And I Thought Watching Paint Dry Was Boring

Scientists at the University of Queensland in Australia have been watching a piece of pitch (tar) drip–very slowly–for 85 years.

It started as an experiment (conceived in 1927) as a way to demonstrate the liquid nature of even the most viscous fluid.  The tar has produced 9 drops in the 85 years it has been running, and only the last has been caught on camera.

This is apparently the longest running experiment on record.  (Does anyone actually keep track of that?)


And I thought waiting for paint to dry was boring.

(I actually had a job where I had to do that.  I worked at a test lab that did quality control for a building manufacturer.  Testing paint samples required spraying two coats of paint on a piece of metal.  The first coat had to dry before the second was applied.)

For those of you without the needed patience, here's a time-lapse video.