Ceteris Paribus
November 18, 2014 4:51 AM Subscribe
Well, this is a new better excuse for ordering a cappuccino.
posted by ardgedee at 4:58 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 4:58 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
I dunno....I've never been cut off by the coffee house because I can't hold a cup of coffee anymore and keep dropping them
posted by thelonius at 5:00 AM on November 18, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by thelonius at 5:00 AM on November 18, 2014 [8 favorites]
These particular physicists must not drink much cappuccino.
posted by nat at 5:02 AM on November 18, 2014
posted by nat at 5:02 AM on November 18, 2014
Curious physicists have now identified the answer...
Right here is why science people hate science journalism.
It is *extremely obvious* to anyone with any science background that the foam damps sloshing in a glass of beer. They have not "now identified" this mysterious fact.
What they have now done is taken existing science and applied to to an everyday phenomenon either for fun or funding.
There's no reason to right this story as some kind of breathless enigma a la the baffling aerodynamics of the bumblebee that Stupid Ivory Tower Scientists Of Yesteryear couldn't solve.
posted by DU at 5:10 AM on November 18, 2014 [9 favorites]
Right here is why science people hate science journalism.
It is *extremely obvious* to anyone with any science background that the foam damps sloshing in a glass of beer. They have not "now identified" this mysterious fact.
What they have now done is taken existing science and applied to to an everyday phenomenon either for fun or funding.
There's no reason to right this story as some kind of breathless enigma a la the baffling aerodynamics of the bumblebee that Stupid Ivory Tower Scientists Of Yesteryear couldn't solve.
posted by DU at 5:10 AM on November 18, 2014 [9 favorites]
> It is *extremely obvious* to anyone with any science background that the foam damps sloshing in a glass of beer.
Cool. Quantify your assertion. Provide analysis and references. There's a publication in it for you.
posted by ardgedee at 5:18 AM on November 18, 2014 [13 favorites]
Cool. Quantify your assertion. Provide analysis and references. There's a publication in it for you.
posted by ardgedee at 5:18 AM on November 18, 2014 [13 favorites]
This has undoubtedly been done already, for a variety of substances including water, which is what both coffee and beer mostly are.
posted by DU at 5:22 AM on November 18, 2014
posted by DU at 5:22 AM on November 18, 2014
Also, when you pay 6$ for a drink, you tend to take better care of it
So the coffee and the beer!
posted by Room 641-A at 5:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [10 favorites]
So the coffee and the beer!
posted by Room 641-A at 5:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [10 favorites]
No, I mean your claim of obviousness. Is it true everybody knows, or are you making an unfounded assertion?
posted by ardgedee at 5:24 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by ardgedee at 5:24 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
And, if beer came in sippy cups as well, there would be an even more marked difference! Of course, people would then start drinking beer in their cars on the morning commute.
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:26 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust at 5:26 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
someone needs to endow a university chair in 'clickbait studies.' hell, with streaming revenue, licensing, and media development a clickbait studies department might be revenue positive for the university. it's important that the university be forward facing and not afraid to jump into vital new areas of research, while streamlining it's focus to maintain a disruptive edge and fiscal sustainability.
posted by ennui.bz at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by ennui.bz at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2014 [5 favorites]
So the coffee and the beer!
Assuming you are tipping your barista with appropriate generosity, because they are precious gifts unto this land.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2014
Assuming you are tipping your barista with appropriate generosity, because they are precious gifts unto this land.
posted by C'est la D.C. at 5:30 AM on November 18, 2014
I always figured I spill more coffee because I have to pour and handle it when I haven't had my coffee yet.
posted by graymouser at 5:34 AM on November 18, 2014 [15 favorites]
posted by graymouser at 5:34 AM on November 18, 2014 [15 favorites]
Oh then yes, I am merely asserting that STEM people will find this obvious. My data set is me, a STEM person, who notices this every time he pours a beer. Since there's only one real variable between pouring beer and pouring a "normal" beverage (i.e. the foam) and the anti-sloshiness is apparent, it's clear the phenomenon must derive from that variable. I am not a particular genius, so I assume others of my ilk can also determine this.
posted by DU at 5:34 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by DU at 5:34 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
What about Kentucky Breakfast Stout?
posted by exogenous at 5:49 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by exogenous at 5:49 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
if beer came in sippy cups as well, there would be an even more marked difference! Of course, people would then start drinking beer in their cars on the morning commute.
So ... I accidentally did this a few months ago. I was planning on walking to a friend's house to watch a ballgame, so I'd poured a beer into a travel mug for the walk. But I got outside and it was raining hard enough to make the walk unpleasant. So I drove with the beer in the cupholder. It was, perhaps, not the wisest decision.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:51 AM on November 18, 2014
So ... I accidentally did this a few months ago. I was planning on walking to a friend's house to watch a ballgame, so I'd poured a beer into a travel mug for the walk. But I got outside and it was raining hard enough to make the walk unpleasant. So I drove with the beer in the cupholder. It was, perhaps, not the wisest decision.
posted by uncleozzy at 5:51 AM on November 18, 2014
Before I read the link I assumed the answer was going to be "coffee mugs have handles" -- easier to knock over because they offer a lever-arm? Harder to pack tightly? A less secure grip than holding the cup itself? Less instinctive aversion to getting your hand wet to worry about?
But then I thought, "Well, but aren't you more likely to be careful with a hot beverage than a cold one?" And in fact I personally spill beer more often than I spill coffee, for exactly that reason, I think. And some kinds of coffee cups come with lids, as do coffee pots, generally. And for that matter, beer sometimes comes in tankards. And is poured from a tap, and does missing the glass count as spilling?
There is so much more to this question than tendency to slop over the sides of a glass. Further research is needed.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
But then I thought, "Well, but aren't you more likely to be careful with a hot beverage than a cold one?" And in fact I personally spill beer more often than I spill coffee, for exactly that reason, I think. And some kinds of coffee cups come with lids, as do coffee pots, generally. And for that matter, beer sometimes comes in tankards. And is poured from a tap, and does missing the glass count as spilling?
There is so much more to this question than tendency to slop over the sides of a glass. Further research is needed.
posted by OnceUponATime at 5:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
I have to assume that beer doesn't burn your hands either, so you don't have to try as hard to hold it.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:58 AM on November 18, 2014
posted by blue_beetle at 5:58 AM on November 18, 2014
Further research is needed.
I propose we meet up at Bell's Labs to further the cause of (hic) science!
posted by stevis23 at 5:59 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
I propose we meet up at Bell's Labs to further the cause of (hic) science!
posted by stevis23 at 5:59 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
OI think I need to increase the sample size of this experiment by one.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:11 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 6:11 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Thanks to DU, I finally looked into the aerodynamics of the bumblebee, which I've been meaning to do for some time now.
I don't really care about coffee, but now at least when someone gets in my car with an open container of coffee, I can suggest putting beer foam on top of it so it won't go all over the floor..
posted by MtDewd at 6:11 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't really care about coffee, but now at least when someone gets in my car with an open container of coffee, I can suggest putting beer foam on top of it so it won't go all over the floor..
posted by MtDewd at 6:11 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
I always wondered why "beer foam topping" was on the Starbucks Secret Menu."
posted by Nevin at 6:13 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Nevin at 6:13 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
See I thought it was because you hold a beer by wrapping your hand around it, and you hold a coffee by holding it secondarily at a distance by the handle. Then again ...
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:13 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 6:13 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
I'm convinced that the relative states of excitation for each beverage play a factor.
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by grumpybear69 at 6:15 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
So I drove with the beer in the cupholder.
One of those terrifying thoughts in heavy traffic is to wonder how many other drivers are doing this, or put a little extra in their coffee for the drive. I don't know anyone who will admit to it, but everyone seems to have a story of an uncle or friend of a friend who does.
I've driven with a bottle of wine in the cupholder, but it was unopened; I still wondered how it would look if I was pulled over.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
One of those terrifying thoughts in heavy traffic is to wonder how many other drivers are doing this, or put a little extra in their coffee for the drive. I don't know anyone who will admit to it, but everyone seems to have a story of an uncle or friend of a friend who does.
I've driven with a bottle of wine in the cupholder, but it was unopened; I still wondered how it would look if I was pulled over.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
Hmm. Sitting right here, just finished a Camel nonfilter, preceded by 11 oz. Peet's full strength caffeine, and now sipping a weak, leftover Sidecar (Thank you, Rachel Maddow). Hell of too early today. Mornings, aaagh!
posted by StephenDouglasKan at 6:27 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by StephenDouglasKan at 6:27 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Also, when you pay 6$ for a drink, you tend to take better care of it
Also, when there's alcohol in it.
posted by pracowity at 6:28 AM on November 18, 2014
Also, when there's alcohol in it.
posted by pracowity at 6:28 AM on November 18, 2014
BS. Everyone knows the likelihood of ANY liquid to spill is directly proportional to the quality of the shirt you're wearing today and whether or not you have boobs for it to spill on.
posted by theweasel at 6:35 AM on November 18, 2014 [14 favorites]
posted by theweasel at 6:35 AM on November 18, 2014 [14 favorites]
And, if beer came in sippy cups as well, there would be an even more marked difference! Of course, people would then start drinking beer in their cars on the morning commute.
posted by GenjiandProust
In all seriousness I've known many alcoholic musicians who did this in the old days. Im sure it's still a thing.
posted by spitbull at 6:45 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by GenjiandProust
In all seriousness I've known many alcoholic musicians who did this in the old days. Im sure it's still a thing.
posted by spitbull at 6:45 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
In all seriousness I've known many alcoholic musicians who did this in the old days. Im sure it's still a thing.
Musicians waking up in the morning to drive to work? Not very likely. But I believe the part about the beer.
posted by pracowity at 6:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [6 favorites]
Musicians waking up in the morning to drive to work? Not very likely. But I believe the part about the beer.
posted by pracowity at 6:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [6 favorites]
FWIW, DU once I went to the article and saw they were talking about carrying a tray of beer vs a tray of coffees, it was immediately apparent to me--non-scientist--that it's because of the foam. It seems obvious to me, too.
Before I read the article, however, I assumed the answer was related to elbows and expansive gestures and thought there was no way coffee could be on the receiving end of that more often than beer.
posted by looli at 7:03 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Before I read the article, however, I assumed the answer was related to elbows and expansive gestures and thought there was no way coffee could be on the receiving end of that more often than beer.
posted by looli at 7:03 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh then yes, I am merely asserting that STEM people will find this obvious. My data set is me, a STEM person, who notices this every time he pours a beer. Since there's only one real variable between pouring beer and pouring a "normal" beverage (i.e. the foam) and the anti-sloshiness is apparent, it's clear the phenomenon must derive from that variable. I am not a particular genius, so I assume others of my ilk can also determine this.
My multidisciplinary team* was able to conclusively determine and support this finding this objectively** and with much consensus within stable*** testing conditions. Sadly, publication remained limited mostly due to research notes being wholly illegible and smelling slightly of stale ale****.
*of combined drunken undergrads in STEM and non-STEM majors
**post-intoxication and with varying blood alcohol levels from .1 to .1+++
***stable assuming a constantly rotating tap of 40 beers in a college bar
**** and being retrieved over the following 3 years from various corners of said research team's pockets, lint traps and communal homes
posted by kurosawa's pal at 7:14 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
My multidisciplinary team* was able to conclusively determine and support this finding this objectively** and with much consensus within stable*** testing conditions. Sadly, publication remained limited mostly due to research notes being wholly illegible and smelling slightly of stale ale****.
*of combined drunken undergrads in STEM and non-STEM majors
**post-intoxication and with varying blood alcohol levels from .1 to .1+++
***stable assuming a constantly rotating tap of 40 beers in a college bar
**** and being retrieved over the following 3 years from various corners of said research team's pockets, lint traps and communal homes
posted by kurosawa's pal at 7:14 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
As a clumsy person and wild gesticulator I have two rules for my liquids when I'm at home:
1) I drink coffee from stout, bottom-heavy mugs with a lid. Tall and skinny travel mugs are an automatic DQ.
2) I drink water and iced tea (the other primary liquids in my life) from some kind of sports bottle.
Foam or no foam, liquids in any other containers in any other settings Will. Be. Spilled. It's lame, but I just cannot be trusted with grown-up drinking vessels.
On preview:
I assumed the answer was related to elbows and expansive gestures and thought there was no way coffee could be on the receiving end of that more often than beer.
I can see that. If I'm drinking beer there's either a good chance I'm either holding it or at a social event where I'm trying hard to be civilized. ALSO CAFFEINE.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:17 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
1) I drink coffee from stout, bottom-heavy mugs with a lid. Tall and skinny travel mugs are an automatic DQ.
2) I drink water and iced tea (the other primary liquids in my life) from some kind of sports bottle.
Foam or no foam, liquids in any other containers in any other settings Will. Be. Spilled. It's lame, but I just cannot be trusted with grown-up drinking vessels.
On preview:
I assumed the answer was related to elbows and expansive gestures and thought there was no way coffee could be on the receiving end of that more often than beer.
I can see that. If I'm drinking beer there's either a good chance I'm either holding it or at a social event where I'm trying hard to be civilized. ALSO CAFFEINE.
posted by Room 641-A at 7:17 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Despite drinking it every day, I have never in my life spilled any coffee (you know you don't have to fill it to the absolute brim, right?), but I have spilled many, many, many a beer--from the can.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:28 AM on November 18, 2014
posted by Sys Rq at 7:28 AM on November 18, 2014
Shoe-in for this year's Physics Ig-Nobel.
PS: I am a professional STEM person and I didn't even think about the foam being a factor. I truly thought the answer was going to be that we drink beer in more practically shaped containers. I thought this was a fun project, a fun video, and I don't think of Smithsonian Magazine as being particularly guilty of "clickbait". So chill, guys. Have a coffee and/or beer and enjoy the bean-plating.
posted by maryr at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2014
PS: I am a professional STEM person and I didn't even think about the foam being a factor. I truly thought the answer was going to be that we drink beer in more practically shaped containers. I thought this was a fun project, a fun video, and I don't think of Smithsonian Magazine as being particularly guilty of "clickbait". So chill, guys. Have a coffee and/or beer and enjoy the bean-plating.
posted by maryr at 7:37 AM on November 18, 2014
PPS: Of course, I'm a life sciences person, so perhaps it is natural that I expected a reason based in behavior and phenotoype rather than one based on materials.
posted by maryr at 7:38 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by maryr at 7:38 AM on November 18, 2014 [2 favorites]
It doesn't help that coffee is often served in hemispherical mugs with no vertical surfaces. You know the mugs I'm talking about. It's what you would get if you rotated a half-pipe around a vertical axis. Like a hollowed-out porcelain half-grapefruit with a tiny handle way too small to be useful. It is an extreme slosh-ramp with wide, shallow, sloping walls. It is pretty much a glorified saucer.
Right now I have a half-empty mug of coffee. It is a good old-fashioned vertical-walled American mug that you would find in any kitchen in the U.S. of A. I can tilt my half-empty — I mean half-full; this is a great mug; I am an optimist — I can tilt my half-full mug 45 degrees and nothing will spill out. That does not work with hemispherical mugs. All your coffee will spill out onto the floor, leaving you with a full carpet and a not-at-all-full mug.
posted by compartment at 8:07 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
Right now I have a half-empty mug of coffee. It is a good old-fashioned vertical-walled American mug that you would find in any kitchen in the U.S. of A. I can tilt my half-empty — I mean half-full; this is a great mug; I am an optimist — I can tilt my half-full mug 45 degrees and nothing will spill out. That does not work with hemispherical mugs. All your coffee will spill out onto the floor, leaving you with a full carpet and a not-at-all-full mug.
posted by compartment at 8:07 AM on November 18, 2014 [3 favorites]
It doesn't help that coffee is often served in hemispherical mugs with no vertical surfaces. You know the mugs I'm talking about. It's what you would get if you rotated a half-pipe around a vertical axis. Like a hollowed-out porcelain half-grapefruit with a tiny handle way too small to be useful. It is an extreme slosh-ramp with wide, shallow, sloping walls. It is pretty much a glorified saucer.
The word you are grasping for is "bowl."
posted by Sys Rq at 8:17 AM on November 18, 2014 [16 favorites]
The word you are grasping for is "bowl."
posted by Sys Rq at 8:17 AM on November 18, 2014 [16 favorites]
The word you are grasping for is "bowl."
I just...I just love this place.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:48 AM on November 18, 2014 [5 favorites]
I just...I just love this place.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:48 AM on November 18, 2014 [5 favorites]
I've always wondered why coffee is so spill-prone. I had to stop wearing white blouses when I started drinking coffee.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 8:52 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
The word you are grasping for is "bowl."So now we're bean-bowling?
I just...I just love this place.
posted by Buttons Bellbottom at 9:03 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Approximate time to brew average coffee: 4 minutes
Approximate time to brew average beer: 4 weeks
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Approximate time to brew average beer: 4 weeks
posted by boo_radley at 9:03 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
But then you have gallons of delicious beer!
posted by exogenous at 9:20 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by exogenous at 9:20 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
One more saying they've ignored the shirt as a variable. Nice white dress shirt? Coffee spills within 60 seconds.
posted by benito.strauss at 9:25 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by benito.strauss at 9:25 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
The word you are grasping for is "bowl."
Thank you. It seems so obvious now. Honestly, I have been trying to find a suitable word for at least four years. (I spilled some coffee in Seattle in 2010.)
From now on, I will call these mugs "coffee bowls." Previously, I referred to them as "Boise superstars," because they are built to spill.
posted by compartment at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
Thank you. It seems so obvious now. Honestly, I have been trying to find a suitable word for at least four years. (I spilled some coffee in Seattle in 2010.)
From now on, I will call these mugs "coffee bowls." Previously, I referred to them as "Boise superstars," because they are built to spill.
posted by compartment at 9:26 AM on November 18, 2014 [4 favorites]
I thought it was going to be because beer loves you more than coffee does, and wouldn't hurt you by leaving you. Not even a little bit.
(I love you too, beer.)
posted by argonauta at 9:41 AM on November 18, 2014
(I love you too, beer.)
posted by argonauta at 9:41 AM on November 18, 2014
...so I'd poured a beer into a travel mug
A while back I went out for coffee, for myself and a visitor. The cups sat on the table for a while and became room temperature. I drank it anyway, and gave one to my visitor. Turns out that the cup I gave him was not the one I brought in, but was a Starbucks cup with a lid that contained two-day old beer. My guest drank some, and when I was cleaning up I asked why he didn't finish his coffee. "I don't know, it wasn't very good coffee," was his only response.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
A while back I went out for coffee, for myself and a visitor. The cups sat on the table for a while and became room temperature. I drank it anyway, and gave one to my visitor. Turns out that the cup I gave him was not the one I brought in, but was a Starbucks cup with a lid that contained two-day old beer. My guest drank some, and when I was cleaning up I asked why he didn't finish his coffee. "I don't know, it wasn't very good coffee," was his only response.
posted by StickyCarpet at 10:23 AM on November 18, 2014 [1 favorite]
Because they always short your pint is why.
posted by srboisvert at 10:24 AM on November 18, 2014
posted by srboisvert at 10:24 AM on November 18, 2014
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posted by Renoroc at 4:55 AM on November 18, 2014 [5 favorites]