I saw this article recently in the Sydney morning herald, and thought little more of it until someone at the museum passed on a contact for Dario. The Schworer family visited yesterday and I had a a chance to talk to them for a little while about the adventure they are on.
from the expedition blog
It is quite a life they lead; so far they are about half way through, see here for information about their trip to date and into the future.
I mention them now because you will read more about them in the coming weeks including about heir visit to the museum in April to talk to visitors.
So if you want to be inspired with a modern adventure story, or just want to read ahead before they visit us, now is your chance. This is a story of sailing all the worlds seven seas, climbing the highest mountain on each continent and doing it all with only wind, solar or human energy.
image from Max Planck institute
It is a warm summer’s day and having slipped slopped slapped and shaded yourself, and well outside the midday heat you walk out on the sand at your favourite beach. You shift aside the dry white powder until you get to that layer of damp grains beneath, and then you are ready. In what seems like only moments you create your version of the Disney castle.
But what could your temporary turrets have to do with the origins of the universe or for that matter quick sand? For years people at the beach have created simple structures from sand and water, two substances which alone act very much like free flowing fluids. In fact sand building competitions create very intricate structures which at first glance seem to defy gravity.
Massive landslide at La Conchita, California, which occurred in spring 1995 after heavy rain. Fortunately, no one was killed or injured (courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey).
Now Mario Scheel a researcher at the Max Planck Institute in Germany have determined what allows damp sand to stay upright in sand castles. Not just sand castles, the theoretical dynamics they are discovering will help us understand everything from quick sand to land slides and the origins of planets in young solar systems.
so next time you build a sand castle at the beach you can claim it is more than just fun, in fact you are working with extremely complex theoretical physics which very significant effects around the world. to the beach
references
New Scientist
S. Herminghaus, Advances in Physics 54 (2005) 221
