How ‘Pele’s hair’ sprouts from erupting lava

Email Bluesky Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Whatsapp X Lava that is stretched while molten can cool into the fine glass fibres called Pele’s hair. Credit: Michael Szönyi/imageBROKER.com/Alamy Access through your institution Buy or subscribe The fragile-looking filaments of cooled lava known as Pele’s hair can form when pockets of bubble-rich lava pull apart rapidly, experiments suggest. Access options Access through your institution Access Nature and 54 other Nature Portfolio journals Get Nature+, our best-value online-access subscription $32.99 / 30 days cancel any time Learn more Subscribe to this journal Receive 51 print issues and online access $199.00 per year only $3.90 per issue Learn more Rent or buy this article Prices vary by article type from $1.95 to $39.95 Learn more Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00766-8 References Gillies, J. K., Llewellin, E. W., Wadsworth, F. B. & Rennie, C. Geology https://doi.org/10.1130/G53972.1 (2026). Article Google Scholar Download references Jobs Chair and Centre Lead, Computational Biomedical Imaging Recruiting an Academic Lead in Computational Biomedical Imaging to build a vibrant research community engaged in imaging and its clinical translation. Queen Mary University London, Whitechapel Campus Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) Research group leader, Systems Immunology (m/f/d) The Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut is one of the world’s leading research institutes in the field of animal diseases, animal welfare, animal husbandry... Greifswald, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (DE) Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Bundesforschungsinstitut für Tiergesundheit Postdoctoral Fellow UMass Chan Medical School (FBGao Lab) Post Doc Position to study pathogenic mechanisms of Frontotemporal Dementia using patient iPSC-derived neurons Worcester, Massachusetts (US) Umass Chan Medical School - Fen-Biao Gao Lab Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Warmly Welcomes Talents Abroad Qiushi Chair Professor; Qiushi Distinguished Scholar; ZJU 100 Young Researcher; Distinguished researcher No. 3, Qingchun East Road, Hangzhou, Zhejiang (CN) Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Affiliated with Zhejiang University School of Medicine Talent Recruitment Announcement of the College of Informatics, Huazhong Agricultural University Join Huazhong Agricultural University No.1 Shizishan Street, Hongshan District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU)