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popsci_2013 02074.txt

#Why Your Beer Gets So Warm On Humid Days Today in Very Important Science: beer koozies are even more crucial than you think. When you pull a beer out of the fridge the condensation that builds up on the outside of the can releases heat warming your drink twice as much in humid weather compared with dry weather researchers found recently. Beer koozies you see are priceless protectors of the cold. Researcher Dale Durran of the University of Washington arrived at this conclusion while trying to teach concepts like evaporative cooling and heat caused by condensation; he figured a cool drink on a sultry day served as a good example. He calculated how much warmth comes from water droplets on the outside of a can. Water just four-thousandths of an inch thick could warm the can's contents quickly he found. In New orleans for instance a can on a summer day would warm up by 6 degrees in 5 minutes. Probably the most important thing a beer koozie does is not simply insulate the can but keep condensation from forming on the outside of it he says. Durran a theorist and atmospheric scientist Dargan Frierson double-checked the phenomenon on a toilet tank using a space heater and the shower to generate bathroom humidity. Then they realized they needed a larger experiment. Here's what they did: The cap prevents air from moving through the opening in the can. The can was cooled first down in a bucket of ice water then dried off to remove excess moisture. Then it was weighed. After five minutes undergrads weighed the can to measure condensation. This is all fun and games but it actually has an important bearing on climate change research. Warm air can hold more moisture which is why it gets so absurdly sticky in places like St louis and New orleans during summer. So warmer atmospheres could hold more moisture driving more powerful thunderstorms--they're driven by heat released from condensation in warm summer air. The experiment and some background material explaining it is published in this month's issue of Physics Today. To many cow forts in the world makes for a sweaty beer. Please eat more veggies less meat!!!Thank you! Although this concept does apply...our atmosphere is just a bit more dynamic than a beer can and a koozie. While explosions drive our car's wheels...you can hardly say'that's all there is to it'.'One more way of saying it: Our atmosphere has many parts that both heat and cool it. Condensation is one part of that yes. Bottom line: Your'climate change'analogy fails due to insufficient dynamics. But thanks for playing. Today's magic is tomorrow's technology. GGENUS the author wasn't trying to make a'global'climate statement. Notice that he chose St louis and New orleans for his points of comparison. I live in desert AZ with an average summertime humidity around 8%.My root beer WILL stay cooler longer without using a'beer cozy'.'All I have to do is keep the can out of direct sunlight.@@12 i hate it when people claim that eating veggies will stop cattle farming and lead to less green house gass production1. farm subsidies means that the cattle will live longer before being slaughtered for a cull or beef production. 2. cattle farming will move to areas like colby beef production also again increasing the length of the cattle life span and increase in farts also the beer and speciual diets fed to the cattle will increase the farts. 3. the increase in vegetables will decrease the natural arid landscapes kept by cattle farmers that adds to the clean air in favour for industrial farming that ruins natural habitat and only produces plants that do little to clean the air or moderate the microclimate...if you're so worried about the green house gases go cork a volcano the fountains in las vegas (water vapor is the#1 green house gas) and become an advocate for electric vehichles..the same shmucks who argue cow frts are making the world marm up also argue the carbon shifting by electric vehicles..but forget that once a vehichle is eletric the home owener can go solar..it's impossible to make a gas/diesel car solar powered...also the utility companies can and are shifting the power production to greener & cleaner solution..a gas powered car bought today will only get worse milage as it ages..the electricity grid will only get BETTER. electric batteries can and are recycled from e-cars and may and are replaced with better batteries after 10yrs the toxins inside are recovered instead of being dumped into the air out the exhaust pipe...so shut up about the cow farts and preach electric cars instead...if you must open your mouth at all after this...redman. ca Your last request is denied lol. Isn't science fun n

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