[Hunble]

Amazing, these American heros sacrificed their lives for:

The Physics of Sandcastles

[petuniasevan]

Also amazing, that NASA didn't consult these experts who have come out of the woodwork here at FR...</Sarcasm>

[coloradan]

The Physics of Sandcastles

Let the record show that when told that moving a wire through a magnetic field could cause a compass needle located elsewhere to also move, some people thought that was a useless novelty. Instead, it is the basis for electric motors and generators, as well as magnetic tape and disc recording and playback, the TV picture tube deflection, and a lot of other things, including the elucidation of the electromagetic theory, the basis for radio, lasers, microwaves, and ultimately the quantum theory enabling nuclear energy. The discovery with the wire and compass needle was huge.

Though the benefits of zero-G sand castle research presently elude me, it is possible that things like avalanche and erosion control, roadbed safety, fluidized-bed power plants, grain elevators and railcar-filling hopper technology could benefit from these studies.

[TrappedInLiberalHell]

The Physics of Sandcastles

I'm reminded of this quotation. It resonates on multiple levels:

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost, that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

-- Henry David Thoreau