The Rise and Fall of Quicksand

At one time, it was a staple in movies and cartoons. Step in quicksand, and you'll never get out -unless the hero saves you! That trope has fallen out of favor in the last couple of decades because it was perceived as overdone and became a cliche. It didn't help that Mythbusters and other sources debunked the idea of certain death if you step in quicksand.

In any case, it's trivial to say that science has "debunked" quicksand. If anything, recent work on unstable granular media has revealed a far more diverse and complex set of phenomena than anyone imagined. Traditional scientific accounts describe just one type—the classic "artesian quicksand" shown in the MythBusters episode. That's ordinary sand that has been saturated with upwelling moisture: Given enough water, the sand liquefies, and the grains start to flow like a viscous fluid. But in the past 10 years or so, physicists have started looking at more interesting formations of sediment, in places where grains of sand or clay are assembled in delicate, latticelike structures. Step in one of these, and it collapses like a house of cards—before reforming in a dense pack around your feet.

Quicksand survives in movie fan clubs and fetish groups who avidly collect footage featuring quicksand. Daniel Engber put together a look at the phenomena of quicksand itself, quicksand fans, and a history of quicksand in the movies. Link