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Nature 435, 1041-1042 (23 June 2005) | doi:10.1038/4351041a; Published online 22 June 2005

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Granular matter:  A tale of tails

Martin van Hecke1

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Granular materials such as sand can either be jammed and rigid, or yield and flow. Puzzling changes in the forces between the grains deepen the mystery surrounding this basic, but poorly understood, transition.

Why does sand mimic a solid when we walk on it but emulate a fluid when it is in an hourglass? Why does salt flow only when its shaker is tipped far enough?

  1. Martin van Hecke is in the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Leiden University, PO Box 9504, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.
    Email: mvhecke@physics.leidenuniv.nl

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