Drill if you dare (Image: R.W.W./Ambra Galassi/Flickr)

TO ANCIENT Romans the Phlegraean Fields hosted the entrance to Hades. In modern times it is better known as the site of a “supercolossal” volcanic eruption 39,000 years ago.

Will we see the next disaster coming? That’s one of the questions an ambitious drilling project hopes to answer by sinking boreholes into Campi Flegrei, as the giant collapsed volcanic crater is now called. Starting as early as next month, the Campi Flegrei Deep Drilling Project is planning to drill seven holes in the region (see map).

Though the researchers on this …