An amateur treasure hunter has stumbled across a hoard of Bronze Age items that could be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in a Norfolk field.  David Lovett, a 64-year-old from Smallburgh, unearthed the precious haul of ancient goods when walking through the field in Barton Turf, Norfolk.

The 3,000-year-old stash is now being assessed by the British Museum which is expected to purchase the lot and put it on display.  Among the discovered axe heads, chisels, knives and spears is a ring for a lock of hair that is believed to contain 82 to 83 per cent solid gold.

Mr Lovett had visited the farmer's field a number of times before and never encountered the treasure.  He says that the field is normally full of grazing sheep, obstructing the centre of the paddock.  On the day of discovery back in 2016, the sheep were not present, allowing Mr Lovett to scan the unexplored patch for any hidden treasures.

He said: 'I had been to that field before but there had always been sheep in the middle. On this day there were no sheep.  The hoard was spread out over an area of about 30 to 40 square yards.  I first picked up a couple of tiny fragments and then a bent dagger.  My heart started to race, and I knew there was going to be more, and I then found another axe head.  The feeling was indescribable when I found it... to know that you have in your hands something that's not been held for 3,000 years.'

Mr Lovett has been searching for buried treasure for about 10 years and has yet to strike gold.

The hoard was declared as treasure at an inquest last week and it will be bought by the British Museum.  Any sale proceeds will be divided between him and the landowner in a 50-50 split.

Mr Lovett, who works for Norfolk Museums Service as a visitor services assistant gathered the haul in March 2016.  When he found the first couple of treasures, he phoned the museum service to ask if he should continue digging.

'They said yes, then I phoned Gressenhall (where there is a museum dedicated to Norfolk rural life) and they told me to carry on digging.  I texted my wife who was at work to tell her.  I knew they were Bronze Age because of their weight and shape.  I also work at the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth and they've got the Gorleston hoard of Bronze Age artefacts there.  They would have been expensive items in their day, and would have been buried for safe keeping.  For some reason they were never returned to the owner.'

Mr Lovett has said that despite the potential financial windfall coming his way, he will continue to search for buried treasure.

'I don't think you can describe it.  I felt both elation and disbelief at the same time,' he said of his discovery.  'My wife said I was bouncing off the wall for three days.'

Bronze is made from tin and copper and was an extremely valuable commodity, especially in areas such as East Anglia where there are no local copper or tin deposits, according to Julie Shoemark of the Portable Antiquities Scheme.  She said the items could have been 'caches of scrap material intended for recovery and reuse by transient metalworkers'.

'Alternatively, other scholars have characterised hoards which show evidence of acts of deliberate destruction as a form of ritual 'killing', in which the object is taken out of use and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or spirit.'

According to Ms Shoemark, lock rings are normally found in pairs leading to theories of their use as ear rings or for hair decoration.  'What is generally agreed is that they denoted wealth and high-status within late Bronze Age society.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

The FDA is calling on veterinarians to ease off prescribing opioids for animals - because pet owners are stealing them for their own use.

Health officials face an overwhelmingly multifaceted ordeal to bring the nation's opioid epidemic under control.  Doctors are being told to limit prescriptions, pharmacies are creating new restrictions, and lawsuits are being leveled against drug manufacturers.  But it seems FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is petrified of leaving any stones unturned - so he is asking vets, yet again, to join in the efforts.

Dr Gottlieb said in a report on 15 August: 'We recognise that opioids and other pain medications have a legitimate and important role in treating pain in animals – just as they do for people.  But just like the opioid medications used in humans, these drugs have potentially serious risks, not just for the animal patients, but also because of their potential to lead to addiction, abuse and overdose in humans who may divert them for their own use.'

Currently, there is just one opioid approved for use in animals, Recuvyra, which is a form of fentanyl - the drug that has been the cause of thousands of deaths in the US, and was even used to kill an inmate via lethal injection in Nebraska the week before.  But given the lack of approved pills for animals, vets are being forced to prescribe human opioid medications.

And at no point in the prescription process does the vet consult the owner's medical history to know if they have addiction issues.

Dr Gottlieb implores vets to 'help ensure the critical balance between making sure animals can be humanely treated for their pain, while also addressing the realities of the epidemic of misuse, abuse and overdose when these drugs are diverted and used illegally by humans'.

His words reignited a debate that has been playing out just outside the spotlight of the main issues of the epidemic.

Last year there was outrage among veterinarians as states mulled making it mandatory for vets to check an owner's medical history before prescribing opioids to animals.  In fact, Colorado and Maine both passed such rules.

Kevin Lazarcheff, president of the California Veterinary Medical Association, vocalized the most common frustration in the industry, when he said to the Washington Post: 'I'm a veterinarian, not a physician.  I shouldn't have access to a human's medical history.'

With his latest statement, Dr Gottlieb insists he is not proposing any clear-cut rules for vets - rather, he is asking them to play ball.

Dr Gottlieb said: 'As medical professionals, veterinarians have an opportunity to partner with the FDA and others to take on this public health crisis.  We encourage them to continue to work with their clients and both local and national organizations, such as their state board of veterinary medicine and AVMA, to join in the fight against this tragic epidemic.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

A Japanese firm is hoping a tiny holographic girl could take the place of a wife.  Called Aizuma Hikari, the tiny holographic anime girl that stands just a few inches tall inside of a cylindrical projector.

Japanese tech firm Gatebox says the system is able to communicate with its owners, called 'masters', through speakers and even an app.  The Tokyo-based firm says it is aimed at 'single men who live alone'.

The system has just begun mass production for 150,000 yen (US$1,352). The holographic character stands 8 inches tall and talks to her 'husband' from behind a cylindrical plastic barrier.  In addition to the purchase price, owners have to pay a subscription fee of 1,500 yen (US$13.52) per month to keep their wife from getting outdated, which the firm says are 'living expenses'.

It uses microphones, cameras and sensors to detect temperature and motion - allowing her to interact with users 'on a more personal level', and the firm boasts the character will 'always try her best to serve my husband.'  It also boasts a dual microphone to pick up speech.

'This will enable characters to communicate actively, for example smiling to masters when characters find them, welcoming home masters by automatic detection,' the firm says.

It has a stereo speaker, camera, microphone, tracking sensors, temperature and humidity seniors and light sensors.

'Hikari Azuma is a character with a comforting charm,' the firm says.  'Hikari Azuma will grow to be the user's ideal wife after further updates.'  Not only does she use the sensors to detect her owner, but Azuma has the ability to control lighting and home appliances inside the house.

The assistant was designed by Taro Minoboshi and voiced by Yuka Hiyamizu – a Japanese actress.  It acts like a 'pleasing girlfriend who sends text messages to wish you a pleasant day' according to the firm.  It also has wireless LAN, Bluetooth and infrared letting you control home appliances such as television, lights and air conditioning.

Gatebox also plans to add support for the AI ​​assistant 'Clova' provided by LINE Corporation in the future.  The virtual persona can also wakes you in the morning, tells you to pack an umbrella, turns on the lights when she knows you're on your way home, and unwinds at the end of the evening by watching television with you.

The firm says Gatebox can perform the standard virtual assistant tasks, such as providing calendar reminders and weather reports - but it is also designed to be a companion to its owner.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

What could be less threatening than the old office fax machine?  Nothing.  That's precisely why it's used as a backdoor for hackers to get into an organization's network.

Check Point, a cyber security firm in Israel, said recently that their research discovered security flaws in tens of millions of fax machines.  The hack works by sending an image file through the phone line - or a file that the fax machine thinks is an image file - and that is coded to contain malicious software.  When a company receives the photo, the image is decoded and uploaded into the fax-printer's memory, allowing the hackers to take over the device and spreading the malicious code through the network.

'Many companies may not even be aware they have a fax machine connected to their network, but fax capability is built into many multifunction office and home printers,' said Yaniv Balmas, group manager of security research at Check Point.

The researchers focused on Hewlett Packard's OfficeJet Pro all-in-one fax printers - the global market leader for fax machines.  Hewlett Packard quickly fixed the issue - a patch is available on their support page - but the same vulnerabilities are present in most fax machines, including those by Canon and Epson.

Many machines are too old to even update.  That means it will be difficult for companies to stop hackers from entering their system.

Globally, businesses use an estimated 45 million fax machines.  Faxes are still widely used in healthcare, banking, and law, sectors in which highly sensitive data is stored.  In the U.S. medical sector, 75 per cent of all communications are sent by fax.

To prevent organizations' networks from becoming compromised, experts recommend that companies check if their fax machines can be updated, or place fax devices on a secure network that is separate from the networks that carry sensitive information.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Parents should make sure they talk to their children from a very young age, scientists say.

Children who are regularly engaged in conversation by adults have stronger connections between the two developing brain regions that are critical for language.  This helps them to improve their language skills – regardless of their economic background, something scientists had previously thought was an important factor.

The new study highlights the importance of spending time with children and engaging them in conversation rather than leaving them to watch television, or play on a tablet or smartphone.  The most important aspect of conversation is that parents and children take turns in conversing – as this helped children the researchers said.

While it might seem like a basic idea, around a third of five-year-olds in the UK start school without the basic speaking skills needed to participate in class.

The new research, published in the journal JNeurosci, suggests simply by spending more time in conversation, children from poorer economic backgrounds will narrow the gap with children from more affluent families by the time they start school.

Corresponding author Dr Rachel Romeo, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, said: 'This suggests that early intervention programs should not only encourage parents to talk to their children, but to talk with their children to promote optimal brain development.'

The research was carried out on 40 four to six year-old children and their parents.  During a weekend, researchers from MIT recorded how much parents spoke to their children and then carried out brain scans to see how this changed their biology.

The findings showed stronger connections between Wernicke's area and Broca's area – brain regions critical for the comprehension and production of speech – in children whose parents spent longer talking to them.  The key factor was that parents and children took turns in conversing, the researchers said.

The research, although carried out in the US, may lend support to recent comments by Education Secretary Damian Hinds.  In July, Mr Hinds said it was a 'persistent scandal' almost a third of five-year-olds start school without the ability to speak in sentences.

The lack of speech skills means they cannot follow lessons or make friends, and they quickly fall behind – a disadvantage which can last for life.

The warnings have also come from the chief inspector of schools who has warned that many children are not read bedtime stories, and nursery rhymes at home.

Mr Hinds said it aims to cut in half the proportion of five-year-olds without communication and literacy skills by 2028.

The Department for Education said children with poor vocabulary at age five are more than twice as likely to be unemployed at age 34 as children with good vocabulary.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Humans were forced to adapt to sudden climate change 8,200 years ago, after a sudden shift to a colder climate, new research has revealed.

Early farmers helped stave off food scarcity by altering the animals they reared, a study of animal fats preserved in pottery vessels has revealed.  Changes in dwelling structures also showed a shift from communal households to small, independent families, eventually leading to the settlement's abandonment.  Scientists made the discovery at a UNESCO World Heritage site in Turkey that was inhabited from approximately 7,500 BC to 5,700 BC.  

A team of researchers, led by the University of Bristol, focused on the stone and copper age city settlement of Çatalhöyük in southern Anatolia.  During the height of the city's occupation, a well-documented climate change event occurred.  This resulted in a sudden decrease in global temperature, caused by the release of a huge amount of glacial meltwater from a massive freshwater lake in northern Canada.

Examining animal bones excavated at the site, scientists concluded that the herders of the city turned towards sheep and goats at this time, as these animals were more drought-resistant than cattle.  Study of cut marks on the animal bones also revealed butchery practices.  The high number of such marks at the time of the climate event showed that the population worked on exploiting any available meat due to food scarcity.

The authors examined animal fats surviving in ancient cooking pots, where they detected the presence of ruminant carcass fats, consistent with the animal bones discovered at Çatalhöyük.  For the first time, compounds from animal fats detected in pottery were shown to carry evidence for the climate event in their isotopic composition.

Using the 'you are what you eat (and drink)' principle, the team deducted that the isotopic information carried in the hydrogen atoms - the deuterium to hydrogen ratio - from the animal fats was reflecting that of ancient rainfall.

A change in the hydrogen signal was detected in the period corresponding to the climate event, thus suggesting changes in rainfall patterns at the site at that time.

Dr Mélanie Roffet-Salque, lead author of the paper, said: 'Changes in precipitation patterns in the past are traditionally obtained using ocean or lake sediment cores.  This is the first time that such information is derived from cooking pots.  We have used the signal carried by the hydrogen atoms from the animal fats trapped in the pottery vessels after cooking.  This opens up a completely new avenue of investigation – the reconstruction of past climate at the very location where people lived using pottery.'

The full findings of the study were published in the journal Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Science.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

If you're struggling to find work, it might be worth considering a tattoo.  Job seekers have a better chance of being hired if the interviewer spots ink on their skin, according to new research.  This is because the artwork gives prospective candidates an advantage over their peers as tattoos help them to look more fashionable.

The two-year study also found that wages and annual earnings of tattooed employees were statistically indistinguishable from those without.  Bosses who continue to discriminate against people with tattoos may be settling for a less qualified pool applicant, researchers warned.

The research was conducted by University of Miami Business School.  Researchers, who surveyed more than 2,000 people across the US over the last two years, found that in the hiring market, tattooed job seekers were just as likely, and in some instances even more so, to gain employment.

Lead author Professor Michael French, a health economist at the University of Miami Business School said: 'The long held stigmas associated with having tattoos, and particularly visible ones, may be eroding, especially among younger individuals who view body art as a natural and common form of personal expression.  Given the increasing prevalence of tattoos in society – around 40 per cent for young adults – hiring managers and supervisors who discriminate against tattooed workers will likely find themselves at a competitive disadvantage for the most qualified employees.'

Wages and annual earnings of tattooed employees were statistically indistinguishable from those without them, researchers found.

It is estimated a fifth of British adults has a tattoo – rising to about three in ten of those aged 16 to 44.  Meanwhile, around 20 per cent of US adults have tattoos.

Traditionally, it has been said those with ink are risking their careers, with many high-ranking managers of an older generation whose traditional view may be that it signifies a less reliable character.  This view has been corroborated by past research, which suggested bosses generally see tattooed people as less employable.  However, the latest research shows attitudes could be changing.

Professor French from the University of Western Australia said: 'Our research surprisingly found no evidence of employment, wage or earnings discrimination against people with various types of tattoos.  In our sample, and considering a variety of alternative estimation techniques, not only are the wages and annual earnings of tattooed employees in the United States statistically indistinguishable from the wages and annual earnings of employees without tattoos, but tattooed individuals are also just as likely, and in some instances even more likely, to gain employment.  These results suggest that, contrary to popular opinion as well as research findings with hiring managers and customers, having a tattoo does not appear to be associated with disadvantage or discrimination in the labour market.'

In the UK, the law on equality in the workplace does not cover those with tattoos as a protected characteristic.

'Previous research has found that tattooed people are widely perceived by hiring managers to be less employable than people without tattoos,' said Professor French.  'This is especially the case for those who have visible tattoos, particularly offensive ones, that are difficult to conceal.'

Two years ago, a study of almost 200 managers in the UK and US suggested having tattoos can actually increase employment chances where the clientele is younger.

It found managers seeking a bartender for a hypothetical nightclub gave higher ratings to images in which the candidate was tattooed.

Those looking for a waiter at an upscale restaurant, however, gave the tattooed images a lower rating.

The University of St Andrews study found offensive tattoos depicting misogynistic, Satanic, or fascist imagery, or anything related to drinking or drugs, were always unacceptable.

The full study was published in the journal Human Relations.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

A factory worker thought he'd found a Coke can ring-pull while out metal detecting only to discover it was a rare piece of Elizabethan jewellery worth £10,000.

Ben Bishop was searching a farmer's field when he came across the stunning item, a gold signet ring dates back to between 1550 and 1650.  It will be sold at Hansons Auctioneers in Derby on 27 September.

Mr Bishop made the discovery in Glastonbury, Somerset.  The 30-year-old said: 'I thought it was another Coke can ring-pull - I've found tons of those over the years along with lots or rubbish.  I lifted up the turf and started digging, expecting to find another one.  But I saw something shining and, when I broke off the mud, it was an ancient gold ring.  It's the first gold I've ever found.  I was so gobsmacked I just sat down on the ground staring at it for about 40 minutes.'

The signet ring, featuring a double-headed eagle, has since been identified as Elizabethan and dates back to between 1550 and 1650 - making it almost 500 years old.  It will now be sold be sold at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbys, on 27 September and is expected to fetch up to £10,000.

Mr Bishop, who has been metal detecting for seven years, added: 'I did lots of research on the ring and immediately registered it as Treasure Trove.  I thought it may have been Eastern European but it turns out that the Eagle symbol was used on lead tokens when Elizabeth I was on the throne.  The ring was taken away for a couple of months to be examined and the British Museum did a report on it.  No museums wanted to buy it so it was returned to me as the finder.  I had an agreement with the owner of the field that if I found anything of high value I would sell it and split the proceeds.  It's a man's ring and fits my finger really well, but I have to part with it.  I have no idea who it originally belonged to but it would have been a person of wealth and importance.  Glastonbury Abbey, an old monastery, isn't far away.'

Mr Bishop, of Bridgwater, Somerset, took the ring to show jewellery expert Kate Bliss, a regular on TV's Bargain Hunt and Flog It!  She was at a free jewellery valuations events organised by Hansons Auctioneers at The Malt House in Alveston, Stratford.

Ms Bliss said: 'This gold signet ring bowled me over.  What an amazing find.  Ben is an avid and experienced metal detector.  It's been assessed by the Portable Antiquities Scheme.  Depicting a double headed eagle on a flat oval bezel with beaded border, the ring weighs in at an unusually heavy 17 grams.  This is a rare find and one which will appeal to jewellery enthusiasts and historians alike.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

They think it's all over, and it may well be now as scientists have found the best way for football players to train in order to take the perfect penalty.  According to the latest findings, waiting until the goalkeeper starts to move and aiming into the opposite corner is a skill that can be improved with training.

While the tried-and-tested Alan Shearer technique of shooting the ball into the top corner might work for some, scientists claim strikers can train themselves to be better at outwitting the goalie.  Simple methods can be used to shorten a footballers' decision-making process and allow them to focus more on shot accuracy, researchers say.

The University of Portsmouth delved into the mechanics of penalty taking ahead of the kick-off of the Premier League, which will see previous champions Manchester United and Leicester City take to the turf at Old Trafford.

The latest research, which was led by Dr Martina Navarro, a lecturer in sport and exercise science, could lend a helping hand to penalty takers.  Dr Navarro said: 'A successful penalty kick requires that the penalty taker produces an accurate, well-controlled kicking action and at the same time watches the goalkeeper and makes a decision to which side to kick the ball.  In other words, it is a defining feature of the goalkeeper-dependent strategy that a conscious decision is made while kicking.  This makes the goalkeeper-dependent strategy essentially a dual task.'

She studied the two possible methods of taking a penalty by comparing different training techniques on 20 football players from the Netherlands and Brazil: The first technique saw players pick the location of their shot independent of the goalkeeper's movements; while the second saw players determine where they would aim after the keeper had started to move.  Overall, the first technique was less successful, as players were not looking to anticipate the keepers' movers – leading to more saves.

Scientists said the second method, where the players try to aim in the opposite corner of the goal than the keeper, is the best approach and results in more goals.

The researchers developed a number of exercises to improve the speed players are able to read the goalkeeper's movements.  In order to their success, the researchers recommend practising penalties and then gradually increasing the difficulty of the kick.  According to the scientists, this can be done by moving further away from the goal, or using a smaller target.  This reduces the amount of thinking required by the player.

The players were divided in two groups and took part in a practice session to improve kicking accuracy (without a goalkeeper) and then in a post-test in order to examine the accuracy of their penalty kick performance (including a decision to kick to the side opposite the goalkeeper's dive).

Before the World Cup kicked off this summer, Dutch mathematicians created a new way to look at penalty saves that factors in a goalkeeper's speed, position and where the taker aims the ball.  The complex formula tells a keeper where to look to increase their chances of saving a penalty.  Researchers said their work could help goalkeepers prepare for penalty shootouts before key games - although they are likely to need a maths degree to understand it.

The equation takes into account the goalkeeper's perpendicular speed or velocity (VGK), where the ball crosses the line (XB) and his starting position (XGK).  This is divided by the time available before the kicker strikes the ball (TTCPT) and the period it is in flight (TTCB).

The Dutch team say it will enable goalkeepers to time their dives perfectly - which is key to saving a penalty.  It takes the average goalkeeper about 0.6 seconds to reach to his left or right at full stretch - and a full second out their stretch hand.  This leaves little time to take in visual cues such as the ball-flight pattern and its trajectory.

The formula highlights just how important it is for goalkeeper to watch the actions of a player during the run-up.

Study lead author Dr John van der Kamp, a behavioural scientist at Vrije Universty in Amsterdam, told MailOnline: 'If the formula is correct, then it tells the goalkeeper where he should look to increase his chance [of saving a penalty].  This will be different for every goalkeeper depending on how fast they are.  This also suggests that training a goalkeeper's agility can help stopping penalties.'

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk

Life on Earth may have sprung into existence under apocalyptic conditions.  New research has found that super volcanoes, which have the potential to destroy mankind, fueled the rise of life billions of years ago.  These cataclysmic eruptions spewed oxygen into the atmosphere creating the ozone layer - and protecting organisms against radiation from the sun.  The discovery could also lead to better ways of predicting the devastating eruptions that have triggered some of the world's worst disasters.

A study of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii, which wiped out hundreds of homes when it blew earlier this year, found when the bubbles rising to the surface get large they cool down.  The gas inside loses contact with the magma and becomes more oxidized than previously believed - with higher proportions of carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide.  The ratio of the latter to the former when the lava lake was in its most energetic state was six times more than during the most stable phase.

The scientists suggest this effect should be taken into account when gas measurements are being used to forecast major changes in volcanic activity.

When magma rises to the surface, the water becomes bubbles and this increases the pressure.  In thick and slow moving magma the pressure cannot escape and therefore builds up before it blows violently.

Co-author Dr Tamar Elias, from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, said: 'Gas measurements are critical to our monitoring and hazard assessment.  Refining our understanding of how magma behaves beneath the volcano allows us to better interpret our observations.'

The discovery published in Nature Geoscience has implications for the evolution of the Earth's atmosphere billions of years ago.

Co author Dr Bruno Scaillet, of Orleans University in France, said: 'Volcanic emissions in Earth's deep past may have made the atmosphere more oxidising than we thought.  A more oxygen-rich atmosphere would have facilitated the emergence and viability of life on land, by generating an ozone layer, which shields against harmful ultraviolet rays from the sun.'

Study leader Professor of Volcanology Dr Clive Oppenheimer of the University of Cambridge and colleagues measured the composition of gases released from Kilauea during gentle and more vigorous periods of in 2013. Using a scanning device they found the chemicals changed depending on the size of gas bubbles rising to the surface - offering hope of improving forecasting threats posed by certain volcanoes.

Gas emissions are monitored routinely at volcano sites across the world with carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide, for instance, heralding shifts in activity.  Volcanologists have considered they reflect the rise and fall of magma in the Earth's crust.  But the latest findings show the composition depends also on the size of the gas bubbles rising up to the surface.

Until the latest spectacular eruption opened up fissures on the flank of the volcano, Kilauea held a vast lava lake in its summit crater.  Its behaviour alternated between gentle phases and fiery 'spattering' powered by large gas bubbles bursting through the magma.

The infrared spectrometer placed at the side of the lake showed the gas temperatures ranged from 1150 degrees Celsius down to around 900 degrees Celsius.

Prof Oppenheimer said: 'At this temperature, the lava would freeze.  At first, we couldn't understand how the gases could emerge much colder than the molten lava sloshing in the lake.'

The clue came from the variation in calculated temperatures - they were high when the lava lake was placid and low when it was bubbling furiously.

Co-author Prof Andy Woods said: 'We realised it could be because of the size of the gas bubbles.  Larger bubbles rise faster through the magma and expand rapidly as the pressure reduces - just like bubbles rising in a glass of fizzy drink.  The gas cools down because of the expansion.'

In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted and buried the ancient city of Pompeii beneath several tonnes of molten lava and hot ash.  The loss of life and destruction was catastrophic and remains one of the most infamous natural disasters ever seen.  Since then, scientists have been trying to predict when the next super eruption might occur.  Evidence is growing the chemical make-up of magma can predict just how explosive a volcano could be.

Extracted from: www.dailymail.co.uk