Posted by
michael
on from the c-is-for-cookie dept.
cdneng2 writes "In these articles from Yahoo,
scientists have discovered how and why a cookie crumbles... and
it has nothing to do with the packaging and how they are
transported. More details in Nature,
and other news articles here."
I, for one, welcome our new Keebler elf overlords.
Re:This is research?
by
FroMan
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Lets see, not to put down the "scientists" who have discovered why cookies crumble, but do you really think this group is the one that will discover the cure for AIDS if they had not been working on cookie discoveries?
With that in mind, I assume all of your resources are going to find a cure for AIDS? But wait! This gets better, AIDS is not the number one killer in the US. So, maybe we should say, "Hey scientists... Cancer! We still have cancer!" Or maybe something else.
I love on slashdot how everytime someone works on something that the slashbot doesn't think is noble enough of a cause they come up with what cause they should have been working on.
Maybe you should stop reading slashdot and go find a cure for AIDS...
-- Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
Re:Who funds these guys?
by
fireduck
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
I saw this on CNN and immediately read the actual article published in the Journal of Measurement Science Technology. (probably need an institutional subscription to access the article.) One of the co-authors works for Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, which is presumbly where the funding came from (the sample preparation section mentions that the cookies were baked there).
Obviously companies that are in the business of selling cookies will do research into problems associated with their product. Broken cookies are a big deal. I open my Chips Ahoy and find a bunch of them broken, I'm a bit annoyed. I might even switch to Keebler cookies if there's don't break as much.
Basic experimental method (at least from what I can gather looking at the article). Take cookie, put it in environment with a given humidity and allow to equilibrate. Then transfer to new chamber with different humidity and watch how the cookie swells over time with speckle interferometry measurements to measure displacement and strain (I don't really understand how that part works). From this, determine a hygroscopic expansion coefficient and publish your work in a random journal.
Unfortunately, they really didn't test a variety of cookies and really didn't go into much detail on the type of cookie they did test. Would have been interesting if they did comparitive work between chocolate chip vs. snickerdoodles...
Re:As they say over on Fark...
by
NanoGator
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
"The problem is that there's good money being thrown at this kind of stuff (for example, testing the viscosity of ketchup - there's a boon to mankind) when it could be spent in much better ways."
Fundamental stuff has to be understoood. I'm sorry you lost family members to cancer, however, there's no telling what all will need to be understood in order to cure it or anything else.
We live in a diverse, colorful world. Remember that.
Slashdot Mirror
I, for one, welcome our new Keebler elf overlords.
Lets see, not to put down the "scientists" who have discovered why cookies crumble, but do you really think this group is the one that will discover the cure for AIDS if they had not been working on cookie discoveries?
With that in mind, I assume all of your resources are going to find a cure for AIDS? But wait! This gets better, AIDS is not the number one killer in the US. So, maybe we should say, "Hey scientists... Cancer! We still have cancer!" Or maybe something else.
I love on slashdot how everytime someone works on something that the slashbot doesn't think is noble enough of a cause they come up with what cause they should have been working on.
Maybe you should stop reading slashdot and go find a cure for AIDS...
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
I saw this on CNN and immediately read the actual article published in the Journal of Measurement Science Technology. (probably need an institutional subscription to access the article.) One of the co-authors works for Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association, which is presumbly where the funding came from (the sample preparation section mentions that the cookies were baked there).
Obviously companies that are in the business of selling cookies will do research into problems associated with their product. Broken cookies are a big deal. I open my Chips Ahoy and find a bunch of them broken, I'm a bit annoyed. I might even switch to Keebler cookies if there's don't break as much.
Basic experimental method (at least from what I can gather looking at the article). Take cookie, put it in environment with a given humidity and allow to equilibrate. Then transfer to new chamber with different humidity and watch how the cookie swells over time with speckle interferometry measurements to measure displacement and strain (I don't really understand how that part works). From this, determine a hygroscopic expansion coefficient and publish your work in a random journal.
Unfortunately, they really didn't test a variety of cookies and really didn't go into much detail on the type of cookie they did test. Would have been interesting if they did comparitive work between chocolate chip vs. snickerdoodles...
"The problem is that there's good money being thrown at this kind of stuff (for example, testing the viscosity of ketchup - there's a boon to mankind) when it could be spent in much better ways."
Fundamental stuff has to be understoood. I'm sorry you lost family members to cancer, however, there's no telling what all will need to be understood in order to cure it or anything else.
We live in a diverse, colorful world. Remember that.
"Derp de derp."