Hours of research by our editors, distilled into minutes of clarity.
When DNA burns, phosphate groups release phosphoric acid, and nitrogenous bases release ammonia. These molecules, alongside the sugar in DNA's backbone, shift the combustion reaction toward forming intumescent char—a puffy, carbon-rich layer that protects open flames from burning material underneath.
Even without matches, sparks, or external flames, exothermic chemical or biological reactions can increase the internal temperature of objects to the point where they reach a threshold temperature that can cause them to catch fire. Running batteries and fermenting bacteria within compressed materials can build this heat and cause combustion.
Containment refers to creating a perimeter around a fire that it is unlikely to spread beyond. However, full containment does not mean the fire is extinguished. Strong winds can cause fires to jump containment lines, including 10- to 12-foot-wide trenches or thin rivers.
And while the sun seems like fire, and other planets have volcanoes, the sun and lava aren't the same thing as fire. To produce fire, a planet needs three ingredients: oxygen, fuel, and heat. No other planet has all three.
Many ecosystems around the world have adapted to regularly occurring wildfires. Some human cultures saw the advantage of such fires and integrated them into their community rituals. Learn about similar tribal traditions looking to better manage California's forests today.
Roughly 1.5 million years ago, the brain size of our hominin ancestors exploded. To understand why, Richard Wrangham posited the cooking hypothesis, arguing the adoption of fire as a means to cook food had a lasting impact on our ability to digest...
Two fire knife dance groups—a traditional Polynesian and a modern street one—go head to head in this silly dance-off video.
Hundreds of coal seam fires are actively smoldering around the world at any given time, including some that have stayed lit for centuries. These fires have occurred naturally for millions of years, lit atop deposits of coal in the earth. Dive into...
Fire has proven crucial for the development of human civilization, but there was a time when our hominin ancestors could not make effective use of it. This article traces the major milestones in humanity's journey with fire based on evidence from...
Giant sequoias are the largest trees on Earth, living for upward of 3,000 years—and without fire, they couldn't reproduce. Regular fires help create space in the forest, while its heat opens up the sequoia cones, releasing the seeds onto the newly...