Month: June 2022

Enlarge (credit: Andy Roberts/Getty Images)

The pop of a champagne cork turns out to have something in common with a rocket launcher, according to a recent paper published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Scientists from France and India used computer simulations to reveal what happens in the microseconds after uncorking a bottle of champagne in full detail. They discovered that in the first millisecond after the cork pops, the ejected gas forms different types of shockwaves—even reaching supersonic speeds—before the bubbly settles down and is ready to imbibe.

"Our paper unravels the unexpected and beautiful flow patterns that are hidden right under our nose each time a bottle of bubbly is uncorked," said co-author Gérard Liger-Belair of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. "Who could have imagined the complex and aesthetic phenomena hidden behind such a common situation experienced by any one of us?"

Liger-Belair could imagine it, for one. He has been studying the physics of champagne for years and is the author of Uncorked: The Science of Champagne. He has gleaned numerous insights into the underlying physics by subjecting champagne to laser tomography, infrared imaging, high-speed video imaging, and mathematical modeling, among other methods. 

Enlarge (credit: Andy Roberts/Getty Images)

The pop of a champagne cork turns out to have something in common with a rocket launcher, according to a recent paper published in the journal Physics of Fluids. Scientists from France and India used computer simulations to reveal what happens in the microseconds after uncorking a bottle of champagne in full detail. They discovered that in the first millisecond after the cork pops, the ejected gas forms different types of shockwaves—even reaching supersonic speeds—before the bubbly settles down and is ready to imbibe.

"Our paper unravels the unexpected and beautiful flow patterns that are hidden right under our nose each time a bottle of bubbly is uncorked," said co-author Gérard Liger-Belair of the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. "Who could have imagined the complex and aesthetic phenomena hidden behind such a common situation experienced by any one of us?"

Liger-Belair could imagine it, for one. He has been studying the physics of champagne for years and is the author of Uncorked: The Science of Champagne. He has gleaned numerous insights into the underlying physics by subjecting champagne to laser tomography, infrared imaging, high-speed video imaging, and mathematical modeling, among other methods. 

Enlarge / Empty vials of the Novavax Inc. Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine arranged at the Tegel Vaccine Center in Berlin, Germany, on Monday, March 7, 2022. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg )

A committee of independent, expert advisors for the Food and Drug Administration voted overwhelmingly to authorize the two-dose Novavax COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, with 21 of 22 committee members voting in favor of the vaccine and one member abstaining.

The endorsement is only for a two-dose primary series in adults, not for boosters. The FDA is not obligated to follow the advice of its committee—the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC)—but the agency typically heeds its advice. If the FDA authorizes the vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will need to sign off on use before it becomes available.

The decision regarding the Novavax vaccine, which is already authorized in dozens of other countries, is not a straightforward one in the US. The vaccine has some advantages over currently approved vaccines but has several strikes against it.