Why does tapping a soda can work

Ref: arxiv. A Randomised Controlled Trial. Fed up with apps, people looking for romance are finding inspiration on Twitter, TikTok—and even email newsletters. From Jibo to Aibo, humans have a long track record of falling for their robots. Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more. Thank you for submitting your email! It looks like something went wrong.

Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service technologyreview. Skip to Content. Deep Dive. Humans and technology. By Tanya Basu archive page. Three new books lay bare the weirdness of how our brains process the world around us. By Matthew Hutson archive page. A bit of fizz came up, but nothing out of the ordinary. My third experiment was an all out shake-up. I took two soda cans, gave them each a good five-second shake, then stepped into my shower.

I opened the first can no tapping , and soda flowed out all over my hand. I tapped the second can and out came more soda. I did it again, this time giving five distinct taps to the top of the soda can, in the spot where the ring sits on the mouthpiece. Pop—and nothing. No soda, no spills, no explosions. I repeated it again. Five seconds of shaking. Well, that depends: How patient are you feeling? Just as time heals all wounds, it also bursts all bubbles, from the Mississippi bubble to the housing bubble to the bubbles in your soda can.

Heck, given enough time, entropy will pop every bubble in the universe. The problem is, we humans are a controlling, impatient lot. The wisest course of action is to let the can sit for a while so the gas has time to redissolve. But if you're too thirsty to wait, tapping gently on the can and then slowly popping the top so the drop in pressure is less sudden will certainly decrease your chances of getting drenched.

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