1. As trapped, silica NPs could not be heated to incandescence with a 532 nm laser, even at relatively high intensities, but brief CO2 laser heating even at lower intensities transformed the NPs so that they absorbed strongly at 532 nm and emitted blackbody-like spectra. 2. The CO2 laser pre-heated silica NPs had sublimation kinetics that continued to evolve (generally slowing)