Man, it’s a hot one. Like seven inches from the midday sun. And you know what probably won’t help that situation? Lighting your mother’s swimming pool on fire. Which is a fun (terrifying) thing YouTuber The Backyard Scientist tried earlier this spring.
The Backyard Scientist (a.k.a. Kevin), has built a following of more than 1.5 million followers for, as his channel name implies, insane science experiments done at home. They usually involve drenching things in liquid metal or lighting things on fire, or both. The pool stunt was created using diethyl ether, a chemical that floats on water and is highly flammable. After lighting the ether on fire in the pool (ahhh!), Kevin smothers the flames using liquid nitrogen which, yes, puts out the fire but also creates a swirling vortex of white gas that looks equally terrifying.
Come for the footage of a flaming swimming pool, stay for the part where Kevin shoves his hand into said pool after briefly lighting said hand on fire.
