Granular material physics of granular matter and whose book "The Physics of Blown Sand and Desert Dunes" remains an important reference to this day. According to material scientist Patrick Richard, "Granular materials are ubiquitous in nature and are the second-most manipulated material in industry (the first one is water)". In some sense, granular materials do not constitute a single phase of matter but have characteristics reminiscent of solids, liquids, or gases depending on the average energy per grain. However, in each of these states granular materials also exhibit properties which are unique. Granular materials also exhibit a wide range of pattern forming
Silt, Colorado west. U.S. Route 6 is Main Street in Silt, and provides a local route parallel to I-70. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which , or 1.46%, is water. This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Silt has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. As of the census of 2000, there were 1,740 people, 648 households, and 452 families residing in the town.