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At Yahoo, we manage a massive number of MySQL databases spread across multiple data centers. In order to identify and respond to performance issues, we rely on an extremely lightweight and robust web based tool to proactively investigate the issues in them.The tool has real time tracking features and continually gathers the most important performance metrics, provides visualization and statistical analysis for quickly identifying performance patterns, bottlenecks and possible tuning opportunities.FeaturesLightweight Agentless Java Web ApplicationRich User InterfaceGather and Store performance metrics Detect anomalies and send alertsAccess to Real time Performance dataOpen SourceToday, we’re releasing MySQL Performance Analyzer. You can check out the code on GitHub.We’re looking forward to interacting with the MySQL community and continue to develop new features. – MySQL Database Engineering Team, Yahoo
via Planet MySQL
Introducing MySQL Performance Analyzer

A knife is the most essential and useful tool you can take with you into the outdoors. But, do you know how to get the most out of one? Let’s go over the basics and show you all the stuff a knife can do.

Want to get started using a knife outdoors? The basic Mora Companion in carbon steel costs less than $15 and excels at any job described here. Spend more on a knife because you want to, not because you need to. The Mora is also very light, making it a great companion (har) for ultralight backpackers.

I’ll be demonstrating all this with an Esee-6, my favorite bushcraft blade. This is one I’ve owned for eight years or more and which has served well on numerous adventures. For 10 times the price of the Mora, you get a longer, thicker, broader blade made from better steel, as well as a full-tang design that bolts the comfy linen micarta handles to its outside.

Knife Safety

Being in the outdoors creates its own safety concerns. Often, you can find yourself a long ways from medical care or even other people. So getting hurt is a bad idea. And further exacerbating the danger are often fatigue, inclement weather and unfamiliar or tricky terrain. So, it may seem elementary, but using a knife safely is of paramount concern.

For this reason, I strongly recommend you carry a fixed-blade knife in the outdoors. Even the strongest folding mechanisms and locks can break, either leaving you with a non-functional tool or badly cutting your hands.

Always keep a knife in its sheath. Laying it on the ground or stabbing it into a piece of wood can result in injury should you fall onto it or trip over it or otherwise knock into it. Use the knife, then return it to its sheath. Every single time.

Before drawing the knife, ensure you aren’t holding the sheath where the blade could potentially cut through it and into your hand. And, make sure your hand isn’t on the sharp side, where the blade may cut it as it comes free.

Draw the knife in two stages: first loosen the blade in its sheath by taking hold of the handle with a forehand grip and pushing against the sheath with your thumb. Then, wrap your thumb back around the handle and slowly and deliberately pull the knife straight up and out of the sheath, then away from your body.

Always move the knife in a slow, considered and deliberate way. Do so at least an arm’s length from other people, while you have a secure footing or seat. Retain a strong grip on the handle. Make sure any knife movements carry it away from your body and that no limbs or fingers or other body parts will be in the knife’s path should it suddenly break free.

Never stab with a knife. Doing so can cause your hand to slip down onto the blade, cutting it badly. Doing so can also ruin a knife’s tip. If you must perform a stabbing motion (such as to open a can), locate the object being stabbed securely on flat ground, place the knife straight down on top of it, make sure your feet and legs are out of the way, hold its handle securely, then tap its pommel with a piece of wood. With any operation, only use enough force to accomplish the job.

Everyone should carry and use their own blade, that they’re responsible for maintaining, sharpening and caring for. But, if you must pass your knife to someone else, start with a forehand grip and rotate the knife between your forefinger and thumb so its handle faces the other person and the edge is pointed up, away from your arm and hand. Pass it to them and allow them to securely grasp it before releasing. Some acknowledgement from the other party that they now securely have a hold on the knife is a good idea. Just say, “thank you.”

Never throw a knife. Doing so can easily result in a lost or broken blade and they can bounce back towards you with surprising force.

Finally, regularly sharpen your knife to keep it as sharp as possible. Regular maintenance is far easier a task than bringing a dull blade back to life. And, because using it requires far less force, a sharper blade is always going to be a safer blade.

If you’re sitting down while using a knife, place your elbows on your knees to ensure the knife clears your legs.

All this may seem a little pedantic, but being deliberate, considered and careful with how you use a knife is a lot better than hiking back to civilization across multiple days, carrying a lost finger in one of your pockets.

Knife Grips

Outdoors, the vast majority of things you’ll use a knife for will be food prep, opening packages, cutting cord, in assistance of first aid or processing wood for fire or shelter making.

For the vast majority of those tasks, a forehand grip, where the knife is closed in your fist, with the edge facing the first joint on your fingers, is going to be what you use. For fine control during small tasks, moving your thumb or index finger to the top of the blade’s back can help. For power, you’ll want to fully close your fist around the knife’s handle.

It’s a good idea when considering the purchase of a knife to ensure that you can fully close your fist around the handle. Many bullshit tacticool, oversized blades now come with overly large handles. You know, because not being able to hold your knife properly is super manly.

Some knives, as pictured, place a finger choil in front of the handle. You can choke your grip up on the blade to place your forefinger here for added control during fine cutting. Just be warned that you lose some purchase on the knife in doing so; don’t choke up for heavy tasks.

When cutting cordage (rope, vines, paracord, shoe laces, tape, whatever) you may want to use a reverse grip, where the edge points towards the join of your thumb. The key to using this grip safely is to pull with your shoulder (for lesser power) or torso (for more) and not your arm. This moves you with the knife as it comes towards you, allowing your arm to keep it from closing the distance to your body.

Bushcraft experts like Ray Mears are big proponents of the chest lever grip, which facilitates both lots of power and lots of control for difficult cuts, while keeping the knife moving away from your body. To do this, it employs your strong back muscles as you pull your hands apart. Personally, I rarely feel the need, but it’s still a good grip to know. Mears says you should hold the blade with the edge pointed in the reverse direction to the forehand grip, pointed up towards your knuckles.

Knife Uses

Chopping: Using a forehand grip, place the knife against the wood you want to get through, then use a wooden “baton” of about wrist thickness to drive the blade through the wood. Do this in the same wedge pattern you’d use to chop with an axe or hatchet. A knife will take longer to perform this job, but is easier to carry.

Splitting: Again with a forehand grip (make sure your fist is closed), place the knife’s blade over the wood you want to split, in the same direction as the grain and taking advantage of any splits or gaps that may already be there. Then, use that same baton to whack the protruding tip of the knife while exerting equal downward pressure on the handle. The longer a knife is, the larger the wood it will span. To split a large log with a small knife, simply split off little fractions of it, around the edges.

Carving: Want to put a point on a peg? Sit or kneel with one leg raised as a working surface. Hold the wood in one hand, with the hand braced on that leg and using a forehand grip with a closed fist, carve away from your leg and body. Think about the natural path of your forearm as you straighten it and use that natural travel and strength to your advantage. With force, a carve will remove a lot of wood. With care, a carve will remove very thin slices of wood; this is how you make a feather stick for fire starting. Putting the end of the stick against something will help maintain fine control if you’re doing that.

Slicing: First, find a log or similar flat surface on which to cut. Think: cutting board, this is just like food prep at home. Then, using a forehand grip with your thumb or forefinger on top of the blade, hold it at an angle and draw it through the material being sliced. Make sure your body is out of the way.

Cutting With Power: Using the chest lever grip, securely hold the stick or limb being cut and use your back muscles to draw the blade through it. Go hard, making sure your knees and other people are out of the way.

Cutting With Control: Again use the chest lever grip, but instead work your way around the stick being cut, carving a continuous wedge-shaped notch. Your opposite thumb may help there.

Drilling: Need to put a hole in something? Place the object on a secure surface (like a log) that the knife will be ok poking into. Using the forehand grip with a closed fist, place the tip of the knife where you want the hole, apply pressure and twist the knife back and forth. Be very careful not to apply so much pressure that you may lose your grip and cause your hand to slide down onto the blade.

These are the basic moves you’ll use with a knife; combing them gives you the ability perform more complex tasks like fire making, shelter building and food preparation.

What do you use a knife for outdoors and how do you do it?

IndefinitelyWild is a new publication about adventure travel in the outdoors, the vehicles and gear that get us there and the people we meet along the way. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

via Lifehacker
How To Use A Knife Outdoors

Remember that Flux Capacitor USB car charger that kind of turned your ride into the DeLorean from Back to the Future? If for some reason David Hasselhoff is more to your liking, there’s now an alternate version that will turn your vehicle into K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider isntead.

The charger is designed to look exactly like K.I.T.T.’s voice box from the original TV series, complete with flashing LEDs that stay perfectly synced to 11 different phrases it speaks. When plugged into a 12-volt power socket it unfortunately won’t make your ride look like a 1982 Pontiac Trans Am. But it will let you charge a couple of smaller mobile devices like smartphones from its pair of USB ports, so for $30, available starting today, it’s more than just an awesome ‘80s novelty. [ThinkGeek]

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via Gizmodo
Turn Your Car Into Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T. With This Talking USB Charger

Setting up a new computer is hard enough, but if you’re privacy minded, things are even more complicated. This is especially the case with a Mac, which keeps all kinds of stuff behind the scenes. Whether you’re setting up a new system or installing a new version of OS X, now’s a good time to check your privacy settings.

We all need to protect our private data. But when you’re working with sensitive files, pictures, and your passwords, you want to ensure other people can’t easily get to it. Beyond that, with a Mac, even simple things like your text messages can pop up in someone else’s face if you’re not careful. For some of us, this can feel like a huge privacy issue, but thankfully OS X has tons of settings you can tweak to lock down your data, search results, and more.http://ift.tt/1KKpqLh…

Audit OS X’s System Settings

By default, OS X is all about ease of use. This is great, except that it means your private data is general in the open, sitting around for anyone (or any app) to find. Much of the default behavior in OS X is meant to make things easier for you, but it also means that if someone sits down at your computer they can accidentally come across a ton of stuff you might not want them to. Here are a few general settings worth tweaking:

• Tweak your privacy system preferences: OS X has a built-in privacy tool that’s worth customizing.. Head to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select the Privacy tab. Here, you can set which applications have access to your location data, iCloud data, and what can access deep system stuff (this is listed under Accessibility, but mostly includes apps like application launchers and text expansion programs). You can disable app access in bulk here or on an application-by-application basis.
• Turn on FireVault: OS X comes with built-in encryption software called FireVault. When you turn it on, you’ll need a login password or recovery key to see any data on your computer. Head to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select the FireVault tab. Turn it on and it’ll encrypt your whole drive. This password protects everything, which makes it a lot harder for prying eyes to access your data without your password. It also means you need your password at all time, so don’t lose it!
• Don’t use Keychain: Keychain is Apple’s built-in password system. You have to use it for your login, but don’t use it for your browser data. With just your login password, someone can access all your other passwords, network drives, encrypted files, app passwords, and more stored on your computer. Instead, use a password manager like LastPass or 1Password that requires a master password (beyond your login password) to use.
• Manage your iCloud settings: iCloud is one of the big selling points with OS X is its integration with iOS. iCloud syncs all your photos, files, and everything else across your devices. If you’re on a shared computer, you might want to disable iCloud entirely. Just hop into System Preferences > iCloud and click the “Sign Out” button. It’ll stop syncing everything (which isn’t as convenient), but at least your data won’t be so easily accessible. That said, if you still really want to use iCloud, at least make sure you have two-factor authentication turned on.
• Disable iMessage and Facetime: “Continuity” is a big selling point for Apple. From your Mac, you can send and receive calls and texts that are synced with your iPhone. One potential problem comes when someone else is using your computer (or peeking over your shoulder) and you receive a text message you don’t want them to see. On top of seeing the notification with the message, they can also access entire conversations in Messages. If this is unsettling to you, you’ll want to disable Messages. Open up Messages, select Message > Preferences and sign out of your Apple ID. You can do the same with Facetime for phone calls.
• Disable Spotlight Web Search: In order for Spotlight to work, it needs to send your search data to Google, Apple, and Bing (whichever you’re using at the time.) That’s okay, but any time you search for something using Spotlight, Apple collects that data, too.. While Apple claims this is anonymized, it still feels a bit creepy.. To turn it off, head to System Preferences > Spotlight > Search Results and uncheck the boxes for Spotlight Suggestions and Bing Web Searches. If you still want the power of Spotlight without the creepiness, we recommend Alfred.
• Hide files from Spotlight: Speaking of Spotlight, you’ll also want to customize where it can search for files. If someone is sitting at your computer, they can tap Command+Space to search for any file on your computer (and search inside files as well). This is awesome when you’re looking for something yourself, but also makes it pretty easy for anyone snooping on you. Luckily, you can customize how this works. Head to System Preferences > Spotlight. Here, you can uncheck any boxes for search results you don’t want Spotlight to show. Spotlight will still index those files, but they won’t show in search results. You can also click the Privacy tab and add any folders that you don’t want Spotlight to index. This way, they won’t show up in search results at all.

Once all of those settings are tweaked, OS X is pretty locked down. . You’ll lose some of the functionality that makes OS X convenient, but at least you won’t just be handing private data over to anyone (or any app) who sits down at your computer.http://ift.tt/1HOdntW…

Protect Your Apps and Your Data

OS X doesn’t protect your data from apps you download, so you’ll need to do that yourself. Apple does try to make sure you don’t install anything without thinking about it, and has tools to restrict you from installing unsigned apps—but once they’re installed, OS X assumes you know what you’re doing. Caring about your privacy online is a big step to making sure you do, but you can do a few other things as well.

• Download privacy-protecting browser extensions: You likely spend a lot of time online, so it’s worth locking down your browsing habits. Install browser extensions like AdBlock Plus, Disconnect, and other privacy-protecting extensions to keep your data safe.
• Use a VPN: Virtual private networks (VPNs) are helpful for protecting your privacy. Setting up a VPN ensures your browsing traffic is encrypted, which is especially important if you’re on a MacBook and working from coffee shops or other places with unsecured Wi-Fi networks.
• Only allow approved apps: The internet’s filled with billions of apps and some of them might come packed with malware, spyware, or other malicious code. Macs are no different. Apple does give the option to only install trustworthy apps that have been submitted, reviewed, and added to the Mac App Store, but if you turn that off you need to be especially careful. To enable this feature, head to System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select the General tab. You’ll see an option for “Allow apps downloaded from.” Check the box next to Mac App Store. This means only approved and signed apps can be installed. If you fancy yourself a bit more savvy than that, you can go with the “Mac App Store and identified developers” option as well.

Of course, that’s just the least you can do. Certain privacy-focused web browsers are also useful because Incognito mode isn’t really the best for privacy. You can also stray away from Google and change your default search engine to something like DuckDuckGo to help keep your browsing a little more private. Installing an anti-virus app is also a good idea. Though we’re all told Macs don’t have virus problems, you’re still at risk of cross-platform browser and web-based exploits (in Flash and Java, for example), and you don’t want to inadvertently spread Windows malware through shared files or attachments, so it’s better to be safe.http://ift.tt/1HOdnu1…

Lock Down Physical Access to Your Computer

Locking down the data on your computer is only half the battle. Apple’s most popular computers are laptops, and that means it’s crucial to lock down physical access to your computer as well.

• Enable your lock screen: Head into System Preferences > Security & Privacy and select the General tab. Check the boxes next to “Require password” and “Disable automatic login” to make sure that a password is required to access your computer.
• Hide user accounts: By default, when you get to the lock screen, you’ll see options for different user accounts on the system. Someone can theoretically sit there and guess your password over and over if they want. If you want another layer of security, you can hide that so you have to enter in both a username and password to login. Once you enable this, you’ll have to login with both every time. From the Terminal, type in: sudo dscl . create /Users/hiddenuser IsHidden 1
• Make a guest user account: When you do need to hand over your computer for a friend to use, it’s best to create a guest account so they don’t accidentally go snooping through your stuff. Head to System Preferences > Users & Groups and click on the Guest User option. Check the box next to “Allow guests to log in to this computer.” If you’ve enabled FireVault, guests can only access Safari, which is likely all they really need.
• Secure your Wi-Fi: Finally, you’ll also want to make sure your home Wi-Fi is secure so neighbors and passersby can’t snoop in on your data. Keeping your Wi-Fi secure is easy and once you’re set up you don’t really need to think about it again.

http://ift.tt/1D0VSB6…

With all that, your computer should be both secure and most of your data private. Of course, there’s no such thing as perfect security, but at the very least you’re making your data harder for people to access. Or, in the case of OS X, you’re making it so some random passerby or untrustworthy app doesn’t just accidentally eavesdrop on you.

via Lifehacker
How to Configure OS X to Protect Your Privacy

The UK has become the first nation to embrace “cased telescoped” ammunition technology*, having announced an order for 515 40mm CTA guns to retrofit the Warrior IFV and arm the new ASCOD-derived Scout SV vehicle, which will replace the long-serving CVR(T) family, including the Scimitar. IHS Janes reports: The UK Ministry of Defence has placed a GBP150 million […]

Read More …

The post UK Orders 40mm Cased Telescoped AFV Gun appeared first on The Firearm Blog.

via The Firearm Blog
UK Orders 40mm Cased Telescoped AFV Gun

Our body tends to cool down before we sleep, and our feet and hands have blood vessels close to the surface of the skin. Thus exposing your feet cools your body down relatively quickly and helps signal that it’s time to sleep.
via The Awesomer
How Your Feet Help You Sleep

XUL is on the way out. New features will focus on being "uniquely Firefox."
via Ars Technica
Big changes are coming to Firefox to win back users and developers

If you want your kids to learn something while they’re out of school but would rather not ship them to some distant summer camp, Google is about to come to your rescue. It’s kicking off the latest edition of its annual Camp Google on July 13th, and t…
via Engadget RSS Feed
Google’s latest science camp for kids starts on July 13th

The release date for Ghostbusters 3 is still a year away, but director Paul Feig is getting very excited. After tweeting images of the uniforms that will be worn by the new Ghostbusters, Feig just provided a nice annotated guide to the new proton packs. It’s a little confusing!

There’s a cryogen reservoir and a plasma ignition chamber and a ministurized superconducting proton synchrotron and a faraday cage and all kinds of stuff. It’s probably confusing because proton packs are not real. Ghosts, on the other hand…

#themoreyouknow http://pic.twitter.com/4t2wMtvC3q

July 6, 2015

Feig also tweeted a couple marked up photos of the early props. They are slightly less confusing.

@gbmarkf @GhostbustersDE This is all I can give you for now. Hope it helps. http://pic.twitter.com/w5yMZGZiL2

July 5, 2015

@GhostbustersDE Here you go! http://pic.twitter.com/GAuphU5ASI

July 4, 2015

via Gizmodo
An Annotated Guide to the New Ghostbusters Proton Pack

If you want beautiful fireworks bursting in the sky, you’re going to need to mine the Earth first. Here’s the geology of the minerals that give fireworks their vibrant colours.

Fireworks get their colour from metal salts. A salt is a chemical compound formed when an acid and base neutralize each other, resulting in a new compound where the elements are bound together through ionic bonds. Many of the salts include an oxidizer like nitrates, chlorates, or perchlorates. Along with imparting colour, these oxidizers provide oxygen, allowing the fireworks to burn. The metals or salts can also be stabilizers, keeping the colour-imparting elements stable until showtime.

While not explicitly a colour-inducing element, phosphorous is also commonly included in fireworks as a fuel since it spontaneously burns in air, but also as a glowing component in darker fireworks effects. Zinc can be added to create smoke effects.

Deep Red of Lithium or Strontium Salts

A lighter medium red is created by lithium salts like lithium carbonate (Li₂CO₃) or lithium chloride (LiCl). Neither occur naturally [correction: they occur in brines, creating evaporite deposits as they dry out], but lithium can be found in nearly every igneous rock in the minerals lepidolite, spodumene, petalite, or amblygonite. Both lithium salts are used in industry, as a brazing flux for aluminum, as a desiccant, or an additive in glazes. It also has biochemical uses.

The brilliant, deep red is created by strontium salts like strontium nitrate (Sr(NO₃)₂) and strontium carbonate (SrCO₃). These metal salts do not naturally occur as a geological mineral, but the strontium is usually found in celestite. Strontium can also be used as a stabilizer for other fireworks effects.

Celestite. Image credit: USGS

About a third of all strontium nitrate in the United States is used for pyrotechnics, but it is also used in alloys that make aluminum more tractable to casting, as an additive in glass, to make paint corrosion-resistant, and as part of drilling mud. It also finds its way into common households as a component in constructing ceramic ferric magnets (fridge magnets). Other strontium compounds star as the active ingredients in toothpaste for temperature-sensitive teeth.

Glowing Orange of Calcium Salts

Orange is the result of calcium salts, usually calcium chloride (CaCl₂) or calcium sulfates (CaSO₄·xH₂O). Calcium can also be mixed into other fireworks to enhance the colours, while other calcium salts make pretty pale pinks (namely CaCO₃, CaSO₄, or CaC₂O₄). Calcium sulfate occurs naturally as gypsum, an evaporate mineral, while calcium chlorides form as the far more rare as sinjarite or antarcticite minerals but can be easily extracted from limestone.

A gypsum layer in the Spearfish Formation of South Dakota. Image credit: USGS

Calcium sulfate is used for producing sulfuric acid. Calcium chloride has far more uses — a desiccant, changing freezing points, increasing water hardness in aquariums, or as a firming agent in foods like tofu.

Orange can also be created by a mix of strontium and sodium.

Golden Yellow of Sodium Salts

Sodium makes such a bright, overwhelming yellow that it can outright hide other, more subtle colours of cross-contamination occurs. The classic salts are sodium nitrate (NaNO₃) or cryolite (Na₃AlF₆). Sodium nitrate (NaNO₃) is a metal salt which naturally occurs as the mineral nitratine. The sedimentary rocks of the Atacama Desert in South America are the largest deposit of natural sodium nitrate in the world.

Sodium-rich plagioclase feldspar. Image credit: USGS

While other sodium salts are more widespread (sodium chloride finds its way into your home under its common name, table salt), sodium nitrate is infamous in its own right as saltpeter. Saltpeter is a fertilizer, a rocket propellent, a food preservative, and as an enamel. As most sodium salts, including sodium nitrate, can absorb large quantities of heat and release it slowly over time, it’s also being adopted for use in thermal energy storage.

Brilliant Green of Barium Salts

The brilliant emerald green fireworks are created by the barium salts barium nitrate (Ba(NO₃)₂), barium chlorate (Ba(ClO₃)₂), barium chlorite (Ba(ClO₂)₂), or barium carbonate (BaCO₃). These metal salts do not naturally occur as minerals. The barium within the compounds originates as barite, a barium sulfide mineral. Barium can also be used as a stabilizer for other more volatile elements.

A barite rose. Image credit: USGS

Barium blocks radiation, making it perfect for everything from a contrast-inducing milkshake prior to X-rays of the digestive track to mixing into concrete as radiation shielding for laboratories. It’s also used in oil and gas drilling, increasing density to suppress high pressure that could lead to blowouts, or in the manufacture of paints, plastic, and rubber.

Rich Blue of Copper and Chlorine

Copper chloride is a metal salt that can be made from either of copper’s primary oxidation states, cuprous or cupric. The copper (I) chloride (CuCl) makes a beautiful greenish torquoise firework, while the copper (II) chloride (CuCl₂) generates a rich blue. More complicated compounds of copper and chlorine create intermediate shades of blue to green: copper acetoarsenite creates a striking paris green, while the mess of Cu₃As₂O₃Cu(C₂H₃O₂)₂ is a brilliant deep blue. Copper chloride fireworks are at a relatively lower temperature than other fireworks.

Native copper. Image credit: USGS

The metal salts rarely occurs in mineral form, but can be found in eriochalcite, nantokite, or tolbachite. Alternately, copper can also be extracted from the minerals chalcopyrite, azurite or malachite, or even as pure native copper. Copper is malleable and fantastic at conducting electricity, making it in high demand for power generation and transmission on all scales.

Native copper. Image credit: USGS

Alternately, a deeper indigo blue-purple is created by cesium nitrate (CsNO₃). Cesium is also an oxidizer.

Striking Purple of Copper and Strontium

The combination of copper and strontium, extracted from their relative source ores, creates the pale lavender of fireworks. A darker violet is created by potassium nitrate (KNO₃), which naturally occurs as niter, another form of saltpeter. Like sodium nitrate saltpeter, potassium-based saltpeter is a fertilizer, a rocket propellent, as a food preservative, and to make gunpowder.

A rich red-violet colour can be made from rubidium nitrate (RbNO₃), although it is rarely used. Rubidium is also an oxidizer. Rubidium doesn’t naturally occur as the primary metal in any mineral, but is trace element as a potassium substitute in some common minerals like feldspar and mica. Rubidium is more commonly used as a source material for catalysts and scintillation counters.

Electric White of Barium Oxides

The searing white is created by barium oxides (BaO), a compound formed by heating barium carbonate with coke, or by thermally decomposing barium nitrate. Sparkling white can also be created by aluminum or beryllium powders, while a more silvery white is more likely from titanium, zirconium, magnesium.

Bright Flashes of Aluminum Powder

Aluminum is the most common component of the bright flashes of sparkler fireworks and mag stars, producing silver or white flames. Aluminum is lightweight, malleable, and resists corrosion, making it useful in manufacturing everything from vehicles to soda cans. Aluminum rarely occurs by itself naturally, instead more commonly forming in oxides and silicates like feldspar.

Aluminum. Image credit: USGS

Magnesium is also sometimes used for brilliant white flashes or to enhance the intensity of other fireworks, but is less common than aluminum because it can’t form a protective oxide layer.

For more glittery effects, antimony is used instead.

Sparks of Iron Filings and Charcoal Fragments

Sparklers are made from iron filings and charcoal fragments, with the temperature strongly influencing the colour of the sparks. The inclusion of potassium can tint the sparks from the typical warm gold to a paler violet-pink.

While an extremely abundant element in the Earth’s crust, iron doesn’t have a naturally-occurring native mineral. Instead, it is extracted from iron ores like hematite and magnetite. When the oxygen of iron ores is removed through heat and carbon, the result is steel, an incredibly strong and versatile material.

Iron filings. Image credit: USGS

Want more? Check out the chemistry of fireworks here.

Top image credit: peaceful-jp-scenery

via Gizmodo
These are the Minerals That Give Fireworks Their Colors