A Pentucket Regional High School science class got an unpleasant surprise yesterday when one student’s iPod exploded on her desk . But don’t worry! Nobody was hurt, and there’s a perfectly good explanation. While Apple has gotten in trouble in the past for spontaneous iPod Touch combustion , Newburyport Daily News Online commenter “jos” offered some valuable insight into this particularly incident: The iPod did not just explode. It was broken so a kid took the entire thing apart and was rubbing wires against the battery, which became very hot, then exploded. This is not a faulty product that caused a danger to people. This was bored kids, in a classroom with a substitute all week, who found a dangerous way to entertain themselves

A Radio Shack just exploded with a big ball of fire in Manhattan. It happened on 6th avenue, in between 19th and 20th streets. According to Fox NY, it was a “manhole explosion” that “sparked a transformer fire.” A) I hope nobody is injured. B) I’m glad is not the only worthy Shack ( Shake Shack ). [ New York Magazine via MyFox ]

I’ll admit it: I haven’t taken my Christmas tree down yet. I was feeling guilty, too, until I realized that just means I still have a chance to strap 32 rocket engines to it. Turns out all it takes to launch your Douglas fir 100ft. into the air is a car battery, 32 engines wired in parallel, and a wee bit of differential calculus. It’s like my grandpa used to say: the holidays aren’t over until you say they’re over, or until something explodes. [ The Awesomer via The Daily What ]

This year a research expedition sent a remotely operated vehicle 4,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean and within ten feet of an exploding volcano. Today the first video footage from that expedition was released. Ka-boom. Ok, maybe there’s no ka-boom because there’s no sound, but just looking at this video makes me imagine all that water wooshing by as everything begins to shake. Simply stunning. [ Physorg ]

This ain’t your standard supernova. A while ago, astronomers noticed an exploding star that was about 50 to 100 times brighter than normal. Here’s why: It was freakin’ huge. After two years of studying light output from the star’s death, one scientist is proposing that this star might have been the biggest ever known. About 200 times larger than a standard solar mass

See that guy who kind of looks like Ernest Hemingway? His name is Gay Wilkinson . His favorite sport is to shoot anvils in the air. Anvils .

Don’t try this at home: in this video crazyperson Theo Gray lights a grill with the help of some liquid oxygen . Suffice to say it’s a bit of overkill, but just the kind of overkill we like. [ Instructables via PopSci ]

Most building demolitions are precisely planned and controlled. When they aren’t, a factory in Cankiri, Turkey, does a barrel roll through the streets. Oops! [ Boing Boing ]

Here’s another clip from the Consumer Product Safety Commission that proves, once and for all, that it is not okay to point fireworks at family members. Happy July 4th everybody! [ CPSC ]

Hey everyone, just checking in to make sure your holiday is kicking off with a bang. But that you haven’t blown your face off with some giant aerial fireworks. Happy July 4th everybody! [ CPSC ]