CERN experiment discovers a new, very charming particle

A new study has found a previously undetected potential health risk from the high concentration of small particles found in a boomerang-like return of a volcanic plume. A team of scientists from the Universities of Birmingham, Leeds, Oxford, Cambridge, King's College London, Met Office, Environment Agency of Iceland, and Icelandic Meteorological Office worked in collaboration in the study of the Icelandic Holuhraun lava field eruption. The Holuhraun eruption, which occurred between 2014 and 2015, caused one of the most intense and widespread volcanogenic air pollution events in centuries. It's estimated that the amount of sulphur dioxide released into the atmosphere was roughly two times that of a yearly total of SO2 emissions generated by the European Economic area. Dr Francis Pope , of the University of Birmingham's School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences , said: "The Holuhraun eruption was the first modern opportunity to study a large Icelandic fissure eruption. "We traced the evolution of the plume chemistry from the eruption site to two key areas of population: Reykjahlíð, which is the nearest municipality to Holuhraun, and Reykjavík capital area, which hosts roughly 60 per cent of Iceland's population. "Filter packs were used to collect simultaneous samples of gas and aerosol particle matter at three sites: the eruption site, Reykjahlíð and the Reykjavík capital area.