The secret to taking jar lids off!!

GermanDragon / CC

Scientists solved the problem of how to wrestle the lid off a jam jar. After a lengthy trial, researchers in the Netherlands published their solution: don’t screw the lid on too tightly in the first place. A research team (Delft University of Technology) enlisted 750 volunteers to open jars in an effort to crack the problem. They discovered that the ideal tightness was a torque of 2 newton-metres — tight enough that the seal would not break prematurely, but loose enough for most people to take off the lid.