Why Oreo Cream Remains on One Side After Twisting

Many people believe our ancestors were monosyllabic grunters. But according to a new study from the University of Western Australia, this might not be the case. The primary purpose of any language is to convey some meaning, right? So, researchers believe that non-verbal communication most likely came before oral language.

To test this, they asked a group of people to play a communication game similar to charades. They put people speaking different languages and from different cultures in one room and told them to communicate through gestures. No grunts allowed!

The results were astonishing! Scientists confirmed that many gestures apparently have universal meaning. This way, people understand each other more easily than with any type of vocalization. If I make the shape of a heart with my hands, you’ll get what I mean, right?

Speaking of languages, did you know that the last letter added to the English alphabet wasn’t Z? It was actually J. It’s also no coincidence that I and J are side by side — they started out as the same letter! J was just a prettier way of writing I. With time, J got its own phoneme and became a separate letter all on its own.

Bees are fascinating creatures. They are very important for people. For one thing, it’s their delicious honey. But they are the best pollinators, too! We need them to keep restoring our food supplies! Some people may be afraid of their stingers. But honeybees will only sting you if they feel threatened.

The worst part is that bees never survive after stinging you. These insects can’t pull their barbed stinger out of your skin. And this stinger is part of the bee’s digestive tract, nerves, and muscles. After losing all that, the tiny creature can’t really make it out alive.

The filling between Kit Kat wafers is made from other Kit Kats. When something goes wrong during the production, for example, a Kit Kat bar has too many bubbles or other imperfections, nothing goes to waste. Such sweets get melted into a paste. And then, these substandard Kit Kats are used to fill in other Kit Kat bars.

Oreology is a field of science that studies Oreos. Yes, the cookies. The flow and fracture of Oreos are the subject of several scientific experiments! Researchers are doing everything in their power to answer this question, “Why does all the cream remain only on one side of the Oreo?”

Grab an Oreo and break it apart the way you normally do it. See what I mean?! Rheologists are physicists who study complex fluids. After analyzing the Oreo filling, they classified it as a “flowable soft solid.” These are fluids that are soft when you don’t disturb them and flow when they’re under a large amount of stress.

No, that doesn’t mean Oreos are literally stressed. This means that the cream on the inside will behave according to the pressure you apply while opening a cookie. The trick that will help you distribute the cream is a simple twist. If you twist an Oreo slowly and steadily, this will reduce the stress and most likely let the cream stay on both sides of the cookie.

Try it out for yourself, and let me know if it works for you! Meanwhile, oreologists have developed a special machine to do the testing. Ever heard of an Oreometer? It was designed specifically to twist Oreos at an optimum speed and angle. Way to go, cookie science!

It’s a beautiful afternoon, and you are looking at the sky. Wait, what are those tiny dots traveling in squiggly lines? They are only visible for a short moment. You might even mistake them for mosquitoes. Those are your white blood cells! They’re moving inside the capillaries running through the front part of the retina in your eyes. The funny thing is, most people don’t notice the dots until someone asks them to pay attention.

The “Ring of Fire” is not only the name of a popular song. It’s also a horseshoe-shaped area in the Pacific Ocean. It’s about 25,000 miles long and contains around 450 volcanoes. It’s the most seismically active place on Earth. Over 75% of all active and sleeping volcanoes in the world are located in the Ring of Fire.

No wonder around 90% of all earthquakes happen in this area. Oh, and by the way, the deepest trench on the planet is also located there. The Mariana Trench is one of the most famous features of the Ring of Fire. Its deepest point, the Challenger Deep, lies 36,070 feet below sea level.

Funny fact: before color television appeared in the 1950s, 75% of people claimed they saw black-and-white dreams. But these days, the same study has found out that only 12% of people still dream in black and white. Scientists think they’ve found an explanation for this. It turns out that those who grew up watching black-and-white television more often have monochrome dreams.

Why so serious? In the 1800s, having a photograph of yourself was a big luxury. Smiling in pictures was considered childish and even impolite. (That and, well, a lack of proper dental hygiene.) Photographers told people posing for their pictures to say “prunes” instead of “cheese.” This word kept people’s mouths shut. That’s why all our ancestors look as if they’ve eaten something sour before posing for a photo.

When going somewhere by city bus, you don’t have to wear a seatbelt. You might have thought that this goes against every traffic rule you can imagine. But that’s not exactly the case. There are several reasons why buses have no seatbelts. In case of an emergency, passengers need to be able to get off as fast as possible.

If they have their seatbelts on, they’ll waste precious time unbuckling them. Secondly, a bus is a heavy vehicle. In case of a crash, it stops more slowly than a car. So, even though the passengers will feel the impact, they won’t get seriously hurt. That’s also the reason why people are allowed to remain standing on a moving bus.

Imagine you’re on a date and have accidentally (or not) ordered a garlic pizza. You check your pockets and — oh, no! You haven’t brought your breath mints with you! No worries. This little trick can help you get out of trouble.

All you need to do is order a cucumber salad. Or anything with celery. These fibrous vegetables can wash away odor-causing bacteria and help you get rid of bad breath. Try holding a slice of cucumber between your tongue and the roof of your mouth. It’ll be the same or even better than a breath mint.

Here’s a riddle for you: a pointy mustache, melting clocks, and the Chupa Chups logo. What do these things have in common? It turns out Salvador Dalí was the very person who designed the logo of Chupa-Chups! The surrealist artist also suggested that the logo should be placed on top of the lolly-pop, so people could see it at all times.

Lady Liberty, when it first arrived in New York, wasn’t green! It was the same color as a penny: copper, that is. It turned green over time due to the process known as oxidation. But it still looks amazing, right?

The difference between American and European chocolate DOES exist. “But why don’t they taste the same?” you may ask. The answer is simple — different regulations. European chocolate has to contain at least 14% of dry milk solids, while the minimum amount in the US is 12%. This means European chocolate is kinda creamier. It’s also more chocolaty since it contains more cocoa.

Experts had been experimenting with the potato chip shape until they finally got the ideal formula. That curvy shape we associate with chips has a scientific name. This shape helps prevent big problems! If chips were shaped in a different way, they would immediately break into pieces once put into a bag. But the curvy shape helps them remain in one piece. You might have noticed a similar approach in architecture when domes and arches strengthen the structure of a building.