What do ketchup, yogurt, and quicksand all have in common?

They're non-Newtonian fluids, or Ublec.

Non-Nutonian fluid really is a fascinating material that can adapt and dramatically change

its behavior all by itself depending on how it is forced to flow.

It's Wednesday, December 20th, but just like every day, today is Science Friday.

I'm sci-fi producer Kathleen Davis. We're used to a certain level of consistency in life.

If I reach for the orange juice day after day, I assume it's going to be the same liquidy goodness each time.

There's a class of materials that don't operate this way.

They may fool you into thinking they're a liquid, but with a little pressure,

they move into solid territory. We'll talk about the science of Ublec in just a bit, but first how

cocoa bean husks could get a new life as a renewable resource. On cocoa farms around the world,

husks are stripped off cocoa beans, leaving 20 million tons of plant

waste to biodegrade. These husks are a source of lignin, the substance that gives plants their

rigidity. A new study published in ACS, sustainable chemistry and engineering, says that lignin from the leftover cocoa bean husks

could be an alternative for lots of different fossil fuel-based products like plastics and

flame retardants. Joining me to talk about this is my guest, Dr. Rigoberto, Advincula,

material scientist with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee

in Knoxville. Welcome to Science Friday. Well, thank you so much, Ira. I'm happy to be with your show.

Thank you. Let's talk about Lignin. What do we currently use it for? Well, Lignin is actually a

byproduct of the pulp industry.

It's well known in the biosciences that you need lignin to hold the cellulose and basically

give the rigidity in plants.

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