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M&M's Pack Tighter Than Gumballs

Posted by michael on from the hexagonal-closest-packing dept.

icantblvitsnotbutter writes "In a rather humorous article, the New York Times reports that M&M's pack more tightly than gumballs (registration, blah blah... alternate source here). The upshot of this is what it means for manufacturing denser glass (here, the generic term for solids made of random arrangements of molecules). Some basic solid geometry and tongue-in-cheek quotes fill out the story, but the immediate applications are mind-boggling for the next time you grab munchies on a road trip."

8 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Well.. by hookedup · · Score: 4, Funny

    They all have the same density when they come out of me :)

  2. Duh! by RealityMogul · · Score: 1, Funny

    And mini-M&Ms can be packed even tighter! And ya know what - if you crush them into smaller fragments, you can pack those even tighter!

    Does anybody else feel insulted that this "story" was even posted here?

    1. Re:Duh! by Valdrax · · Score: 2, Funny

      Compared to another article that I tried to get posted yesterday about biological evidence that aggressive people's brains react much more strongly to nicotine than non-aggressive people -- a little.

      I'm guessing Slashdot editors smoke and eat M&Ms all day.

      --
      If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
  3. Yes, but.... by FroMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Have they figured out if the melt in your hand at all?

    Or where the mutant blue M&M's came from?

    Or why M&M's are now missing their colors?

    Personally, I bet the new blue M&M's stole the colors from the rest of them. They are probably holding the color's hostage. They even put out a out a ransom for them! Luckly atleast the orange color has been found according to authorities.

    [/hat:tinfoil state="off"]

    --
    Norris/Palin 2012
    Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
  4. Re:Mmmmmm.... by daeley · · Score: 4, Funny
    That's why Peanut M&Ms exist, so they can make the bag look just as full as regular M&Ms, but with less chocolate!

    ...and yet they have more peanuts! Isn't science astounding?

    --
    I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  5. You might remember me by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hi. I'm Troy McClure. You might remember me from such candy-packing films as "Don't Break the Pixie Sticks" and "990 Milk Duds per Cubic Metre". I hereby deny that I was ever in "Fudge Packin'"

  6. It'f true!! by seanmeister · · Score: 4, Funny

    I ab ferifying thif af I fpeak!

  7. Re:show me transparent M&Ms by Tenfish · · Score: 5, Funny

    I won't be impressed unless I see transparent aluminum M&M's.

    --

    --Guns don't kill people, abortion clinics kill people.