Kicker: Blowing off steam

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: You’ve heard the old saying “Get your head out of the clouds?” Well, for Sicilians, that’s where their eyes and ears are.

SOUND: [WIND]

That’s the sound of wind from Mt. Etna in Italy where a new volcano crater opened up last week followed by spectacular vapor rings rising 11,000 feet above the summit.

MATTHEW WATSON: What you tend to see with most volcanoes is just a puff of gas. The volcano’s geometry and de-gassing is in a bit of a sweet spot.

That “sweet spot” means no volcano on earth sends up as many rings as does Mt. Etna.

WATSON: A vortex is set up so you can actually see them, the individual rings spin and that’s what holds them together and keeps them in the atmosphere for a few minutes.

Backlit by the Mediterranean sun makes for quite the scene!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: So long as Etna doesn’t blow its top!

BROWN: It’s The World and Everything in It.

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