http://twitter.yfrog.com/5vt0iuoqrlnbegipvtyxkjzoz?sa=0

Apparently this guy was at Hampton court palace, although blowing up some sort of gunpowder mixture isn't particularly alchemical.

Is of course a mixture of their degradation products, and the atmosphere they have been stored in. I have several which still smell of smoke, having presumably spent 50 years sitting near a fireplace. At least one of the chemistry textbooks smells a bit odd too, I can't guess why...

So I went looking for studies on the smell of books, and found this:
http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac9016049

Material Degradomics: On the Smell of Old Books
Anal. Chem., 2009, 81 (20), pp 8617–8622
DOI: 10.1021/ac9016049

We successfully transferred and applied -omics concepts to the study of material degradation, in particular historic paper. The main volatile degradation products of paper, constituting the particular “smell of old books”, were determined using headspace analysis after a 24 h predegradation procedure. Using supervised and unsupervised methods of multivariate data analysis, we were able to quantitatively correlate volatile degradation products with properties important for the preservation of historic paper: rosin, lignin and carbonyl group content, degree of polymerization of cellulose, and paper acidity. On the basis of volatile degradic footprinting, we identified degradation markers for rosin and lignin in paper and investigated their effect on degradation. Apart from the known volatile paper degradation products acetic acid and furfural, we also put forward a number of other compounds of potential interest, most notably lipid peroxidation products. The nondestructive approach can be used for rapid identification of degraded historic objects on the basis of the volatile degradation products emitted by degrading paper.

На границе Калмыкии и Астраханской области есть несколько артезианских скважин, пробуренных еще в советские времена для поения скота. Вода из артезианских скважин изливается сама без всяких насосов, образуя небольшие солоноватые озерки.  Естественные водоемы в этой полупустыне отсутствуют, поэтому скважины очень важны для водопоя диких животных. Со стороны Калмыкии примыкает заповедник "Черные земли", а со стороны Астраханской области - заказник Степной, местность неплохо охраняется от браконьеров, поэтому именно здесь легче всего мне было снять остатки некогда многочисленных сайгачьих стад.
Возле одной из скважин я провел половину своего времени в степи, наблюдая из засидки за жизнью рядом с водой. Вместе с водой из недр земли по трубе поднимается метан, который кто-то еще в зимнее время зажег и огонь полыхал уже несколько месяцев, и животные к нему привыкли. Следы сайгаков и даже волков я видел всего в десятке шагов от пламени.


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Несколько месяцев назад я опубликовал пост, в котором попросил читателей поучаствовать в создании названия моей новой книги о жизни фотографа дикой природы на Камчатке.  Автору лучшей идеи я пообещал любую моя книгу на выбор с авторской подписью. Спасибо всем, приславшим свои варианты названия. Их получилось несколько сотен! Пришлось испытать муки выбора. Объявляю, что книга будет называться: "Камчатка, которую я люблю. Истории в кадрах и за кадрами"
Спасибо, tatiana1840!
Уезжая в нынешнюю экспедицию, я сдал материалы для книги в издательство "Манн, Иванов и Фербер". Пока я искал в Калмыкии сайгаков, издательская работа над книгой почти закончена. И опять муки выбора! Надо определиться с обложкой. Проголосуйте, какая вам больше нравится.







Poll #1913974
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 5014

Какую обложку выбрать:

View Answers

С медведем

1779 (35.7%)

С лисой

3205 (64.3%)

Сидел в засидке в ожидании сайгаков у водопоя на границе Калмыкии и Астраханской области, а прилетела стая этих невиданных мною ранее птиц. Попили и улетели. Хочется услышать мнение профессиональных орнитологов. Снимка этих птиц в полете нет, если бы такой был, то не надо было бы спрашивать мнение орнитологов:) 

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