Of mankind's many scientific endeavors—space travel, materials science, weather control—perhaps no undertaking is as important as the science of pouring lava onto stuff. Unless we can understand what happens when molten lava meets a can of Spam, or Coca-Cola or Chef Boyardee Ravioli, we will not be able to unlock the mysteries of our universe.

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In all seriousness though, something very interesting does happen when you pour lava onto ice, as sculptor Bob Wysocki and and geologist Jeff Karson discovered:

Both Wysocki and Karson are professors at Syracuse University, in the Department of Art and Department of Earth Sciences, respectively. Together the two run the Lava Project, focused on both the "spectacle and experimentation" of lava. This gives them a lot of leeway into what they can pursue—like using lava to cook steaks:

You can see more lava-related videos on Wysocki's Vimeo channel.