Often times, we hear people refer to mixology as a science, but the Japanese have brought that claim to a new level with their testing hot alcoholic beverages for superconductivity.
According to an article the Institute Of Physics website, Japanese researchers have been immersing iron-based compounds in hot alcoholic beverages such as red wine, sake and shochu to induce superconductivity. Red wine was shown to induce the best superconducting properties; however beverages with the same alcohol concentration showed a significant difference. This suggests that it may not be the alcohol contributing to the creation of superconductivity but instead another component present in the beverages.
Professor Yoshihiko Takano, Nano Frontier Materials Group at the National Institute for Materials Science, Japan, said, “The iron compound becomes superconductive by air exposure but the sample needs to be exposed to air for a few months to show superconductivity. This is a very, very long time.
“However, the sample immersed in the red wine becomes superconductive only in one day, much faster than air-exposure.”
Chip, one of the PBSA staffers in Cincinnati brought this article to our attention last week when it was “Colder than a ________” (You can fill in the blank) and we saw him out in the parking lot trying to jump-start his car with an Irish Coffee by pouring it in the cells of his battery. Needless to say, the experiment did not go so well and Chip was last heard muttering something about “Junk Science”!
We at PBSA admire the efforts of the Japanese scientists in their effort to learn a new skill, but we remind scientists everywhere that while Mixology can be a science in the right hands, a scientist can’t make a great cocktail unless he goes to bartending school!
