Dave,

re, kitchen science. Is this also the reason why drink machines drop your can on it's side, to dislodge some of the bubbles?...

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It will do this, and I think it is because the impact is absorbed by the drink spinning rather than shaking and going turbulent which tends to mix in ...

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excellent, cheers dave.... Whole Thread | Post Reply

 

Natural Hazards

 This week on the Naked Scientists Radio Show we're looking at Natural Hazards, with Dr Janet Sumner from the Open University, Prof Peter Kelemen of Columbia University and Dr Michael Watts of the British Geological Survey.

Super-eruptions

Super-volcanoes have had a lot of press attention recently, particularly with regard to Yellowstone, but are we really at risk from an eruption that could wipe out all living things or is it just a minor possibility millions of years from now? Janet is a Research Fellow at the Open University in Milton Keynes, and she'll be on the show to explain how super-eruptions work. She's researched lots of active volcanoes including Stromboli, Etna and Hawaii. She does lots of work in the field (climbing active volcanoes can be pretty dangerous stuff) and also does experiments in her laboratory which focus on fluid dynamics. This can be quite a tasty experience as some of her lab apparatus includes a bucket of golden syrup and creme eggs, to find out how they contribute to her knowledge you'll have to tune in to the show.

Cracking research

Peter is researching intermediate-depth earthquakes, which are notoriously difficult to understand because at a depth of 50 kilometres or more in the Earth the pressures on faults deep beneath the surfaces are so large that it is not clear how they can undergo brittle fractures. Different types of earthquake occur at different depths in the ground particularly in the so-called ring of fire around the Pacific, where oceanic crust and upper mantle are being pushed beneath the surrounding continental plates. There are earthquakes from a whole range of depths, from very near the surface to several hundred kilometres. Peter will be on the show to explain how earthquakes starting at depths of 50 kilometres in the Earth may occur because of the rapid melting and viscous creep in the rock. The idea is that this work will take us a step closer to being able to predict when earthquakes are about to happen.

 Mining in Afghanistan

Afghanistan is a country which has been ravaged by war in recent years, it is now gradually being rebuilt. Part of the reconstruction involves developing the country's natural resources, which include: gold, silver, copper, zinc, coal, natural gas and oil and precious and semi-precious stones, such as lapis, emerald and azure. Accurate geological surveys need to be carried out in order to locate deposits of mineral resources, which will be helpful for potential investors. This calls for the rebuilding of the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS), which is happening now with the help of geological surveys from the UK, US, Japan and Czech Republic.

Michael is a chemist with the British Geological Survey (BGS), he is the deputy leader of the BGS project which aims to get the AGS laboratories up and running. So far, five laboratories have been established: a sample preparation lab (for crushing rocks), an industrial mineral lab (for testing the physical properties of minerals), a thin-section lab (produces samples for microscopic examination), a petrographic lab (for classifying and characterising rocks samples) and a gem analysis lab. Michael who has just returned from Afghanistan will be on the show to tell us about his work out there, including challenges such as contaminated land and what the next stages of the project hold.

To learn more about super-eruptions, mid-depth earthquakes and geological hazards in Afghanistan – tune in the The Naked Scientists Radio Show and Podcast.