ProPublica gives a detailed report about a little-noticed consequence of the oil spill that led to an Ig Nobel Chemistry Prize. The ProPublica report begins: A Massive Oil Spill Helped One Billionaire Avoid Paying Income Tax for 14 Years After the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig exploded in 2010, environmentalists surveying the damage in the […]
Tag: spill
The Reason You Will Spill Coffee, No Matter How Careful You Are
When a person walks while carrying a full cup (with no lid) of coffee, it is almost inevitable that some coffee will spill. Two Ig Nobel Prizes have honored research that analyzed why. Small Expedition Room produced this video news report [in Korean] about the phenomenon: Those Two Coffee-Spill Ig Nobel Prizes The 2012 Ig […]
Upside down glass of water experiment revisited [study]
Dr Johan Lindén who is a lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, has investigated the (famous) upside down glass of water experiment. But with a crucial variation – the card has a hole cut in it. Nevertheless, the water still stays in the glass – providing that the hole is small enough. […]
Reinventing the spoon [new patent]
“Spoons are used to lift fluids or semi-solids from a bowl, pot or plate. Most fluids are held within the outer lip of the spoon. Traditional spoons include a bowl portion and a handle that extends from the bowl portion. While traditional spoons are effective for preparing, eating, or serving foods, often times liquids drip […]
How to Spill a Cup of Coffee
“How to Spill a Cup of Coffee” is a featured article in the special Coffee, and Tea issue (volume 26, number 4) of the Annals of Improbable Research. It looks at two studies—each of which led to an Ig Nobel Prize—about the physics of how and why anyone who walks with a full cup of […]
A “Gyroscopic” no-spill cup-holder [new patent]
“For travelers, balancing luggage, a snack, personal items, and a drink can be difficult, often resulting in spilling of beverages either while walking around or while seated on, for example, a plane or in a car.” What one needs, perhaps, is a self-stabilizing drinks-cup holder? And, fortunately, a newly patented solution has become available. Inventor […]
How to spill coffee: a science demonstration
Neuroscientist Gustav Nilsonne demonstrates how and why it’s difficult to walk while carrying a cup of coffee. This photo was taken at last night’s Ig Nobel show at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm Sweden. The physics of this led to an Ig Nobel prize being awarded year to Rouslan Krechetnikov and Hans Mayer for their study “Walking […]
Alert: Coffee spill (and wine swirl) in Baltimore next Monday
If you’re in Baltimore on Monday, November 21, grab a cup of coffee and (carefully) stop by the American Physical Society meeting. The most exciting session is likely to be: Session H17: Geophysical Flows: General IV, Monday, November 21, 2011, 11:22 AM–11:35 AM, Room: 320 Chair: Keith Julien, University of Colorado Abstract: H17.00005 : Walking with […]