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“It’s a glimpse into the center of the Earth. It’s like listening to the heartbeat of the planet.”

This is Sam Cossman. He’s at the crater of an active volcano in the island nation of Vanuatu.

“All right, so let’s use the drone to…”

Sam Cossman is an explorer and filmmaker. He’s here to record the volcano in a way that’s never been done before. He’s using drones with cameras to capture amazing close-up footage of the volcano. The drones allow Sam to take thousands of great photographs. Sam uses these photos to create first-of-their-kind 3D models of the volcano, like this one. But things don’t always go perfectly. Because of the extreme heat above the volcano, many of the drones fall into the lava and get destroyed. Sam’s job is exciting, but it’s also dangerous. There are poisonous gases, and the heat is extreme—over 500 degrees Celsius!

Sam works closely with Jeffrey Marlow, a geo-biologist. Jeffrey is searching for life in the rocks near the volcano’s lava. The lava is way too hot for things to live in, but the rocks near the lava are cooler—below 120 degrees Celsius. Jeffrey is interested in the lifeforms that live in these hot rocks. By studying these tiny lifeforms, Jeffrey hopes to learn more about how life first formed on Earth. Sam’s cameras are very important in Jeffrey’s research. They allow Jeffrey to check his work more carefully. For example, he uses the footage to check exactly where he was when he collected a rock sample. Sam’s 3D models are also useful. They allow Jeffrey to study the different layers of the volcano in detail.

Sam believes that drone videos can be used in many other areas of research. He wants to bring together the worlds of exploration, video, and science to help push the limits of discovery farther.