A group of Ethiopian experimenters wanted to know, what would happen if a human being fell into a volcano? To carry out their experiment, they used a 65 pound bag of food waste and flung it into Ethiopia’s Erta Ale Volcano. The result is show in the video below.

The experiment shows that instead of burning up on the surface of the volcano as expected, the bag punctures a hole in the crust of lava, sinks into it, and is consumed in an explosion. Scientists have always assumed that a bag of weight would remain on the surface of the lava. The experiment shows that a body close to human weight would break the surface of the crust and set off an all consuming explosion. The explosion is said to have been set off by steam released from the organic matter in the waste as it breaks through the solid crust.

The experimenters added that due to the high density of the volcano, a person would generally be expected to remain on the surface if they didn’t impact it from a high altitude. They say that it would be possible to briefly walk on certain types of lava if professional heat-protective clothing was worn, but they recommend that no one try it for themselves.

via DJ