Handmade volcanoes and tornadoes prove “Terrific” talking points

A tornado in a bottle and volcanoes erupting bicarbonate of soda “lava” proved popular at The Great Yorkshire Show, where they gave Leeds researchers Lindsay Bennett and Cat Scott an opportunity to talk about science.

The researchers, who were demonstrating the handmade props with nothing more technical than pop bottles and lemons for the BBC’s Terrific Scientific  investigations, were interviewed by presenter Paul Hudson for The Weather Show on BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio Lincolnshire (16  July, repeated 17 July 2017).

In between stirring up the tornadoes, Dr Bennett, an NCAS Instrument Scientist who runs the Centre’s mobile x-band radar, talked about the versatility of the trailer-based radar, which has been taken from Cape Verde to Scotland to study clouds, and also spoke about her own close encounters with tornadoes in the USA.

Dr Cat Scott, who was in charge of the mini volcanoes, also talked to Paul Hudson about her involvement with the European Crescendo project examining the next generation of climate models, as well as her own research into how gases from trees and vegetation participate in the atmosphere.

Listen to the interviews here (starts 48 mins in).

Image (left to right): Dr Cat Scott, Paul Hudson, Dr Lindsay Bennett