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Observant people will notice that the shape of a gas mask is very similar to that of a pig’s snout. Why is that? Could the invention of the gas mask be related to pig snouts? That’s indeed the case. During World War I, the German forces engaged in fierce battles with the Anglo-French forces for control of the Ypres area in Belgium, with the two sides locked in conflict for half a year. In 1915, the German army used chemical agents for the first time in an attempt to break the prolonged stalemate on the European battlefield. They placed 5,730 steel cylinders filled with chlorine at the front line of their positions, opened the caps in the windward direction of the British and French forces’ positions, and released 180 tons of chlorine. Immediately, a green smoke rose and drifted toward the enemy’s positions at a speed of three meters per second, spreading as far as 25 kilometers from the allied forces’ positions. As a result, 50,000 soldiers from Britain and France died from poisoning, and many wild animals on the battlefield also perished as a result of the poison. Strangely enough, the wild boars in this area managed to survive by surprise. This matter has piqued the great interest of scientists. After on-site inspections and thorough research, it was finally discovered that wild boars have the habit of using their snouts to dig in the ground* as a way to save themselves from death. When wild boars detect a strong, irritating odor, they dig in the ground with their mouths to escape from that odor’s effect. When the soil is disturbed by wild boars, its particles become looser, which helps to filter and absorb toxic gases. Thanks to the wild boars’ clever use of the gas mask bestowed upon them by nature, they were able to survive this catastrophe caused by chlorine gas. Based on this discovery, scientists quickly designed and manufactured the first gas masks. However, this gas mask does not use soil as an adsorbent; instead, it employs activated carbon with strong adsorption capabilities, and its pig’s-mouth shape allows for the inclusion of a larger amount of such activated carbon. Today, despite the increasingly superior performance of adsorbents, their basic shape, which resembles a pig’s snout, remains unchanged. A gas mask can be considered a masterpiece that imitates a pig’s snout.