Super Mario Scenes with Skittles

This is awesome.

Every Flavor Except for a Set of Measure Zero?

I saw these Harry-Potter-inspired jelly beans at a market many years ago, and I was struck by "Every Flavor Beans" now coming with two more flavors. Perhaps they mean every flavor except for a set of measure zero?

Headline: "Mathematicians Discover How Many Licks It Takes to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop"

Well, people have been wondering how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, and now some applied mathematicians at New York University have estimated that it takes about 1000 licks. The main reason behind the study is in fact a rather serious one:

The study was done to explore the effects of dissolving materials within a fluid flow, such as rocks in geological environments and pills for pharmaceutical applications. The lollipop angle was just a fun side effect.

(Tip of the cap to whoever posts on Facebook for SIAM .)

Mathematical Modeling Problem: Just How Many Suckers Are There Right Now?

The phrase "There's a sucker born every minute." was allegedly uttered by a famous person during the 19th century. Assuming it was true and estimating the year based on the possible people to whom the phrase has been attributed, and birth and death rates at appropriate times, estimate how many suckers occupied Earth on 1 January 2015. Be sure to state all of your assumptions explicitly and clearly.

Note: Considerations could include, e.g., whether the rate of births resulting in suckers has changed over time, whether somebody who was born a sucker must necessarily remain so, etc.

Extra credit: Derive from physical principles how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop.

If you look at the Wikipedia entry, you'll see that the quote is of unknown origin and that the attribution to P. T. Barnum is apparently almost certainly wrong.

Frozen Snickers

I often froze Snickers as a child.

Snickers are much better frozen than consumed any other way. Plus, they get exceptionally hard when they are frozen. (I think that freezing Snickers bars was probably also my first true introduction to elastic moduli.)

Fun Fact: Frozen Snickers also make excellent ammunition to discourage people from applying shaving cream or toilet paper to one's front yard. (As a child, I always kept a stash around Halloween in case I needed them. Then I ate them on the days that followed.)

By the way, the reason I thought about this is that I put my Dutch waffles in the fridge to cool them down because it's been hot and humid here lately. The caramel was hardening in a way that reminded me a bit of frozen Snickers, though it wasn't as extreme today because I put them in the refrigerator rather than the freezer.

P.S. Get off my lawn!

"Tic Tac" is "Kit Kat" Pronounced Sideways

Hmmm... "Tic Tac" is just "Kit Kat" pronounced sideways.

It's too bad that it isn't "Tik Tak", as then it would be spelled sideways as well.

Toffee Wins the Battle!

You can tell that toffee is of high quality if it comes with a hammer (and accompanying instructions) to help break it into pieces.

Maybe I should schedule an appointment with a dentist while I am in LA?

(I hope somebody gets the allusion in the title. Also, I encourage responses with your best possible MC Hammer references.)