Dear physics, will we ever be able to run from one cliff to another like I saw in the
cartoons?
Asking for a friend.
Cartoon physics is the best.
If I run fast enough I can run off a cliff, strapping a rocket to my back is fun, and
slipping on bananas is easy to do.
To be honest, we know the first won't work, and strapping a rocket to your back pretty
much describes science in the 1950s.
But the science of the venerable banana peel, was elusive, until now.
The Ig Nobel awards are given out every year to research that QUOTE "first makes people
laugh, and then makes them think," according to their website.
This year, the Ig Nobel prize in physics was given to peeps from Kitasato University in
Japan for determining the exact coefficient[a] of friction for the banana peel, and what
causes the slickness.
According to their findings, the frictional coefficient of a banana on linoleum was about
0.07.
By comparison, skin on metal is between point-8 and 1.0 -- lower numbers are more slick.
It's comparable to a lubricated surface, Non-stick teflon is around point zero four, and a wet
road is still point 2 -- positively rough!
The researchers also determined, by microscopic observation, the slippery nature comes from
a polysaccharide follicular gel on the banana skin.
But before you start commenting about why people are wasting their money studying this
stuff, how about some things that hit closer to home!
I am clumsy.
I drop stuff.
Why do you think we did the 5 second rule video?!
[b] Science has finally found out why toast always lands butter-side down!
Using a toast analog, to best model the behavior of bread -- students at Thiel College, found
that toast would land butter-side down 63-percent of the time.
Which is, bad.
Why?
It's pretty complicated, but essentially, the angular momentum of a piece of toast is
related to the angle at which it leaves a surface -- i.e. a hand or a table.
When the toast tumbles, these angles determine whether the butter-side is up or down.
If you want to limit the butter-fails make sure your toast is more than 270 degrees or
less than 90 when it begins its fall.
Science has also explored the most polarizing leaf ever eaten.
Cilantro.
In 2012, a genetic survey was done on 30,000 people of European ancestry.
And they found genes that affect olfactory receptors in the nose.
A gene called OR6A2 encodes a receptor that binds to a fat molecule fragment called an
aldehyde.
People with this binding will get a strong emotional reaction, probably due to an evolved
connection between food smell and flavor!
In a University of Toronto survey, people who have descendents from East Asia will hate
cilantro the most, then Europe, then Africa.
The least hate came from those of Middle Eastern descent -- where, unsurprisingly, is where
cilantro originated.
What about you?
Do you hate cilantro?
Have you ever actually SEEN anyone slip on a banana?
What food science do you want
to know next?