Creosote creates a sour, sickly odor. Slow smoldering fires or the use of unseasoned wood can create “cool” smoke and a weak draft. The smoke condenses and sticks to the chimney’s interior which forms ...

Archaeologists in Britain say they have found the earliest known evidence of deliberate fire-making, dating to around 400,000 ...

Making fire on demand was a milestone in the lives of our early ancestors. But the question of when that skill first arose has been difficult for scientists to pin down ...

Neanderthals 400,000 years ago were striking flints to make fires, researchers have found. Neanderthals 400,000 years ago were striking flints to make fires, researchers have found. An artist’s ...

Fragments of iron pyrite, a rock that can be used with flint to make sparks, were found by a 400,000-year-old hearth in eastern Britain. (Jordan Mansfield | Courtesy Pathways to Ancient Britain ...

It's easy to take for granted that with the flick of a lighter or the turn of a furnace knob, modern humans can conjure flames — cooking food, lighting candles or warming homes. For much of our ...