Weird Science Weekly: Sicilian Space Program launches pastry into the stratosphere

In this week's installment of Weird Science Weekly, we're looking at some of the strangest of the recent science stories including sending a cannolo siciliano into near-space, a supercomputer that runs a food truck and the weird physics behind a chain fountain...

The Sicilian Space Program sends a cannolo siciliano into the stratosphere

In an effort to bring a smile to the face of their fellow Sicilians, three amateur space scientists launched a replica pastry, specifically a creme-filled delight known as a cannolo siciliano, high up into the air on a helium balloon. They called themselves the Sicilian Space Program.

"Sicily has always been a place of negative connotations, mafia and unemployment. We wanted to lift up Sicily in our own way," Fabio Leone, one of the Italian trio behind the project, told Reuters.

This is why science is so awesome. Anyone can do it with the right know-how and a bit of effort, and although it can be about the most serious subjects in the universe, it can also be about sending clay pastries, or LEGO minifigures, or anything else you can think of up to the stratosphere and beyond just because you can. How cool is that?

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This IBM supercomputer works in a food truck

It's not a fry cook on Venus, but IBM's artificially-intelligent Watson supercomputer — the one that competed on Jeopardy back in 2011 — is doing fairly well for itself these days. It's involved in a project called 'cognitive cooking' as it works with chefs from the Institute for Culinary Education, coming up with new recipes at the speed of 80 Teraflops.

Computers that can display human-like creativity bring to mind when the machines will eventually rise up against us, but as long as we treat them right so that they use their creativity to benefit us, this sounds like a great idea.

Who's hungry?

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The incredible physics behind a chain fountain

Have you ever watched a 'chain fountain' empty itself out of a container with only the slightest of tugs to get it started? It's pretty freaky. Check it out in this YouTube video from BBC science presenter Steve Mould:

It's not some kind of weird magic trick though. It's just physics at work. Here's Mould's explanation about how it works:

Now, he hasn't got it quite right about why the loop climbs so high above the beaker. Some physicists from the University of Cambridge, UK figured out how it really happens, though. In their research paper published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, they say that it's due to the pot giving the chain a 'kick' as it flows out. You don't have to read through the paper for the explanation, though. They detail the whole thing in their own YouTube video (click here).

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Keep your eyes on the wonders of science, and if you spot anything particularly strange you'd like me to check out for next week, comment below, email me from the link in the banner above, or drop me a line on Twitter!

(Image courtesy: Sicilian Space Program)

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