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Mount Sinabung

Why are the pyroclastic flows on Mount Sinabung so deadly? Plus, a first glimpse inside an asteroid, and the Greenland glacier that's retreating at a record pace.

Mount Sinabung, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, has been erupting since September 2013. Last weekend at least 16 people, who had reportedly gone into red evacuation zones, were killed after pyroclastic surges flowed down the side of the volcano. David Rothery, professor of Geosciences at the Open University explains why these pyroclastic flows are so deadly.

Inside an Asteroid
The complexity of the inside of an asteroid has been revealed for the first time. Dr Stephen Lowry from the University of Kent says his work will help to explain what happens when collisions occur in the Solar System and provide clues on how planets form. He found that asteroids can have a highly varied internal structure.

Record Breaking Glacier
The Jacobshavn Glacier - widely thought to be the glacier that produced the iceberg that the Titanic hit - is now the fastest flowing glacier in the world. Professor Ian Joughin from the University of Washington, Seattle, measured summer speeds of more than four times what they were in the 1990's.

(Image: A schematic view of the strange peanut-shaped asteroid Itokawa. Courtesy of ESO Acknowledgement: JAXA)

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Mon 10 Feb 2014 04:32GMT

Chapters

  • Mount Sinabung

    Why are the pyroclastic flows on Mount Sinabung so deadly?

    Duration: 04:46

  • Anatomy of an asteroid

    The first details of what the inside of an asteroid looks like

    Duration: 06:39

  • Record breaking glacier

    The Jacobshavn Glacier is retreating at a record pace.

    Duration: 05:29

Broadcasts

  • Thu 6 Feb 2014 20:32GMT
  • Fri 7 Feb 2014 02:32GMT
  • Fri 7 Feb 2014 09:32GMT
  • Mon 10 Feb 2014 04:32GMT

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