The supercomputing sofa makers at Cray have teamed up with scientists from the University of Edinburgh to attack a slippery problem in modern physics: modeling the behavior of soft matter like ice cream.

The physics of goop is actually rather poorly understood: a lot happens on the mesoscopic level, bigger than a molecule, but smaller than can be seen by the human eye. So using the same high-powered machines employed to model nuclear explosions and global weather patterns, the research will seek to understand what happens when you whip cream, sugar and air together into the heavenly confection. Also, check out their groovy Ben and Jerry's-esque computer cabinets in the video!

image via stevendepolo