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MORE When you study physics, you're bound to brush up against some of the universe's larger mysteries. What came before the Big Bang? What lies inside a black hole? Is it possible to break a stick of dry spaghetti into exactly two pieces?
finally, a new study published Monday (Aug. 13) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides some closure. With the help of some mathematical models and a spaghetti-bending robot, researchers at MIT have found that, yes, it is possible to break a piece of uncooked spaghetti into just two pieces, but there's a twist … literally. To prevent bent spaghetti from splintering into a half dozen pieces, the researchers wrote, one end of the pasta first has to be twisted nearly 360 degrees.
So, why is the twist so important? According to the new study, the twist"enables the rod to store its energy in more than one mode." Consider that, when an untwisted rod first fractures, each half catapults backward in a burst of kinetic energy. A 2005 study found that this snap-back unleashes a wave of energy so powerful that it causes other stressed sections of the noodle to snap off as well. (That study won a 2006 Ig Nobel Prize, an annual parody award given to "improbable research.") This behaviour is not exclusive to noodles, mind you, but is visible in many thin, rod-like structures — including Olympic vaulting poles. In a twisted noodle, however, much of that snap-back wave is transferred into a "twist wave" propagated through the noodle's uncoiling, the MIT researchers wrote. The force of the snap-back is therefore weakened, and less likely to result in any more fractures occurring. "Once [the noodle] breaks, you still have a snap-back because the rod wants to be straight," Dunkel said. "But it also doesn’t want to be twisted.
Your thoughts on this are ?
Or you could just cook it and cut it in half with a fork.
Amazing what they spend time and $ on.
For one thing you aren't supposed to break spaghetti in half any Italian knows that...
but, I break spaghetti in half all the time for my grand kids and NEVER had it shatter into pieces it breaks right in half every time.
but its okay I am in my own little world and I like it here.
Next up - Can you turn a hoe into a housewife?
originally posted by: Chance321
a reply to: blackcrowe
I don't know how many nights this very thought has kept me awake. Now, maybe I can get some sleep.
But I do have an idea they can work on: Why is it when a windshield wiper goes bad, why is it always on the drivers side?
originally posted by: starlitestarbrite
a reply to: blackcrowe
For one thing you aren't supposed to break spaghetti in half any Italian knows that... but, I break spaghetti in half all the time for my grand kids and NEVER had it shatter into pieces it breaks right in half every time. I haven't a clue what the heck they are talking about but its okay I am in my own little world and I like it here.
originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: blackcrowe
...
Next up - Can you turn a hoe into a housewife?