As you can see from the photos above, I was only able to fold it in half 6 times. So then I tried again with a piece of tissue paper:





[Tissue paper folded 9 times]







[The St. Mark's group struggling with their 13th fold.]

This time, I was able to get to nine folds, though you can see by the seventh fold, I had to hold the paper down to maintain the fold.After that little experiment, it's much easier for me to understand why 13 folds is such a big deal.Though paper is quite slim - the average slice of printer paper is but 0.1 mm thick - its thickness adds up quickly when folded. Each time a piece of paper is folded in half, its height doubles. By the time paper has been folded 12 times (the previous record), it is 16 inches tall. Double that height by folding it once more (a thirteenth time) and it will be two and a half feet tall.Imagine being able to fold a piece of paper in half 42 times (just over three times as many folds as the St. Mark's kids managed). It would be tall enough to reach the Moon.James Tanton, the students' teacher, said they will try for 13 folds again next year using 24,000 ft. of toilet paper in the hopes of creating a fold that can stand on its own.All I can think now is that if I had 24,000 ft. of toilet paper, I would never have to go shopping for it again.