Saturday Science: Volcanoes

Well, one volcano, and this is more of a news item than a science item, but there's a new island in the South Pacific:

Thanks to volcanic activity, a new island has risen out of the waters of the South Pacific. Just don't start making Spring Break plans to go there yet. Scientists are warning that the new island is highly unstable and even boats should avoid passing too close.

Popping out of the water just 28 miles west of the tiny island nation of Tonga, the new land mass sprouted from the Hunga Tonga volcano, which became active back in December. It's the second time in five years that the volcano has erupted.

There's a lot of land that's formed this way -- think Hawai'i.

The surface is still very unstable, and the volcano could erupt again at any time, which hasn't stopped seabirds from nesting.

At any rate, for more photos, click through.