Opinion: Lethal Lava

The only way to fry.

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Fans of lava, Kilauea and The Lord of the Rings will all find much to love at wired.com, where geoscientist Erik Klemetti asks the important questions: Exactly how would one die if they fell into lava? Would they really sink into it, as is often depicted in film?

Most of the Kilauea discussion is in the comments, including links to photos and videos of lava flows on the Big Island and hair-singeing tales of walking on fresh lava (not recommended!).

What with all the geeky talk throughout the articles and comments, let me just add one clarification to Klemetti’s piece: In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator character most definitely sinks into a vat of molten metal, not lava, after uttering the saddest lines ever uttered by a killer robot: “Now I know why you cry. But it’s something I can never do.”

Admit it, you’re choking up right now just remembering that moment. Oh, Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, why did it have to come to that?