Sugar, sugar: Why can sugar be used as a preservative, as it is in jam? This would appear to imply some kind of biocidal property, which is confusing as sugar (sucrose) is a disaccharide of fructose and glucose, which yields metabolic energy when extracted from foodstuffs. This suggests that it should be 鈥渕icroorganism-friendly鈥�. Could sugar be used as an antibacterial agent in the preparation of sterile environments?
Cream on: One of the recommended ways of drinking the liqueur Tia Maria is to sip it through a thin layer of cream. If the cream is poured onto the surface of the drink, to a depth of about 2 millimetres, and left to stand for about two minutes, the surface begins to break up into a number of toroidal cells. These cells develop a rapid circulation pattern which continues even if some of the Tia Maria is sipped through the cream. How and why do these cells develop and what is the energy source?
Cool it: Microwave ovens allow us to heat food and other matter quickly. Is it possible to cool food equally quickly and, if so, why isn鈥檛 there a machine which does so?
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