This is what an ordinary marble looks when you heat it over a flame then immediately drop it into cold water.

An X-ray of a hand dipped in iodine — the iodine absorbs X-rays, revealing the skin around the bones.

This is what a CD looks like when you microwave it.

The ink stains on my wet receipt look like a fantasy map.

A failed attempt to make an omelet in Antarctica

This is what happens when a cat touches a plasma ball.

The mark of an 8-year-old hand in a petri dish of agar

This is what happens to gummy worms when you freeze dry them.

Here’s what happens when lightning strikes a flag on a golf course.

Here’s what happens when you put a highlighter in the microwave.

Diffusion forcing barriers appear when you put M&Ms in a dish of water.

This cherimoya fruit looks like a snowy owl

An ordinary sock dissolving in sulfuric acid

The impact of an aluminum sphere 1 cm in diameter on a block of aluminum at ~15,000 mph

The visual that happens when you swing a string of glow sticks with burning steel wool at the end

Here’s what happens when lightning hits beach sand...

...and when lightning strikes asphalt.

The consequences of toilet paper absorbing acid

The visual effect when you set up horizontal mirrors on a shack in the desert

The electrical discharge known as volcanic lightning