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New toys in the laboratory have allowed physicists over time to find new ways to test Prince Rupert's drops, and in 1994 materials scientists Srinivasan Chandrasekar from Purdue University and M. Munawar Chaudhri from the University of Cambridge in the UK did what any of us would do with a high speed camera and a glass object – watch it shatter.

Small glass structures resembling tadpoles that can withstand the blows of a hammer and yet burst into powdery dust by simply snipping their threadlike tails have been a source of fascination and mystery since they were discovered in the 17th century.

In 1994, Dr Srinivasan Chandrasekar, an engineering professor Purdue University, and Dr Munawar Chaudhri, Head of the Materials Group at the University of Cambridge, used high-speed framing photography to observe the drop-shattering process.

In 1994, S. Chandrasekar at Purdue University and M. M. Chaudhri at the University of Cambridge used high-speed framing photography to observe the drop-shattering process. From their experiments, they concluded that the surface of each drop experiences highly compressive stresses, while the interior experiences high tension forces. So the drop is in a state of unstable equilibrium, which can be easily disturbed by breaking the tail.

Researchers at Purdue University have found a way to fix a long-standing issue in manufacturing, where cutting a piece of metal can make its edges splinter or break apart.