The Toughest Riddle in the World

[Will]

There's a glass of water sitting in the middle of the desert. there's nothing near it, no plant life and definitely no animals. there's nothing but glass and water. It suddenly combusts into fire. How did this happen?

 

I'm quite sure I'll get some good answers here but doubt they'll be right. No one has ever guessed the correct answer.

 

Google is allowed of course.

[Dodgypotato]

It's on Mercury!

[Andrew]

It was struck by a meteor.

[Apathetic Echidna]

it worked as a lens and set everything on fire, the oxygen in the air, the sand, the glass! fire! flames! kablwey!

[NullVector]

Maxwell's demon

 

[James White]

On 9/13/2017 at 4:03 PM, NullVector said:

Maxwell's demon

I can't beat the reversal of entropy. That's too good.

 

If not that, definitely an orbital laser.

 

Think, for example, of Ronald Reagan's failed orbital missile defense project. It was nicknamed "Star Wars" for trying to focus the x-rays from nuclear explosions into massive, single-use lasers. X-rays don't pass through the atmosphere very well, but maybe this one uses gamma or even just visible light. 

 

Seriously though, glass is basically inert. To combust it, you'd need hydrofluoric acid. It's not the most dissociative stuff but it's still extremely dangerous. I feel like taking this question literally is probably a bad move.

 

Alternatively, the combustion of water could be explained by simply experiencing nonlinear time. How trivial!

[Gemi]

Ok real late to the party, but I love riddles! Anyways, riddles tend to have the simplest answers.

So, I'm gonna say it was a mirage or hallucination.  Everything listed in the riddle isn't possible all at once, unless it was a mirage or hallucination. Mirages or hallucination don't need to make sense, they're illusions that deceive your eyes and mined.

[Neon]

Hm... I'd say there was an apocalyptic event that wiped out all life on earth. After which, an extraterrestrial being placed a glass of pure water on the surface. However, the atmosphere is now toxic, and after a series of chemical reactions, the water and the cup become parts of a combustable material. It then spontaneously combusts.

[DivineCyst]

i would say it acted as a lens lol and it exploded. or something was used as a lens against it and it exploded because of it.

On 7/31/2016 at 11:44 PM, Will said:

nothing but glass and water.

glass could've reacted with the sand and exploded, therefore having nothing to do with the water. im literally guessing so hard.