Geologists say they are close to creating the hottest borehole in the world.
They are drilling into the heart of a volcano in the south-west of Iceland.
They have told the BBC that they should reach 5km down, where temperatures are expected to exceed 500C (932F), in the next couple of weeks.
The researchers want to bring steam from the deep well back up to the surface to provide an important source of energy.
"We hope that this will open new doors for the geothermal industry globally to step into an era of more production," said Asgeir Margeirsson, CEO of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a collaboration between scientists, industry and the Icelandic government.
(Score: 1) by StarryEyed on Friday December 16 2016, @09:54PM
"The IDDP team says it is currently "drilling blind", which means no rocky debris is coming back up to the surface. Instead, it is somehow being absorbed into the surrounding rocks.
And without being able to examine the rock, it means the geologists really are heading into the unknown."
http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Inferno_(TV_story) [wikia.com]