SWe present results obtained from an experimental device which shears a granular medium in a Couette geometry, via a torsion spring. Using the device we probe the statistical properties of the liquid/solid (metastable) state for the granular medium.  We investigate the fluctuations in the steady state torque and find that the transition between the metastable and liquid phases is clearly marked by a change in its distribution: the log-normal curve, characteristic of a solid-like system changes to Gaussian for the fluidised  system, the mean torque increases and the distribution narrows.
Additional results demonstrate a velocity-strengthening friction within a single experiment, which could be utilised to predict the transition point,  and furthermore we demonstrate that the initialisation of the medium can play an important role in the subsequent steady state while the torsion spring utilised seems to have little effect. Finally we present some data demonstrating that the acoustic emissions from the device are approximately proportional to the shear velocity.