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May The Force (of Mayonnaise) Be With You!

Posted by timothy on from the also-the-force-of-projectile-vomiting dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "A team of chemists at Rice University was working last year on two separate projects: trying to create strong fibers from carbon nanotubes, and testing emulsions of oil and water. And they discovered that a force known as 'negative first normal stress difference' was present in both solutions. The next step was to go to a grocery store and buy a more common emulsion, namely a jar of mayonnaise. And bingo! This force was also at work. They tell us more in this news release, "Bizarre Attractive Force Found in Mayonnaise." Unfortunately, they don't know what to do from their findings. Still, it's fun science. More details and references are available in this overview."

8 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. No wonder.. by Randolpho · · Score: 4, Funny

    No wonder I'm addicted to Mayo! It's that hitherto unknown attractive force that compelled me to eat jar after jar.

    --
    "Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
    -Marilyn Manson
  2. hmmmm... mayonaise... by Roman_(ajvvs) · · Score: 4, Funny
    It's a shame they didn't test butter as well. I always wanted to know what would stick my sandwich slices together better: butter or mayonaise.

    There's a whole bunch of other foodstuffs you can test for this phenomenon: peanut butter, egg yolks and/or whites, gravy... hmmmm.. gravy. argl-argl-argl....

    --
    click-clack, front and back. I'm not moving this car otherwise.
  3. Is a mixture made by mixing by !the!bad!fish! · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Obviously, any application where there are mixtures of oil and water -- like petroleum production, food processing and the like -- could be candidates."
    I was told that oil and water don't mix. (It says so in the article.) Can you have a mixture of things that don't mix?

    May be mixture doesn't mean what I think it does.

    --
    Kids today are tyrants. They contradict their parent, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. - Socrates 400 BC
  4. Shouldn't the heading read by toygeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Mayo the force be with you?"

    --
    Nobodies Prefect
    Tidbits for Techs Technology Blog
  5. Summary: Mayonnaise bulletproof vest! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yeah... I can't afford a real bulletproof vest made out of Kevlar, so I'm just going to smear Mayo over myself.

    Yeah, like I need an excuse to do that anyway!

  6. My Nobel by aminorex · · Score: 4, Funny

    My own prize-worthy contribution to human knowledge
    will describe the mysterious repulsive force which
    can be confirmed to emanate from the accumulation
    of emulsion lipids in adipose tissue of the consumer.

    I've passed on blind dates for fear of this "dark matter".

    --
    -I like my women like I like my tea: green-
  7. Mayo lesson... by phreakmonkey · · Score: 4, Funny
    I got the best advice I've ever received from a jar of Mayonnaise:
    "Keep cool, but don't freeze."
  8. Fundamental Forces by eingram · · Score: 3, Funny

    So... Strong. Weak. Electromagnetic. Gravity. and um, MAYO?