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George Koutsantonis, a chemist at the UWA, describes her components as “vital” for his research on pyrophoric chemicals, which ignite spontaneously if exposed to air.

Static or piezoelectricity is another popular candidate for the helicopter halos–as opposed to the pyrophoric, muffler-scraping-on-the-road phenomenon I describe in the video above.

But again, if the helicopter blades aren’t pyrophoric but do conduct electricity, the whole effect disappears.

Prosecutors say the fire broke out when Sangji, a recent college graduate who had only been working in the lab for some 2 1/2 months, was performing an experiment with tert-Butyllithium, a pyrophoric chemical, meaning that it spontaneously ignites when exposed to air.

In a 2009 statement to the Los Angeles Times, Harran called Sangji an "experienced chemist" who had previous experience handling pyrophoric substances.