This article was originally featured on The Conversation. If you want to understand why some sandcastles are tall and have intricate structures while others are nearly shapeless lumps of sand, it ...

Next time you're at the beach, take a look around: You may spy a mermaid with long, tangled hair or a dragon with pointy ears and flared nostrils. If you get lucky, you'll come across an actual castle ...

Janel Hawkins spends hours building intricate structures — and destroys them not long after. Such is the life of a professional sand castle builder. As the owner of Sand Castle University, she spends ...