The Elegant Laminar Flow Of Moroccan Tea

The Rest Is Science

Goalhanger

Physics, Science, Mathematics

4.5 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 15 April 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Does a teapot secretly hold the laws of physics? And what do soap, sugar and mint have to do with the perfect cup of tea? Whilst in Morocco, Professor Hannah Fry takes Michael Stevens (VSauce) into the surprising science of mint tea, from foamy bubbles that trap desert sand to the elegant S-shaped spout that appears to solve some of the hardest problems in fluid dynamics. Plus, your questions, including whether rising sea levels could change how your eggs boil, and just how much of Earth humans have actually touched. ------------------- For more information about Cancer Research UK, their research, breakthroughs and how you can support them, visit ⁠⁠https://cancerresearchuk.org/restisscience⁠⁠ Cancer Research UK is a registered charity in England and Wales (1089464), Scotland (SC041666), the Isle of Man (1103) and Jersey (247). A company limited by guarantee. Registered company in England and Wales (4325234) and the Isle of Man (5713F). Registered address: 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ. ------------------- Find The Rest Is Science all over the internet by ⁠⁠clicking here.⁠⁠ ------------------- Video Producer: Adam Thornton + Oli Oakley + Jack Meek Video & Social: Bex TyrrellAssistant Producer: Lucy LipscombeProducer: Simona RataSenior Producer: Lauren Armstrong-CarterHead Of Digital: Samuel OakleyExec Producer: Neil Fearn Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Field Notes.
0:03.8	Here at the rest of science, Field Notes is our little exploration diary.
0:08.2	Do you like calling it that, Hannah?
0:09.8	You know, exploration of the mind. I'm okay with that.
0:13.6	For me, it's more of a show and tell, because you are here today to show us something very cool about tea.
0:19.3	And I don't know what it is.
0:21.0	It's not my exploration.
0:23.0	It's your, it's your reveal.
0:26.2	It's your exploration into my mind.
0:28.4	That's right.
0:28.8	I will be exploring your mind while you spill the tea, as they say or used to say.
0:35.1	And later on, we'll answer some questions from you guys, which you can always send to us at
0:39.0	the rest is science at goalhanger.com.
0:41.3	Please keep them coming in because there's some awesome stuff.
0:43.6	Yeah, we've switched the episode upside down today because I'll be honest with you.
0:47.3	I'm on holiday in Marrakesh, staying at Lamarmonia, this beautiful hotel.
0:52.3	And I have become completely obsessed with Moroccan
0:54.8	teapots. And so I've insisted, I've insisted basically that that's where we start. Let me just,
1:00.6	let me just, let me just get this, going to get this tea sitting behind me. Hold on a second. This episode is brought to you by Cancer Research UK.
1:14.6	If you wanted to type out the entire human genome, you would have to type at 60 words a minute
1:21.3	for eight hours a day for about 50 years.
1:25.4	Okay, that's the scale of the DNA rulebook inside each one of your cells, telling it when to grow,
	...

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