- Trump secretly sent Covid tests to Putin: Bob Woodward book
- Neural networks, machine learning? Nobel-winning AI science explained
- Boeing delivers 27 MAX jets in September despite strike
- Stock markets diverge as Hong Kong sinks, oil prices fall
- US trade gap narrowest in five months as imports slip
- Stay and 'you are going to die': Florida braces for next hurricane
- Geoffrey Hinton, soft-spoken godfather of AI
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for 'foundational' AI breakthroughs
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free in 2025 after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China slaps provisional tariffs on EU brandy imports
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street falls
- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
RBGPF | -0.46% | 60.52 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.29% | 6.97 | $ | |
GSK | -1.56% | 38.035 | $ | |
NGG | 0.47% | 65.79 | $ | |
SCS | -0.27% | 12.915 | $ | |
BCC | -0.38% | 140.74 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.06% | 24.555 | $ | |
RELX | 0.93% | 46.47 | $ | |
RIO | -4.87% | 66.385 | $ | |
BCE | -0.74% | 33.285 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.04% | 24.801 | $ | |
VOD | -0.36% | 9.655 | $ | |
AZN | -0.34% | 76.61 | $ | |
JRI | 0.15% | 13.2 | $ | |
BTI | -0.14% | 35.15 | $ | |
BP | -3.48% | 32.025 | $ |
Let the lava flow! Iceland's volcano show is a hit
In a dark auditorium in Reykjavik, bubbling orange lava flows down a slide to within inches of awe-struck visitors.
The flow, contained on both sides by black sand, lights up the room like a sunrise.
This is the Lava Show, Iceland's latest tourist attraction, that uses reheated lava from a real eruption of the island's Katla volcano more than 100 years ago.
The heat emanating from the molten rock is tangible, so much so that some of the spectators shuffle in their seats to remove their coats.
"This is the show where you get to experience real molten lava flowing inside of a building, intentionally," the Lava Show's Scottish host Iain MacKinnon joked.
The molten liquid sizzled as it hit blocks of ice, crackling like the sound of breaking glass as it cooled.
"It was really beautiful," Jasmine Luong, a 28-year-old Australian tourist from Melbourne told AFP.
"I can see why a lot of people would be drawn to (an eruption), but obviously you wouldn't be able to go near it in a normal natural setting," she added.
"This is a lot safer."
- 'Wow effect' -
There is the same "wow effect" that people get at an eruption site, MacKinnon said.
Hundreds of thousands of curious onlookers have flocked to watch the hypnotising jets of lava at Iceland's Mount Fagradalsfjall after two eruptions over the last year just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Reykjavik.
But not all Icelandic eruptions are safe.
While the lava used in the show retains a hint of sulphur, the dangerous toxic gases that normally emanate from an eruption have dissipated, since the rock has been reheated and melted down so many times.
More than 600 kilos (1,320 pounds) of tephra -- the rocks ejected from Katla, one of Iceland's most dangerous volcanoes, when it last erupted in 1918 -- are used in the Lava Show.
"We heat that up to its melting point, which is around 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,000 Fahrenheit) and then we pour it into the room," said the show's founder Julius Jonsson.
In an adjoining room, a large furnace has been modified to suit the show's needs.
Jonsson's company has run a version of the production in the seafront village of Vik in south Iceland since 2018, but the Reykjavik show only opened last month.
He came up with the idea of a lava show when he was standing atop a glacier watching lava flow from Fimmvorduhals, a small eruption that preceded the massive Eyjafjallajokull one in 2010, whose ash cloud disrupted air traffic and stranded more than 10 million travellers.
Known as the land of fire and ice, Iceland has 33 volcanic systems currently considered active, the highest number in Europe. It has an eruption every five years on average.
"We thought it would be wonderful for Iceland if lava would always be flowing," Jonsson said.
M.García--CPN