More things with cornstarch and water

Via Will's Clicked, a Spanish TV show on science and technology demonstrates the "shear-thickening" property of a non-Newtonian fluid (i.e., where rapid application of forces causes the fluid to behave like a solid).

Pretty cool - watch what happens around 1:49 when one of the hosts stands still atop the muck.

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Excellent! I don't understand Spanish, so did they say anything about how much water and corn starch was in that tub? Seems like something I should have done in my college dorm room.

About 25 years ago, I took rheology, where we worked the math for non-Newtonian fluids. My favorite non-Newtonian fluid is ketchup. It thins as stress is applied in a linear fashion, and then it flows as a liquid on your white shirt (Bingham plastic).