Sean at Cosmic Variance writes about the April Meeting of the American Physical Society. Among other things he notes:
(Okay, “packing ellipsoids” doesn’t sound like the sexiest topic, but it was filled with fascinating tidbits of information. Did you know that both prolate and oblate ellipsoids pack more efficiently than spheres? That ordered crystalline packings are generally found to be more efficient than random packings, but nobody can prove it in general? That M&M’s are extremely reliable ellipsoids, to better than 0.1%? That the method by which the Mars Corporation makes their M&M’s so regular is a closely guarded secret?)
This reminded me of an article on the subject in Science News.
Another piece of information you can verify ... 13% of milk chocolate M&Ms are red, 16% are green.
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