1 00:00:05,760 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Hey, you welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. My 2 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: name is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 3 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Time for a Vault episode. This one originally published on February. 4 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: It's called Sailor on a Sea of Lava. That sounds fun. Yeah, 5 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,239 Speaker 1: let's grab a lava boat, jump on and go for 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: a ride. Welcome. Just about to blow your mind, the 7 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:39,280 Speaker 1: production of My Heart Radio. Hey, welcome to Stuff to 8 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:41,959 Speaker 1: Blow your Mind. My name is Robert Lamb and I'm 9 00:00:42,040 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: Joe McCormick and Robert. Are we gonna be talking about 10 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: hot lava today? Oh? Yeah, yeah, We're definitely gonna be 11 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: talking about hot lava. Um. This was This is an 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:54,440 Speaker 1: episode that I was inspired for us to put together 13 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: because I mean, lava is always cool. Was we'll get 14 00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:59,760 Speaker 1: into in a minute. They're like lava, lakes of lava, 15 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,320 Speaker 1: verse of lava. It pops up in a lot of 16 00:01:02,440 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: our favorite uh science fiction and fantasy franchises, but of 17 00:01:08,120 --> 00:01:12,479 Speaker 1: course in the real world, it's also incredibly interesting. It's uh, 18 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: it's it's there's something almost kind of holy about being 19 00:01:16,360 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: either in the presence of lava or being in places 20 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 1: where lava has recently been and standard terminology insert. The 21 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,160 Speaker 1: term for molten rock when it's still bottled up below 22 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,520 Speaker 1: the Earth's surface is magma, and the exact same stuff 23 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,840 Speaker 1: is called lava once it breaches the surface in an eruption. 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:35,400 Speaker 1: So if it's on the surface of the Earth, basically, 25 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,600 Speaker 1: if you're looking at it, if you're watching it form 26 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: a river across the black fields of rock, it is 27 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,400 Speaker 1: now lava. Right, yes, Now, I recently had the privilege 28 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 1: this just was just last week actually, um, just a 29 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: little over a week ago. I had the privilege of 30 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: getting to hike the Kilauea Ekey Trail in Volcano National 31 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,520 Speaker 1: Park in Hawaii with my family and with some friends. Uh. 32 00:01:59,600 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: This is a that I've done twenty years ago and 33 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: I always wanted to do again. I always wanted to 34 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: you know, be able to bring my my wife on 35 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: the trip, and then you know, bring my son on 36 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: the trip. And Uh, if anyone out there is considering 37 00:02:12,120 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: going to the island of Hawaii, I highly recommend this 38 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,960 Speaker 1: particular walk. It's it's very popular. It's not not a 39 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 1: trade secret or anything. It's a three point three mile loop. 40 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 1: It takes you around down and then straight across Kilauea 41 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:30,760 Speaker 1: Ekey Crater. Uh today just just like you know it 42 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:34,080 Speaker 1: was twenty years ago. It's this beautiful landscape of black 43 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: cracked volcanic terrain um with with vegetation, uh, you know 44 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: at the top. So the hike itself gives you this 45 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,960 Speaker 1: this wonderful transformation. You get to walk through almost this 46 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:47,680 Speaker 1: kind of rainforest setting. Uh. Then you you know, you 47 00:02:47,760 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: go down uh the edge of the crater, and then 48 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,120 Speaker 1: you go into the bottom of the crater where it's 49 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: like another planet. It's it's truly unlike anywhere else I've been, 50 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: just a really unique and beautiful place. One of the 51 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: things I remember that we talked about in our episodes 52 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,840 Speaker 1: on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was about how you 53 00:03:06,919 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: can track sort of the length of time since the 54 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:15,200 Speaker 1: last eruption or or major disturbance by how far vegetation 55 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 1: has re encroached on the on the volcano, and that 56 00:03:18,440 --> 00:03:20,799 Speaker 1: you know, so there was this horrible eruption in what 57 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,320 Speaker 1: was of Vesuvius, and it turned the area around there 58 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,120 Speaker 1: into I'm sure you know, eliminated most life within a 59 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: certain radius from the from the eruption site. But then 60 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:34,000 Speaker 1: you get to see just like over the years, the 61 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 1: trees and all the vegetation just pours back in the 62 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:40,600 Speaker 1: greening of the of the cone. And there's something I 63 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: always found beautiful about that because it's like the trees 64 00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: don't know ya, the tree that it's it's always it's 65 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: It's kind of interesting in both directions because you see 66 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 1: footage of of of the volcanic activity that took place 67 00:03:55,160 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: in this crater back in and you know, you see 68 00:03:59,360 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: the plant the are just hanging out that they don't 69 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 1: you know, they don't care. They're like, I don't know. 70 00:04:03,280 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: I'm still doing Okay, I haven't been the leaves have 71 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:07,920 Speaker 1: not been burnt from me yet, so you will sue 72 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: me in the foreground. And then likewise, you go back 73 00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: there today and you see the you know, the plants 74 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: making their comeback, um, right at the fissure point, right 75 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,799 Speaker 1: at the place where where all of this volcanic activity 76 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,760 Speaker 1: was was happening, where this lava fountain was shooting high 77 00:04:24,800 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: into the sky. It's beautiful. Yeah. So, like I said, 78 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:32,360 Speaker 1: if you go to two Ikey Crater today Kilauea Ekey Crater, 79 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,719 Speaker 1: you can you can walk across it. Uh, you know, 80 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: all perfectly safe. Um. The lava that was underneath your feet, 81 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: it's all completely solid now, we're thought to be. Probably 82 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,159 Speaker 1: has been completely solid since the I think the mid nineties, 83 00:04:46,200 --> 00:04:49,200 Speaker 1: they say. But but all this was different in the past. 84 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:52,880 Speaker 1: Hawaii is, of course a young island formed from five 85 00:04:52,920 --> 00:04:55,839 Speaker 1: separate shield volcanoes. If you were to travel back in 86 00:04:55,920 --> 00:04:58,800 Speaker 1: time a million years, the island wouldn't be there at all. 87 00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: Travel back to the mid nineteen fifties, and this particular 88 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:07,120 Speaker 1: crater was there, but it contained an entire forest at 89 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 1: the bottom of it. Um, and this would have been 90 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,600 Speaker 1: roughly eight hundred feet or two hundred and forty four 91 00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:18,559 Speaker 1: meters down into the crater. But then in nineteen fifty nine, Uh, 92 00:05:18,600 --> 00:05:23,400 Speaker 1: there was this, uh, this eruption event, spectacular eruption from 93 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 1: a half mile fissure in the crater wall. And then 94 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:31,359 Speaker 1: in seventeen separate episodes, lava gushed from this event, lasting 95 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:35,160 Speaker 1: five weeks total, flooding the crater, with lava halfway up 96 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:38,320 Speaker 1: that eight hundred foot crater wall, so forming the the 97 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: iconic set piece of many wonderful movies and video games, 98 00:05:42,680 --> 00:05:46,440 Speaker 1: especially to the Lake of Lava. That's right, um, And 99 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,960 Speaker 1: there's some stunning images of this uh um I included 100 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 1: one in our notes here, Joe. These just come from 101 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: the UH from MPs dot gov. You can you can 102 00:05:57,600 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: look up all sorts of information there about the eruption 103 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:04,040 Speaker 1: and of Kilauea ekey. Uh. There's some great photography. Uh. 104 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:07,080 Speaker 1: There's also some wonderful footage if you go on YouTube 105 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:11,240 Speaker 1: and you look for the eruption of Kilawaa nine nineteen sixty. 106 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 1: This is like a wonderfully old school documentary piece about uh, 107 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: this event with all sorts of just glorious unreal footage 108 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:24,599 Speaker 1: of of of you know, churning lava, spewing lava fountains 109 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: and so forth, which is wonderful to watch either before 110 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:31,599 Speaker 1: or after you, you know, physically visit the crater. I 111 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: also love the dragnet style department of interior seal that 112 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: appears right at the beginning. Yeah, and the the narrator 113 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:41,279 Speaker 1: reminds me of the narrator from a lot of the 114 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,320 Speaker 1: old Walt Disney Goofy shorts, where like Goofy is doing 115 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: different sports, so you expect Goofy to show up at 116 00:06:47,080 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: some point as a volcanologist, but he does not. Gorsh 117 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: that would shore your bones. So anyway, this is a 118 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: spectacular event. A fountain of lava shot her feet into 119 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,719 Speaker 1: the air, dropping gouts of magna at times the size 120 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: of bathtubs. Are described as being the size of bathtubs, 121 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: and the resulting lake a lava was was most impressive. 122 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: I've seen it described in park literature as a quote 123 00:07:13,960 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: churning lava lake. Eventually enough lava filled the crater that 124 00:07:17,840 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: the crack was covered up. Then the molten lava drain 125 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: back into the vent at a speed four times faster 126 00:07:23,920 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: than it filled. Uh. The National Park Service describes this 127 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,320 Speaker 1: occurrence as quote a noisy whirlpool of red hot liquid 128 00:07:31,440 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: lava and black slabs of solid rock metal. Yeah. I mean, 129 00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:38,920 Speaker 1: it didn't get any more metal than this. Um. And 130 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: there's actually footage in that video I mentioned where you 131 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: get to see a shot of a of a lava 132 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:49,880 Speaker 1: of vortex um and it's it's it's pretty it's pretty impressive. 133 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:52,800 Speaker 1: So even though if you visit this particular location today 134 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: you don't get to um, you know, you don't get 135 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: to see this this impressive lake of lava any greater 136 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,880 Speaker 1: you can you can imagine it, like the endscape still 137 00:08:00,880 --> 00:08:04,559 Speaker 1: speaks of it. Uh, the landscape looks like the top 138 00:08:04,640 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: of of of of a sheet of brownies, you know, 139 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,240 Speaker 1: that is cooled and has therefore um um, you know 140 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: broken as it's kind of collapsed, because that's essentially what 141 00:08:14,120 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: happened with the with the lake of lava as this uh, 142 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 1: as the surface drops down and cracks open. Uh, it's 143 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,720 Speaker 1: it's just a wonderful, dynamic landscape that that not only 144 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,440 Speaker 1: I mean, on one level it feels like a place 145 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,840 Speaker 1: that is not Earth, But on another level, it's like 146 00:08:30,840 --> 00:08:35,040 Speaker 1: it's this wonderful almost holy insight into like just how 147 00:08:35,160 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: dynamic the planet is and how alive our planet is. 148 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,840 Speaker 1: Now to sort of get to the point of the episode, though, 149 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:45,640 Speaker 1: I guess, yeah, the idea of a lake of lava, 150 00:08:45,800 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: a sea of lava, or you know, certainly think of 151 00:08:48,040 --> 00:08:53,520 Speaker 1: any footage you've you've seen of lava flows when when 152 00:08:53,640 --> 00:08:57,680 Speaker 1: rock becomes more or less like a liquid, we can't 153 00:08:57,720 --> 00:09:01,720 Speaker 1: help but imagine the fantastic possibility these right ships, uh, 154 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: sailing on a sea of lava, boats riding rivers of fire, 155 00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: cartoon characters surfing down lava on some sort of fantastic surfboard. 156 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:15,040 Speaker 1: I think one of the most um you know, obvious 157 00:09:15,040 --> 00:09:18,520 Speaker 1: and perhaps outrageous examples that I can think too comes 158 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: from the first season of The Mandalorian, the Star Wars 159 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,079 Speaker 1: television series, in which we see our heroes ride a 160 00:09:24,160 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 1: droid piloted barge down a subterranean canal of lava, which 161 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:30,640 Speaker 1: I think is also supposed to be part of like 162 00:09:30,640 --> 00:09:34,040 Speaker 1: the sewage system. I'm not sure exactly how this uh, 163 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 1: how this planet um is really using. It's it's lava here, 164 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: but it's it's a fun it's a fun steam like 165 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:43,240 Speaker 1: within the fantasy of the show. It's it's really cool. 166 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: It's very you know, it's very hellish. It's kind of like, uh, 167 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,599 Speaker 1: you know, the river sticks meets lava and and and 168 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,760 Speaker 1: here's here's some sort of a ridiculous droid, you know, 169 00:09:52,840 --> 00:09:56,160 Speaker 1: in the in the back of the barge pushing it along. Um. 170 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,680 Speaker 1: And then I guess this sort of thing happens in 171 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,680 Speaker 1: a lot of video game So I'm thinking, like, surely 172 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: this happens in Mario, right, Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. In 173 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: Super Mario sixty four there's there's at least a couple 174 00:10:08,080 --> 00:10:11,160 Speaker 1: of levels with things floating around in lava, and the 175 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:13,200 Speaker 1: one for the Super Nintendo I think also when you 176 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 1: get towards the end, closer to Bowser's palace, there's there's 177 00:10:16,840 --> 00:10:19,520 Speaker 1: stuff floating around in lava a lot. Yeah, it just 178 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 1: makes sense. You gotta have your you gotta have your 179 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: lava levels, and just about any video game it's bad 180 00:10:24,960 --> 00:10:27,160 Speaker 1: guy stuff. Yeah, it's bad guys, say. I mean, you 181 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:28,920 Speaker 1: look at other movies where where does the bad guy 182 00:10:29,000 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: build his layer? And it's in a volcano of course? Right. Um. 183 00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:35,680 Speaker 1: We even talked about one recently on Weird House Cinema. 184 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:40,199 Speaker 1: There was the Hercules movie where we had we had 185 00:10:40,240 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: the villain using a hideout in a volcano, and of 186 00:10:43,960 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: course the final showdown takes place within the volcano over 187 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:49,520 Speaker 1: a lake of lava. Oh yeah, what was the funny 188 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:53,000 Speaker 1: thing about the sword there or something? Oh, there were 189 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 1: multiple funny things going on, but yeah, that they had 190 00:10:55,400 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: that was where the rainbow sword, well, you know he 191 00:10:57,679 --> 00:10:59,520 Speaker 1: had a rainbow sword, and then there was the sword 192 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: that had that was holding the phoenix in place. There 193 00:11:02,559 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 1: was a lot going on in that particular volcanic layer. 194 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: Now I was looking around for other examples of this 195 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,600 Speaker 1: sort of trope. I went to TV tropes dot com, 196 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:12,280 Speaker 1: which is always a fun place to bruise this sort 197 00:11:12,280 --> 00:11:15,560 Speaker 1: of thing. I was reminded that. Um, in The Hobbit 198 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: The Desolation of Smog, this being the second Hobbit film 199 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,000 Speaker 1: from Peter Jackson, there's a scene where Thorn rides a 200 00:11:22,040 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: wheelbarrow on molten gold, um, you know, sort of surfing 201 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:28,520 Speaker 1: in it. I I had completely forgotten about this whole 202 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:32,240 Speaker 1: this whole sequence in the movie where they add this 203 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:35,040 Speaker 1: bit where they try to defeed the dragon by uh 204 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: covering him with molten gold. Oh, I don't remember that either. 205 00:11:39,360 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: I did see that movie somehow. Yeah, I just saw 206 00:11:42,040 --> 00:11:44,280 Speaker 1: it last year and I kind of blanked out on 207 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: all this. But then after I read about it, like, okay, 208 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: I vaguely remember that because it's kind of a pretty 209 00:11:48,480 --> 00:11:50,679 Speaker 1: scene where the dragon gets covered in gold, but then 210 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:53,079 Speaker 1: it cracks the gold and he's free from the gold. 211 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:56,079 Speaker 1: They ripped that straight out of the end of Alien three, 212 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:59,840 Speaker 1: that's right. Yeah, what did they cover liquid lad or something? Yeah? Yeah, 213 00:11:59,840 --> 00:12:02,040 Speaker 1: it's the lead works and they cover the alien and 214 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: I guess it's lead. It's some kind of molten metal, 215 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:06,040 Speaker 1: and then you think it's dead, but then it just 216 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: jumps out. Oh yeah, it certainly wasn't in the book. 217 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:12,680 Speaker 1: I don't remember that in the Hobbit novel at all. No. Well, 218 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:15,360 Speaker 1: I also don't remember in the Hobbit novel. In the novel, 219 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 1: did they like ride barrels down the river? Is that 220 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: in there? Yeah, they did ride barrels. I do remember 221 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,679 Speaker 1: the barrel the row where they wrote in barrels. They 222 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: were kind of I think everybody was ever the bilbo 223 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:28,080 Speaker 1: was like sealed up, and then I think they were all, 224 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: you know, pretty seasick in there. But um, but I 225 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:34,280 Speaker 1: do remember that happening now. I also read on TV 226 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: Tropes that there's a there's a book in the Culture 227 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:39,040 Speaker 1: series by an In Banks, so I look to Windward, 228 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: which is what I have, but I haven't read yet. 229 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 1: It's apparently mentioned that lava rafting is an extreme sport 230 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:49,520 Speaker 1: that citizens of the Culture participate in on unfinished habitats. 231 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:53,040 Speaker 1: So it sounds that sounds on brand with the sort 232 00:12:53,080 --> 00:12:55,760 Speaker 1: of thing that people of the culture would do. It's 233 00:12:55,760 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 1: a moderately extreme sport. Yeah, yeah. Now. Thing that's worth 234 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:03,400 Speaker 1: pointing out about about these examples and plenty of other examples, 235 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,080 Speaker 1: is that very often, whether you're playing a video game 236 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: or watching a movie, you find something kind of interesting 237 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:14,080 Speaker 1: about molten lava in in fiction, molten lava only seems 238 00:13:14,160 --> 00:13:17,280 Speaker 1: dangerous if you come into physical contact with it. So 239 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: if you fall into it or um or it's poured 240 00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,480 Speaker 1: over you that sort of resinc you know, into the 241 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:26,440 Speaker 1: lake of lava, then you're doomed. But if you're just 242 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: standing next to it or in close proximity to it, 243 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:31,880 Speaker 1: you're fine, which of course would not be the case 244 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: because lava is extremely hot, as we'll get into in 245 00:13:35,080 --> 00:13:38,640 Speaker 1: this episode. Yeah, that is funny. Is so they treated 246 00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:40,920 Speaker 1: as like it's like Hollywood acid. It's as if it 247 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,720 Speaker 1: only harms you by direct contact chemical reaction. But of course, 248 00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 1: you know, a real lake of lava or river flowing 249 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:51,400 Speaker 1: molten lava that would be so hot that it is 250 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:55,320 Speaker 1: superheating the air directly above it. So like that would 251 00:13:55,360 --> 00:13:57,559 Speaker 1: be you know, being above a lake of lava. I 252 00:13:57,559 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: don't know exactly how hot it would be, but it 253 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:01,960 Speaker 1: would be to some extent like getting right next to 254 00:14:01,960 --> 00:14:05,480 Speaker 1: a heating element of a broiler. Yeah, yeah, we're talking 255 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: pretty hot, and we'll bust out some temperatures here in 256 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: a bit. But it's it's a fire guy from sort 257 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: of the floor is lava scenario, whether you're talking about 258 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: the Netflix game show or just the good old fashioned 259 00:14:16,800 --> 00:14:21,040 Speaker 1: childhood version of this where the floor is now we're 260 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,880 Speaker 1: imagining it is lava, and you can as long as 261 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,080 Speaker 1: you don't touch it, you're fine. If you make the 262 00:14:26,160 --> 00:14:29,720 Speaker 1: jump from from the love seat to the couch without 263 00:14:29,720 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: touching the floor, then you're fine. I think the more 264 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: if you want to play the same game, but you 265 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:35,400 Speaker 1: want it to be more accurate, it should be like 266 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,200 Speaker 1: the floor is spikes. There you go, you know, like spikes. 267 00:14:38,200 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: They don't hurt you unless you actually like get on 268 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: them and put your weight on them. What kind of 269 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: gory kids are playing the floor is spikes? Though, you 270 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:52,280 Speaker 1: know somehow it's worse. It's worse. I want my kids 271 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:57,640 Speaker 1: imagining wholesome charring down to the bone, complete just incineration 272 00:14:57,720 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: of their flesh turning into a puff of carbon that 273 00:15:00,680 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: goes up into the air. You know. One of the 274 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: weird things about this is that I know that Flora's 275 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: Lava is the most popular of the childhood games. Did 276 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: you play Flora's Lava as a child? Oh? Absolutely, I 277 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: mean I don't know if most often we said it 278 00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:15,600 Speaker 1: was lava or we said that it was like, you know, 279 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: swamp water with alligators in it or or whatever. But 280 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,920 Speaker 1: we definitely played the games of can't touch the floor, 281 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: got to stay on the furniture because it is some 282 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,920 Speaker 1: kind of hazard. See, we would often do and I 283 00:15:26,960 --> 00:15:28,640 Speaker 1: have no idea where we got this. We would do 284 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: the floor as a never ending pit. And I'm not 285 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:32,760 Speaker 1: sure where we got the idea of a never ending 286 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:36,480 Speaker 1: pit from. I'm trying to think back on, well, what 287 00:15:36,480 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: what would I have been watching at the time, Like 288 00:15:38,400 --> 00:15:41,080 Speaker 1: what movies had a never ending pit in them? And 289 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:44,720 Speaker 1: I don't really remember what specifically we could be referring 290 00:15:44,720 --> 00:15:47,040 Speaker 1: to their this the version of the game played by 291 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: a philosopher's child, you know, the real threat to them 292 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,160 Speaker 1: is that they'll fall forever and be a left alone 293 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: with their thoughts. Well, I would think about this. Maybe 294 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: it had something, you know, maybe it had something to 295 00:15:56,480 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: do with the Masters of the Universe movie where there's 296 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,960 Speaker 1: like a never ending it underneath Eternia, or it's supposed 297 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:03,560 Speaker 1: to be never ending pit. I don't know, even though 298 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: if they describe it as such, or maybe I just 299 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:07,880 Speaker 1: had this idea of a never ending pit in my 300 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:10,560 Speaker 1: head and just assume that that's what it was. You know, 301 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: we're really getting on a tangent. But I will say 302 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,120 Speaker 1: I think a lot of the terror of the idea 303 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:17,440 Speaker 1: of a bottomless pit comes at the idea of people 304 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: imagining the very beginning of a fall, where you're accelerating 305 00:16:20,640 --> 00:16:23,600 Speaker 1: towards terminal velocity, and it's that feeling if you're going 306 00:16:23,640 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: faster and faster as you fall down, and it's really scary, 307 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,400 Speaker 1: but actually pretty quickly you hit terminal velocity and then 308 00:16:29,440 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: you would you would basically equalize, so the acceleration stops, 309 00:16:32,520 --> 00:16:34,840 Speaker 1: and then you're just floating in the air forever. So 310 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: it is like a it is like a sensory deprivation 311 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: tank that you just get to stay in for for 312 00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:42,720 Speaker 1: the rest of your life. Well, anyway, we should keep 313 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: going on this, but uh, but I thought that this 314 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: all might be a good place to jump off and 315 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: talk about the idea of lava boats, both in terms 316 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: of what we might loosely think of as actual lava boats, 317 00:16:54,320 --> 00:16:56,480 Speaker 1: and we'll break that down a little bit, but we'll 318 00:16:56,520 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: also even get into some considerations of what could be 319 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:04,200 Speaker 1: stable if you were just really insistent on on creating 320 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:08,240 Speaker 1: a human constructed vessel that can withstand a lake of lava. Well, 321 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:10,119 Speaker 1: how might you go about that? We'll get into that 322 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:18,800 Speaker 1: as well. Thank thank now, Rob. I know that what 323 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,120 Speaker 1: you have in mind when you say a lava boat 324 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:23,720 Speaker 1: is what we're talking about, is a boat that can 325 00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,840 Speaker 1: float on lava. But my brain went in a different 326 00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:31,240 Speaker 1: direction with this, which was not a boat floating in lava, 327 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:35,240 Speaker 1: but a boat made of lava or more specifically, of 328 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:39,399 Speaker 1: a type of volcanic rock known as pummice. Will you 329 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 1: go on this strange journey with me? Oh? Yeah, I mean, 330 00:17:42,040 --> 00:17:44,399 Speaker 1: when you decided to do a whole episode about lava boats, 331 00:17:44,480 --> 00:17:46,959 Speaker 1: you take what you can get. This is kind of 332 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:50,320 Speaker 1: this is kind of the This American Life, um uh 333 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: principle of podcasting. You know, you know an American and 334 00:17:54,359 --> 00:17:56,680 Speaker 1: This American Life. You know, they're gonna have a certain 335 00:17:56,720 --> 00:17:58,879 Speaker 1: theme and not every segment of the episode is going 336 00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,679 Speaker 1: to really match up one with whatever that theme happens 337 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 1: to be. But but you know, it's a it's a 338 00:18:04,359 --> 00:18:07,000 Speaker 1: guiding principle for the episode. Well, I think this one 339 00:18:07,040 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: puts us in places that are that are just as 340 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,760 Speaker 1: awesome and weird as looking at the lake of lava 341 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 1: and imagining floating on it. Let's do it. Let's go there. Okay. 342 00:18:15,119 --> 00:18:19,720 Speaker 1: So pummice is a very unique and interesting rock which 343 00:18:19,760 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: has the strange distinction of being so low in density 344 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,920 Speaker 1: that it can often actually float on the surface of water. 345 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: If you you may have observed this yourself, if you 346 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:34,159 Speaker 1: ever had like a pumice stone in the bathtub or something. 347 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:36,119 Speaker 1: But if you've never seen this, you can look up 348 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,040 Speaker 1: plenty of video. It exists all over the internet, or 349 00:18:39,119 --> 00:18:40,920 Speaker 1: you can even try it for yourself. You can get 350 00:18:40,920 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: a handful of pumice stones, throw them into a bathtub 351 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,000 Speaker 1: or you know, tub of water, sink full of water, 352 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,800 Speaker 1: and there's a very good chance that they will float 353 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,160 Speaker 1: like styrofoam, though you may get some duds. I think 354 00:18:52,200 --> 00:18:55,480 Speaker 1: not all pumice stones float, but a lot do. Now 355 00:18:55,720 --> 00:19:00,159 Speaker 1: quite famously, almost all rocks sink in water. So how 356 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:02,919 Speaker 1: why is this one different? How does this rock end 357 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,119 Speaker 1: up being the one that is able to float on 358 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 1: the water surface. Well, pummice is a type of igneous rock, 359 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: igneous meaning formed in fire. So this is a rock 360 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,840 Speaker 1: that's usually a byproduct of violent or explosive volcanic eruptions. 361 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: And I say violent or explosive as opposed to the slower, 362 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:26,919 Speaker 1: more gentle volcanic eruptions that you would typically see producing 363 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,040 Speaker 1: the things we've been talking about, you know, the rivers 364 00:19:29,080 --> 00:19:32,120 Speaker 1: of molten lava on the surface, or the stuff you'd 365 00:19:32,119 --> 00:19:34,359 Speaker 1: see in the famous lava lake footage from Hawaii. A 366 00:19:34,400 --> 00:19:37,080 Speaker 1: lot of the Hawaiian eruptions we we picture are are 367 00:19:37,119 --> 00:19:40,399 Speaker 1: the more gentle types of eruptions, but more explosive or 368 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:43,600 Speaker 1: violent volcanic eruptions, which those are the ones you'll typically 369 00:19:43,640 --> 00:19:46,480 Speaker 1: see producing more of a kind of uh an ash 370 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 1: cloud like a column rising into the sky. Very sudden 371 00:19:49,359 --> 00:19:53,239 Speaker 1: eruptions um that these are more likely to release a 372 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:57,480 Speaker 1: lot of pummice. I think. Another characteristic of pumice forming 373 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,600 Speaker 1: eruptions is that they tend to happen in places where 374 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:04,320 Speaker 1: the magma is richer in silica, which tends to make 375 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:07,520 Speaker 1: it more viscous. So you can think about the different 376 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,200 Speaker 1: kinds of magma here. The magma that leads to a 377 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:14,160 Speaker 1: highly pumus forming eruption is usually going to be thicker 378 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,240 Speaker 1: or stickier magma. But how does it turn into a 379 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: rock that can float? So if you imagine molten rock 380 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: trapped underneath the Earth's surface. This magma down there is 381 00:20:26,560 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: actually not just composed of melted rock. It also contains 382 00:20:31,560 --> 00:20:36,320 Speaker 1: various fluids in solution, so it might contain dissolved water, 383 00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: vapor or c O two sometimes I think sulfur dioxide, 384 00:20:40,880 --> 00:20:45,439 Speaker 1: and these gases are are all kept dissolved in the 385 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 1: magma because the magma is under very high pressure. It's 386 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,840 Speaker 1: underneath the ground. So you can think about the way 387 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,280 Speaker 1: that the CEO two dissolved in a carbonated beverage stays 388 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,640 Speaker 1: in solution until the can or the bottle is opened, 389 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,760 Speaker 1: and then the release of pressure allows some of that 390 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,240 Speaker 1: CEO too to start coming out of solution, turning back 391 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,120 Speaker 1: into gas, and to start, you know, it starts floating 392 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:11,120 Speaker 1: to the top of the drink in the form of bubbles. 393 00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:15,159 Speaker 1: That's because you have undone the pressure of the closed container. 394 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 1: And it turns out that the process leading to the 395 00:21:17,640 --> 00:21:20,479 Speaker 1: formation of pum us during a volcanic eruption is actually 396 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:24,400 Speaker 1: pretty similar to what happens when you open a carbonated beverage, 397 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: except it involves an extra step, which is sort of 398 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: the freezing of that that frothing foamy product. So the 399 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: process goes like this, You've got magma trapped beneath the 400 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,120 Speaker 1: earth surface, and it's got all this gas dissolved in it, 401 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: and the gas again is kept in solution by high pressure, 402 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:44,119 Speaker 1: and then there is a volcanic eruption in effect that 403 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: the soda can is opened. The magma rushes to the 404 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: surface where there is rapid de pressure ization. And now 405 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 1: because the pressure is lower, the dissolved CO two and 406 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,960 Speaker 1: water and other gases they bolt from solution and they 407 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,480 Speaker 1: start wanting to turn turn into gas, forming into bubbles. 408 00:22:02,520 --> 00:22:04,960 Speaker 1: But at the very same time that the pressure is 409 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: relieved and the gas wants to come out of solution 410 00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 1: and turn into bubbles, the magma is also cooling really rapidly. 411 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:15,760 Speaker 1: In effect, it is freezing the rock in place, and 412 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: so what you end up with is a rock that 413 00:22:18,240 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: is filled with what geologists called vesicles. These are little 414 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:26,840 Speaker 1: bubbles and hollows created by the depressurized gases that are 415 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 1: sort of locked into crystal and form because the rock 416 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: was cooling rapidly at the same time that all these 417 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 1: bubbles were forming, and what you get is a rock 418 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:39,160 Speaker 1: that's sort of the rock equivalent of if you took 419 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,240 Speaker 1: the foamy head of a beer and froze it. Yeah, 420 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,080 Speaker 1: and you know this is this is something you can 421 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:49,480 Speaker 1: actually if you were to pick up various lava rocks, 422 00:22:49,520 --> 00:22:51,960 Speaker 1: you'll find that they are lighter than you might think 423 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:54,640 Speaker 1: for this very reason because they have all of these 424 00:22:54,680 --> 00:22:58,040 Speaker 1: little little hollow pockets in them. Uh, you know, there 425 00:22:58,080 --> 00:23:01,119 Speaker 1: were essentially, you know, little pockets of gas. Yes, though, 426 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:03,280 Speaker 1: though of course you can end up with very different 427 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,240 Speaker 1: kinds of lava rock, but a lot of them are 428 00:23:05,320 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: like this, Yeah, that they they've got this this lower 429 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: density than other types of rock, I think, But it 430 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: depends on a lot of It depends on like the 431 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: composition of the magma, the conditions under which the lava 432 00:23:17,680 --> 00:23:20,200 Speaker 1: cooled once it was on the surface, and things like that. 433 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:21,639 Speaker 1: So so you can end up with a lot of 434 00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,480 Speaker 1: different products. But pummice is one of these, and pummice 435 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: is is very low density. So you can end up 436 00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:30,960 Speaker 1: with this very low density rock that it's that's full 437 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,159 Speaker 1: of these little vesicles that allow it to float on 438 00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,879 Speaker 1: the surface of the water. Uh though though I do 439 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,639 Speaker 1: think over time pummice tends to get water logged and 440 00:23:39,720 --> 00:23:41,840 Speaker 1: lose its buoyancy, but that can take a long time. 441 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:44,159 Speaker 1: So you can get a pummice rock that you know, 442 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: it remains buoyant for for years after after the time 443 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: it's created. But anyway, coming back around to the idea 444 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,560 Speaker 1: of lava boats, I think the really amazing thing about 445 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,320 Speaker 1: the ability of pummice to float is that when large 446 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: masses of pumice are all formed together, they can all 447 00:24:02,320 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: float together, leading to a phenomenon known as pummice rafts. So, 448 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:10,480 Speaker 1: as one example of this, I was looking at a 449 00:24:10,520 --> 00:24:15,520 Speaker 1: BBC article from twenty nineteen called vast pummice raft found 450 00:24:15,640 --> 00:24:19,440 Speaker 1: drifting through Pacific Ocean. Yeah, this is really encreidly and 451 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:23,840 Speaker 1: includes footage that is also quite quite fascinating. Oh yeah, 452 00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: well we'll get to that in a second. So in 453 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: August of twenty nineteen, there were some Australian sailors that 454 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:35,080 Speaker 1: reported the discovery of a gigantic raft of floating pumice 455 00:24:35,119 --> 00:24:38,040 Speaker 1: stones in the Pacific Ocean. This was out on the 456 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:42,000 Speaker 1: open sea east of Fiji, and the story is that 457 00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: it was a couple of Australian sailors who were traveling 458 00:24:45,160 --> 00:24:50,639 Speaker 1: between islands in a catamaran and they accidentally piloted into 459 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:53,880 Speaker 1: this field of floating stones in the middle of the night. 460 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: So I think that they didn't see what they were 461 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,520 Speaker 1: getting into, but then they realized something was up, and 462 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 1: the the raft of stones apparently slowed the vessel down 463 00:25:02,880 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: and greatly reduced the wave action on the surface of 464 00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:10,159 Speaker 1: the water. And the sailors investigated. They looked out in 465 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:12,639 Speaker 1: the moonlight and they shine their spotlight to try to 466 00:25:12,680 --> 00:25:16,360 Speaker 1: see what was going on, and saw this rock field 467 00:25:16,560 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: in the water that extended as far as they could see. 468 00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:23,399 Speaker 1: And at first the pummice jammed their rudder, so it 469 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:25,160 Speaker 1: made it hard for them to steer, and they thought 470 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:27,240 Speaker 1: they might be stuck, but eventually they were able to 471 00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: get out of the raft zone. And when you hear 472 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 1: the dimensions of this thing, and especially when you see 473 00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 1: what a giant pumice raft looks like, you can imagine 474 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:40,560 Speaker 1: how strange and frightening of an experience this might have been. 475 00:25:41,480 --> 00:25:43,960 Speaker 1: So at the time of the article, it was estimated 476 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:46,679 Speaker 1: that this pummice raft was about a hundred and fifty 477 00:25:47,200 --> 00:25:51,080 Speaker 1: square kilometers or fifty eight square miles, which the article 478 00:25:51,160 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: says is roughly equivalent to twenty thousand football fields, though 479 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,920 Speaker 1: this is BBC, so I think that is what we 480 00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: would we would call soccer not football, well, it's still 481 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,880 Speaker 1: soccer fields and amazing. I was looking up countries by 482 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,440 Speaker 1: land area for comparison, and so this raft would indeed 483 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: be larger than a bunch of the world's smallest countries. 484 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,960 Speaker 1: It's roughly the same area as the British Virgin Islands 485 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:22,880 Speaker 1: or Liechtenstein. But there are various videos you can look 486 00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:26,400 Speaker 1: up taken from people on boats who have gotten into 487 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:27,960 Speaker 1: one of these rafts, and by the way, that is 488 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:30,600 Speaker 1: not recommended. Multiple sources I was looking at were saying 489 00:26:30,600 --> 00:26:34,639 Speaker 1: that sailing into a pumus raft area can be dangerous 490 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,440 Speaker 1: and advising people not to try it. But people had 491 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: taken video of this, and it's almost too weird to describe. 492 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 1: One video I found that was, you know, relinked all 493 00:26:44,760 --> 00:26:48,360 Speaker 1: over the internet. It looks like the ship is sitting 494 00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:53,639 Speaker 1: in an enormous desert or gravel parking lot, except the 495 00:26:53,680 --> 00:26:57,520 Speaker 1: parking lot extends all the way to the horizon and 496 00:26:57,800 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: it is undulating with way is like the ocean, because 497 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,880 Speaker 1: it is the ocean. Just absolutely hallucinogenic apocalyptic imagery. If 498 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,600 Speaker 1: you can just imagine a moving, rippling parking lot that 499 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:13,479 Speaker 1: goes as far as you can see. Yeah, I mean 500 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: it's almost it's like they sailed into a tool video 501 00:27:15,880 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: or something. It's and it does seem to stretch to 502 00:27:18,960 --> 00:27:21,160 Speaker 1: the horizon. It's just yeah, it's like it's it's if 503 00:27:21,280 --> 00:27:23,840 Speaker 1: you can imagine the sun coming up and you find 504 00:27:23,840 --> 00:27:26,399 Speaker 1: yourself in this boat on such a sea. It's like 505 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 1: something out of a rhyme of the ancient mariner. Oh 506 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,160 Speaker 1: totally like, yeah, you just want to get out of here. 507 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,879 Speaker 1: Unhand me, gray Beard loon um. But according to this 508 00:27:34,960 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: BBC report, the geoscientists that they consulted said that the 509 00:27:38,760 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: pumics raft discovered in August nineteen was probably created by 510 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: the eruption of an underwater volcano near Tonga earlier that month, 511 00:27:49,960 --> 00:27:53,200 Speaker 1: and the rocks in this raft very greatly in size. 512 00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:55,520 Speaker 1: A lot of them appear to be sort of marble 513 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,560 Speaker 1: or pebble sized, but others are big, you know, the 514 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: size of basketballs. And another weird thing is that this 515 00:28:01,960 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: is apparently not even that unusual. The article sites a 516 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:09,920 Speaker 1: professor named Scott Brian of the Queensland University of Technology 517 00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 1: saying that big pummice rafts like this appear roughly once 518 00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:17,159 Speaker 1: every five years or so in the area due to 519 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: volcanic eruptions, and he interestingly links pumice rafts to historical 520 00:28:23,960 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: reports of islands in the ocean that people spot on 521 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:30,960 Speaker 1: one journey but then later say they can't find again 522 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:34,000 Speaker 1: when they returned to the same place. So possibly some 523 00:28:34,119 --> 00:28:37,880 Speaker 1: of these observations were actually not land but floating rafts 524 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: of low density rock. That's fascinating because we we've discussed 525 00:28:42,080 --> 00:28:46,680 Speaker 1: on past in past episodes about how various mirages and 526 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:51,840 Speaker 1: optical effects can can lead to the miss identification of 527 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,160 Speaker 1: of islands where there are no islands. But but here's 528 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,520 Speaker 1: another possibility, at least for for some reasons of the 529 00:28:57,520 --> 00:29:00,400 Speaker 1: world right especially in the Pacific, and like these these 530 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:04,880 Speaker 1: volcanic chain areas. Now, these rafts don't last forever. They 531 00:29:04,920 --> 00:29:08,360 Speaker 1: disintegrate over time. They probably break up into smaller and 532 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:11,880 Speaker 1: smaller clusters and then end up either sinking or being 533 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: deposited on shores. But yeah, it's a truly stunning active 534 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: planet Earth to to see these things. And I know 535 00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:23,880 Speaker 1: what you're all wondering, And I know you're thinking, Okay, 536 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:27,000 Speaker 1: since we're on the subject of lava boats, you're thinking, 537 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,960 Speaker 1: could a pumice raft function as an actual raft function? 538 00:29:31,040 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: As a boat for me, Like could I walk on it? 539 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,880 Speaker 1: Could I travel on it? And I think generally like 540 00:29:37,960 --> 00:29:40,640 Speaker 1: that would be the It seems like they're the perfect scenario, 541 00:29:40,800 --> 00:29:44,360 Speaker 1: right right, So from everything I can tell, the answer 542 00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:48,200 Speaker 1: to this is almost always no. I did find a 543 00:29:48,240 --> 00:29:52,480 Speaker 1: few pictures of scientists, uh the sort of appearing to 544 00:29:52,520 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: trudge around on a pumice raft and what looks like 545 00:29:55,360 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: very shallow water, but I couldn't tell what was going on. 546 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: There may be some kind of special all condition involved 547 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 1: in this one scenario. In general, I think most pumus 548 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,320 Speaker 1: rafts will no more support your weight than would a 549 00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:10,360 Speaker 1: floating clump of cheetos on the surface of a swimming pool. 550 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:12,440 Speaker 1: It's just like you just go right through it, So 551 00:30:12,560 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 1: don't try it. I think what would really be necessary 552 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:17,280 Speaker 1: in order for it to support you would be some 553 00:30:17,320 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: way for it to like all be held together into 554 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,240 Speaker 1: a single mass. But this is like, you know, it's 555 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: like floating packing peanuts. It's just like there's nothing to 556 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:29,120 Speaker 1: like form a solid floor for you. Yeah, you'd have 557 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,440 Speaker 1: to somehow like like lash it all together, I guess, right, Yeah, 558 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: And well, even if you were able to do that, 559 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:38,959 Speaker 1: I might worry that it's not rigid enough, so like 560 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,479 Speaker 1: it could turn into like a death trap, Like you 561 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: just jump into a tarp that's on the water surface 562 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: and it closes around you. Yeah, that sounds that sounds horrifying. 563 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: But but but just because the raft won't support anything 564 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: the size and density of a human being doesn't mean 565 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: that these don't carry other biological passengers. And in fact, 566 00:30:59,120 --> 00:31:02,760 Speaker 1: there is plenty of evidence that pumice rafts do exactly that, 567 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: that they may serve as a fast dispersal mechanism for 568 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 1: many kinds of smaller life forms, especially marine life spreading 569 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,720 Speaker 1: between different zones of the ocean and UH from coastal 570 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: regions to other coastal regions, sort of island to island, 571 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: for example, I was looking at one paper by Brian 572 00:31:22,280 --> 00:31:24,160 Speaker 1: at All. I think this is actually Scott Bryan, the 573 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,760 Speaker 1: same researcher who was cited in that BBC article, but 574 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: a bunch of other authors published in pl Os one 575 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: in called rapid long distance dispersal by pumice rafting. And 576 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: here the author's note that actually pumice rafts make a 577 00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: wonderful agent for transporting a big variety of marine organisms 578 00:31:47,800 --> 00:31:50,840 Speaker 1: from one place to another. UH for a number of reasons. 579 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,000 Speaker 1: I mean, they've got these little vesicles in them, all, 580 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: these little hollows and holes and bubbles which make a 581 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: great place for tiny organisms and larvae of larger organisms 582 00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:05,400 Speaker 1: to hide from predators while they're being transported across the water. 583 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:08,680 Speaker 1: But anyway, they write, quote here we report on a 584 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,840 Speaker 1: significant recent pummice rafting and long distance dispersal event that 585 00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 1: occurred across the Southwest Pacific following the two thousand and 586 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: six explosive eruption of home Reef volcano in Tonga uh 587 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:23,600 Speaker 1: And they say, according to their their research, they found 588 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:28,040 Speaker 1: more than eighty species and a substantial biomass underwent a 589 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 1: more than five thousand kilometer journey in seven to eight 590 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: months by by way of this pummice raft. And so 591 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: that they include like some photos of pieces of pumice 592 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: salvaged from from some of these floating rafts. And it's 593 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 1: funny how much life that they're just coated with by 594 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:47,800 Speaker 1: the end. Like, so they have these photos where they 595 00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: identify all the different life forms that are clinging to 596 00:32:50,680 --> 00:32:58,840 Speaker 1: these floating rocks. They've got braz Owen's anemones, mollusks, goose, barnacles, corals, cyanobacteria, 597 00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,440 Speaker 1: macro algae, uh, some other things. I don't even know 598 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,360 Speaker 1: how to pronounce it. Like these can become sort of 599 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,440 Speaker 1: these these rafts of life going from place to place. Yeah, 600 00:33:10,480 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: these are these are impressive, Like all this just a 601 00:33:12,640 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: created life on the rock. And I found another interesting relationship. 602 00:33:17,280 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 1: This one just hypothetical, I mean the previous Like, it 603 00:33:19,920 --> 00:33:23,440 Speaker 1: is clear that these pumice rafts actually do harbor plenty 604 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 1: of life forms and transport them around in the ocean. 605 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:30,920 Speaker 1: But another interesting hypothesis is that floating rafts of pumice 606 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:35,920 Speaker 1: could possibly have been a good environment for the the 607 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:39,680 Speaker 1: origins of life on Earth. This has argued, for example, 608 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,040 Speaker 1: in a paper I was looking at from the journal 609 00:33:42,080 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: Astrobiology by Martin D. Brazier. At all Brazier, I think, 610 00:33:46,400 --> 00:33:50,440 Speaker 1: is a professor at Oxford University, and the paper is 611 00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:54,000 Speaker 1: called pummics as a Remarkable substrate for the origin of life. 612 00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:56,720 Speaker 1: And essentially the authors here argue that floating rafts of 613 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: pumice actually meet a lot of the criteria that we 614 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:02,560 Speaker 1: would expect for the place for life to first evolve 615 00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:06,280 Speaker 1: on Earth. Uh. They give a number of reasons, they say, uh, 616 00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,480 Speaker 1: related to the physical properties of pummis itself. So just 617 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,640 Speaker 1: reading from their abstract, they give four reasons. They say, first, 618 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:18,040 Speaker 1: during eruption, it develops the highest surface area to volume 619 00:34:18,120 --> 00:34:21,800 Speaker 1: ratio for any rock type. Second, it is the only 620 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: known rock type that floats as rafts on the air 621 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,719 Speaker 1: water interface and then becomes beached in the title zone 622 00:34:28,000 --> 00:34:31,200 Speaker 1: for long periods of time. Third, it is exposed to 623 00:34:31,239 --> 00:34:36,399 Speaker 1: an unusually wide variety of conditions, including dehydration. Finally, from 624 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:39,600 Speaker 1: rafting to burial, it has a remarkable ability to add 625 00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:43,480 Speaker 1: sorb metals, organics, and phosphates, as well as to host 626 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,880 Speaker 1: organic catalysts such as zeolites and titanium oxides. And then 627 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:50,680 Speaker 1: they say these remarkable properties now deserve to be rigorously 628 00:34:50,719 --> 00:34:54,000 Speaker 1: explored in the laboratory and the early rock record. So 629 00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:56,120 Speaker 1: this would sort of match with some of the other 630 00:34:56,440 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: interesting ideas we've talked about how um a lot of 631 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:03,840 Speaker 1: research trus are thinking good candidate areas for the origins 632 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,080 Speaker 1: of life on Earth would be like areas that repeatedly 633 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,040 Speaker 1: got wet and dry in cycles, or areas that were 634 00:35:11,160 --> 00:35:15,360 Speaker 1: right at the interface of water and dry land, because 635 00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: that that kind of change like hydration and dehydration of 636 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:25,480 Speaker 1: of sort of gatherings of organic molecules could have triggered 637 00:35:25,600 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 1: some of the chemical evolution that gave rise to you know, 638 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,040 Speaker 1: the organic molecules you're looking for for the origins of 639 00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:37,320 Speaker 1: life and possibly for the structural formations of cells themselves. Yeah, 640 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:39,200 Speaker 1: and if and if this, if this were the case too, 641 00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:42,920 Speaker 1: this would be another example of volcanoes being both you know, 642 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:45,920 Speaker 1: creator and destroyer. You know, known for their they're very 643 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,600 Speaker 1: destructive properties, but also we have numerous examples of how 644 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,040 Speaker 1: they bring new things into being being be at the 645 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:56,279 Speaker 1: creation of of whole island chains or uh, you know, 646 00:35:56,680 --> 00:36:00,279 Speaker 1: creating more land on existing volcanic islands, or are just 647 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:04,839 Speaker 1: creating fertile soil from which you know, all sorts of 648 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:08,000 Speaker 1: of plants can grow totally. Yeah, So anyway, I like 649 00:36:08,080 --> 00:36:09,920 Speaker 1: this idea. Maybe in the future will come back to 650 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 1: more more of the relationship or the possible relationship between 651 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:24,719 Speaker 1: pumus and the origins of life than now. Another example 652 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:27,840 Speaker 1: of of what we might call lava boats or or 653 00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:31,759 Speaker 1: lava rafts are sometimes referred to as such. Uh, you 654 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:35,080 Speaker 1: can also find in the in the real world. Um 655 00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:38,360 Speaker 1: and there's there's actually some fabulous footage of this of 656 00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 1: this phenomenon that that came out in in recent years, UM, 657 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: particularly in regard to two thousand eighteen UH volcanic activity 658 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:52,360 Speaker 1: at Kilauea. UH. What we're talking about here with lava 659 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:57,040 Speaker 1: both lava rafts are simply a created lava masses that 660 00:36:57,120 --> 00:37:01,319 Speaker 1: move downstream and lava flows. They look sort of like 661 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,080 Speaker 1: rafts or boats, um. And as they move more lava 662 00:37:05,120 --> 00:37:08,960 Speaker 1: can adhere to them, and they accreed into bigger lava balls. 663 00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:11,680 Speaker 1: And to be clear, the official terminology here is not 664 00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: lava boats or lava rafts, it is lava balls or 665 00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:19,720 Speaker 1: accretionary balls. But lava boats kind of took social media 666 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,680 Speaker 1: by storm, especially uh in regard to some of the 667 00:37:22,719 --> 00:37:24,840 Speaker 1: footage that was making the rounds, which is quite impressive. 668 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:28,040 Speaker 1: It looks like this big black sort of star destroyer 669 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:32,439 Speaker 1: type shape in the lava flow making its way sort 670 00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:35,400 Speaker 1: of towards the camera. You're wanting to recreate your Revenge 671 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,360 Speaker 1: of the Sixth scene, this is exactly what you're looking for. Yeah, 672 00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:41,120 Speaker 1: or you can you can imagine like a burning skeleton 673 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,680 Speaker 1: like jamming on a metal guitar like this standing on 674 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,080 Speaker 1: top of this thing. It's it's very impressive. It should 675 00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:52,400 Speaker 1: have its own due warrior. Yeah, so this is this 676 00:37:52,440 --> 00:37:54,560 Speaker 1: is awesome footage. You know, definitely try to look it 677 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: up if you're you're interested. And it also can help 678 00:37:57,080 --> 00:38:00,080 Speaker 1: sort of illustrate what sometimes we sometimes encounter with off 679 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:04,480 Speaker 1: of fields in which an upper rigid crust rests or 680 00:38:04,520 --> 00:38:07,560 Speaker 1: you could even say, floats on a layer of fluid lava. 681 00:38:07,840 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 1: But this would be, you know, an even more stark 682 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,960 Speaker 1: example of that of that that situation. Now, from here 683 00:38:14,960 --> 00:38:17,319 Speaker 1: I thought we might move on into the discussion of 684 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:20,719 Speaker 1: sort of I guess speculative lava boats and you you 685 00:38:20,719 --> 00:38:23,560 Speaker 1: mean boats more literally? Now, yes, Now we're getting into 686 00:38:23,600 --> 00:38:27,320 Speaker 1: the idea of like a a vessel that humans made, 687 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,600 Speaker 1: and in this case, that humans make and then like 688 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:34,320 Speaker 1: set adrift in a lake of lava and then attempt 689 00:38:34,400 --> 00:38:37,480 Speaker 1: to climb into said vessel and maybe make a voyage 690 00:38:37,640 --> 00:38:40,800 Speaker 1: halfway across the lake take me there, Yeah, perhaps to 691 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:44,839 Speaker 1: defeat Bowser or something. I don't know. But so, if 692 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,160 Speaker 1: you haven't watched the two thousand sixteen documentary Into the Inferno, 693 00:38:48,840 --> 00:38:51,600 Speaker 1: I think we we we both would highly recommend this. 694 00:38:51,760 --> 00:38:54,799 Speaker 1: It's It was written and directed by Werner Herzog and 695 00:38:54,880 --> 00:38:59,640 Speaker 1: featured British volcanologists Clive Oppenheimer. Both of these gentlemen were 696 00:38:59,640 --> 00:39:01,640 Speaker 1: guests on our show back and I believe this was 697 00:39:01,680 --> 00:39:06,600 Speaker 1: like late in promotion of their documentary Fireball Visitors from 698 00:39:06,680 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: Darker Worlds. I think UH Into the Inferno was the 699 00:39:10,480 --> 00:39:14,400 Speaker 1: documentary they had done right before this one, right, Yeah, 700 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:18,560 Speaker 1: dealing with with the volcanoes, and Uh, it's it's it's wonderful. 701 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:20,840 Speaker 1: If you get a chance to watch it, you definitely 702 00:39:20,840 --> 00:39:23,440 Speaker 1: should if you're interested in volcanoes or you know it's 703 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,359 Speaker 1: the work of Werner Herzog. Uh, you know, definitely worth 704 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:30,239 Speaker 1: picking picking up. UM Into the Inferno features footage of 705 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:35,719 Speaker 1: volcanologist Maurice and Kadia Kraft Uh French husband and wife duo. 706 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:40,239 Speaker 1: The Crafts were pioneers in the film documentation of volcanoes, 707 00:39:40,920 --> 00:39:44,840 Speaker 1: notable for there's sometimes very you know, close proximity UM 708 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:48,759 Speaker 1: filming of lava flows, a lot of very dangerous at 709 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,480 Speaker 1: times looking footage. Uh and Saturday they did both perish 710 00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:58,560 Speaker 1: in a pyroclastic flow on mountains and in Japan. But 711 00:39:59,160 --> 00:40:01,320 Speaker 1: these were the where there was a couple that that 712 00:40:01,560 --> 00:40:03,959 Speaker 1: loved volcanoes and I was reading a little bit about 713 00:40:04,000 --> 00:40:07,080 Speaker 1: them in Fire in the Earth, Fire and the Soul 714 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:12,360 Speaker 1: The Final Moments of Maurice and Catia Kraft by John Calderazzo, 715 00:40:12,520 --> 00:40:18,399 Speaker 1: published in Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment In and 716 00:40:18,680 --> 00:40:22,160 Speaker 1: In this the author notes the following quote, and this 717 00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,319 Speaker 1: is speaking of Maurice here he loved to say how 718 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 1: fantastic it would be to one day build a special boat, 719 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:32,279 Speaker 1: a kind of titanium arc, to put in on a 720 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,760 Speaker 1: lava flow off. They'd ride down a steaming mountain, flying 721 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:40,359 Speaker 1: the French flag and waving to all their friends as 722 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:43,719 Speaker 1: they rode a glowing river into the sea. Well, on 723 00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:46,759 Speaker 1: one hand, that's beautiful, but I'm also amused by the 724 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:49,920 Speaker 1: the addition of the French flag. Well you know they 725 00:40:49,960 --> 00:40:53,640 Speaker 1: were French, why not. But now I don't think we're 726 00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:56,400 Speaker 1: supposed to to take this claim this lava for France. 727 00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 1: Um legan is. You've got to get on. It's literally 728 00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:04,400 Speaker 1: getting out on the ground floor of new uh of 729 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:07,040 Speaker 1: of of New Land. Now, I don't think we're meant 730 00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,840 Speaker 1: to take this, you know, real seriously, these were two 731 00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:14,640 Speaker 1: individuals who simply loved volcanoes, loved volcanic activity. They lived 732 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:19,440 Speaker 1: for volcanoes. Uh Caldaraso quotes them is saying that volcanoes 733 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:23,120 Speaker 1: were like are like blind wild animals that one must observe, 734 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:26,520 Speaker 1: like a quote mad witch doctor. I think the idea 735 00:41:26,560 --> 00:41:28,640 Speaker 1: is like it's it's got indigestion. You need to watch 736 00:41:28,640 --> 00:41:30,840 Speaker 1: it for a very long time to see what what's 737 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,239 Speaker 1: what's going on with it? Um. They also talked about 738 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:37,719 Speaker 1: how normal mountains are dead and that they prefer the 739 00:41:37,800 --> 00:41:41,680 Speaker 1: living mountains of volcanoes. When you love volcanoes so much, 740 00:41:41,719 --> 00:41:45,440 Speaker 1: you have to slag normal mountains, right, So, you know, 741 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 1: I think it's safe to, you know, to say that 742 00:41:47,200 --> 00:41:49,160 Speaker 1: they could just be you know, they're being a little poetic, 743 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,960 Speaker 1: like we love volcanoes so much that if we could 744 00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:53,920 Speaker 1: ride a ship on the on the floor of lava, 745 00:41:54,000 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: we would. But at the same time, it's still a 746 00:41:56,239 --> 00:41:59,640 Speaker 1: terrific vision. Uh you know, this high tech vessel sailing 747 00:41:59,680 --> 00:42:03,640 Speaker 1: across lava. I was looking around. I imagine somebody has 748 00:42:04,000 --> 00:42:07,280 Speaker 1: has explored this more in science fiction, especially like pulp 749 00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:09,880 Speaker 1: science fiction of the old days, Like there has to 750 00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:12,279 Speaker 1: be some story about like a uh, you know, a 751 00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:16,080 Speaker 1: volcanic planet and there being some sort of a volcanic ship. 752 00:42:16,160 --> 00:42:18,440 Speaker 1: I would be shocked if this is not shown, if 753 00:42:18,440 --> 00:42:21,040 Speaker 1: this nes not appeared in uh in Doctor Who at 754 00:42:21,080 --> 00:42:24,680 Speaker 1: some point or another. So so if if you're wondering, well, 755 00:42:24,680 --> 00:42:27,640 Speaker 1: could could this exist? Could we make something like this? Well? Luckily, 756 00:42:28,040 --> 00:42:31,759 Speaker 1: volcanologist and science writer Robin Andrews chimed in on this 757 00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:36,200 Speaker 1: very topic for a seventeen Forbes dot Com article titled 758 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:38,840 Speaker 1: Here's how to make a boat to sail over deadly 759 00:42:38,960 --> 00:42:43,000 Speaker 1: lava and and he he uses, uh, the dreams of 760 00:42:43,040 --> 00:42:46,000 Speaker 1: the crafts of particularly Maurice Craft is kind of the 761 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:48,640 Speaker 1: jumping off point for this as well. Okay, what's his 762 00:42:48,680 --> 00:42:52,520 Speaker 1: plan here? Okay? So um, he points out, there's, first 763 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:54,600 Speaker 1: of all, you've got to take into account those temperatures 764 00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:57,640 Speaker 1: like like first and foremost. They may ignore the temperatures 765 00:42:57,640 --> 00:43:00,399 Speaker 1: in the movies, but you need to be aware of them. Uh. 766 00:43:00,440 --> 00:43:03,319 Speaker 1: First of all, he writes that lava flows tend to 767 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:07,440 Speaker 1: run one thousand degrees celsius or one thousand, eight hundred 768 00:43:07,480 --> 00:43:11,040 Speaker 1: thirty two degrees fahrenheit on average, and lava lakes can 769 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:14,600 Speaker 1: exceed that to a max of of of of somewhere 770 00:43:14,600 --> 00:43:18,680 Speaker 1: around eleven hundred degrees celsius or two thousand and twelve 771 00:43:18,719 --> 00:43:23,040 Speaker 1: degrees fahrenheit. So it's it's really hot. You can if 772 00:43:23,040 --> 00:43:26,720 Speaker 1: you're gonna be anywhere anywhere close to that, for certainly 773 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,160 Speaker 1: for a boat ride. If you're gonna build a boat, 774 00:43:29,200 --> 00:43:32,200 Speaker 1: you have to take into account that, um, it's gonna 775 00:43:32,239 --> 00:43:34,960 Speaker 1: be that hot. You're gonna need physical protection. You're also 776 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 1: going to need some sort of containment suit or uh, 777 00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:40,160 Speaker 1: you know, oxygen just supply so that you're not just 778 00:43:40,280 --> 00:43:43,520 Speaker 1: breathing in toxic gases that are either going to kill 779 00:43:43,600 --> 00:43:46,319 Speaker 1: you dead out there on the lake or just like 780 00:43:46,400 --> 00:43:49,960 Speaker 1: permanently damage your body. So he says, Okay, if you're 781 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:52,200 Speaker 1: gonna build this boat, it probably needs to be steel, 782 00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:56,000 Speaker 1: as steel melts at one thousand, three hundred and seventy 783 00:43:56,040 --> 00:43:59,880 Speaker 1: degrees celsius or two thousand, five hundred degrees fahrenheit. So 784 00:44:00,160 --> 00:44:01,399 Speaker 1: you know, you don't want to be in a boat 785 00:44:01,480 --> 00:44:04,160 Speaker 1: that melts in the lava lake. You want to be 786 00:44:04,239 --> 00:44:07,279 Speaker 1: in a boat that that doesn't quite melt and that 787 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:11,560 Speaker 1: almost melt. Yes, by the way, so some of this 788 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,080 Speaker 1: may may sound from like familiar territory. Of of course, 789 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:18,200 Speaker 1: we did an episode on the One Ring from from 790 00:44:18,239 --> 00:44:20,160 Speaker 1: The Lord of the Rings discussing just what sort of 791 00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:23,279 Speaker 1: metal would melt or be destroyed in Mount Doom, but 792 00:44:23,400 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: would not melt or be destroyed in a medieval forge. 793 00:44:27,080 --> 00:44:30,040 Speaker 1: So if you want more metallurgy, uh, that's that's episode 794 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:32,839 Speaker 1: to go back to. Okay, all right, but going back 795 00:44:32,880 --> 00:44:35,280 Speaker 1: here to the work of Robin Andrews. Next, he points 796 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:37,800 Speaker 1: out that you need an interior lining in that boat 797 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,600 Speaker 1: that's non flammable and also highly heat resistant. Otherwise the 798 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:44,680 Speaker 1: boat which is simply cook you. I think you your 799 00:44:44,760 --> 00:44:48,959 Speaker 1: your skin would stick to it, which is which sounds horrifying. Yeah, 800 00:44:49,160 --> 00:44:51,399 Speaker 1: even if the boat didn't melt, it would essentially turn 801 00:44:51,480 --> 00:44:54,440 Speaker 1: into a frying pan, right in a frying pan on 802 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:58,400 Speaker 1: the heating element. Yes, So he writes the following about 803 00:44:58,800 --> 00:45:02,440 Speaker 1: possible lining options here quote, there are a variety of 804 00:45:02,480 --> 00:45:05,240 Speaker 1: plastics you can use, and if you aren't worried about 805 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:09,120 Speaker 1: fire started by rogue lava blebs, you could even use 806 00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:12,560 Speaker 1: wet wood. If you want to be particularly high tech, 807 00:45:12,719 --> 00:45:16,720 Speaker 1: grab some halfnium carbide with a melting point of around 808 00:45:16,719 --> 00:45:21,879 Speaker 1: four thousand degrees celsius seven thousand two fahrenheit and very 809 00:45:21,960 --> 00:45:25,360 Speaker 1: high thermal resistance. These would ensure you don't get a 810 00:45:25,400 --> 00:45:28,880 Speaker 1: little sizzled inside your boat. You could even use halfneum 811 00:45:28,920 --> 00:45:33,480 Speaker 1: carbide to make the boat, but seeing as it's unfathomably expensive, 812 00:45:33,719 --> 00:45:36,400 Speaker 1: steals a far cheaper option here, just looked it up. 813 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 1: Half ne um carbide is said to have a melting 814 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:42,080 Speaker 1: point of thirty degrees celsius, So you're really good to 815 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:46,680 Speaker 1: go there. Yeah, And he also mentioned that you'd probably 816 00:45:46,719 --> 00:45:49,279 Speaker 1: need to paddle with similar material. You know you'd have 817 00:45:49,320 --> 00:45:51,319 Speaker 1: you'd have to make your paddle or your your your 818 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:53,480 Speaker 1: pole out of that as well. I guess it depends 819 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:55,680 Speaker 1: on how ambitious you are. You're just happy to be 820 00:45:55,719 --> 00:45:59,399 Speaker 1: floating um on or down the you know, the lake 821 00:45:59,520 --> 00:46:01,520 Speaker 1: or flow of lava, or do you do you feel 822 00:46:01,520 --> 00:46:04,319 Speaker 1: like you need to actually build up speed? Where do 823 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:06,279 Speaker 1: you end up? Does this mean you just ride this 824 00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:09,279 Speaker 1: thing until it dumps you out into the ocean? Um? Well, 825 00:46:09,320 --> 00:46:10,799 Speaker 1: I guess it depends. I mean, if you're just in 826 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:13,760 Speaker 1: a lake of of of lava, like in a crater 827 00:46:14,400 --> 00:46:17,720 Speaker 1: like um Kilauea ekey, then you might just be floating 828 00:46:17,760 --> 00:46:20,439 Speaker 1: out there until the like the vortex sucks you down 829 00:46:20,680 --> 00:46:24,040 Speaker 1: or until or if it's if there's a fountain of 830 00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:26,440 Speaker 1: of lava going on, until like that burns you up 831 00:46:26,520 --> 00:46:30,440 Speaker 1: or or drops a bunch of bathtub sized blobs of 832 00:46:30,520 --> 00:46:33,359 Speaker 1: lava on top of you. Or yeah, it's a flow 833 00:46:33,400 --> 00:46:35,399 Speaker 1: going into the ocean. Maybe you ride that out, but 834 00:46:35,480 --> 00:46:38,160 Speaker 1: that's gonna be there. There's gonna be some rapids in there. Well. 835 00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:41,200 Speaker 1: Another hazard we haven't even mentioned yet is that if 836 00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:43,560 Speaker 1: you actually do ride this all the way down to 837 00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:46,160 Speaker 1: the water's edge and then you plunge into the water 838 00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:49,920 Speaker 1: where the molten lava is hitting the water, Uh, you 839 00:46:49,960 --> 00:46:53,440 Speaker 1: need to be careful there because another totally separate thing 840 00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:55,000 Speaker 1: I was reading about that we haven't even gotten to 841 00:46:55,120 --> 00:46:58,000 Speaker 1: yet is this stuff called lace. If you you've read 842 00:46:58,040 --> 00:47:01,400 Speaker 1: about this rub the so called lava haze, no, no, 843 00:47:01,520 --> 00:47:05,000 Speaker 1: tell me about the lace. Well, unfortunately this has actually 844 00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:07,840 Speaker 1: led to at least a few human deaths in the past. 845 00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,920 Speaker 1: But it's this type of steam or haze or mist 846 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:15,360 Speaker 1: that billows up when molten lava falls into the ocean. 847 00:47:15,400 --> 00:47:17,360 Speaker 1: I think I was reading about it directly in connection 848 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:21,560 Speaker 1: with Kilauea. Actually it's dangerous for multiple reasons. Number One 849 00:47:21,719 --> 00:47:24,800 Speaker 1: that these clouds, because of some kind of chemical reaction 850 00:47:24,840 --> 00:47:28,719 Speaker 1: that happens, the clouds are full of hydrochloric acid. It's 851 00:47:28,840 --> 00:47:31,640 Speaker 1: like stomach acid, which you don't want getting into your lungs. 852 00:47:32,400 --> 00:47:34,880 Speaker 1: But I think it may also have, like other types 853 00:47:34,920 --> 00:47:39,360 Speaker 1: of highly corrosive acids, hydrofluoric acid of course, lots of 854 00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,839 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide. But then the another part is that it's 855 00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:48,200 Speaker 1: full of tons of extremely tiny little shards of volcanic 856 00:47:48,360 --> 00:47:51,920 Speaker 1: glass that get carried up in the steam. So basically, 857 00:47:52,000 --> 00:47:53,680 Speaker 1: you don't want to get anywhere near this stuff. If 858 00:47:53,719 --> 00:47:56,880 Speaker 1: you ever see lava dripping into the water, it's beautiful 859 00:47:56,920 --> 00:47:59,160 Speaker 1: to observe from a distance, but you don't want to 860 00:47:59,200 --> 00:48:02,000 Speaker 1: go near it. So if you're listening to this episode 861 00:48:02,560 --> 00:48:04,719 Speaker 1: and you're you're if you're thinking, well, I could do this, 862 00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:06,840 Speaker 1: I could pull this up. No, do not, Please do 863 00:48:06,880 --> 00:48:10,800 Speaker 1: not attempt this at home, or or or in Volcano 864 00:48:10,880 --> 00:48:13,719 Speaker 1: National Park, or anywhere near any volcano you have you 865 00:48:13,800 --> 00:48:17,040 Speaker 1: happen to be visiting. Please keep a respectful distance. And 866 00:48:17,080 --> 00:48:21,520 Speaker 1: that's just respecting yourself, right right though, certainly, if you 867 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:25,040 Speaker 1: have a chance to to to get within a safe 868 00:48:25,080 --> 00:48:28,520 Speaker 1: distance of any kind of volcano activity, to visit Volcano 869 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:33,279 Speaker 1: National Park or really any any volcanic location, definitely check 870 00:48:33,280 --> 00:48:35,680 Speaker 1: it out. I mean, these these are the living mountains. 871 00:48:35,719 --> 00:48:37,759 Speaker 1: These are these are amazing places. And even if you're 872 00:48:37,800 --> 00:48:41,880 Speaker 1: visiting a place that's not quite alive anymore, uh, you know, 873 00:48:42,040 --> 00:48:46,920 Speaker 1: sort of recently dead mountains like that alone haunted by 874 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:49,880 Speaker 1: a particular energy that you just don't necessarily encounter it 875 00:48:50,280 --> 00:48:53,440 Speaker 1: uh in in other parts of the world totally. But 876 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:55,799 Speaker 1: obviously we'd love to hear from everyone out there. Um, 877 00:48:55,840 --> 00:48:59,880 Speaker 1: have you visited some volcanic locations and you have a 878 00:49:00,000 --> 00:49:03,160 Speaker 1: aditional sightings you would like to share if you seen anything, uh, 879 00:49:03,200 --> 00:49:06,640 Speaker 1: you know, like these these the floating pummis or these 880 00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:10,120 Speaker 1: uh or these these lava balls. Uh, let us know, 881 00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:13,799 Speaker 1: you know, what are some volcanic terrains that you've explored, 882 00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:18,719 Speaker 1: and likewise, what are some volcanic situations you've explored in 883 00:49:19,200 --> 00:49:21,920 Speaker 1: fantasy and fiction that match up with what we've been 884 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:23,719 Speaker 1: talking about. What are we missing out there in the 885 00:49:23,760 --> 00:49:29,160 Speaker 1: world the why the wide wild world of sci fi exploration? 886 00:49:29,239 --> 00:49:32,000 Speaker 1: If there are some some tremendous scenes of ships sailing 887 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:34,799 Speaker 1: on a sea of lava and so forth, right in 888 00:49:34,880 --> 00:49:36,480 Speaker 1: and let us know we'd love to hear from you. 889 00:49:36,920 --> 00:49:40,160 Speaker 1: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer Seth 890 00:49:40,239 --> 00:49:42,759 Speaker 1: Nicholas Johnson. If you would like to get in touch 891 00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:45,000 Speaker 1: with us with feedback on this episode or any other, 892 00:49:45,080 --> 00:49:47,160 Speaker 1: to suggest a topic for the future, to tell us 893 00:49:47,160 --> 00:49:50,799 Speaker 1: about your lavabout fantasies, or just to say hello. You 894 00:49:50,840 --> 00:49:53,480 Speaker 1: can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your 895 00:49:53,480 --> 00:50:03,880 Speaker 1: Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production 896 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:06,680 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for My heart Radio, 897 00:50:06,880 --> 00:50:09,560 Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 898 00:50:09,560 --> 00:50:19,719 Speaker 1: you're listening to your favorite shows.