M&M's Obsession Leads to Physics Discovery

Monday, February 16, 2004
(2:39 PM ET) (19:39 GMT)
Reuters

Mars Inc., which makes M&M's, did not help sponsor the research although it donated 125 pounds of almond M&M's to Chaikin, Princeton said in a statement.

WASHINGTON -- Reuters
Princeton physicist Paul Chaikin's passion for M&M's 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.

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.

"It is a startling and wonderful result," said Sidney Nagel, a physicist at the University of Chicago. "One doesn't normally stop to think about this. If you did, you might have guessed what would happen, but you'd have guessed wrongly."

(More: CNN.com / Science & Space)

2004 © Reuters, Ltd.

Yeah, another off-topic "Mars" post,

Dan

;^)