Better Drinking through Science

Now this is the kind of science we should be supporting more of! According to Seed Magazine, Robert MacPherson, a mathematician at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and David Srolovitz, a physicist at Yeshiva University, New York have discovered why some beers holds their head and others do not.

Surprisingly, the degree to which a beer holds its head is not directly correlated to the blood alcohol content of the beer's dispenser, as I had always suspected. But, according to Seed Magazine:

"Beer foam is a microstructure with complex interfaces. In other words: a cellular structure comprising networks of gas-filled bubbles separated by liquid.

The walls of these bubbles move as a result of surface tension—and the speed at which they move is related to the curvature of the bubbles. As a result of this movement, the bubbles merge and the structure coarsens,” meaning that the foam settles and eventually disappears."

Ostensibly, the difference in Lager and Stout, aside from the obvious differences in taste, lies in variations created either by the liquid surrounding the bubbles or by the gas filling the bubbles. My money's on the gas since I know (from meticulous pub-based research) that Guinness taps require a nitrogen source and other beer taps just require regular carbon dioxide.

On a related note, just to show you the difference between Nature, where MacPherson and Srolovitz's work was published yesterday and Seed Magazine where I just read about their paper, I saw the citation below on my weekly email table of contents from Nature and thought, "Yawn, who cares about von Neuman relations and microstructures." Of course I failed to read the last line in the summary. Contrast that with Seed's catchy headline, "Head Start: Scientists Crack Beer-Froth Enigma," all I can say is "thank God for science writers, Nature should consider hiring some!"

To recap:

Guiness and Budweiser are inherently different

Boring:

"The von Neumann relation generalized to coarsening of three-dimensional microstructures"
(Nature Volume 446 Number 7139 p1053)

Over 50 years ago, von Neumann derived an exact formula for the growth rate of a cell in a two-dimensional cellular structure. Now the extension of this result into three (and higher) dimensions has been found. The formula could lead to predictive models for various industrial and commercial processing scenarios, such as controlling the head on a pint of beer.
Robert D. MacPherson and David J. Srolovitz

Cool:

Cybertwin

So if you've scrolled down to the bottom of my blog lately you've probably noticed all the crap I have pasted down there.

In particular you may be wondering what the Cybertwin is all about. Well, try talking to it and find out! I'm kind of curious too. I spent about 45 minutes answering random questions in the hopes that when you talk to it it'll be entertaining and not very much like talking to me.

Here's an example of a recent conversation I had with my cyber twin (my input is listed as "you" the cybertwin is labeled "Flygal"):

You: Hello
Flygal: Hi there!
You: You're hot
Flygal: Hmm, time to get that perscription checked.
You: What's your name?
Flygal: Flygal76
You: What's your real name?
Flygal: Flygalerina
You: What do you enjoy doing?
Flygal: play with my cat
You: What kind of cat do you have?
Flygal: Any that my owner Flygal teaches me to.
You: That's nice
Flygal: Are you being sarcastic?
You: No, I'm being kind. I really like you.
Flygal: do you really vtc128?
You: yes, i want to call you later
Flygal: The reason why people are always wishing for what they
don't have, is that there is nothing else to wish for - Houghton Line
You: That's really deep.
Flygal: Thanks for the explanation.

I found it hilarious... I think I could entertain myself all day! Let me know if you have a Cybertwin and I'll go chat with it!

Badges? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges!

Once again, Interplanetsarah has provided me with a funny take on science and scientists. What if, instead of publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals, we had to accrue a number of merit badges in order to advance to the next stage of our career?

The Order of the Science Scouts of Exemplary Repute and Above Average Physique has provided a mechanism to do just that. I've earned a number of these badges, but share a few anecdotes on my favorites here.


The "talking science badge" goes hand-in hand with the blogging science badge for me. A favorite story about explaining science to non-scientists comes from the 2003 Drosophila Annual Meeting that was held in Chicago. As thousands of Drosophila biologists descended upon the hotel, two business types sat in the hotel bar looking slightly bewildered. Being the friendly gal that I am, I said "Hello" giving them the opportunity to ask just what the heck these badly dressed people were doing wandering around the hotel wearing badges decorated with flies? I explained that the flies were Drosophila melanogaster and that they were one of the oldest and most effective model organisms around. I explain that scientists at this meeting were studying everything from Diabetes to Neuron Regeneration to Cancer. They nodded, looking around with a new appreciation for the crowd surrounding them (because if Drosophila biologists know how to do anything, it's congregate at a bar!). I like to think that informal conversations like that one are just as helpful as Scientific American or Nova.

The "I may look like a scientist but I'm actually also a ninja" badge is one that every scientist should aspire to hold, particularly since it is purported to be lethal in combination with the "destroyer of quackery" badge. While the badge is aimed at those who manage to seek out and dispel junk science masquerading as real science, I've actually been recruited to be a ninja... a science policy ninja! The details are unimportant and too closely tied to my identity, which I try to keep well-separated from this blog, but the basic story was this: when I was working in a federal agency in Washington, DC, the deputy director of a neighboring office complained about his neighbor who kept taking the trash out at ungodly hours and banging around in the alley that their houses shared. So the deputy director proposed that we make like ninjas and steal his neighbor's garbage cans. We never did, but the ninja joke was a running one between us. Does that count? I think so!

Finally, kudos to David Ng, creator of the OSSERAAP and author of the hilarious and (in my mind) unoffensive (others disagree) Jeans Versus Genes: the Ultimate Scientific Discourse.