This morning when I ordered hot tea from the restaurant next door, I got a styrofoam cup of steaming hot water and a tea bag. Soaking the bag in the water, I noticed the usual brownish white foam floating up to the top of the cup. What is this foamy stuff–preservative from the bag, or is it just happy to see me? Also, after pouring the foamy stuff out, I noticed the cup had pits and craters in it. What happened? Am I drinking melted styrofoam? –Steve Holmquist, Chicago
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Cecil always loves the thought of looming environmental disaster, so he hustled out to study this deadly phenomenon firsthand. First I got a jumbo pack of 51 styrofoam cups, so as to do the job with the thoroughness it deserves. I also bought a lemon, a common tea additive, partly to give a splash of color to the lab (we’re into nouvelle research), but also to test the corrosive effect of the juice. I know you didn’t mention lemon in your letter, but the Teeming Millions over the years have shown a genius for omitting crucial details. Sure enough, experiments indicated that while tea and hot water alone wouldn’t do anything, tea, hot water, and lemon–for that matter, hot water and lemon alone–caused deep cratering. In one case the pits were so deep the cup began to leak.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): illustration/Slug Signorino.
