volcano in hawaii

Extreme science

At a volcano in Hawaii, burning-hot lava spews more than 200 feet into the air.... Wait--what's that on the rim? Is that a person?

Yup, it's a scientist named Robin Holcomb. He's there to study the volcano. What can we tell you? Science is hot! Turn the page to meet more people like Robin who take science right to the edge.

Imagine rapelling into a slick, dark, deep, freezing hole in a glacier.

HOT

Scientists such as Robin study volcanoes up close--before, after, and even during eruptions. That helps the scientists understand how volcanoes work. It also helps them predict how and when they'll erupt. If people know when the volcano might explode, they can get away before it happens. And that's good news to a half-billion people around the world who live near volcanoes.

The day the photo on page 21 was taken, Robin went to the edge of a volcano called Mauna Ulu to collect fresh lava and to try to find out where the lava was flowing. That helped the people living nearby to know where it was unsafe to go.

COLD

Glaciers are big rivers of ice that slowly, slowly move downhill. In a world that's running low on fresh, drinkable water, these huge frozen sheets could be an important new supply.

To study glaciers, scientists first have to scramble over the rough surface. Then they use climbing equipment to go down into deep cracks and holes in the ice sheets (above), as this guy is doing in a glacier in Europe.

Scientists don't know much about what goes on inside glaciers. One reason is that the ice rivers are so dangerous to study. The cracks and holes are cold and slippery. Icy water inside the glacier may drown the scientists. Equipment can fail, and climbers can fall.

Amazingly, a few daring scientists still want to study glaciers on site. Thanks to them, we're learning much more about how these big rivers of ice work.

Why does the Villa Luz cave in Mexico stink so badly? The smell comes from poisonous sulfur in the air, on the walls, and in the water.

Then there are the streams of goo dripping off the ceiling. Cave explorers call them snot-ites because they look a lot like, well, snot.

The snot-ites contain a strong acid. So does some of the mud on the ground. This acid is so strong that it can eat right through clothing and badly burn a person's skin. Just breathing the air in some parts of the cave can make you very sick.

And did we mention the vampire bats? They live in parts of the cave. In fact, many different animals live there, including spiders, tiny insects called midges, and many kinds of microbes. More fish have been found here than in nearly any other cave.

"Is Villa Luz incredible or what?" asks Louise Hose, a scientist who explores the sulfur cave. (That's her in the photos below.)

Um, Louise, what are you doing there?

"The planet Mars has a lot of sulfur, and we know that Mars has caves," she says. By studying Villa Luz, scientists hope to learn about life that could live on that planet. Meanwhile, they are getting an experience that's out of this world!

POISONOUS

The first thing you notice going into this cave is the smell--like a thousand rotten eggs.

GRABBING JAWS

The jaws of a black caiman are powerful enough to crush a deer.

A black caiman can grow to be up to 17 feet (5 m) long. Just the tail may weigh half a ton. Caimans can explode into action in an instant. They've been known to attack small boats. And Ronis Da Silveira wants to catch as many as possible.

Ronis works in the Amazon rainforest in South America. So far, he's managed to capture, examine, release, and track hundreds of caimans such as the one below.

Ronis got a noose around this caiman's neck and held tight, even when the caiman grabbed his boat and shook it. When the caiman stopped fighting, Ronis tied its jaws shut so he could safely examine it.

By studying caimans, Ronis has learned about where they go and what they need. That helps people know how to best protect these endangered reptiles.

HANGING ON

When you're 200 feet up and hanging by a rope, there's one simple rule: Don't fall.

Ancient trees on the West Coast are some of the largest living things on Earth. They can grow as tall as 30-story buildings, with huge trunks and thick branches. High up in those branches lives a whole world of plants and animals--a world that scientists are just beginning to understand.

But first, the scientists have to get up there.

How? First, they tie a thin "pilot line" to an arrow. Next, they use a bow to shoot the arrow over a branch. Then they use the line to pull climbing ropes into the trees. Finally, they climb the ropes up and up. Near the top, they s-t-r-e-t-c-h to reach the plants clinging to the tree branches (above). Scientists have picked huckleberries off bushes growing more than 300 feet (92 m) up!

ROCK, DON'T ROLL!

The only way to check on these babies is down a very long rope over sharp, loose, slippery rocks.

The cliffs along the Big Sur coast, in California, are scary places for climbers. There aren't many good handholds or footholds on these loose, crumbly rocks. And the walls are full of sharp, overhanging edges that can slice through rope.

The cliffs are also where Brian Latta needs to go to find the nests of endangered peregrine falcons (large photo).

Not long ago, peregrines in Big Sur were in big trouble. The birds get their food in the polluted ocean nearby. Poisons in the food were hurting the falcons. But now people are polluting the ocean less. And the falcons are healthier.

Brian still checks on the peregrine's eggs and chicks (small photo) to see how they're doing. He puts I.D. bands on the chicks and collects pieces of eggshell. Then he slowly inches his way back up the dangerous cliffs.

For these scientists, taking risks to gain knowledge is what it's all about!

COPYRIGHT 2002 National Wildlife Federation
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group