(SUBMISSION) Who said Obsession can't lead to Breakthroughs? It can... (moved from ATSNN)

I wouldn't have believed if someone told me that a obsession can lead to a breakthrough in physics, but after reading this, anything is possible...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Princeton physicist Paul Chaikin's passion for M&M candies was so well known that his students played a sweet practical joke on him by leaving a 55-gallon drum of the candies in his office. Little did they know that their prank would lead to a physics breakthrough.

Chocolate obsession

The barrel full of the oblate little candies made Chaikin think about how well they packed in. A series of studies have shown they pack more tightly than perfect spheres -- something that surprises many physicists and Chaikin himself.

I have excess amount of socks, and I am thinking of sending it to a physics' major. Wonder if I will make it to headlines too!


[Edited on 2/13/2004 by surfup]

This is really fascinating in terms of matter versus void theory...

"When poured in, they said, spheres occupy about 64 percent of the space in a container. M&Ms manage to pack in at a density of about 68 percent."

The slightly modified yet still "organic" shape of an eliptical sphere, not unlike a rotating planet, fills more of the void it displaces than a perfect sphere!

Fascinating. I need to do some math to see if what size eliptical sphere displaces the most area of the square it circumscribes! I know in two dimensions a perfect circle can't displace more than 42% of the square it's borders constructs. Damn, now I'm going to get all rainman again. Excellent driver...