Worlds Oldest Lab Experiment Pitch Drops Century-Long Secret

Prepare to be amazed by an experiment so slow it makes glaciers look hasty! Since 1927, the University of Queensland in Australia has been home to a truly unique scientific endeavour: the Pitch Drop Experiment. This isn't your typical flashing lights and rapid reactions kind of science. Instead, it's a testament to patience, observing the incredibly slow flow of pitch, a substance so thick it's a staggering 100 billion times more viscous than water.

Initiated by physicist Thomas Parnell, the experiment began in earnest in 1930 when he severed the stem of a funnel filled with this tar-like fluid. The goal? To meticulously track its descent, drop by painstaking drop. The first droplet took a full eight years to fall, setting a glacial pace for this ongoing observation. Over the decades, the drips have continued, albeit with an even slower cadence, especially after air conditioning was introduced, subtly altering the lab's temperature. Astonishingly, in nearly a century, only nine drops have made their way into the waiting beaker. The last recorded drop was in 2014, and scientists are still eagerly anticipating the next one, possibly within the current decade.

The elusiveness of this scientific spectacle is part of its charm. Despite constant observation, including a live stream, the actual moment a drop falls has never been directly witnessed due to the sheer slowness and, at times, technical glitches. It's a remarkable demonstration of the properties of extreme ly viscous fluids and a patient, long-term commitment to scientific curiosity that has captivated observers for generations. The Pitch Drop Experiment stands as a quiet, persistent monument to the marvels of the natural world, unfolding at an almost imperceptible pace.

Fuente Original: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/01/19/2324236/the-worlds-longest-running-lab-experiment-is-almost-100-years-old?utm_source=rss1.0mainlinkanon&utm_medium=feed

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