The three
longest-running scientific experiments are all located in the foyers of physics buildings. The oldest is the
Oxford Electric Bell, which has been ringing continuously (over ten billion times!)
since at least 1840, powered by batteries of unknown composition. In Dunedin, New Zealand, the
Beverley clock has operated since 1864, without the need for winding, as it is
powered by atmospheric changes. The relative youngster in the group is
the Pitch Drop Experiment, which has been measuring the viscosity of pitch since 1927 by recording the time between drops of pitch from a funnel. The experiments has the world's most boring
webcam, though the eighth, and most recent, drop fell in 2000, so the next is due any day now! Atlas Obscura
has some additional candidates for long experiments, including the
Rothemstead Plots, which have been used in agricultural experiments for 300 years.
posted by blahblahblah
on Jun 6, 2011 -
33 comments
12 Events that Will Change Everything is an interactive article from Scientific American that offers rich information on potential major discoveries or cataclysms that could change the world, as well as their chances of happening. The list is a surprisingly sane look at future discontinuities as these sorts of lists go: it includes human cloning, artificial life, asteroid collisions, ice caps melting, and room temperature superconductors. For less sanity, see fifty or so ways the world could end at
Exit Mundi.
posted by blahblahblah
on Aug 13, 2010 -
50 comments
