Back in 1927 at the University of Queensland, Australia, Professor Thomas Parnell began one of the longest running experiments in human history.
Professor Parnell heated a sample of pitch and poured it into a glass funnel with a sealed stem. Three years were allowed for the pitch to settle, and in 1930 the sealed stem was cut. From that date on the pitch has slowly dripped out of the funnel – so slowly that now, 80 years later, the ninth drop is only just forming.
This 9th drop is expected to fall “soon”. Humans have missed the first 8 drops falling for various reasons, but this 9th one will be the charm. Three web cams are focused on the experiment to capture the 0.1 second event that happens but once a decade.
Here are some cool links
- Wiki article
- NPR Radio Lab audio snippet where they interview the current curator of the experiment
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