Beakman’s World - Season 1 Episode 12

Questioned about why bubbles always seem to be round, Beakman begins by showing how with water, some clear dishwashing liquid and a little glycerine, anyone can make their own bubbles at home. Noting how adhesion keeps the soap film attached to an object of any shape, he goes on to show how the soap's surface tension pulls it into a sphere. During an appearance by special guest "bubble-ologist" Louis Pearl, Beakman is shown some of the more interesting properties of bubbles, including how thickness determines their color, the Bubble Spaceship, and how to make a square bubble. Moving on to "Beak-Mania," Beakman tells of the only onion-eating rodent (the groundhog), the life of a dollar bill (8,000 folds), whether snails ever sleep (yes, up to three years at a time), and why onions make you cry (an irritating chemical they release). Using a cross section of the human head, he goes on to describe how the nose, with all of its various tubes and passages, is really the workhorse of the face. Then, Lester tries, and fails, to sneeze with his eyes open. In response to a query about why feet smell, Beakman explains that it is a result of bacteria growing on the human body. Noting that there can be between 1,000 an 100,000,000 bacteria per square centimeter on the body, he reveals that their interaction with the body's natural oils and sweat are what cause the odor of feet. Then, using a growing medium of sugar, gelatin and water, Beakman shows how these bacteria can be grown inside a jar with spectacularly smelly results.