> For more than a decade Kripa Varanasi and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been creating and studying slippery surfaces for use in industrial equipment such as steam turbines and desalination plants.
I'm British so I'm biased, but while I hate the Daily Mail with a passion, I have also spent a lot of time in the US with Fox news constantly on in the break room, and the Daily Mail is nowhere near as bad. The amount of naked bias shown in your average 5 minutes on Fox is breathtaking to someone coming from the UK. The Daily Mail also makes some attempt to make sure that what it's talking about is in some way related to reality which is not a feeling I always have while watching Fox (particularly when Fox is talking about the UK).
Wow, I've just defended the Daily Mail. This is a weird feeling.
It is weird. There are effectively three sides bundled into the Daily Mail, and one of them is a genuinely there-with-the-news global reporting organisation (OK, so it's built on AP/Newswire, but usually a bit more informative).
The other two are the highly flamebait opinion columnists (Littlejohn, Hopkins) and the "women's" coverage for non-feminist women: celebrities, clothes, "sidebar of shame" and so on. The latter is hugely profitable and popular for some reason. A unique combination of slut-shaming while at the same time telling you where you can buy the outfit.
I think the latter two go hand-in-hand: Outrageous opinion pieces that get shared a lot attract people to the site, and then a sidebar of clickbait keeps people browsing.
I can imagine how many applications there could be in more expensive products like makeup for example. Looking forward to have this in our daily lives :)
Companies will look forward to using this, since it means that products (eg: toothpaste) will run out faster (probably due to people using more when it slips out easier), producing more demand.
Wouldn't it be just the opposite? If, say, 5% of the ketchup is currently left in the bottle when it's thrown away, that means customers who buy the new bottles will get 5% more usable ketchup for their money. As long as they're careful when pouring, they would have to buy new bottles less often.
I would imagine that in the sense of "usable product" for costumers, things will level out somehow.
But waste would certainly be lessened within certain steps of production. For example, sometimes you have containers used for long distance transportation, which you can't remove all of a product from, and you have to wash in between refillings.
The problem with Theranos isn't microfluidics and labs-on-a-chip, since lots of other people manage to use that successfully.
Rather, the problem with Theranos is that a small amount of blood from an extremity surface won't necessarily be representative and is easy to contaminate, so you can't get reliable data from it.
I use centrifugal force to empty bottles. It also works for ink pens, yoguhurt packages etc. Instead of shaking it, make whipping motions, or swing it, with the opening out. Just make sure the lid is on!
You can also use a baking roller if it's a soft tube.
With glass ketchup bottles, holding it upside down, then lightly hitting the area where the neck meets the main body of the bottle, with your palm...works well.
I was told that part of the problem on a new glass bottle of ketchup is the surface tension at the top. So if you break the top layer with a knife or whatever the ketchup will suddenly start coming out. However I never looked up if it was true or not (surface tension) but it does appear to work albeit slightly unhygienic.
Sides of the tube being slippery would just cause a blob of ketchup to come out; worse case, if it was a hard cylinder with no inward facing lip and a release in the for the vacuum created by the ketchup in the tube, all of the ketchup would just fall out in the space of the cylinder.
Key to getting ketchup out is knowing it is a non-newtonian fluid:
My favorite method is centrifugal; hold the bottle by the non-pouring end with the cap firmly tightened and give it a good fast swing with your arm (be careful not to break it on anything). This will move all the ketchup to the neck of the bottle (might require a few reps). Then, unscrew, and holding the bottle where you wish to dispense product, using your palm just above where your palm meets your wrist, tap firmly on the neck of the bottle just below (as the bottle is now facing downward, just slightly towards the open end) the curve onto the neck while shaking the bottle up and down, with an exaggerated downward "stabbing" motion.
I did something similarly clever when I was about 10. My parents still occasionally find a ketchup stain in some far corner of the kitchen or attached den.
The squeezable upside down ketchup bottles have already solved this to my satisfaction.
I need someone to solve the other great issue our times, how to preserve the fizz in a 2 litre bottle of coke after you consume part of it.
I don't really see this working. There's not enough CO2 partial pressure to maintain carbonation, and I really doubt there's enough air pressure in the bottle to force very much air into solution.
This doesn't help at all, unless you take steps to keep the bottle from uncrushing as carbon dioxide inevitably comes out of solution. What does help is keeping your drink refrigerated, because gases dissolve better in cold water than in hot.
Here's how I reasoned about this, but this isn't my forte and I'd welcome any corrections!
The pressure of gas in the bottle neck increases as degassing occurs but only until an equilibrium is reached. The equilibrium occurs at a pressure lower than that required to deform the tough plastic in the neck of the bottle and lower than that required to overcome the soft bottle body plastic connected by hydraulic advantage to the gas via the small cross sectional area of fluid in the bottle neck.
If coke came in something like the boxes of wine that used to be around one time, They were in effect a bag of wine with integrated tap inside a rigid cardboard box. As you drew wine through the tap, the bag collapsed.
Box wine is still a thing, although it's hard to find anything good in a box.
This probably won't work because the CO2 will just inflate the bladder after you pour your first drink. You'll end up with flat Coke and a bag full of CO2 by the end. Also, the cheap plastic valve would probably fail and start to leak if you put a carbonated beverage in there.
The typical bottles we have won't recover their original shape when crushed. They will attempt to reform slightly but only slightly.
I believe the pressure in any pocket of gas in the bottle would increase due to degassing of the fluid and this pressure would have a greater impact. Especially if that degassing was encouraged - e.g. shaking the bottle.
In contrast, I can't see that manipulating the bottle in an attempt to recover its shape would encourage further degassing.
Ah, that's easy: don't store carbonated drinks in the door of your fridge. Every time you open the door it shakes them and releases gas from the liquid. Try it!
I agree, but from a restaurant perspective. Hearing that distinct change in sound for a bottle that's being squeezed while empty can lead to a quick replacement by attentive staff.
Would it be possible to submit links to walled off websites like the Economist as google searches? Maybe there could be a tick box that, when selected, made the link into a google search like this:
Tap the 57 while holding the bottle in the pour position. It really works. From the Heinz Trivia [0] page:
What's the best way to get Heinz ketchup out of the iconic glass bottle?
To release ketchup faster from the glass bottle, apply a firm tap to the sweet spot on the neck of the bottle— the "57." Only 11% of people know this secret. Now you're "in-the-know."
Zen Option: Be patient. When the ketchup is ready to come out it will. Place it on the counter upside-down. Go do some gardening. Yoga. Meditate.
Physics Option: Centrifuge. Not only does it work, it's the law. Close lid firmly. Point the bottle down. Hold firmly. Spin in large circles. Switch arms if tired.
Physics Option, Extreme Edition: Grab 4 or 5 Walmart (or whatever) grocery bags. Place one inside the other to form one thicker, stronger bag. Place bottle in bag pointing down as much as possible. Remove people and animals from general area. Move way from hanging fans, lights, etc. Grab from handles and spin around at high speed. Works great for Mayo and most other higher viscosity bottled goods.
Environmental Option: The universe doesn't want you to consume this stuff any more. This was your last bottle. You are done. Post about it on Facebook.
Mechanical Option: Find a hydraulic press of at least 1 ton capacity. Place the bottle in it. You might have to sandwich it between two metal plates to cover the more of the bottle. Have the end point in the desired direction. Remove the cap. Squeeeeeeeeez while you catch the ketchup in a cup. Does not work very well for glass bottles.
Chemical Option #1: Place it upside-down in a bath of warm water. Should flow nicely after that. Or is that physics?
Chemical Option #2: Fill with water. Shake vigorously. Empty into sauce pan. Boil off water until desired consistency is achieved. Or, is that physics?
Pessimist Option: The bottle is empty. Forget it.
Optimist Option: Get a gallon jug of ketchup. Re-fill the small bottle. The bottle is full.
Aerospace Option: Place bottle upside-down on a vibration test fixture. Run through a full 6 minute simulation of an orbital launch mission.
Motorsport Option #1: Travel to local skid-pad. Get going as close to 1 g as possible. Point bottle radially outward.
Motorsport Option #2: Get in Tesla. Point bottle to the rear. Engage the most insane acceleration mode. Gun it.
Motorsport Option #3: Sneak into a crash test facility. Strap bottle to the car, point it forward. Conduct crash test against solid wall. Retrieve bottle while pretending to check sensors.
Baseball Option: Pitch the bottle. Have someone hit a home run. Does not work well for glass bottles. Does not work well, period.
Soccer Option: Strap bottle to ball. Have a player kick a penalty shot. Have them fall to the ground and pretend they are hurt for five minutes.
Golf Option: T-off and smack it with 9 iron. Will not work well for glass bottles.
The articles about this guy come out every year. It always says they're "working with ketchup manufacturers". But the reality is that the ketchup companies already said "no, we don't want to put this in our containers because our customers go 'ick' when we do that".
It's like the gecko tape. Every year, press release about how it's going to transform the world then you realize it's still in the lab and the R&D companies don't want to touch it.
68 comments
[ 4.4 ms ] story [ 139 ms ] threadIt is.
Don't link to it.
Wow, I've just defended the Daily Mail. This is a weird feeling.
The other two are the highly flamebait opinion columnists (Littlejohn, Hopkins) and the "women's" coverage for non-feminist women: celebrities, clothes, "sidebar of shame" and so on. The latter is hugely profitable and popular for some reason. A unique combination of slut-shaming while at the same time telling you where you can buy the outfit.
The Guardian is financed by a trust. It doesn't necessarily need to be profitable.
However, yes, it is currently hemorrhaging money.
P.S.: "Open sauce operating system"... wat?
But waste would certainly be lessened within certain steps of production. For example, sometimes you have containers used for long distance transportation, which you can't remove all of a product from, and you have to wash in between refillings.
So.... Theranos is less impossible?
Rather, the problem with Theranos is that a small amount of blood from an extremity surface won't necessarily be representative and is easy to contaminate, so you can't get reliable data from it.
https://www.howitworksdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/F...
- close the lid
- take the ketchup bottle in your hand holding it upside down, possibly covering the lid to make sure it stays closed
- swing your arm forwards-backwards rapidly
- ??? (let the physics do its job)
- ketchup!
201 delves into the nuances
Key to getting ketchup out is knowing it is a non-newtonian fluid:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-Newtonian_fluid
Specifically, it's shearing thinning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear_thinning
Few options are:
(1) Shake it a lot first, then pour;
(2) Jolt the bottle with a hard bump, then pour;
(3) Give it a little time in a single direction to get moving with the pouring end open and downward facing.
The pressure of gas in the bottle neck increases as degassing occurs but only until an equilibrium is reached. The equilibrium occurs at a pressure lower than that required to deform the tough plastic in the neck of the bottle and lower than that required to overcome the soft bottle body plastic connected by hydraulic advantage to the gas via the small cross sectional area of fluid in the bottle neck.
This probably won't work because the CO2 will just inflate the bladder after you pour your first drink. You'll end up with flat Coke and a bag full of CO2 by the end. Also, the cheap plastic valve would probably fail and start to leak if you put a carbonated beverage in there.
I believe the pressure in any pocket of gas in the bottle would increase due to degassing of the fluid and this pressure would have a greater impact. Especially if that degassing was encouraged - e.g. shaking the bottle.
In contrast, I can't see that manipulating the bottle in an attempt to recover its shape would encourage further degassing.
Similarly, recap the pop and put it back in the fridge after pouring a serving.
Would it be possible to submit links to walled off websites like the Economist as google searches? Maybe there could be a tick box that, when selected, made the link into a google search like this:
https://www.google.com/search?q=How+to+empty+the+ketchup+bot...
I love the Economist.
What's the best way to get Heinz ketchup out of the iconic glass bottle?
To release ketchup faster from the glass bottle, apply a firm tap to the sweet spot on the neck of the bottle— the "57." Only 11% of people know this secret. Now you're "in-the-know."
[0] - http://www.heinz.com/our-company/press-room/trivia.aspx
Sounds like a feature discoverability problem. Does Heinz have a UX team?
1) Add Vinegar
2) Shake
3) Pour
Physics Option: Centrifuge. Not only does it work, it's the law. Close lid firmly. Point the bottle down. Hold firmly. Spin in large circles. Switch arms if tired.
Physics Option, Extreme Edition: Grab 4 or 5 Walmart (or whatever) grocery bags. Place one inside the other to form one thicker, stronger bag. Place bottle in bag pointing down as much as possible. Remove people and animals from general area. Move way from hanging fans, lights, etc. Grab from handles and spin around at high speed. Works great for Mayo and most other higher viscosity bottled goods.
Environmental Option: The universe doesn't want you to consume this stuff any more. This was your last bottle. You are done. Post about it on Facebook.
Mechanical Option: Find a hydraulic press of at least 1 ton capacity. Place the bottle in it. You might have to sandwich it between two metal plates to cover the more of the bottle. Have the end point in the desired direction. Remove the cap. Squeeeeeeeeez while you catch the ketchup in a cup. Does not work very well for glass bottles.
Chemical Option #1: Place it upside-down in a bath of warm water. Should flow nicely after that. Or is that physics?
Chemical Option #2: Fill with water. Shake vigorously. Empty into sauce pan. Boil off water until desired consistency is achieved. Or, is that physics?
Pessimist Option: The bottle is empty. Forget it.
Optimist Option: Get a gallon jug of ketchup. Re-fill the small bottle. The bottle is full.
Aerospace Option: Place bottle upside-down on a vibration test fixture. Run through a full 6 minute simulation of an orbital launch mission.
Motorsport Option #1: Travel to local skid-pad. Get going as close to 1 g as possible. Point bottle radially outward.
Motorsport Option #2: Get in Tesla. Point bottle to the rear. Engage the most insane acceleration mode. Gun it.
Motorsport Option #3: Sneak into a crash test facility. Strap bottle to the car, point it forward. Conduct crash test against solid wall. Retrieve bottle while pretending to check sensors.
Baseball Option: Pitch the bottle. Have someone hit a home run. Does not work well for glass bottles. Does not work well, period.
Soccer Option: Strap bottle to ball. Have a player kick a penalty shot. Have them fall to the ground and pretend they are hurt for five minutes.
Golf Option: T-off and smack it with 9 iron. Will not work well for glass bottles.
Model Rocketry Option: Strap to rocket. Ignite.
For everything else there's Mastercard.
"Shake and shake / the catsup bottle / none will come / and then a lot'll."
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Armour
It's like the gecko tape. Every year, press release about how it's going to transform the world then you realize it's still in the lab and the R&D companies don't want to touch it.