Here, in the country's northeast, a team of international researchers is preparing to drill two kilometres (1.2 miles) into the heart of the volcano, a Jules Verne-like project aimed at creating the world's first underground magma observatory. Unlike the lava spewed above ground, the molten rock beneath the surface remains a mystery. "We have never observed underground magma, apart from fortuitous encounters while drilling" in volcanoes in Hawaii and Kenya, and at Krafla in 2009, he says. "Knowing where the magma is located... is vital" in order to be prepared for an eruption. "Without that, we are nearly blind," says...