It's Hotter Than Hell (Cause Your Halfway There?)

This is the kind of headline that makes you wonder about some folks:

Drillers Break Into Magma Chamber

Drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several metres before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study.

Well, I certainly hope it's "perfectly safe." It sounds more like a do-it-yourself volcano. Researchers who have been studying the site for the past three years say there is no real danger.

The idea was to find steam from waters heated deep underground in fractured rock, to drive turbines on the surface to generate electricity. The company behind the project, Puna Geothermal Venture, has had a successful power operation in the area for 15 years.

But the drillers were shocked - not only to hit magma but to also hit such a big heat source at the relatively shallow depth of 2.5km.

"It's hotter than hell; it's over a thousand degrees centigrade," said Professor Marsh.

If it's hotter than hell, then it's pretty hot. Not something I want to experience on a personal level.