When Mount Vesuvius blasted hot ash through Roman cities at a temperature of 950 degrees Fahrenheit, the cloud killed residents as soon as it hit them.
The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius Turned This Ancient Victim's Brain to Glass
The extreme heat from the volcanic explosion in A.D. 79 vitrified, or turned to glass, a man's brain.
By Leslie Nemo
Jan 23, 2020 4:00 PMJan 23, 2020 9:49 PM
A shard of glass that was once brain matter. The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 liquified and then cooled the organic tissue — a process known as vitrification — preserving a portion of the brain. (Credit: Pierpaolo Petrone)
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