry and physics.

Welcome to our list of the top 12, hand-picked exploding science experiments, curated especially for students like you. Brace yourself for mind-blowing chemical reactions, thrilling explosions, and awe-inspiring demonstrations.

These experiments offer an exhilarating blend of entertainment and education, providing an unique opportunity to witness the powerful forces of chemistry in action.

Gear up, embrace the excitement, and let these exploding experiments ignite a lifelong passion for scientific discovery!

Remember, safety is of utmost importance during any scientific experiment.

1. Watermelon Explosion

Beyond the sheer excitement and thrill, this experiment provides a hands-on lesson in pressure, energy transfer, and the scientific principle of potential energy.

So, grab a watermelon, strap on those rubber bands, and get ready for a blast of scientific discovery!

2. Exploding Baggie Burst

With the simple combination of vinegar and baking soda inside a sealed baggie, students can witness the exhilarating moment when the baggie bursts with a loud pop and releases a cloud of gas.

3. Exploding Sidewalk Chalk

Make colorful explosions with the Exploding Sidewalk Chalk experiment! By combining common household materials like sidewalk chalk and vinegar, they can create a fascinating chemical reaction that results in vibrant bursts of color.

4. Water Bottle Popper

Get ready for a popping sensation with the Water Bottle Popper experiment! By combining the forces of air pressure and a quick release mechanism, they can create an exciting burst of energy that launches the cap off a water bottle with a satisfying pop.

Learn more: Water Bottle Popper

5. Colorful Bubble Bombs

Get ready for a burst of colorful and bubbly fun with the Colorful Bubble Bombs experiment! Students should definitely try this engaging and visually delightful activity.

Learn more: Colorful Bubble Bombs

6. Big Toothpaste Eruption

Get ready for a massive eruption of fun with the Big Toothpaste Eruption experiment! Students should absolutely try this engaging and visually stunning experiment.

It’s a fantastic way to foster a love for science, spark curiosity, and learn about the wonders of chemical reactions in a playful and memorable way.

7. Multi-Colored Volcano

Get ready to unleash a vibrant explosion of colors with the Multi-Colored Volcano experiment! By combining baking soda, vinegar, and a variety of colorful substances like food coloring or powdered paint, they can create an extraordinary eruption that paints the volcano in a mesmerizing array of hues.

Learn more: Multi-Colored Volcano

8. Water Bottle Rockets

Prepare for a thrilling blast-off with the Water Bottle Rockets experiment! Students should absolutely try this exhilarating and hands-on activity. By constructing their own rockets using simple materials like plastic bottles, fins, and a pressurized air source, they can witness their creations soar into the sky.

9. Milk Color Explosion Science

Get ready for a mesmerizing explosion of colors with the Milk Color Explosion experiment! Students should definitely try this captivating and visually stunning activity.

By combining milk, food coloring, and dish soap, they can witness an extraordinary display of swirling, vibrant colors bursting to life right before their eyes.

10. Microwave Ivory Soap

Get ready for a foamy explosion with the Microwave Ivory Soap experiment! Students should definitely try this exciting and hands-on activity.

By placing a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave, they can witness an astonishing transformation as the soap rapidly expands into a fluffy cloud of foam.

11. Exploding Lava Science Bottle

Get ready for an explosive and mesmerizing adventure with the Exploding Lava Science Bottle experiment! Students should absolutely try this captivating and hands-on activity.

Learn more: Exploding Lava Science Bottle

12. Exploding Rainbow Easter Egg

Students can experiment with different colors and proportions to create their own unique bubble bombs. It’s a hands-on and interactive way to learn about the wonders of chemistry while enjoying a playful and colorful experience.

Learn more: Exploding Rainbow Easter Egg

12. Exploding Pumpkin

Get ready for an explosion of colors with the Exploding Rainbow Easter Egg experiment! Students should definitely try this exciting and visually captivating activity.

Learn more: Exploding Pumpkin

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A technological explosion 600,000 years ago sheds light on the ability that made us human

Researchers propose that cumulative culture may predate the separation of the neanderthal and ‘homo sapiens’ lineages, and that a common ancestor could have developed it.

If you look around you, you are surrounded by technology and chances are high you don’t know how it works. And if you do, you wouldn’t be able to reproduce it. And we’re not just talking about the complex chips of the cell phone. The ink that impregnates the pages of a book, the synthetic fabric of a T-shirt or even a simple a metal key requires an enormous and combined amount of knowledge, which is distributed among many people and which emerged from the accumulation of knowledge over countless generations. This ability to acquire knowledge from our ancestors and pass it on to our descendants after adding improvements — and to do so with precision, beyond the wholesale copying that other species do, such as has been observed in chimpanzees and monkeys — is one of the things that still seem exclusive to humanity.

Therefore, to look for the origins of this ability to accumulate culture is also to look for something similar to our human origin. An article published on Monday in the journal PNAS and authored by Jonathan Paige, from the University of Missouri, and Charles Perreault, from Arizona State University, tries to identify that crucial moment, which the researchers place around 600,000 years ago. They arrived at this figure after analyzing stone tools from the last 3.3 million years, comparing the complexity of tools produced by other animals and doing experiments in which researchers made their own tools to put themselves in the shoes of those prehistoric humans.

There are indications that more than three million years ago, in places like Dikika, in Ethiopia, or Lomekwi, in Kenya, the first hominids used stone artifacts to extract meat from animals. These early tools made possible a better diet that allowed for growth of the body and brain and greater manual skill to create better gadgets. At first, cores and flakes were generated without much planning, pursuing an intuitive utility like that sought by some monkeys today when producing flakes, not unlike those used by the first members of the genus Homo. This way of doing things was transmitted for hundreds of thousands of years, at a rate that was still far from that associated with the human species.

The change was gradual, with technologies that could be learned with some ease and little information, simply by watching how others did it. The authors even propose that 1.8 million years ago, after the emergence of hand axes, which represented an important technological leap and greater planning, a certain stagnation occurred, because manual skill was not enough to continue with the same rapid advance. That changed 600,000 years ago. The transformations that began to be seen in the tools of that time, finer and more diverse, required dedicating a lot of time to learning, and it is possible that stone carving was transmitted in the same way that a trade is taught now.

The authors argue that the rapid and continuous increase in complexity can be explained by the ability of those hominids to accumulate culture. A greater variety of tools, carving styles and combinations of elements appeared that exponentially multiplied the possibilities of technology. As new carving techniques were discovered, design possibilities expanded. For example, soft hammer percussion and pressure carving allow thinner hand axes to be made than is possible with hard hammer percussion. These more complex technologies were also more difficult to discover, master, and teach.

The evolution of cultural heritage occurs at the same time as the biological changes that facilitate learning from a very early stage of life. Cooking, for example, reduced the size of the intestine and made it easier to extract more energy to fuel the brain from the same amount of food. This favored the growth of a brain with the capacity to acquire increasingly complex skills or to handle the fingers with a finesse essential to create more subtle devices.

Although the great technological explosion is usually associated with the appearance of modern humans, Paige and Perreault propose that cumulative culture may predate the separation of the Neanderthal and H. Sapiens lineages, and that a common ancestor could have developed it. “This is reflected in the overlapping complexity of both groups during the Late Pleistocene,” they say, and could explain why some researchers have seen that the technologies associated with Neanderthals in the Middle Pleistocene are more complex than some related to modern humans at the time.

Ignacio de la Torre, a researcher at Spain’s National Research Council (CSIC), doubts that there is convincing evidence that Neanderthals were capable of developing more advanced tools than Sapiens, but suggests that “the technological or innovation explosion could be attributed to precursors of Homo sapiens .” Although the relationship between archaeological remains and the biological characteristics of the beings who created them is not always clear, and many technologies are so useful that they are transmitted between species for long periods of time, De la Torre does not rule out the possibility that the innovative fever was attributable to a human species with more modern characteristics and that has not yet been identified.

“Every four or five years, new discoveries of older Homo sapiens are announced,” he says. “Until about 15 years ago, the oldest remains were 100,000 years old. Later, remains from 150,000 years ago appeared, 50% older, and in 2017 remains of modern humans from 300,000 years ago were reported. The chronology of Homo sapiens has doubled in just over 15 years,” says De la Torre. “These equivalences between biology and archeology must be taken with a pinch of salt, but who knows whether within a few years, remains of Homo sapiens from half a million years ago will be found?”

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