The DU Lounge
Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsThe Effect of Mixing Alcohol and Caffeine in the Presence of Carbon Dioxide.
I don't generally drink hard liquor, and limit myself to wine and beer, and then in moderation, but I do have a caffeine "problem." However, recently, because everybody said I should, I watched "The Big Lebowski," and although I didn't actually get it until I rewatched "The Big Sleep," at the advice of a correspondent I watched while consuming a "White Russian," a concoction of heavy cream, vodka and Kahlua, a coffee liqueur.
I don't actually have a sense of humor, but if I did, with this in mind, mixtures of caffeine and ethanol that might have been carbonated (but wasn't), I might find this paper, across which I stumbled funny in a way: The Polar Cosolvent Effect on Caffeine Solvation in Supercritical CO2Ethanol Mixtures: A Molecular Modeling Approach (Ioannis Skarmoutsos, Ioannis D. Petsalakis, and Jannis Samios Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 2021 60 (31), 11834-11847.)
It begins with a little lecture on the possible health consequences dangerous drug (in this case not alcohol) to which I'm addicted, although the text notes I'm not alone:
The low solubility of polar substances in nonpolar SCFs, such as SC CO2, is an obstacle to the development of viable extraction operations using supercritical CO2. Although SC CO2 is quite efficient for the selective extraction of caffeine,(16) the solubility of caffeine in this solvent is lower than that in liquid organic solvents.(11,17?19) Due to this, the use of a large amount of CO2 during the extraction process is required, causing a substantial increase in operating costs...
The solution?
Just add alcohol...
If I had enough of a sense of humor to find this amusing - I don't - it would be funny in a dorky kind of way, which would not be a problem for me, because some people who have been supercritical of me have noted, with some element of truth, that I am a dork.
Cool paper though...
There's a lot of sophisticated molecular modeling in this paper which concludes as follows:
This means that if you ever find yourself watching "The Big Lebowski" while consuming a White Russian and still plan on sleeping that evening, stick the thing in a can of pressurized carbon dioxide and heat it gently.
Another alternative would be not to watch "The Big Lebowski," and/or not have a White Russian while doing so.
On the serious side, any technology that minimizes the use of dichloromethane and hexane, which simultaneously sequestering carbon dioxide for use is a good thing.
I absolutely love learning about supercritical carbon dioxide in particular, and supercritical fluids in general.
As for "The Big Lebowski" it was mildly amusing and might have been funny even, at least if I had a sense of humor, regrettably though, I don't.
eppur_se_muova
(36,261 posts)Madison Ave. felt "supercritical carbon dioxide" didn't have much consumer appeal, obviously. Maybe they'll refer to the improved process as "sparkling liqueur".
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)Based on what I know of you, I'd have fallen on the floor if you said you loved it.
NNadir
(33,515 posts)...that among the Lebowski's I know, you're the best, better than the movie, at least in my opinion, but again, I don't have a sense of humor.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)It's a 'niche' kinda movie, you have to not only have a sense of humor in general, but even one of a specific sort.
Jim G.
(14,811 posts)And I've seen 'The Big Lebowski' a couple times & I didn't think it was all that either.
Hugh_Lebowski
(33,643 posts)It's also best to watch it the first time really baked
I think how much one thinks Pulp Fiction is funny would track closely to thinking Lebowski is funny, cause I think the humor is in similar vein.
Napoleon Dynamite is another movie like this ... it's very much loved and hated in equal measure ... if it's 'your kind of humor' it's hilarious. Others watch it, never laugh, and think it's the worst movie of all time.
Earth-shine
(4,001 posts)I thought The Big Lebowski was great from beginning to end.