These people made a Non-Newtonian Fluid from water and cornstarch. Result? It’s a liquid, but if you hit it with enough force it’s solid. You can run across the surface of the fluid as if it’s a sheet of Jell-o, even when someone else is floating in it like it’s a swimming pool.
Just water and cornstarch. Amazing that this isn’t something we’ve heard of before. You’d think fraternities would be whipping this stuff up for fundraisers.
Comment by JHoughton on MAKE:
“Two 50# bags of cornstarch from a food products supplier. That part’s easy. Getting rid of the Oobleck afterwards is a bit of a pain.
N.B. Don’t try to run it down the drain. It didn’t really work with the hotel bathtub full that I was involved with. Turns out it doesn’t decompose quickly when left outside, either.”
I remember seeing a demonstration of this when I was in grade school, over 15 years ago. It wasn’t as large scale as this, but it showed the same principle. I’ve also seen an episode of Brainiac where someone walks around an outdoor pool filled with custard, which is probably made mostly out of cornstarch.