The eruption of Mount Vesuvius 2,000 years ago turned a victim’s brain tissue into glass. Scientists say they have figured out how this unusual phenomenon occurred.

Researchers who examined the remains of a man whose brain was purported to have turned into glass when he was killed nearly 2,000 years ago in the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius say they have

It was a surprising discovery when scientists examining the remains of a man who died in bed in the ancient city of Herculaneum after Italy's Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD found dark fragments resembling obsidian inside his skull.

Heat from the eruption in A.D. 79 was so intense that it vitrified the brain tissue of one unfortunate Herculaneum resident, a new study confirms.

In 79 C.E., Mount Vesuvius erupted, burying the nearby ancient Roman city of Pompeii and the smaller town of Herculaneum under deadly layers of volcanic ash, pumice and pyroclastic flows. But the disaster that demolished the two settlements also immortalized them,

Mind Shattering The cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD has fascinated researchers and historians for centuries. Since the early 1700s, engineers have been excavating the remnants of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum,

A rare organic glass was found inside a skull from Herculaneum’s 79 CE Vesuvius eruption. Researchers determined that a super-heated ash cloud briefly raised the brain’s temperature above 510°C, then cooled rapidly,

A unique dark-colored organic glass, found inside the skull of an individual who died in Herculaneum during the 79 CE Mount Vesuvius eruption, likely formed when they were killed by a very hot but short-lived ash cloud.