Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Kitchen Science 102: More Exploding Liquids and an Update from my Science Advisor

In Kitchen Science 101, we saw what happens when you let a couple of demented young scientists play around with Mentos and Diet Coke:


I also mentioned that my Science Advisor had agreed to write a semi-irregular science column for this nearly frozen page.

News on both fronts: the same demented young scientists are still at it! But my Science Advisor is not going to become a semi-irregular columnist anytime soon.

He will continue to be available for consultation, however. So that's good. We've been talking about all kinds of things lately, including polonium-210 and the "Holocaust deniers" conference in Tehran. And I may have more on one or both topics sooner or later.

But in the meantime here's another Diet Coke and Mentos video, to be followed by a question or three.


Did you watch that video? It's hilarious, isn't it? If you haven't watched it yet, please take a few minutes and do so before you continue...

OK? Now for the questions:

[1] Do you suppose the Pakistani courts dismissed all the terror-related charges against Rashid Rauf because they could find no Mentos among his possessions?

[2] What happens when you mix Mentos with hydrogen peroxide?

[3] Can you buy Diet Coke on an airplane? If so, Maybe It Was Possible After All!