A volcanologist imagines a world without volcanoes, and tells us how her recipe for homemade lava bombs might lead to discoveries about ancient volcanoes in outer space! It turns out that volcanoes do more for planets than create natural pyrotechnic displays. You’re guarenteed to be blown away by volcanologist Erika Rader’s EXTREME VOLCANO SCIENCE PROJECT. Spoiler alert: It involves a huge cauldron of molten rock, an aircannon, and a forklift.

Tell Erika what YOU would do with a lava machine: Email us at [email protected] with a drawing or recording, and we’ll pass your ideas on!

Join our Patreon campaign to hear more from our interview with Erika, on our ad-free podcast feed: patreon.com/tumblepodcast

Special thanks to Rob Griffiths for his help with this episode! Check out his podcast, Bedtime.FM and Peace Out on the Kids Listen app - kidslisten.org.