

The Physics of Spilled Coffee - sindhiparsani
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/05/the-physics-of-spilled-coffee.html

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patrickyeon
Realizing that positive feedback in the coffee/mug system led to the sloshing
and spilling, the advice I've always kept in mind:

"Walk without rythm, and you won't disturb the worm."

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planetguy
Feel free to do the experiment, but attempting to walk without rhythm would, I
imagine, lead to sudden jolts that would spill your coffee. Maybe if you were
a carefully trained fremen and/or Christopher Walken.

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patrickyeon
The idea is to make a small change in pace, or stutter a step, every few
steps. The big sloshing motions that end up spilling your coffee happen when
you've taken many steps that re-inforce the sloshing motion, and a mis-timed
step here and there counter that loop.

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lux
My friend was a waiter and told me the trick they used to keep from spilling
the glasses they carried out was to waver the tray a bit to the left and right
in a steady rhythm as they walked, which according to this probably disrupts
the natural oscillation of the liquids and creates a new, more stable pattern.

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deltaqueue
The results of this seem underwhelming.

Personally, oscillating the mug up and down in sync with my stride does a
pretty good job mitigating left-right waves, but executing it well takes
practice.

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planetguy
_The results of this seem underwhelming_

It should be subtitled: how to turn an afternoon's work into a paper in one of
the lesser Physical Review journals plus fifteen minutes of internet fame (at
current exchange rates equivalent to 300 nanoseconds of actual fame).

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ams6110
_the researchers' "take home" advice is to look at what you're doing—so long
as your mug isn't filled too high, a watched mug almost guarantees a clean
run_

This is the opposite of my experience, when I focus on the mug it seems harder
to control the sloshing than if I just look at where I'm going and don't
really pay attention to the mug.

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teuobk
Related: the physics of coffee stain rings
[http://news.discovery.com/tech/coffee-stain-science-
smartens...](http://news.discovery.com/tech/coffee-stain-science-smartens-
inks-110818.html)

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ars
As you walk don't hold the cup rigidly (making it move as you move) - let your
hand bounce around, decouple the movement of the cup from the motion of your
body.

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loverobots
like a boxer: roll with the punches and keep your hands relaxed :)

Hold it tight, keep your arm stiff...and get ready to clean

