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Dissolving Candy Gives Mathematicians Insight into How Some Landscapes Form

Researchers observed a sugary treat underwater to understand the origin of spiky rock forests

In this time-lapse video, mathematicians at New York University immersed a block of blue candy in water and filmed its dissolution. The candy surface sunk unevenly as some areas dissolved faster than others, creating ever sharper and longer shards. Eventually the forest of candy spikes toppled as each “tree” fell.

The researchers were aiming to mimic the natural processes that form stone forests—stunning rocky pinnacles of limestone—such as the famous Stone Forestin Kunming, China.The formation processes behind these “tall, slender, and sharply tipped” rock spires “remain unclear,” the scientists wrote in a paper published on September 22 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. Though the geologic mechanisms are complex, the study showed that the relatively simple process of dissolving a solid in a liquid produced strikingly similar spikes. The scientists hope that by clarifying how stone forests might form, they can aid conservation efforts.

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Editor’s Note (10/22/20): This article has been edited after posting. It originally included incorrect references to the candy “melting.”

Clara Moskowitz is a senior editor at Scientific American, where she covers astronomy, space, physics and mathematics. She has been at Scientific American for a decade; previously she worked at Space.com. Moskowitz has reported live from rocket launches, space shuttle liftoffs and landings, suborbital spaceflight training, mountaintop observatories, and more. She has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University and a graduate degree in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

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