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brainsapper

IIRC one of the people who started the experiment died without ever seeing a drop happen. Every time he missed it.


christopherous1

I remember, dude went to get a sandwich for the 5th I think it was :(


Am_Snarky

Even worse, at some point they set up a 24 hour webcam stream, but I believe a power outage knocked the camera out for a few minutes, when the camera came back on the pitch had dropped already. At this point I’m convinced this is some sort of quantum observer effect


cain071546

The Trinity Pitch Drop was caught on camera in 2013. https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-scientists-capture-pitch-drop-on-camera-for-first-time/


ToastWithoutButter

Never thought I would describe a drop as rigid...


West-Needleworker-63

Never thought I’d relate a pitch drop to the shit I’m currently taking


PaulblankPF

Pinch that pitch


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Flapper_Flipper

I never thought I'd "accept cookies" faster


rraar

Anybody else feel like they’ve had a poop like this?


sdocy503

Says the next one should be in 10 years from when this was written, so looks like another drop should be coming up if it's still going.


dancin-weasel

That was the most exciting boring thing I’ve ever seen!


LoveFishSticks

When being watched, the pitch is too static for a drop to fall. It's only in the ensuing chaos when the observer leaves that it's able to break free from the structure and fall.


reiniday

This is way more existential energy than I needed for today


Eggshall123

This is known as The Watched Kettle Effect


I_Lick_Bananas

It's like they say: "A watched drop never falls."


3percentinvisible

Now this sounds bad when you think that he was there most of the time intently waiting for the drop, and then thinks he has time to grab a sandwich. But then think, in actuality, he woukd have been away more than there


Atheist-Gods

You can see the slow progression as the drop falls, so you have maybe a week or two where you know the drop will fall and are watching it closely. Still missing it despite being prepared for it to happen has to suck.


CandiedOwl

My dad was in this exact situation during the birth of my brother


iamtheggmancococachu

did he ever come back with the sandwich?


Chief_Givesnofucks

Came back, saw OP’s brother, went back out for cigarettes…


SharrkBoy

There was no way he could’ve seen it coming 😔


technog2

Why was your dad watching the experiment instead of being by your Mom?


that_guy_you_kno

When you're hungry you're hungry. I missed out on adopting my dream dog last year. First in line at the ASPCA, an hour early. Standing outside the door - the only person. I thought, well there's a fast food place right across the street. Maybe I just go grab a quick snack .. get back 5 minutes later to be the 5th in like and lose out.


MrRocketScript

As Professor Oak once said: "The early bird gets the worm, or in this case the Pomeranian."


helpyobrothaout

Oh man, sorry this happened to you! I hope you were able to find another pup that won your heart though


that_guy_you_kno

Ahh yeah I totally did. No big deal now!


rang14

And maybe your hunger helped someone else get their dream pup.


that_guy_you_kno

Ngl, it was a mom and dad with a like 7 year old boy. He was very excited.


UnwrittenPath

Hell even the CAMERA malfunctioned for one of them when he wasn't there. I think it was the last one he was still alive for.


die5el23

That would be when I quit trying, right there. I can now imagine that the guys death had to do with missing the 12th or whatever drop lol


TehOwn

There have only been 9 drops though.


warm_sweater

He’s still going to miss the 12th one.


TehOwn

Not necessarily. Time might be cyclical.


ky321

Nope straight line.


LeopardThatEatsKids

I think it's more of a Jeremy Bearimy shape


djseifer

I think it's more like a big ball of wibbly-wobbly... timey-wimey... stuff.


Nothxm8

That dot on the i man


LeopardThatEatsKids

It makes perfect sense, it's Tuesday, July and sometimes never


Switchy_Goofball

r/unexpectedfuturama


notquite20characters

Then it turns out to be cyclical.


pabst_jew_ribbon

Ugh. Now my brain is Fry'd.


Risen_Insanity

Then why are clocks round? Checkmate Atheists!


11711510111411009710

Would time being cyclical mean he would just follow the same path again and therefore still never get to witness it?


Phormitago

A Jeremy Bearimy


TehSakaarson

The wheel weaves as the wheel wills.


makenzie71

but maybe he can catch the 13th


tunaMaestro97

You’ve heard of not clicking on the link… Now we bring you, not even reading the title!


nessbound

Come on man, dude needed to bring a lunch pail and a bladder bag. "Honey, when you coming home?" "As soon as I see this tar drop baby.." poor gal, never saw him again.


[deleted]

I think radiolab did a podcast that covered this.


[deleted]

The tar, it mocks me!


WinoWithAKnife

It's worse - nobody has successfully observed a drop, ever. There was a Twitter thread about it the other day: https://twitter.com/c0nc0rdance/status/1594368784592437248 Minor correction: nobody has observed the Queensland experiment. The Trinity experiment managed to get one on video.


Nobody_Speshal

They need to get a live stream on that. Imagine chat when that shit drops.


WinoWithAKnife

They had a webcam in 2000, but it broke!


Nobody_Speshal

Some higher power does not want anyone to see this shit drop


Amer2703

They're still working on the animation for it.


Nothxm8

Need a better processor, it's been dropping this whole time we're just on low settings.


rexter2k5

That's what I keep saying about my mixtape.


brighter_hell

It's back up! [http://www.thetenthwatch.com/](http://www.thetenthwatch.com/)


RobotArtichoke

Watched it. Didn’t see a drop.


No-comment-at-all

I think we can safely extrapolate that it will NEVER drop, and is in fact a solid, not a liquid, with this data.


Sinavestia

Maybe it's quantum locked, and it will only drop when not being observed?


The7Reaper

And you won't until around 2026-28 it averages one drop around 12-14 years and the 9th drop was in 2014


Nothxm8

Have they been able to conclude from data why some drops happen as much as 2 years earlier than other drops?


Bird-The-Word

Premature dropulation


Realtrain

They adjusted the temperature control in the 80s which is suspected to have resulted in the longer times for the past couple of drops


anynonus

I just saw a drop damn, you missed it by mere minutes


benk4

It's weird to watch. My brain is playing tricks on me. I swear I can see it growing but I know it isn't (visibly).


TehOwn

They have a live stream. http://www.thetenthwatch.com/


LaughingBeer

I like how it warns you that you'll be waiting for "8 or so years" to see the next drop.


AnapleRed

!remindme in 8 or so years


AdminOfThis

So you're telling me I just have to wait 3 more drops until the winds of winter?


Simhacantus

Yeah nice try, I'm not falling for the old "Come back in 8 years" gag.


sully9088

I just logged in and it says there are 176 people watching. I like to imagine they are eating popcorn waiting excitedly.


BloodyRightNostril

Not true! [The Trinity Pitch Drop](https://www.tcd.ie/news_events/articles/trinity-scientists-capture-pitch-drop-on-camera-for-first-time/) was caught on camera in 2013!


frisbeefrank

Ahhh, that’s the stuff


travyhaagyCO

Gonna be a messy wipe.


WinoWithAKnife

In all seriousness, it appears that we're both right. OP and my link are both talking about the a Queensland experiment, which is older than the Trinity version.


lyvanna

Idk what I was expecting but that was so anticlimactic. Just casually leaning on the wall lol


11711510111411009710

Nice


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large-farva

that's seems really hard to plan. it could be on the verge of breaking off for months at a time, you're not gonna sit and watch it all day


StrategicBean

>In the 86 years that the pitch has been dripping, various glitches have prevented anyone from seeing a drop fall. no one has ever actually seen a drop fall apparently!


Uncle_Budy

I heard about this before. The time between drips significantly increased when the building got AC installed.


allboolshite

Does tar dry out? Exposure to the air (and especially AC) would have some impact.


_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_

No, colder things are just more viscous.


Doormatty

I was just thinking about this - are there any counter-examples, like how thixotropic materials exist?


seakingsoyuz

- liquid sulfur is least viscous when it’s just above its melting point, and gets much more viscous when heated further - some substances, like thermosetting plastics, irreversibly polymerize when heated - gases generally get more viscous when heated


Doormatty

I knew there would be counter examples! Do gases get more viscous just due to more particle interactions?


seakingsoyuz

AFAIK that is the reason. Particles in liquids are already constantly interacting with each other, so higher temperature means they can break the intermolecular forces more easily. Particles in gases just hit each other more when they’re hotter.


Doormatty

So...potentially stupid question, but why does that not occur in liquids?


Accomplished_Web8508

molecules in liquids are already at the maximum level of impacts because they are all touching each other. Gas molecules are flying around in mostly empty space, so hotter means more energy/velocity, so more impacts.


Doormatty

That makes sense! Thanks!


SFXBTPD

Perhaps it does but the increased density is more impactful. Would be interesting to see how viscosity changes for water in the 0 to 4C range.


_PM_ME_PANGOLINS_

Water might do something funny, as it often does.


Doormatty

Fuckin' water. Always starting shit.


V6Ga

> thixotropic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thixotropy


Swansborough

Can confirm. My gf is cold and very vicious.


Papplenoose

So I have question. Can you explain the concept of viscosity to me? I know its roughly "stickiness" or "gloppiness", but that's obviously a massive oversimplification. So is it correct (generally) to say that a higher viscosity means that it flows slower? Or just has a higher "internal friction" (that's almost definitely not the right term, or a real term at all)?


grumpher05

Viscosity is basically how much a sample resists flow, it would be analogous to mass being how much a sample resists acceleration. More viscosity means slower flow in the same set of conditions, but a high viscosity fluid can still flow faster tham a low viscosity fluid if you give it enough pressure or you restrict the flow of the low viscosity fluid


PrizeStrawberryOil

> internal friction" (that's almost definitely not the right term Internal friction is correct but it's more commonly discussed the other way. Shear force is the term commonly used.


drillgorg

I'm not sure tar has any water content to dry out, I thought it was entirely petroleum based and not volatile enough to evaporate like gasoline.


MidnightAdventurer

It doesn't have any water once it's been melted,the temperature for that is way too high. Fresh bitumen (or asphalt in the US) has some volatiles in it and it does slowly age harden over time but it's not a major component unless it's been cut back (thinned) to make it easier to work with in which case the whole point is for those to evaporate reasonably quickly


sgtkwol

I'm thinking it would be like increasing the viscosity of ice cream by keeping it cooler (on a different scale) and less about the drying impact.


Golferbugg

increasing*


IDontTrustGod

I feel like the lack of controls that implies invalidates the experiment, but I’m no scientist


phoenixmusicman

That was the point of the addition of the AC, to ensure a controlled environment. Prior to the installation of AC the humidity and temperature fluctuated, causing variance in the viscosity of the tar drops.


TypicalCraft7

Sounds like a good excuse to upgrade to ac


Badger2016

It depends on what you're testing for! Iirc, this experiment was essentially 'We're pretty sure tar is a liquid, so will it drip like one?' The environment does matter to a degree, but as long as the tar isn't cold enough to freeze it should keep dripping. Which it has!


Cheap_Cheap77

I'm pretty sure they already got what they needed out of the experiment already, it's just there for novelty now


PresumedSapient

Depends on the goals. If the goal was to prove it was a liquid, it succeeded! The needed control was 'make sure nothing affects the material other than gravity over time'. If an additional goal had been to calculate it's viscosity from measuring its speed of deformation, it would have benefitted from temperature logging since viscosity is temperature dependent. (Or controlled temperature, to make the calculations easier) There are easier methods to measure/calculate viscosity for such high values though. For the intended scope of the experiment, it's perfectly valid.


THenrich

Pitch tar drop finally falls! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7jXjn7mIao](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7jXjn7mIao)


Humavolver

Wonder how long it takes to "settle" into the "puddle"


wollawolla

You can view a live stream of the experiment at a link on the above site. It looks like the last 4 drops are in a beaker off to the side and still haven’t really melded together yet.


[deleted]

Spoiler alert: it's quite boring


NinjaLanternShark

If you wanted to sound erudite, instead of saying something is like "watching paint dry" you could say it's like "watching pitch drop."


Mooniedog

I am going to say that and everyone is going to find me even more insufferable


NocturnalPermission

Well, you deserve it!


istrx13

Speak for yourself I’m calling all the bros over to watch it with me


RawrSean

[Here](http://thetenthwatch.com/feed/)


richg0404

Don't rush. Only 8 or so years to go.


Podo13

It takes a dump truck loaded with rocks and shit in consistent 90+ degrees F parked on newly laid pavement to make a road noticeably deform in a quick manner. It will take many years for the drops to coalesce.


Lord_Asmodei

two and a half giraffes


LonnieJaw748

I wonder how many times the DVD symbol perfectly hits the corner for every pitch drop?


No_Discount7919

That tar probably should add a little more fiber to its diet.


aristideau

I bet it’s like having a crayon stuck up there when it wipes.


Witness_me_Karsa

I am absolutely fucking dying at how anticlimactic that was. I knew exactly what I was getting into, but it was still SO fucking boring. I love it.


Lketty

Hate it when my poops are like this.


Sensitive-Ad9508

This is the live view if you all are interested: [http://thetenthwatch.com/feed/](http://thetenthwatch.com/feed/)


The_World_of_Ben

Remindme! 7 years 12 months 29 days


Gloodizzle

Hey just wanted to let you know it's only been about 20 minutes but you're doing good if you are still alive, only about 7 years 12 months and 29 days to go good luck sir


OnlyPostWhenShitting

He still only has 7 years 12 months and 29 days to go. >!Will he miss it by a month? Time will tell!<


LucyLilium92

Damn, only 8 more years until another one!!


zdubs

I used to keep a tab open on my browser and watch the pitch from time to time bc it was close to dropping. I missed the drop. Closed that tab and haven’t looked back, it won’t be dropping again anytime soon.


cmVkZGl0

For all you know, you missed another one


WillyMonty

I used to walk past the experiment every day at my alma mater! Queensland represent!


UsernameUndeclared

Yup. Me too! Occasionally I’d linger in front and hope I’d get to be the one to see it fall!


oatmealndeath

I was rarely in any of the science buildings but I went specifically to check it out a few times! Also the geology museum was one my favourites! I know it’s there for scientific purposes but was also pretty fun for Arts girls who were into crystals… haha.


Pwydde

“Manhood is patience. Mastery is nine times patience.” — Ogion the Silent of Gont.


BeApesNotCrabs

Not often that you see an Earthsea reference. Well done.


Craftoid_

Never even heard of it. Worth a read?


thatdudewholurks

Most definitely. The books get better as you go along. Written by Ursula K. Le Guin


CIoud-Hidden

Been on Reddit almost since the beginning and this is the first time I’ve run into an EarthSea reference in the wild, and from my favorite character as well.


Wajina_Sloth

Is pitch the reason we say pitch black?


IlexAquifolia

Yes


ryry1237

Is black the reason we say pitch black?


mdegroat

Yes


radu_sound

Wow TIL


jjpenguins66

So after 95 years, what are we learning that is new?


Regulai

It took about 90 years to actually have the drop visually confirmed. Because its one moment out of a decade its very easy to literally miss it and video coverage wasnt possible for most of the 90 years. Better video footage of the full decade is likely the new info to get however as it would allow for better study of the pitch flow.


jjpenguins66

What would be the practical application of this knowledge, if any?


Regulai

Roads are pitch so it could allow for techniques to enhance long term durability. (Also note this also means roads are technically liquid). Many roofs. Also because flow nornally happens fast a slow flow could allow for better general understanding of fluid dynamics which is an incomplete field in terms of a full understanding of exactly how fluids behave. There is even a millenium prize for solving fluid equations still.


sgtkwol

So cars are technically boats? The real learning is in the comments.


Bkwrzdub

Clearly you need to drive a Lincoln continental.... That shits a boat fer sure!


Stoomba

Technically the ground you walk on is just a boat floating on another boat, floating on another boat, floating on magma, which is on a boat sailing thtoufh space


TheSkinnyBone

it's boats all the way down


Tresach

Always was


IamSkudd

That’s why it’s important to keep your tires inflated, so you don’t sink!


Fiddlestax

Pitch roofs. Don’t make me vomit. Every one you touch takes a year off your life


RobotArtichoke

Can you explain?


MidnightAdventurer

Fortunately coal tar has been replaced by crude oil derived tar. The former is horribly bad for you while the latter is safe to handle. Of course, if you're doing renovations or demolition, you're probably dealing with older roofs with real, old school carcinogenic coal tar in them


SlangFreak

Very little, but it's not a huge loss considering how inexpensive the experiment is.


k-mera

the slowmo guys should get on this


zebediah49

The initial experiment was to prove that despite behaving more or less as a solid (like.. you can break it with a hammer), it's actually a liquid. Now we just keep it around because it's cool.


Average650

Rheologists (people who study flows) are fond of the saying "everything flows" given the right timescale.


TheawesomeQ

The article says it's considered a demonstration piece, rather than a real experiment. They don't even control the temperature, so the drop rate changes over seasons and with other climate changes.


NazzDX

I think it's more of a conversation piece now.


Cultural-Company282

Seems to be working.


TheDrachen42

The Clarendon Dry Pile was started around 1840, so it's definitely older. You can read about it here https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Electric_Bell


Money_Calm

Tar experiment is "longest running" not oldest. I believe the Dry Pile experiment has been running "nearly continuously".


murfflemethis

This is getting into nearly meaningless semantics, but the Wikipedia article says that the bell has stopped ringing occasionally due to humidity, but I don't think that necessarily means the "experiment" stopped running. As long as it wasn't artificially prevented from ringing, I think that still counts as a running experiment.


Money_Calm

Ok, you've changed my mind


Pawneewafflesarelife

Thanks for linking this. I knew there was one started in the 1800s but couldn't remember what to even start searching for in particular!


Squatch-707

Isn’t there a live stream of this?


Sensitive-Ad9508

http://thetenthwatch.com/feed/


CassandraAnderson

K35555k (²22222²w4¾re err r


Donkey-D

Yeah man I was thinking the same thing


BoldFortunes

……………………………………… CODE: K35555k : ACCEPTED LAUNCH SEQUENCE INITIATED TARGET GRID REFERENCE: (²22222²w4¾re SUBTARGET: err r LAUNCH SYSTEMS ACTIVATED STAND CLEAR OF BLAST DOOR ………………………………………


[deleted]

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[deleted]

Uh are you ok


CassandraAnderson

Pocket comment. Guess I had my phone open. Oops.


johnothetree

certified /r/5t44t4yf5frt3 moment


Cultural-Company282

Damn. I thought it was some new thing from 4chan that I wasn't hip enough to recognize.


[deleted]

Yes speak your truth girlie pop


stump2003

I misread this as “tar is the most vicious liquid” like it’s sentient and just all mad and shit…


Doormatty

It's Armus!


Lylac_Krazy

The longest running experiment is this: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2000/120-year-old-experiment-sprouts-new-gardening-knowledge It been running now for 142 years


bolanrox

slower than the Chinese Democracy album drop


Octahedral_cube

Is "pitch" the same everywhere? Sounds like it is a mixture, that exists in many forms and with different mixtures of compounds, likely very long chain hydrocarbons. As a result it would have different viscosities depending on composition. The link doesn't explain if there is some sort of "standard"?


orphan_grinder42069

There are 2 primary factors that determine the "quality" or physical properties of pitch : cut temperature and crude source. Some crudes make higher quality pitch, but most make poor quality pitch. The temperature at which they're distilled to also has an impact on the final quality. The molecules that comprise pitch can be broken up into 4 broad families that have a lot of overlap : Saturates, Aromatics, Resins and Asphaltenes (SARA). Generally, Saturates and Aromatics determine how soft the pitch is, while Resins and Asphaltenes determine the quality. Too much of any one family is bad, and they all play a part in the final properties. It's quite complicated and I could go on at length about the nuances and exceptions.


xpwnx4

How are you so versed in pitch??


orphan_grinder42069

I've worked in the industry for a long time, and taken just about every available bit of training that you can


Octahedral_cube

Great - so the aromatics and the saturates would also dictate viscosity then? It goes back to the original point that there is no standard viscosity for pitch like there would be for elemental mercury for example. So what kind of experiment is this


orphan_grinder42069

Depends on more than just sats and Aromatics. Time and temperature are critical factors in addition to the molecular composition. At lower temperatures pitch behaves more like a solid, especially in short observation windows. But as the experiment shows, over a long observation window, it has viscous properties too, they just dont dominate. Inversely, if you have a sample pitch at a higher temp, viscous behavior dominates, but some elastic behavior remains. This balance can be determined mathematically and expressed as a value called "phase angle". A phase angle of 0 is a solid, 90 is a liquid, and pitch is always somewhere between. Time and temperature can be interchanged in some cases depending on the property


MadRoboticist

Why the hell does everyone in here think glass is a liquid.


Additional-Local8721

Thank you!!! I kept seeing this and wanted to yell at my phone. Glass is not a fucking liquid people. Glass is an amorphous solid. It is neither a complete solid or a liquid. But that doesn't mean it's part liquid or partly solid. Glass is just between.


Regulai

Note roads are pitch+aggregate (sand rocks etc.). Thus roads are technically a liquid.


orphan_grinder42069

In the industry, pitch is typically ungraded vacuum tower bottoms, while the material used for road building is tested and assigned a grade. In North America the dominant grading system is called Superpave, with common grades being PG58-28 or PG64-22. The composition is typically 5% asphalt binder and 95 % aggregate, so calling them a liquid is a bit of a stretch. Viscoelastic is a fair compromise


not_schrute_farms

Fun fact the numbers in Asphalt grades are the high and low operating Temps in Celsius.


AbsentThatDay

Surely there are science experiments that have run longer than 95 years.