It's mostly seen in movies and perhaps, if you're really unlucky, in your dreams.  But it's as real as the sun, moon and starts.

Quicksand has long been a Hollywood favorite for trapping the hero or heroine before they ride off into the sunset, but what makes it work?  That's the question I posed to Mad Scientist Kent Williams on this morning's Ozarks Today.

Kent showed us how the fundamentals of quicksand work with cornstarch and water.  A lot of it. 

Williams explained, "What happens is cornstarch molecules are very large.  They're suspended in the fluid, so anything that sits on there gradually will, of course, sink... you have a pretty thick viscosity but still in fluid form. But then you put it under any kind of weight or tension... the starch molecules will resist that. They compact together and trap water in between them, exactly like quicksand. Sand is sitting in a liquid."

We tried dropping some heavy items into the cornstarch-quicksand.  And they sank.  No shocker there.  But then we tried something with "tremendous force".  Watch the video to see what happened next.

Then, watch as a travel guide demonstrates how to get out of a quicksand jam on youtube.com.

If you have a science question, ask the KY3 StormTeam here.