One of the most frustrating things that can happen in your life is settling down to a lovely view with a chilled Chablis as the sun sets… only to realise the corkscrew is still at home. There are many ways to solve this problem. A solution lies in science that is vital for naval engineering.

The solution is simple. Place a thick newspaper or book against the wall and hit the wine bottle’s bottom repeatedly against it. The wine will start to look milky and push the cork slowly out till you can open it with your teeth to reduce spillage.

The interesting part is why this simple technique works. As the bottle is moving towards the book the wine moves to the back of the bottle moving the air bubble with it. When the bottle hits the book, the wine continues moving forward creating a low pressure at the neck of the wine bottle. The drop in pressure causes water vapour filled bubbles to appear.

These cavitation bubbles then collapse as the wine finally rushes to the bottle’s neck on the rebound. This pushes out the cork slightly. Repeat and voila! You can still enjoy your favourite wine by the sea.

Cavitation bubbles are great for opening wine bottles but a headache for naval engineers. The propeller blades of ships need to be designed in a way to mitigate their formation. If they do collapse near the propeller they can eventually knock it out, just like the cork.

Experiment can be seen on www.thenakedscientists.com.

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