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In 1927, UQ's Professor Thomas Parnell wanted to prove to his students that some things that appear solid are in fact liquid.

He heated up a sample of tar pitch - a solid polymer that can shatter if you hit it hard enough - and poured it into the funnel you see in the picture.

He sealed it and left it for three years to set, then cut the end of the funnel. Eight years later, the first drop fell through the funnel.

And here we are, 82 years later, waiting for the ninth drop to fall. Waiting to be the first humans to ever lay eyes on it falling, in fact, because the pitch has a frustrating tendency to shed its small load at exactly the time no one's watching.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/technology/sci-tech/pitch-drop-experiments-ninth-drop-is-preparing-to-fall-fingers-crossed-the-live-feed-holds/story-fn5fsgyc-1226348873741#ixzz2L6ZPQjzy