Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is famous for it's huge and beautiful fireworks show every year. But last New Years Eve (2024 - 2025), many viewers were disappointed with the show because of a heavy smoke cloud that overshadowed the beauty of the spectacle right after the first 2 minutes. But what was the reason of so much smoke? We all know that almost any kind of firework cause lots of smoke. Many people think the problem was caused by the quality of the products, but the main reason for that was probably the high humidity rate. In Rio de Janeiro, the highest humidity rates occur between december and april. According to INMET (National Institute of Meteorology), the humidity at the moment of the show was around 89% , so this, along with an unfavorable wind, was the main reason for the problem. Below is a picture of the beautiful start of the show: But unfortunately some minutes later: Anyway, with lots of smoke or not, for us that love fireworks it's a...
These days I watched a video of a strange fireworks device I have never seen and discovered it's name is " Double Voice Cracker ". Today I will tell you what I have learned about it. Also known as Heaven and Earth or Bing Bong , Double Voice Crackers are a chinese type of firecracker that essentially produces 2 bangs, one in the ground an another in the air. It is like a mortar and shell self contained in a single tube divided in the middle by a clay (or other hard material) plug with a timing fuse. Below is a diagram of a Double Voice Cracker from the book " The Best of AFN II ": Before igniting the fuse, the device must be placed over a hard and flat surface with the lifting charge facing the ground. When the fuse is ignited, the lifting charge explodes and kicks the tube into the air, while igniting the time fuse and finally the report charge explodes in the air. The report charge could be flash powder or any other effect. For more safety ...