Step 1 : Introduction to the question "8. Your geology professor falls into a pool of quicksand. What should you advise him to do? "
...1. Panic 2. Thrash around wildly 3. Lean back and float out 4. Tread water, uh, quicksand In normal wet sand, the water fills the pores between the grains, and the sand grains support their own weight. In quicksand, the water supports the sand grains, making the quicksand behave like a fluid. The best thing to do is to lean back. The sand grains will settle out, and you, being the biggest grain around, will end up floating at the surface. Anything which stirs up the quicksand keeps the grains in suspension. Not good.