Hasta La Gadget!

Researchers have been poring over data captured by the NASA Messenger probe as it conducted its study of Mercury. Amongst the data the probe discovered about the incredibly hot and small planet, were some tidbits about the composition of the surface of Mercury that left scientists curious. While studying the data, the scientists discovered that Mercury is comprised of two considerably different types of rock.

This discovery led MIT scientists to create an experiment in the lab to help identify a geological process that could have resulted in these two vastly different types of rock. The experiment subjected the rock types to different temperatures and pressures in an effort to simulate the processes that could have occurred on the surface of Mercury. The results of that experiment have led the scientists to believe that Mercury may have once had a massive ocean of piping hot magma on its surface that would have made Dr. Evil proud.

The scientists believe that the magma ocean existed sometime within the first 10 million years of Mercury’s existence, near the beginning of the formation of our solar system. The scientists estimate that the magma ocean would’ve existed over 4 billion years ago. Ancient Mercury sounds a lot like Mustafar, the planet where Anakin burst into flames on his path to becoming Darth Vader.

[via Forbes]

If there’s one thing that I never thought you could turn into a DIY project, it’s lava flows. But leave it to the ingenuity of sculptor Boby Wysocki and geologist Jeff Karson at Syracuse University to create their own DIY lava project. They create molten rock, then pour it out to produce lava. Then, kids get to melt marshmallows on it.

The lava is created by melting crushed basalt from Wisconsin that’s 1.1 billion years old. It’s melted in a gas-fueled, tilt furnace up to 2192 degrees Fahrenheit. A couple of hours later, the rock has become molten, and it’s poured out. They’ve done more than 100 lava flows since the start of the program.

I’m not sure how the lava-toasted marshmallows will taste, but the project is pretty awesome as most of us haven’t seen lava up close and personal. Geologists and volcanologists are on hand to answer any questions you might have.

It sounds like a great field trip! If you don’t like marshmallows, then you can opt for hot dogs and roast them up on the lava as well.

Wysocki and Karson are currently working on making even more realistic lava flows, as is demonstrated in the video below:

[via Make:]