Corkscrew Cups Could Keep Space Drinks Flowing 181
holy_calamity writes "A Canadian chemical engineer has a novel solution to containing liquids in space. He has been experimenting with corkscrews of ribbon-like material that keep liquids suspended in their center while in microgravity. This effect is caused by the surface tension of the liquids. The helical containers allow the fluid to be sucked out of the coil in one go. In more conventional shapes, such as coffee cups, interaction between the container and the liquid's internal pressure makes the beverage break into annoying globules you have to chase with a straw."
I'm interested in how they simulated microgravity (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:I'm interested in how they simulated microgravi (Score:5, Informative)
Re:I'm interested in how they simulated microgravi (Score:4, Funny)
Globule wars. (Score:3, Funny)
Yes, but that's half the fun right there of going into space. The other is passing space gas.
Would you need a screw shaped cork for wine? (Score:5, Funny)
whooa (Score:5, Funny)
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No, it begs the question.
No, I don't care if some website says the etymology of that phrase is in some fashion contrary to it's current modern day usage. The mere fact of the matter is that language evolves, and so did that phrase. People look like idiots for suggesting that the phrase was used incorrectly, as that is NOT the accepted definition.
Quit modding that wrongful correction as insightful. That statement, and its "Insightful" modding is a very good indication that the poster, nor the modder has
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And he is not wrong for doing so. How do you think the English language was created? Lexical Engineers?
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Which is to say the layperson definition of theory is incorrect and causes confusion. Just like "begging the question" both popular and academic discourse would be improved, and in no way harmed, if everyone understood and used the proper meaning of the terms.
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Be serious, will you? The only reason "Negro" isn't used in the USA is that people are afraid to use a perfectly appropriate word. How many Westerners object to being called Caucasian? For that matter, I still can't understand why US citizens of partial Negroid ancestry get to be called "African-American" but no other descendent of any
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But the meaning of a word or phrase is not a fact, it is established by common agreement.
If enough people start using the word "spam" which previously was used for a sort of canned meat to mean unsolicited comercial mail, then yes, after a while one can REALLY say that today spam MEANS that. (in addition to the original meaning, allthough outnumbering that 50:1 I'm sure)
Re:Would you need a screw shaped cork for wine? (Score:4, Interesting)
Who owns english ? Who has the power to authoratively say what is correct english and what is not ?
In Germany it's simple, most people don't question authority, so everyone accepts that whatever Duden chooses to put in its dictionaries is correct, everything else is wrong. Yes, even if 99% of the population, including linguistically trained people, do it differently.
You get strange things like; "Everyone says gukken, but it's really kukken that is correct" (for look, glance). If you try asking a Germany -WHY- gukken is wrong if that is what everyone says, you get a bland stare, they don't really even get the question.
English, and most languages really, are somewhat more open: The *natives* define the language. Those putting out dictionaries merely *document* the language. Yes, there are "common misperceptions", i.e. things that many people do but which are nevertheless wrong and should probably remain so. Those are the things that break the -structure- of the language.
But stuff like meaning of phrases and/or pronounciation changes meaning over time trough actual use. Also, the same phrase has different (often related, but different) meaning in different fields. A photographer and a filesystem-designer do NOT mean the same thing when both talk about "taking a snapshot".
Begging the question means one thing in formal logic. In practice, it has other common meanings in everyday english. Deal with it.
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If, as you say, popular usage legitimizes, and if the users of the language have the right to define it... you appear to be forgetting that *I am a user of the language*, and have the right to define it. You don't get to claim that everyone but me has the right to an opinion on the subject. I simply need to change popular meaning and its use in everyday English, exactly like *you* are trying to do by posting in this thread.
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My point is, some things are matters of FACT: How many states are there, in fact, in USA ? Is Earth larger or smaller than Mars ? In such questions it makes no difference what the majority thinks, the truth is the truth regardless.
But other questions are matter of -opinion-. What meanings do the word "spam" have ? There obviously can be no authoritative source on it, you can't -count- and have an answer, as with the states. Indeed, words would not have mea
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Re:Would you need a screw shaped cork for wine? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Someone is singular. They is plural. Only ignorant people use singular they.
Re:Would you need a screw shaped cork for wine? (Score:5, Informative)
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How about "it"? Too impersonal?
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Any idea exactly where? I have Shakespeare-loving english majors getting on my case constantly for using the singular "they". It'd be really fun to throw "The Bard" back in their face at them. (Plural this time. Sorry.)
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Try "circular reasoning". Besides, you do realize that "begging the question" is merely a translation of the latin phrase "petitio principii" ? Finally, you could simply say: "You are assuming what you are pretending to prove."
Really, this whole thing is ut
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Try "circular reasoning".
Similar but not quite the same.
Really, this whole thing is utterly ridiculous, and begs the question, in both meanings of the phrase, of just why the meaning "circular reasoning" should be the correct one; after all, if mere common usage is not sufficient to make that usage correct, then what is the correctness of that usage based on?
The same principles I've been citing the whole time--unambiguity and precision.
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No, I don't care if some website says the etymology of that phrase is in some fashion contrary to it's current modern day usage. The mere fact of the matter is that language evolves, and so did that phrase. People look like idiots for suggesting that the phrase was used incorrectly...
No, the phrase "begs the question" hasn't evolved to mean some other thing. It still means to avoid answering the question no matter how forcefully you insist that it means what you want it to mean. How ironic (and frankly, moronic) that you feel justified in calling people idiots because they know the English language better than you.
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You mean latin right?
That phrase is a latin translation, and before it was translated from latin it never meant anything in this language. How ironic (and frankly, moronic) that you didn't know that, but tried to call me out on it.
God, you're pedantic. Is there a logical point to your apparently nonsensical reference to Latin? Almost the entire English language is based on Latin - so what?
Trust me, anyone who would write "before it was translated from latin it never meant anything in this language" doesn't have the horsepower to argue the correct use of language.
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100% correct. Also, the phrase 'computer' has evolved to mean 'monitor'. The phrase 'hard drive' has evolved to mean 'tower'. And the phrase 'CPU' has evolved to mean whatever you happen to be pointing at when you say it.
Now, do you really mean to say that anything ignorant people say to each other is correct for no reason except that ignorant people use it that way? Are you willing to accept all the consequences that has for ou
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You could, of course, say "twice per month" or "once per two months" in the first place and thus avoid the confusion. Now, admittedly, these constructs are hideous abominations and should partyvanned, and perhaps ev
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Then follow the link to the article on linguistic prescription and description.
Personally, my skin crawls whenever someone uses "begging the question" in it's so-called modern sense, but I think that describing an argument as 'circular' is more aesthetically pleasing. So I'm inclined to let the masses beg their questions.
Star bucks (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Star bucks (Score:4, Funny)
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How is Starbucks still in business?
You see the success of Microsoft and you have to ask a question like that?
It's all a matter of marketing. Starbucks takes cheap beans, overroasts them so that nobody can tell the difference, and markets their coffee to those who don't know any better but like to think they do. Then they charge for extra
Prior art. (Score:5, Funny)
Nothing new here. (Score:2, Funny)
http://www.orientaltrading.com/application?origin=page.jsp&namespace=browse&event=link.itemDetails&categoryId=377320&BP=8109&sku=70%2F4498&cm_mmc=YHS-_-Party%20Supplies-_-Tableware-_-Disney%20Cars%20Crazy%20Straws [orientaltrading.com]
http://www.toyconnection.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TC&Product_Code=STRAW&qts=google&qtk=crazy%20straws [toyconnection.com]
http://www.jeffbots.com/r2d2cooler.html [jeffbots.com]
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Capri Sun (Score:3, Insightful)
Reminds me of that old (and false) joke about Americans spending a million dollars to invent a pen that can write in space, while the Russians used a pencil.
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Not so, gravity helps the flow of ink in a biro (ballpoint pen to Americans). Try writing upside down and see how long that works, or even just horizontally (ie, pen horizontal on a vertical surface) if you think it's the gravity pulling the ink away from the tip. The pressurization helps force the ink out in a Fisher.
Because it's pressurized, Fisher ink is thicker than regular ballp
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Chopsticks (Score:2)
If you notice the bag of tea is exactly like that - a pouch with a straw.
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The secret is to squish the bottom so that the the straw hole is facing vertically. Cover the end of the straw and jam it in-- don't worry about leaking or anything, it forms a remarkably airtight seal (after you drink it, try blowing the thing up with the straw. I blow as hard as I can and can't get any air to leak out around the straw)
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Re:Capri Sun (Score:4, Informative)
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Actually, I'd live. Not that big of a deal. Problem solved.
But in all seriousness, this "problem" is a total joke. They eat their futuristic food goo out of a tube, so astronauts can dr
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Not since the 1970s. Many ordinary foods work just fine in zero-G, so long as they don't produce lots of crumbs (no crackers!) or require too much preparation. It's pretty common to send up a few loaves of bread and a jar of peanut butter (along with other foods) on Shuttle flights, and things like meat spreads, etc. work just fine out of a can -- they'll stick to the can or utensil rather than float around. You can even "glue" the can to a table (wall,
The Russians just used a pencil. (Score:2)
Pencils in space. (Score:2)
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Gravity doesn't even factor into the equation, although getting the last few drops out could prove to be frustrating..
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Let me get this straight (Score:3, Funny)
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College students rejoice (Score:2, Funny)
How do you fill it? (Score:2, Interesting)
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Videos of Water in Space (Score:2, Interesting)
mod parent up, interesting (Score:2)
I KNEW IT! (Score:2)
Re:I KNEW IT! (Score:4, Funny)
(The urban legend goes that the production company behind BSG liked the series, but thought that it was too expensive for what it was, and instructed the director to "cut some corners." Not being too happy with this, the director subsequently told his props manager to cut the corners off of every square and rectangular object he could find in his inventory. Oddly enough, this added to the "futuristic" appearance of the props)
In other words ... (Score:3, Interesting)
Clever, clever!
(Of course, we have had a number of cases where we did extensive research, and when someone finally found a simple solution to a problem, everyone who saw it said "That's obvious." This happened with things like the zipper, barbed wire, and the paper clip, all of which took decades of experimenting before someone stumbled across the simple way to do it. Simple solutions to problems are often much more difficult to see than complex solution.)
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Now all I need is (Score:4, Funny)
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sippy cup (Score:2)
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You obviously have no kids. If you did, you'd know you're asking for the Holy Grail. :)
I'd be happy with a sippy cup that had enough resistance to pressure from inside that the cup full of milk we lose under the couch every other month didn't start blowing whey out the spout and making the living room smell like baby vomit.
why not a sponge? (Score:2)
Brilliantly original. I love it. (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm just stunned at someone coming up with a totally new way to do something simple (hold liquid) in a simple way (in a container of the right shape) based on a familiar principle (surface tension).
In a sense, the idea of using surface tension to hold fluids is not new--think of a sponge or a towel--but getting cup-like and pipe-like functionality is.
I've no doubt that if humans had evolved in zero gravity this would have been discovered back around the same time as clay pots and chipped flint arrowheads, but as it is they didn't.
It's nice to know there are still inventions to be invented that don't rely on a billion microchips and a million lines of code.
Why not .... (Score:2)
Like the ones they use for little kids' drinks, they can contain liquids and prevent spills ....
Crazy Straw 3: Electric Boogaloo (Score:2, Funny)
easier way (Score:2)
center? (Score:2)
Shouldn't that be centre. :)
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Center happens to be the usual choice here.
Good to see my university on here, though I took EE.
Spiral For Strength (Score:2, Interesting)
Is it just me... (Score:2)
Take a look at this cross-section [dannychoo.com] of one of the more complex models.
(warning deep linked image from a site which contains NSFW material)
Treelike networks? (Score:2)
This kind of a tree-like network could be three dimensional, like a rock or well a shower head you
a better more obvious solution? (Score:2)
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This goes back to the millions of dollars spent researching and developing an ink pen that would write in zero G. The Russians laughed all the way to the pencil sharpener.
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Re:Even better. (Score:5, Informative)
Bacteria love sponges. All that surface area means they'll hold water for a long time, and it's impossible to clean them properly.
Re:Even better. (Score:5, Informative)
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Obviously there's an upper limit, but if there were sufficient nutrients to support the original population, they'll still be there (some of them in the form of dead bacteria, perhaps) to support the new population.
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... the UF researchers soaked sponges and scrubbing pads in raw wastewater containing a witch's brew of fecal bacteria, viruses, protozoan parasites and bacterial spores, including Bacillus cereus spores.
Considering they soaked sponges into that soup and were able to kill 99% of the bacteria, I'd say microwaving sponges is pretty effective. Though your suggestion of fire or "lazers" would probably also be effective, this method seems more practical.
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Fail (Score:2)
Did you mean: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation?
Remind me, genius (Score:2)
How is that different from straws and containers with lots of surface area?
Meh, nevertheless, my wife still leaves the wet sponge laying in the sink. Absolutely disgusting. However, we've never gotten sick from it, it just smells bad.
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Also, wouldn't the helix cup be just as messy? I'm a little worried by how the liquid was bulging out in the first picture.
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The proposed thing in the article is nothing like a straw. Have a look at least at the pretty pictures in the fine article. It really seems quite novel.
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Works for water, but not so much for my Chicken and Noodle soup...
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where exactly is a "space tourist" supposed to go?
Well, there have already been space tourists, but right now the only destination is the ISS. However ..
1. it takes around 7 months to get to mars which is the closest planet-
2. what exactly are you supposed to see?
Earth. From space. I've heard it's quite a view.
3. cost- no one will be able to afford to go into space
Why ... there are people making $200M per year. And thin