In our Speed show, we met Professor John Mainstone, custodian of the Pitch Drop Experiment at the University of Queensland. Sadly, he died before ever getting to see his experiment's results -- he never caught a drop dripping. But earlier this year, the University of Queensland finally captured the big moment on camera.
Here's a timelapse of the previous drop (the ninth drop -- the one Professor Mainstone was hoping to catch) colliding with the other drops in the bottom of the beaker. It's not exactly the most spectacular finale... it's more of a gentle lean than a grand drop... but, there it is:
While this counts as the drop (and anyone logged into the live feed at that time had their name recorded as a witness to the big event), the University of Queensland admits: "the stealthy collision is the latest trick by this evasive lump of tar."
You can keep tabs on the evasive lump yourself -- the tenth drop is estimated to fall in the next 14 years or so -- here on the live feed:
If you're still here, take a few more seconds to watch this -- a much more satisfying plunge, and the first pitch drop caught on camera, recorded at Trinity College Dublin in July, 2013*:
Though Professor Mainstone missed seeing the pitch drop in his own experiment, he WAS able to watch video from the Dublin drop, which he found "tantalizing." No argument here.
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