attitudes toward biscuit dunking. Historically in British high society, dunking was frowned upon and generally seen as children's or working class fashion. However, Queen Victoria herself was said to enjoy dunking her biscuits, a German custom from her younger days. In 2007, a tea room in Brighton, England, banned dunking on its premises. In the United States, the act took on a marketing purpose for doughnut sellers in the 1930s. They formed the National Dunking Association, which prompted members to follow "rules for dunking" and used the association to market their products. Science Physicist Len Fisher of the University of Bristol presented some light-hearted discussion of dunking on "National Biscuit Dunking Day" in the UK, as part of an attempt to make physics accessible. Fisher appeared to be somewhat taken aback by the large amount of media attention, ascribing it to a "hunger for accessible science". Fisher also described his astonishment at journalists' interest in one equation used in the field: Washburn's equation, which describes capillary flow in porous materials. Writing in Nature, he says "the equation was published in almost every major UK newspaper. The journalists who published it took great care to get it right, some telephoning several times to check". In 2012, Michelin starred English restaurateur Heston Blumenthal researched the effect of dunking chocolate biscuits, and concluded that it improved the biscuit's taste. "If you have chocolate on one side, if it melts a bit, you get a velvety smooth texture and then the delicious flavour as a result." In 2022, a comparative study concluded that a hobnob style biscuit maintains its integrity for the longest after being dunked in a hot drink. See also Dipping sauce Sop References External links Biscuits Food and drink culture