http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. A team of Penn State physicists has discovered that the size of grains, such as sand, above a buried object is important in determining the force required to begin raising the object. No one, until now, has discovered how much force is required to initiate an object's movement through grains. The result may be useful for engineering foundations for objects to be anchored in sandy soils, such as power-line towers, or for designing industrial mixer blades, such as those used in pharmaceutical processing. The team's paper is published this month in the journal Physical Review Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news141645681.html Physics Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:01:21 EST news141645681