Lectures on Tap - "From Crunchy to Chewy: The Physics of Food Texture "

Professors, experts, and storytellers giving thought-provoking lectures in Philly bars. 📍 Location: Exact address given in confirmation email 🧠 Lecture: From Crunchy to Chewy: The Physics of Food Texture 🎤 Speaker: Dr. Lauren Altman Join us for a deliciously geeky evening as Dr. Lauren Altman reveals how physics shapes every bite you take. We often talk about how chemistry controls flavor, but texture is just as important to our culinary experience—and it’s governed by the surprising world of soft matter physics. Dr. Altman will unpack why the same ingredients can yield foods that snap, squish, or stretch, simply by changing their microstructure. Explore viscoelasticity (is peanut butter a liquid or a solid?), crystal structures in perfectly tempered chocolate, and polymer networks that give bread its chewy crumb. You’ll leave with a basic understanding of rheology and how to harness it for better results in your own kitchen. Dr. Lauren Altman is a postdoctoral researcher and soon-to-be Assistant Professor in experimental soft matter physics. She earned her PhD from New York University, conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania, and will be joining the Debye Institute for Nanomaterials Science at Utrecht University. Outside the lab, she enjoys baking, photography, and dance. Get a drink, connect, and learn at Lectures on Tap! 🙌 Agenda 6:30 PM – Doors open: find a seat (open seating!), order food & drinks, and expect a bar line—arriving early is key. 6:55 PM – Host introduction 7:00 PM – Lecture begins 7:45 PM – Audience Q&A 8:00 PM – Have 1:1 time with the speaker, mingle with fellow guests, and order another round 8:30 PM – Wrap up.