When Ken Sims visits a volcano he's after two things - a whiff of ultra fresh volcanic gas and samples of brand new lava. That means climbing into craters and getting uncomfortably close to bubbling lava lakes and noxious gases. Sims admits to Stephanie Pain that he loves adventure, but insists it's the data he craves, not the danger.rnYou only feel the heat when you're very close or if the wind is blowing over the lava towards you. In some places collecting lava is easy. In Hawaii, for instance, there are breakouts and you can just reach down with your hammer and scoop up one of the little dribbles. In explosive types of volcano like Stromboli and Mount Erebus, it's hard to approach the lava because there can be a big splatter which can kill you if it hits you. So you wait for an eruptive event and then run over, collect the lava bomb and run away. On Mount Etna I have had to wear a fireman's suit to sample active lava flows - but once, when the wind shifted so the heat was blowing towards me the helmet started to burn. If you're after gas samples, though, it's helpful to have the wind blow it your way.
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