XKCD - hand dryers (2743)

Source - XKCD.com/2743/

See, it's funny because I've never thought about that being the reason hand dryers don't seem to put out hot air as quickly as it seems like they should.

It's the same idea as trying to brown a steak. If the outside of the steak is wet, the outside can't brown because the energy is going to evaporate the water which has to happen until all the water is gone, keeping the surface of the meat no hotter than 100 C. Once that water is gone, however, the steak's surface can get hotter and can brown.

Once your hands are dry, they can feel the warmth.

Until then, though, you just get evaporative cooling.

What's That Smell - Flavor Chemistry | Science Around Cincy

Chris Anderson, the host of these videos and originator of the Science Around Cincy YouTube channel used to teach at Princeton High School, where I work.

Chris was with us for a few years and eventually moved along. Chris had said that the time that he wasn't going to be content staying in the classroom, something I never assumed meant becoming a YouTube 'personality', but I hope he's enjoying his time on YouTube. I'm guessing this means he's not in the classroom anymore, but I don't know that for certain. (I did look up his license on the ODE site, and he is at least still licensed to teach 7-12 science until 2026 at the moment.)

Today Chris plays around with a food scientist to smell different organic chemicals which are used to enhance artificially flavored products.

Then he comes back and tastes some of those artificially-flavored products without the smells or sights.  

See how skillfully the shrimp uses the surface tension of the water to return to the water.

I'm not a fan of the big push by YouTube toward shorts because I can't seem to find a way to embed those shorts.

The above video is clearly a copy of a copy of a copy because the video is getting a bit degraded by this point.

Sadly, though, the video through which I originally found this cute little drama is from a subreddit with a NSFW title to which I'm not going to link.

I'll move on...

Cute video today of two tiny shrimp caught away from their pond in a bubble of water on the surface of a hydrophobic leaf. I'm guessing the survival rate of such wildlife isn't all that high, but these two shrimp make it thanks to the surface tension and strong intermolecular forces of water - as well as the hydrophobic nature of the leaf.

Good on ya, boys.