The physics of bubble bath

Why does soapy water bubble up in baths and dishwashers, while regular water stays flat? It's all connected to the foam in root beer.

Everyone knows that, when the bubble solution runs out, there's a quick fix. Just put a little dish soap in the jar, add a little soap, de-slime the wand so it doesn't fall out of a kid's chubby fingers, and start all over again. Although regular water is drinkable, only soapy water makes bubbles. But why? What is it about soap that makes the water suds-up? In fact, what makes water-based liquids bubble up in general?

The origin of soapy water's bubbling ability is the same as the origin as soap's cleaning ability. It's a surfactant. A surfactant is something that lowers the surface tension and cohesion of water - the properties of water that make one water molecule stick to another water molecule. These allow water molecules to interact more strongly with other molecules like dirt and grime - lifting them away when regular water won't do the job.

Regular water can form bubbles, or course, but only when a lot of air (or some other gas) is mixed into it harshly. Even then, these bubbles tend to only be half-bubbles, floating on the surface of the water. Any attempt to plump them up further generally results in the bubble breaking. This is because of the high surface tension of the water. The layer of water molecules need to pull together enough to keep the bubble of air trapped inside them from pushing free. If they pull together too much, though, they rip the bubble apart. Soap lowers the surface tension of water enough to let it relax around a bubble.

Soap isn't the only material to use surfactants. Some commercial root beers do, to make the root beer foamy enough to have a 'head' like regular beer. Note: The surfactant that root beer manufacturers uses probably isn't soap. Probably.

Obama Is Sending Predator Drones to Libya

Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, just said that Obama has authorized the use of of Predator Drones in Libya against Gaddafi's forces. In fact, the first mission of the Predator Drones in Libya had taken place earlier this week.

They've already used drones for gathering intelligence in Libya, but sending in Drones armed with Hellfire missiles would mark a significant growth in USA's contribution to the now NATO led effort in Libya. These unmanned predator drones pack a punch but more importantly mean that by sending these drones, USA is not sending its troops there. Hopefully, that won't change.

FDA Gives Robots Permission to Sew Hair On Your Scalp

Balding sucks. But will you trust the machines to repair your scalp? The FDA does, which is why they approved this piece of robotery to perform hair transplants. It's name is ARTAS, and it lives in your dermatologist's office.

If you have straight hair that's brown or black and you want more if it, you can sit in ARTAS' lap, at which point it will massage your scalp (along with a few "dermal punches" thrown in for good measure). A year later, you'll have a scalp full of healthy hair, or so the story goes. But if we can't trust a robot to throw a damn baseball, should we trust them with our precious hair?

Mumbai surgeons perform knee surgery replacements using an iPod touch

The newest winner in the "there's an app for that" sweepstakes has to go to the DASH app and its supporting system. It's putting the iPod touch at the heart of a system that allows surgeons to make it easier to do hip and knee replacement surgery. This medical system, developed by Smith & Nephew along with Brainlab, has allowed doctors at the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai to effectively perform three knee replacement surgeries.

The system comes in a rolling box with a precision camera and everything needed to take exact measurements and landmark registrations critical to such an operation. The iPod touch is slipped into a case and the software does the measuring and computing. Without this assistance, highly trained surgeons would have to "eyeball" measurements that the DASH does for them. This is said to reduce the learning curve and, at least in India, lessens the certification process for surgeons performing replacement procedures. Operating times are also reduced. This system is currently awaiting FDA approval in the US.

You can download the free DASH iOS app, which provides movies covering specific functions and operations of the DASH system, or watch the remarkable video on the next page that demonstrates the entire process.

French Skiers Parachute off Cliff to Avoid Avalanche

TWO BIG CAVEATS HERE: This video is an advertisement for GoPro. It also might be a fake viral video, because 99.99% of everything on the internet is a fake viral video. With that in mind, this is still awesome. AVALANCHE!

This Stripper Broke Into Google Headquarters

Strippers are people too! And just like people, some of them are batshit crazy. Take Vera Svechina

, a stripper who recently followed a blind Google employee into Google headquarters to leave a Russian book and "non-threatening" note for co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. A little weird, no? Turns out, Svechina has a bizarre history with Silicon Valley.

The Business Insider reported on how she allegedly stalked Mark Pincus, CEO of Zynga, so much and threatened his family that he had to file a restraining order. Her voicemails, emails and blog posts were filled with borderline insane behavior, such as:

Svechina allegedly says many bizarre things, including that Zynga was her Russian family's idea, that Google's cofounders killed her father, that Pincus's children are "ugly babies" and that "I wish them all the worst." She also goes after Steve Jobs.

Even nuttier? Back in May 2010, she went to the Mountain View Police Deparment to report Google of a crime. The crime? That Google was sending messages to her brain, ordering her to kill herself. Come on, Google is at least two to twenty years away from developing that sort of technology.

Bad jokes aside, hopefully Vera Svechina can find the professional help that she seems to need.

Kuch Bhi!