Scientists Invent Device For Optimally Separating Oreos (gizmodo.com) 47
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: A team of mechanical engineers at MIT recently developed an "Oreometer" to test the optimal way of separating the two halves of an Oreo cookie, so that the wafers and the creme filling inside remained unbroken. It was an exercise in rheology, or the study of how matter flows. (They called this particular experiment "Oreology.") The fluid in this case was the creme filling, a soft solid that the team classified as "mushy," meaning it's not very brittle (unlike a cracker) and is relatively soft (like bread). The team built their Oreometer to test how different types of Oreos separate, paying particular attention to the creme distribution across the two wafers once the cookie split. Their research is published today in Physics of Fluids.
"Our favorite twist was rotating while pulling Oreos apart from one side, as a kind of peel-and-twist, which was the most reliable for getting a very clean break," said Crystal Owens, a mechanical engineer at MIT and the lead author of the new paper, in an email to Gizmodo. "Peeling is intuitively well-known to cause adhesive failure, like when you want to remove a sticker from a surface without tearing the sticker itself." [...] The researchers found that the creme would often stay on one side of the wafers ("Wafer 1") rather than the other, which they believe is a result of how the Oreos are manufactured. They tested regular Oreos as well as the Double and Mega Stuf varieties, which have more creme filling, and didn't report any apparent correlation between the amount of creme and how cleanly the cookie separated. The team made the Oreometer design open source, so anyone can build their own device and collect data on Oreo separation and shear. Fry would be proud.
"Our favorite twist was rotating while pulling Oreos apart from one side, as a kind of peel-and-twist, which was the most reliable for getting a very clean break," said Crystal Owens, a mechanical engineer at MIT and the lead author of the new paper, in an email to Gizmodo. "Peeling is intuitively well-known to cause adhesive failure, like when you want to remove a sticker from a surface without tearing the sticker itself." [...] The researchers found that the creme would often stay on one side of the wafers ("Wafer 1") rather than the other, which they believe is a result of how the Oreos are manufactured. They tested regular Oreos as well as the Double and Mega Stuf varieties, which have more creme filling, and didn't report any apparent correlation between the amount of creme and how cleanly the cookie separated. The team made the Oreometer design open source, so anyone can build their own device and collect data on Oreo separation and shear. Fry would be proud.
About time (Score:4, Insightful)
It's about time for some good news around here.
Left overs? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
My daughter figured out the same "peel-and-twist" method when she was a year old.
She would then lick off the filling and throw the wafers under the table.
When we switched to the golden vanilla Oreos, she ate the whole cookie.
Re: (Score:1)
Darn mod... Undue...
I agree with the vanilla vs the chocolate.
Our little one used to do the same with the McD burgers. Just on the floor of the car.
On a side note: dried burger buns make good hockey pucks.
Re: (Score:1)
excellent (Score:2)
Now we're talkin'. Real science with real application.
WTF? This is news now? (Score:1)
Re: WTF? This is news now? (Score:3)
It's a study of materials science really, and it turns out that Oreos share a common trait with a lot of other important constructions: two surfaces are held together with an adhesive of some type.
It may seem banal to you, but we glue a lot of things together (even aircraft!!!). So any science which might glean some extra insight into adhesives is interesting.
Admittedly, this looks more like an undergrad project in mechanical engineering, but all scientists need to start somewhere.
Re: (Score:2)
> I wish I could do shit work and get credit for it.
Sorry you didn't get paid for your shit work, Ross.
Just messing with you, man. :)
LOL indeed (Score:2)
You made me actually chuckle out loud. :)
Re: (Score:1)
I wish I could do shit work and get credit for it.
Become a plumber, or get a job in a wastewater treatment facility.
Re: (Score:2)
How is this "science" when every Oreo that's put together is different from another?
Different, or different in some meaningful and significant way? If they're produced by machines with tight tolerances in a temperature and humidity controlled environment, with extremely closely controlled ingredients, which is what I would expect, why would they differ at any scale that matters? And if there were such differences, wouldn't they show up in the results? It's not as though they just used a single cookie.
The scientist picture was released. (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
They released the photo of the scientist who did all the experiments. [cloudfront.net]
It's always sad to see someone claim credit for work done by someone else. Not since Leibniz and Newton have we seen such a controversy. The real scientist who did the research [medium.com] has been working on the problem for decades, and is regarded with near universality as the expert in the field.
20 years from now the same researchers (Score:1)
will be computing optimum diets.
Yes it (Score:1)
...is
Re: 20 years from now the same researchers (Score:2)
All of the hucksters beat them too it.
Whatever happened to "Atkins", the one that a woman was in the news for because she destroyed her husband's belongings because he refused to follow what Atkins was peddling? Don't hear much about that clown anymore.
I'll never find out! (Score:3)
Re: (Score:1)
It actually has been studied quite a number of times but the results are all over the place. Anywhere from 100 to 3000 licks.
I suppose the problem is that a "lick" is impossible to standardize in any reasonable way due to the wide variation in human physiology.
It's like trying to answer how many licks it takes to cause an orgasm.
Re: (Score:3)
It's like trying to answer how many licks it takes to cause an orgasm.
I can verify this is also not 3.
I came here to brag. . . (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
I figured that trick out as a kid, too. A tiny bit of imagination and willingness to experiment will go a long way, and the price for failure was low (broken-but-still-tasty cookies.)
Re: (Score:2)
I've been separating Oreos cleanly since I was a child using the twist and slide method. The trick is a small twist of less than 1 degree at the same time you push the cookie laterally.
Less than 1 degree? You were a far more dexterous child than me.
Sweet research (Score:4, Insightful)
Nomination for the next round of IgNobel Prizes already?
Re: (Score:2)
My first thought!
they are sending them to Ukraine (Score:1)
to help the war effort.
Does it destroy them too? (Score:2)
god those things taste like dirt.
Re: Does it destroy them too? (Score:2)
Like other snacks of this type, it's loaded with a laundry list of artificial ingredients that may or may not make you grow a third arm.
Not like dirt but... (Score:2)
...definitely too sweet, too hard and too expensive compared to local alternatives.
It's like they are designed to ruin your teeth, thus those unfortunate enough to have to be exposed to them are forced to develop alternative methods of eating the goddamn cookie and/or filling.
As shown in the study above.
OK, but now what? (Score:1)
This is an arms race (Score:2)
Engineers at Oreo are probably working on a way to make Oreo stick better now, to counter that Oreo-separating threat.
Re: (Score:2)
What we all were waiting for (Score:2)
Where can I get one? (Score:1)
Leave them alone! (Score:1)
Equal portions? (Score:1)
Teddy KGB could use one of these (Score:2)
No more tells