MIT is one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in the world, fostering some of the greatest minds history has ever known.
However this might be its most important work.
Crystal Owens is a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, and she recently set out to "solve a challenge that had puzzled me as a child," per Boston 25 News.
That challenge? How come the creme filling of an Oreo cookie only sticks to one side when split apart, and is there a way to make sure there's an even distribution on both sides of the cookie?
So Crystal and some of her colleagues invented the "Oreometer," a 3D-printed device "designed for Oreos and similarly dimensioned round objects."
The team used the device to twist Oreos apart, inspecting the creme-to-cookie ratio on each side. And they also made sure to experiment with different variables, like dunking the cookie in milk, and using many different Oreo flavors and filling amounts including regular, Double Stuf and Mega Stuf.
Unfortunately, the results weren't very promising. Owens said "The results validated what I saw as a child — we found no trick for opening up our Oreos. In the case that creme ends up on both wafers, it tends to divide in half so that each wafer has a 'half-moon' of creme, rather than a thin layer, so there is no secret to get creme evenly everywhere just by twisting open — you have to mush it manually if that's what you want."
The research also suggests that the creme may be sticking to just one side because of how Oreos are manufactured, packaged and stored, which is completely out of the consumer's control.
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