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Researchers find out how to break spaghetti in just two pieces

Unless you own an enormous pot (or you’re a true Italian), chances are you snap your spaghetti in two before tossing it into the boiling water. But unless you’re superhuman, when you break that pasta in half you’ve probably dealt with those tiny pieces of dried pasta breaking off and whizzing through the air. At some point you may have wondered why spaghetti doesn’t just simply snap in half, or if there is a better way to do so. https://youtu.be/QwCJDEt8GfE As it turns out, in 2006, a pair of scientists took to solving this kitchen dilemma. Essentially, what happens is that the dry noodle bends before it breaks. This extra power means that when it finally breaks, it does so with more power and the vibrations it sends back through the remaining pieces cause them to bend and break as well. The discovery won the scientists an Ig Nobel, but…

Artificial sweeteners won’t help you lose weight, study finds

Listen up Diet Coke drinkers. Artificial sweeteners have given artificial hope to those looking for weight loss. For years, brands like Sweet ‘N Low and Splenda have claimed to be better for consumers than their real sugar crystal counterpart. It was said, the synthetic substitutes would give you the sweet-tasting foods and beverages you crave, without the extra calories, weight gain, or other negative health issues. But over time, research has reveled that it’s not so simple. While we’ve been questioning the validity of sugar substitutes for some time now, a new scientific review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on Monday, shows that not only is there no solid evidence supporting the weight-managing health claims of sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose, but those who regularly consume these alternatives are more likely to develop health problems in the future. For the 25 percent of children and 41 percent of adults who consume these sweeteners at…

Global vanilla shortage will see pastry, ice cream prices soar

The world-wide vanilla shortage is coming to an ice cream cone near you. Pastry chefs and ice cream makers alike are looking to cut back overall consumption due to the rising cost of fair-trade vanilla, meaning that the recipes of our favorite summer sweets could be effected. And we have no one but ourselves to blame. The high demand from consumers, in recent years, switching to all-natural foods has caused the shortage. The problem was then compounded by major corporations like Nestle and Hershey’s that, in response to consumer demand, declared they were then switching from cheaper, chemically created synthetic versions of vanilla to all-natural varieties, too — meaning that they want vanilla from orchid seeds, and not factories. Factories can crank out the synthetic stuff around the clock, but there just aren’t enough vanilla pods in the world to meet demand. A few years ago, a 1-gallon bottle of organic, fair-trade vanilla would cost about $64 — today,…