{"id":3799,"date":"2019-09-04T09:08:05","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T07:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/junq.info\/?p=3799"},"modified":"2019-09-04T09:08:07","modified_gmt":"2019-09-04T07:08:07","slug":"thunderstorm-curdling-milk-is-it-an-old-wifes-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/junq.info\/?p=3799","title":{"rendered":"Thunderstorm curdling milk \u2013 Is it an old wife\u2019s tale?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Superstitions are having hard\ntimes in our modern always progressing world. It is no longer easy to fool\nsomeone with a myth or a beautiful legend from childhood. But how about this\none: have you ever heard that a thunderstorm could curdle milk<\/em>?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A correlation between\nthunderstorms and the souring or curdling of milk has been observed for\ncenturies. As early as in 1685 the first clue was written down in the book \u201cThe\nParadoxal Discourses of F. M. Van Helmont: Concerning the Macrocosm and\nMicrocosm, Or the Greater and Lesser World, and Their Union\u201d [1]: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that the Thunder hath its\npeculiar working, may be partly perceived from hence, that at the time when it\nthunders, Beer, Milk, &c. turn sower in the Cellars … the Thunder doth\neverywhere introduce corruption and putrefaction\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the beginning of the 19th<\/sup>\ncentury there had been numerous attempts to find theories of a causal\nrelationship. [2-7] They all were not plausible, many even contradicting.\nLater, after refrigeration and pasteurization became widespread, eliminating\nbacteria growth, interest in this phenomenon almost disappeared. While the most\npopular explanation remains that these occasions are only a correlation, we\nwould like to draw the reader\u2019s attention to some of the suggested\ntheories.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to understand what\nactually happens with milk during a thunderstorm we would need to know (i) what\nprocesses are behind the milk souring and (ii) what accompanies thunderstorm,\ne.g. lightning. While the latter is not yet entirely clear to scientists, [8]\nthe simplified picture of the first point we will cover in the next few\nparagraphs.      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Figure1: Schematic image of casein micelles covering fat globules within milk as a colloid solution. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Fresh milk is a textbook example of\ncolloid – a solution consisting of fat and protein molecules, mainly casein<\/em>,\nfloating in a water-based fluid. [9] The structure of milk is schematically\nillustrated in Fig. 1. Fat globules are coated with protein and charged\nphospholipids. Such a formation protects the fat from being quickly digested by\nbacteria, which also exist in milk. Casein proteins under normal conditions are\nnegatively charged and repel each other so that these formations naturally\ndistribute evenly through the liquid. Normally, milk is slightly acidic (pH ca.\n6.4-6.8), [10] being sweet at the same time due to lactose<\/em>, one of the\nother carbohydrates within the milk. When the acidity increases to pH lower\nthan 4, proteins denature and are no longer charged. Thus, they bind to each\nother or coagulate into the clumps known as curds<\/em>. The watery\nliquid that remains is called whey<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acidity of milk is determined\nby the bacteria which produce lactic acid. The acids lower the pH of milk so\nthe proteins can clump together. The bacteria living in milk naturally produce\nlactic acid as they digest lactose so they can grow and reproduce. This occurs\nfor raw milk as well as for pasteurized milk. Refrigerating milk slows the\ngrowth of bacteria. Similarly, warm milk accommodates bacteria thrive and also\nincreases the rate of the clumping reaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, we can think of a few things\nthat may speed up the souring process. The first one could be ozone that is\nformed during a thunderstorm. In one of the works it was shown that a\nsufficient amount of ozone is generated at such times to coagulate milk by\ndirect oxidation and a consequent production of lactic acids. [2] However, if\nthis were the case, a similar effect would occur for sterilized milk. The\ncorresponding studies were carried out by A. L. Treadwell, reporting that,\nindeed, the action of oxygen or oxygen and ozone coagulated milk faster Ref.\n[2]. But the effect was not observed if the milk had been sterilized. The\nconclusion drawn from this study was that the souring was produced by unusually\nrapid growth of bacteria in an oxygen rich environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, a number of\nother investigations suggested that a rapid souring of milk was most likely due\nto the atmosphere that is well known to become sultry or hot just prior to a\nthunderstorm. This warm condition of the air is very favourable for the\ndevelopment of lactic acid in the milk. [3, 4] Thus, these studies were also in\nfavour of thunderstorms affecting the bacteria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A fundamentally different\nexplanation was tested by e.g. A. Chizhevsky in Ref. [5]. It was suggested that\nthe electric fields with particular characteristics produced during\nthunderstorms could stimulate a souring process. To check this hypothesis the\ncoagulation of milk was studied under the influence of electric discharges of\ndifferent strength. Importantly, in these experiments the electric pulses were\nkept short to eliminate any thermal phenomena. Eventually, the observed coagulation\nfor certain parameter ranges was explained by breaking of protein-colloid system\nin milk due to the influence of the electric field. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other experiments investigating the\neffect of electricity on the coagulation process in milk turned out to be\nastonishing. [6] When an\nelectric current was passed directly through milk in a container, in all the\ntest variations, the level of acidity rose less quickly in the ‘electrified’\nmilk samples compared with the ‘control’ sample. Which contradicted all the\nprevious reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, while there is no\nestablished theory explaining why milk turns sour during thunderstorms, we\ncannot disregard numerous occasions of this curious phenomenon. [7] What\nscientists definitely know is that milk goes sour due to bacteria – bacilli\nacidi lactici<\/em> – which produce lactic acid. These bacteria are known to be fairly\ninactive at low temperatures. Which is why having a fridge is very convenient\nfor milk-lovers. However, when the temperature rises, the bacteria multiply\nwith increasing rapidity until at ca. 50\u00b0C it becomes too hot for them to\nsurvive. Thus, in pre-refrigerator days, when this phenomenon was most popular,\nin thundery weather with its anomalous conditions the milk would often go off\nwithin a short time after being opened. Independently of the exact mechanism,\ni.e. increased bacteria activity or breaking of the protein-colloid system, the\nresult is – curdled milk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you ever witness this phenomenon yourself, do not be sad immediately. Try adding a bit brown sugar into your fresh milk curds\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Mariia Filianina<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[1] F. M. van Helmont Franciscus \u201cThe Paradoxal Discourses\nof F. M. Van Helmont, Concerning the Macrocosm And Microcosm, Or The Greater\nand Lesser World, And their Union\u201d set down in writing by J.B. and now\npublished, London, 1685.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[2] A. L. Treadwell, “The Souring\nof Milk During Thunder-Storms<\/a>” Science<\/em>\nVol. XVIII, No. 425, 178 (1891). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

[3] \u201cLightning and Milk”, Scientific American <\/em>13,\n40, 315 (1858). doi:10.1038\/scientificamerican06121858-315<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[4] H. McClure, \u201cThunder and Sour Milk.\u201d British Medical\nJournal<\/em> vol. 2, 651 (1890).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[5]V. V. Fedynskii (Ed.), \u201c<\/strong>The earth in the\nuniverse\u201d (orig. \u201cZemlya vo vselnnoi\u201d), Moscow 1964, Translated from Russian by\nthe Israel Program for Scientific Translations in 1968.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[6] W. G. Duffield and J. A. Murray, \u201cMilk and Electrical Discharges\u201d, Journal of the R\u00f6ntgen Society<\/em> 10(38), 9 (1914). doi:10.1459\/jrs.194.0004<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[7] “Influence of\nThunderstorms on Milk<\/a>” The Creamery and Milk Plant Monthly<\/em>\n11, 40 (1922).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[8] K.\nLitzius, \u201cHow does a lightning bolt find its target?\u201d Journal of Unsolved\nQuestions 9(2) (2019).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[9] R. Jost (Ed.), \u201cMilk and Dairy Products.\u201d In\nUllmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry<\/em> (2007). doi: 10.1002\/14356007.a16_589.pub3<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[10] https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Milk<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superstitions are having hard times in our modern always progressing world. It is no longer easy to fool someone with a myth or a beautiful legend from childhood. But how about this one: have you ever heard that a thunderstorm could curdle milk?  A correlation between thunderstorms and the souring or curdling of milk has… Read More »Thunderstorm curdling milk \u2013 Is it an old wife\u2019s tale?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,84],"tags":[91,92,85,90,89,88],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3799"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3805,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3799\/revisions\/3805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/junq.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}