Celebrating 350 years of world-class research

University of Nottingham scientists are helping to mark a prestigious anniversary — with the help of a volcano built in a laboratory. Nottingham academics have been invited to take part in an exhibition to celebrate the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science. They will be showcasing their cutting-edge research in the fields of chemical engineering and chemistry at the Southbank in London, from June 25 to July 4. A team from the Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering will be showing how they look deep inside volcanoes to understand the movement of gas and liquid under pressure. The centrepiece of their exhibit is a laboratory volcano that will be installed as one of the displays for the duration of the anniversary event. Using syrup to simulate the movement of magma, the team will use electrical tomography to show how it is possible to picture bubbly flows occurring inside their model volcano, and how the flow and distribution of gas links to sounds produced by these flows, which can be recorded with microphones. Visitors will be able to see 'eruptions' and observe how the shapes of bubbles and sounds generated vary with the different styles of eruption.