So what will actually happen when the evil villain falls into that burning pit of lava? It turns out that everyone is wrong about how people die when falling into lava. To explain what really happens, here's Erik Klemetti from Wired Science.
“In that scene from Return of the King when Gollum falls into the pit of lava, would he have really just sunk into the lava like that?”
At first, it seemed like an easy question. Well, not so much easy as obvious: yes. However, the more I thought about it, the more I though that pretty much every scene I’ve ever noticed where somebody falls into lava and dies has got to be wrong.
Ever wonder where a career in physics will take you?
Check out the Institute of Physics website here as they look at a day in the life of 28 different physics graduates. For more information download the full pdf here.
The current exhibit in the Trinity Science Gallery is SURFACE TENSION, it closes on 20.1.12 so there's still a few weeks to see it before it closes.
The future of water is the subject of tension. Water is both
disposable and sacred, a muse for artists and a necessity for life – a
source of healing and of conflict. The Earth has abundant water, but
only a very small proportion is available for human use. How should this
be managed and sustained, and what would a water-scarce future look
like?
SURFACE TENSION brings together work by artists, designers,
engineers and scientists to explore the future of water, playing on its
physical properties, its role in politics and economics, and ways in
which it may be harnessed, cleaned, and distributed.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a young star undergoing violent birth. The star, named S106 IR, has a mass of about 15 times that of our sun
and lies approximately 2,000 light-years away in the constellation
Cygnus, the Swan. Formed from a cloud of gas and dust with more than
25,000 times the sun’s mass, the star is just about to mature and settle
down to what astronomers call the main sequence portion of its life,
where it will glow steadily like our sun.
But before it grows up, the star is releasing a fierce torrent of
ultraviolet radiation, heating up the surrounding cloud to temperatures
greater than 18,000 degrees Fahrenheit. This causes the hydrogen gas to
glow blue. The cooler, red dust lane in the center partially hides the
star from view but it can still be seen shining near the lower part of
the image.
Most young stars blast tons of energy and dust, creating gigantic
butterfly-wing lobes on their sides like the ones seen here. Within
about a million years, the object will end this forceful stage and
become a giant blue star, shining brightly as it burns hydrogen into
helium.
While its birth has clearly been fierce, the end of its life will be
marked by an even more violent explosion: a supernova that will outshine
galaxies.
Source: Wired Science
