January 18, 2011 – How about this: the Shinko Smoke Bomb tire! Available in blue, red or purple smoke colors. That’s right — not an April Fool’s prank! The Smoke Bomb tires will pretty up your ...

More than 400 years after the invention of “fulminating gold” explosives, scientists finally have an answer for why these compounds produce their iconic purple smoke.

Experiments on a highly explosive substance called fulminating gold reveal why its detonation produces unusual purple smoke 1. More than 400 years ago, alchemists discovered fulminating gold, a ...