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An audience of frenzied heavy-metal concertgoers behaves just like molecules in a gas, according to the first-ever study of crowd motion in a "mosh pit". The work was done by physicists at Cornell University in the US – who claim that a better understanding of the collective motion of the mosh pit in front of a stage could lead to better designed music venues and improved crowd-control tactics. They also believe that the study could be used to reduce the risk of injury or worse during mass evacuations, riots and other "extreme social gatherings".