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Published online 6 May 2002 | Nature | doi:10.1038/news020429-17
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Chemical Processes result in Wood Scorching by Shipwreck Cannon-balls on their Exposure
Pores made shipwrecked cannon balls glow spontaneously.
Goodness gracious! Two British chemists believe they have solved the 26-year-old mystery of how shipwrecked cannonballs that were rescued from the deep spontaneously erupted into great balls of fire1.
"They were glowing bright red and you could feel the heat coming off them as the desk began to smoke," recalls Bob Child, now a chemist at the National Museums and Galleries of Wales in Cardiff.
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