Photo from Twitter @bunsenbernerbmd

By Dwayne McLaughlin

Bunsen and Beaker

Red Deer’s most famous dogs brave the cold weather in the name of science

Feb 10, 2021 | 11:56 AM

The polar vortex hasn’t stopped a pair of local four-legged international stars from having fun with science outdoors.

Bunsen the Bernese mountain dog and Beaker the golden retriever have showed a few cool – literally – tricks revealing just how frigid it’s been in Red Deer this week.

One involved a cooking pot filled with noodles that froze sold within five minutes.

Another showed the effects of the cold temperature on a soap bubble.

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There was also the classic science trick of tossing boiling water overhead into mid-air.

“You have to be really careful, if it’s not -30 or colder. A lot of people have scalded themselves by chucking boiling water in the air and it rains down on them,” cautioned Jason Zackowski, science teacher at Lindsay Thurber Comprehensive High School and Bunsen and Burner’s owner.

He explains that tossing boiling water into the air rapidly increases its surface area as tiny drops. The extreme cold air is at the max water it can hold, and this will cause some water to evaporate and whatever is left rides tiny crystal in the air right into snow.

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Zackowski said Bunsen and Beaker’s path to stardom – their @bunsenbernerbmd Twitter account has over 79,000 followers – started after he dressed up Bunsen in a lab coat and safety glasses, took a picture and put it up on reddit.

He says Bunsen and Beaker have touched many lives and shown people across the world what it’s like to live in Canada.

In addition to Twitter you can also follow Bunsen and Beaker’s adventures on Facebook and Instagram (@bunsenberner.bmd).

You can also catch Beaker in her latest “gig,” a rock band called Vultures of Parliament that so far has two songs – appropriately titled “Beakering” and “Chemistry” – available on iTunes.