How tiny crystals reveal the secret history (and future) of volcanic eruptions

Volcanologist Teresa Ubide opens volcanoes up from the outside, like a doll's house, searching for tiny crystal balls to help her predict when the next eruption might occur

Humans have always had a complicated relationship with volcanoes — they are striking to look at and create fertile soils for farming, but they can be destructive and deadly.

Today, around 10 per cent of the world's population lives within 100km of an active volcano, which means volcanology — the science of studying volcanoes — is becoming increasingly important.

Volcanologists like Teresa Ubide, spend their time getting to know the 'personalities' of different volcanoes: how they work, the composition of the magma, the likelihood of eruption, and how spectacular that explosion of lava could be.

When Teresa was a little girl, a teacher opened her imagination up to what she calls the 'guts of a volcano' and today, as an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and a lecturer at the University of Queensland, she travels the world visiting volcanoes and predicting their future by looking at tiny crystal balls.

This episode of Conversations explores natural disasters, Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius, La Palma, Stromboli, Spain, Italy, Argentina, copper mining, sustainable mining, electric vehicles, smartphones, geology, magma, exploration, epic history, chemistry.