Fire Tornado!

Yesterday myself (Marieke Navin, Science Communication Officer at the Museum of Science and Industry) and presenter Howard Sharples got up close and personal with a fire tornado to illustrate some visual science for the launch of Manchester Science Festival. To work the fire tornado you light a flame at the centre of the drum, spin the drum which gives spin to the air molecules that hit the hot air around the flame, and raise up in a vortex like a tornado. We had a few teething problems with Howard over-zealously span the drum and tipped the whole thing over (on fire!) twice, and we thought we'd have to cancel the photo-shoot. But luckily with a bit of perseverance and some wooden blocks we managed to stabilise the device and shooting began! The article appeared in the MEN today, so check it out.