Black smoke

The black smoke, or black powder, is a fictitious poisonous gas in H. G. Wells' 1898 science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, used by the Martians to eliminate groups of humans, especially artillery crews, and conveyed by shells fired from a gun-like "black tube" carried by the Tripods whip-like tentacles. Any animal inhaling this deadly smoke is killed almost instantly; but the smoke becomes harmless on contact with water, and the Martians would dispel it after each use with jets of steam, leaving only a residual, "cindery" black powder, which reminds the narrator of what he "read of the destruction of Pompeii". The smoke is very dense, and can be avoided by climbing to higher places. Although Wells never explains the smoke's mechanism in the novel, he mentions that it may bind with argon to become toxic. In reality, argon cannot combine with other elements, with the marginal exception of fluorine; but chemical weapons were widely used in human warfare after Wells' novel was written, especially in World War I.

Ann Sophie

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Ann-Sophie Dürmeyer (born 1 September 1990), better known as simply Ann Sophie is a German singer and songwriter. She represented Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 with the song "Black Smoke", the song was met with fair success as Black Smoke charted within the top 30 in Germany and within the top 60 in Austria.

Life and career

1990–2015: Early life and career

Ann Sophie was born on 1 September 1990 in London, England to German parents. At a young age she and her family moved back to Germany where they settled in Hamburg, whilst she attended Rydal Penrhos in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, as a boarding student. Since age four she has studied ballet. In 2010, she took her abitur and moved to New York to attend the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute. In 2012, she released her debut single "Get Over Yourself".

2015–present: Eurovision Song Contest and Silver Into Gold

In 2015, Ann Sophie was revealed as one of the ten undiscovered German artists competing for the wildcard spot in Unser Song für Österreich. She performed the song "Jump the Gun" and was selected as the wildcard winner after receiving 24.1% of the vote. She competed in Unser Song für Österreich with the songs "Jump the Gun" and "Black Smoke". The latter of the two advanced to the final round of voting where it placed as the runner-up behind Andreas Kümmert and his song "Heart of Stone". However, Kümmert later declined the opportunity to represent Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest, and Ann Sophie was awarded with the chance. She has released her debut studio album Silver Into Gold on 24 April 2015. In the final of the Eurovision Song Contest on May 23, 2015, Ann Sophie scored zero points after the voting, becoming the first German act to do under the modern voting system in place since 1975.

Smoke

Smoke is a collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-product of fires (including stoves, candles, oil lamps, and fireplaces), but may also be used for pest control (fumigation), communication (smoke signals), defensive and offensive capabilities in the military (smoke-screen), cooking, or smoking (tobacco, cannabis, etc.). Smoke is used in rituals where incense, sage, or resin is burned to produce a smell for spiritual purposes. Smoke is sometimes used as a flavoring agent, and preservative for various foodstuffs. Smoke is also a component of internal combustion engine exhaust gas, particularly diesel exhaust.

Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in victims of indoor fires. The smoke kills by a combination of thermal damage, poisoning and pulmonary irritation caused by carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and other combustion products.

Black

Black is the darkest color, the result of the absence of or complete absorption of light. It is the opposite of white (the combined spectrum of color or light). It is an achromatic color, literally a color without color or hue. It is one of the four primary colors in the CMYK color model, along with cyan, yellow, and magenta, used in color printing to produce all the other colors.

Black was one of the first colors used by artists in neolithic cave paintings. In the 14th century, it began to be worn by royalty, the clergy, judges and government officials in much of Europe. It became the color worn by English romantic poets, businessmen and statesmen in the 19th century, and a high fashion color in the 20th century.

In the Roman Empire, it became the color of mourning, and over the centuries it was frequently associated with death, evil, witches and magic. According to surveys in Europe and North America, it is the color most commonly associated with mourning, the end, secrets, magic, force, violence, evil, and elegance.

Eurovision Song Contest

The Eurovision Song Contest (French: Concours Eurovision de la chanson), often shortened to ESC or Eurovision, is the longest-running annual TV song competition, held, primarily, among the member countries of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) since 1956. The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy.

Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956, and is one of the longest-running television programmes in the world. It is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the USA and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia would return in 2016. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet, via the Eurovision website.