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Many people have a fish tank in their house … not many fill it up with molten aluminum, though. Thus, it’s fair to say that the Backyard Scientist is not just anyone. The popular YouTube vlogger can summarize his mission in one simple sentence: “I like to make videos on all the crazy stuff I do.”

Recording from his home base in Florida for the past few years, he’s experimented with all sorts of ideas, from woodburning with electricity to attempting to make fireballs. His real-life “mad scientist” vids could definitely be classified as dangerous, but they’re also incredibly popular. His channel has racked up over 500,000 subscribers and more than 61 million views; another molten aluminum video involving a watermelon has been watched nearly 23 million times on its own.

As daring as he is, the Scientist also reinforces that what he’s doing is dangerous. Molten metal can be extremely risky to mess with (although the guys at Mythbusters have some compelling evidence to the contrary), and no one wants to end up in the emergency room after engaging in some backyard science. While he has been doing this stuff his whole life, he’s also “experienced burns, cuts, temporary hearing loss, shocks” and more and, therefore, encourages viewers to think long and hard before recreating any of these experiments. Molten aluminum might look like fun, but it takes knowledge, preparation and the right equipment to handle it safely.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive equipment, though; in keeping with his name, which denotes the homemade and DIY nature of his experiments, the Backyard Scientist even made his own foundry and crucible, which can be seen in this video. “The foundry is cement and perlite, and the crucible is just an old propane cylinder cut open,” he’s revealed.

Read more: http://www.wimp.com/backyard-scientist-molten-aluminum-fish-tank/