The place was Edinburgh, Scotland. The occasion, the Edinburgh Science Festival. There were a number of captivating presentations, but my biggest thrill came from looking out the hotel window. A light ...

To make a safe, portable form of heating to take to the rest of the team working up on the glacier. All combustion reactions (such as the burning of coal) are exothermic. Incredibly, the reaction ...

The thermite process is a handy way to generate molten iron in the field. It’s the reaction between aluminium metal and iron oxide, which results in aluminium oxide and metallic iron. It’s hot enough ...

Thermites are a class of materials known for producing dazzling pyrotechnic displays in high school chemistry classes, and they’re used in all kinds of real-world applications. But these reactions are ...