• Question: how long have you been setting things on fire?

    Asked by samiyakhatun to Rory, Roma on 15 Jun 2014.
    • Photo: Rory Hadden

      Rory Hadden answered on 15 Jun 2014:

      Nice question. Officially as part of my job I’ve been looking at how things burn for about 7 years – this involves setting things on fire but in a controlled way! There is a lot more to it than just setting things on fire though, I get to use interesting aspects of chemistry, physics, maths and even sometimes architecture (improving the fire safety of buildings) and ecology (looking at forest fires).

    • Photo: Roma Agrawal

      Roma Agrawal answered on 16 Jun 2014:

      I try and make sure my buildings DON’T catch fire! We make sure there is enough protection to the steel or concrete in the building so that if there is a fire, then people have enough time to escape and the fire-fighters can put it out.

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