Nature Video27 February 2025Rare substance found in ancient skull reveals presence of a super-heated ash cloud.ByShamini BundellShamini BundellView author publicationsYou can also search for this author in PubMed Google ScholarRead the paper: Unique formation of organic glass from a human brain in the Vesuvius eruption of 79 CEThe brain of a man who died nearly 2000 years ago was turned to glass by extreme conditions during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Researchers studied the strange material found in the man’s skull and spine and deduced the presence of a super-heated ash cloud that would have caused the tissue to first liquify then rapidly cool into glass — a unique event that has even preserved some brain structures.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-00643-w The secret of volcanic flows’ deadly speed Hawaii’s surprise volcanic eruption: Lessons from Kilauea 2018 Printing Lucy Explaining the icy mystery of the Dyatlov Pass deaths Attack by the lake: a prehistoric massacre Vikings were living in North America exactly a thousand years agoSubjectsArchaeologyMaterials scienceLatest on:Jobs Postdoctoral FellowWe are seeking several talented and highly motivated Postdoctoral Fellows to perform hands-on experiments.Houston, Texas (US)UT MD Anderson