How dragons breathe fire, and can real animals do it

Dragons are one of the main characters in the Game of Thrones series. But even long before the "serial boom", these mythical creatures delighted and terrified people. Perhaps the legends of dragons are associated with dinosaurs (although people did not have time to meet them), or simply human imagination knows no bounds. In the West, dragons are the guardians of treasures and riches (remember Smaug from The Hobbit). In the East, these are divine creatures. Be that as it may, the main thing that is known about them is that they all know how to breathe fire. This is their main weapon. But how do they do it? If you look from the point of view of science, could really existing dragons spew flame left and right? Let's get it right.

A flame reigns from a spark

Paleontologist Henry G. jokingly suggested that dragons use oxygen for their artillery exercises, which inflates a spark from pre-swallowed stones or a special mineral coating on the teeth. The result is a high-pressure explosion caused by diethyl ether, a colorless, flammable organic compound.

The ability to control the flame made people masters of the animal world, keepers of flaming bonfires and noble cooks. But for a dragon, flame is an innate ability that humans simply cannot reproduce. With it, dragons can not only fry an accidental knight or other danger, but also clear their way, pave the path in the forest, and just play with fire.

No worse than dragons

In the real animal world, such mechanisms also occur. The most striking example is the bombardier beetle, which can be called a real expert on explosions. A half-inch insect produces hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone, which are stored in separate tanks. When a beetle is in danger, it releases these substances into a special reaction chamber, where special enzymes quickly destroy hydrogen peroxide and release free oxygen molecules that oxidize hydroquinones.

The result is a chemical reaction that provides enough heat to bring the whole mixture to a boil. This boiling water spills on the enemy - a very effective way!

Based on materials from HowStuffWorks.com