Beer Bubbles Really Do Sink

Galvatron writes "A group of researchers at Stanford have shown that, despite being lighter than the beer itself, bubbles can actually slide down the sides of glasses. So, if you see it happen, it's not just that you've had too much to drink. For a description of methodology and an explanation of why it works, see the article."

Comments

sliding down the glass....

[timelady]

odd, I've seen many a drunk sliding down the side of a glass...those pesky bubbles!

Re:sliding down the glass....

[Hogwash McFly]

hey, remember linus signed some pretty odd things during LCA:)

Yeah, my wife still refuses to wash her left breast....

Old story?

[ltning]

Wasn't there a story on /. a few years ago about someone researching why the bubbles in Guinness were apparently sinking - with the conclusion that they are driven down by streams closer to the centre of the glass?

Re:Old story?

[ltning]

Found it here.

It's old :)

Re:Old story?

[ubera]

This one. The researchers here appear to be putting an academic imprimateur on the model discussed in 2000.

Too much?

[Calren]

So, if you see it happen, it's not just that you've had too much to drink.

So do bubbles going around the glass mean I'm half-way there?

Nice article - but whatabout sharing the evidence?

[Jabes]

I have seen bubbles moving down at the edges of my Guinness. This latest "discovery" seems to be common sense to me, and is exactly how I have explained the phenomenem to other drinkers down the pub.

Shame I wasn't paid to do my "research", and that no-one would have listened to me because I didn't have a 750-frame-per-second video camera.

Now, this story would have been really interesting if it had a link to the videos of it happening 'cause it really is a sight to behold!

In Australia they also rise

[Anonymous Coward]

Of course it depends which way your head is up, or down - sometimes they go sideways in both directions.

Legitimate scientific value

[TobiasSodergren]

"While the pair's finding will be invaluable to barroom betters across the globe it also has legitimate scientific value in the area of fluidized beds, the mixing of solid particles with liquids and gases, which has industrial and engineering applications."

It's amazing what people do come up with to get an excuse for drinking beer.

Re:Legitimate scientific value

[betelgeuse-4]

Since this phenomenom only lasts for a short period after the beer is poured, they must have had to pour a lot of beers to allow detailed analysis. It would have been a shame to let it go to waste wouldn't it?

Next we'll see an academic doing a research paper on the marketing techniques used by pr0n sites.

Wasted Tax Payers Dollars

[fozzmeister]

I'm not saying that this is not valuable information, however if only they had googled before hand they would have noticed that this WAS ALREADY KNOWN ABOUT IN 1998! see this story at http://www.sciencenet.org.uk/database/phys/liquids /p00053d.html

Hmm...

[natrius]

I had a class with this professor earlier this year. This really explains his teaching style... he must have done his beer "research" each day right before he lectured...

Video report about it

[tsager]

There's a video about it here: video/mov,4MB
Mentioned in news article from

Damn

[lars_boegild_thomsen]

Damn - I wish I had never seen this article. I've always used that observation as a definite measure when to stop drinking beer. Now I won't know when to stop. I'm sure this article has been sponsored by the breweries.