Best volcano expedition ever!

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[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuQrUwFn6bU[/youtube]

Volcanoes: Holes in the earth which allow you to look inside!

So much power.

It's amazing to think, we live on top of that stuff. That is what's a few miles beneath our feet everywhere you go on Earth, no matter where you're at.

The mass that produces the gravity that keeps our feet on the ground is made of that stuff.

That stuff stays molten, and has stayed molten for billions of years.

Spinning around in the center of that is a huge iron core, producing a magnetic field that keeps us alive every day, shielding us from cosmic rays from the sun.

...Dude...

I know right?!

Right!

"It's like looking at the surface of the sun" he said. Truly, that just about says it.

And really, that's not far off. I imagine the large gas giant planets have some crazy molten or even fusion-type activity going on at their centers, if even the smaller rocky planets like ours have molten cores. It's not exactly the same thing, but think about all that mass being molten, and staying molten... think about all the energy just percolating in there.

It's almost like, planets are more similar to stars than we realize; just with lower mass, they don't start full-scale fusion reactions, and the crust is able to cool and harden.

Ever seen the movie 2010? (The sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey). Remember Jupiter getting turned into a star?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK_vWRrElGs&feature=youtu.be&t=3m38s[/youtube]

I love the opening of the movie too. When the the first bass note plays of the opening theme, I get goosebumps:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V68pnTJwjQU[/youtube]

Thanks for sharing this. My son is crazy about volcanoes, especially LAVA and anything to do with it. I will share this with him tomorrow (without the sound due to the cursing). He will flip out!