These videos depict one of the purest pieces of research I have ever seen: research so pure that it is, in fact, impossible to think of a use for this discovery — at the same time, I defy you not to smile when you discover the secrets of spaghetti which defeated Richard Feynmann.
The original story I found in a paper edition of the Economist, and it increases the considerable reverence with which I regard that paper’s science correspondents.