Pitch Drop Experiment

July 7, 2017 10:47 AM

Behold, the world's longest-running lab experiment. Any day now, a drop of pitch will detach itself and plop to the bottom of the beaker. It will be just the 9th time that the pitch has dropped since the experiment began in 1927. Live link here, if you can handle the suspense. Previously, previouslier, previousliest.
posted by Elly Vortex (24 comments total)

Has anyone done the math to determine roughly how many years will elapse before the entire quantity of pitch drops?
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:01 AM on July 7, 2017

They should've asked me, I could've had all the pitch dropped in a tenth of the time.
posted by Mr.Encyclopedia at 11:06 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Any day now? The ninth drop fell in April 2014, thirteen years after the eighth drop. They have averaged over eight years between drops since 1930. Do you know something they don't, Elly?
posted by yhbc at 11:07 AM on July 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

*puts bass in funnel, covers with bell jar, waits with increasing agitation*
posted by phooky at 11:09 AM on July 7, 2017 [9 favorites]

Why aren't they including Black Sabbath's pitch drop? That was probably the most important one.
posted by NoMich at 11:12 AM on July 7, 2017 [10 favorites]

add...
to...
activity...
posted by Etrigan at 11:19 AM on July 7, 2017

Tarry, tarry.
posted by Devonian at 11:28 AM on July 7, 2017 [5 favorites]

It's a bit confusing. Apparently they are waiting for the tenth drop, not the ninth, but have only updated *some* of the graphics. But according to this, they replaced the beaker after the ninth drop (that's what the beaker to the right of the live display is). Yet the beaker appears to have pitch in it? Did they preprime it or something?

Going by the history and the size of the drops they aren't that far along for ten.
posted by tavella at 11:30 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Even if you drop an E, this won't happen.
posted by Devonian at 11:39 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Any day now, a drop of pitch will detach itself and plop to the bottom of the beaker.

I can imagine this beaker surrounded by a pack of Border Collies: intent, unblinking, waiting, waiting . . .

the world's longest-running lab experiment . . . began in 1927.

Hmm. This is really more of demo than an actual experiment, so I'll add that The Centennial
Bu'b has been glowing since 1901, and also has its own website and webcam. It's being watched closely by Lawrence Livermore Labs (rather than Border Collies).

There must be a watching-paint-dry-cam online somewhere.

the ninth drop fell . . . thirteen years after the eighth drop.

Yeah, that's about the age my pitch dropped, too.

Why aren't they including Black Sabbath's pitch drop? That was probably the most important one.

I would've thought Jimi Hendrix's pitch drop was a bit more important.

And here's another famous pitch drop, from 2005.



Hey, it's Friday, sue me.
posted by Herodios at 11:41 AM on July 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

The pitch drop is more of a demo than an experiment, too:

"The experiment was set up as a demonstration and is not kept under special environmental conditions (it is actually kept in a display cabinet in the foyer of the Department), so the rate of flow of the pitch varies with seasonal changes in temperature."

The timelapse video of the previous drop is pretty not impressive, with all the other drops in the beaker blocking it. I am glad they changed the beaker.
posted by quaking fajita at 11:56 AM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Do you know something they don't, Elly?

I'm gonna blame it on global warming. I have no idea.
posted by Elly Vortex at 12:08 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Not to mention the Oxford Electric Bell from 1840.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:57 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

Yet the beaker appears to have pitch in it? Did they preprime it or something?

If you look at the other pitch drops, they're "solid" and round. On the beaker that's there now, it looks more like a black rubber ring the goes around the base of the beaker to keep in in place.
posted by FirstMateKate at 1:02 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

... I have no recollection of having an account to watch the pitch but I am oddly thrilled that I already do
posted by suddenly, and without warning, at 1:20 PM on July 7, 2017 [6 favorites]

For a minute there I thought I'd clicked into the latest episode of Jon Bois' 17776.
posted by notyou at 1:37 PM on July 7, 2017

Here's the @RealPitchDrop twitter account. Lots of extraneous chatter between drops, tho.
posted by sebastienbailard at 1:44 PM on July 7, 2017

okay, which scientist is assigned to do the mic drop right after the next pitch drop?
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:32 PM on July 7, 2017

Needs more Adrock.
posted by 4ster at 3:01 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

My office is about 200m from it. I could give it a bit of a nudge if anyone is feeling impatient.
posted by drnick at 3:23 PM on July 7, 2017 [16 favorites]

Wait...is this viral marketing for Pitch Perfect 3? If so, kudos for playing the really long game, guys.
posted by the sobsister at 3:48 PM on July 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

I watched for the last pitch drop 3 years ago. I watched that damn giraffe not give birth for most of last April. Not gonna get me again.
posted by Mchelly at 4:22 PM on July 7, 2017 [5 favorites]

> I can imagine this beaker surrounded by a pack of Border Collies
>
>> the world's longest-running lab experiment . . . began in 1927.

Labs don't have that kind of attention span, they'd be off scrounging snacks by now.
posted by nickzoic at 8:22 PM on July 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

I notice their clock is a couple of minutes fast.

This seems like the most involved displacement activity ever. I mean, I think I'm doing well when I use the excuse of sorting my socks to avoid onerous chores, but I have nothing on this.
posted by Grangousier at 3:32 AM on July 8, 2017