The Perfect Sandcastle

Although beach season is over for most of us, those of you living or vacationing in warm climes may be interested to know that scientists at MIT have found the formula for the perfect sandcastle. A ratio of eight parts sand to one part water does the trick, and will give you the most stable building material (but which comes with no warranty against stray dogs or older siblings waving beach umbrellas). While it’s natural to wonder why t these scientists aren’t doing something better with their time, like curing cancer, they claim their analyses will also help us understand more important processes, such as wet milling and debris flow. (Thanks to PhysOrg.com for the sighting.)