Beer bubbles defy the laws of physics

Beer drafts scientists

The physics of bubbles heads agenda

By KEVIN CONNOR - TORONTO SUN



If you think the bubbles in your St. Patrick's Day Guinness are sinking it doesn't necessarily mean you've had too much to drink, a new university study shows. Two chemistry professors, one from from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland, and the other from Stanford University, in California, have completed experiments that prove the bubbles defy the laws of physics and that may put to rest the minds of drinkers who might think they were seeing things.

"It's simple. It's based on the idea that what goes up must come down. In this case, the bubbles go up more easily in the centre of the glass than on the sides because of the drag from the walls," said Dick Zare, professor of natural science at Stanford.

"As they go up, they raise the beer and the beer has to spill back and it does. It runs down the sides of the glass carrying bubbles with it downward. After a while it stops, but it's really quite dramatic."

It's amazing how silly some university research is, said Chris Morris, who was having a pint at Finn MacCool's Irish Pub yesterday afternoon.

"Where can I get a grant to study this," Morris said.

"As long as it tastes good and the next one is on the way, who cares."

The way the bubbles cascade downward is quite beautiful to watch, said MacCool's bartender Justin Ward. "It's interesting and people do comment on it," Ward said.

University officials say the experiments took place in pubs and cost only the beer.