October 16, 2008 Archives

For The One Show Anita Rani travelled to Liverpool, a city that was once hit hard by unemployment.

In 1982 unemployment figures topped three million for the first time since the Great Depression of the 30s.

Fast forward to 2008 and the number of people out of work in the UK soared in the three months to August by 164,000 compared to the previous quarter, the biggest rise for 17 years.

There are predictions that there could be two million jobless by Christmas, in the UK.

Click here for the government guide to redundancy and the law.

Sudden redundancy and unemployment can mean stress and misery for families.

So please share your wisdom here - have you been unemployed? How did you cope? What advice for others do you have?

Can't see the film? Click here to watch.

Marty Jopson examines the popular myths and theories surrounding fizzy drinks as part of his Test Centre series of films.

First off - Why do some fizzy drinks explode when you add mints to them?

Marty explains that it's a combination of a chemical reaction and the rough surface of the mints that creates tiny bubbles which are forced upwards out of the bottle.

Second: Does leaving a silver spoon in sparkling wine prevent it from losing its fizz?

Through comparisons with and without a spoon Marty disproves that it makes a difference. In fact, says Marty, it's the naturally occurring gases given off by the wine that make it last longer than you would expect.

And finally: Does tapping a drinks can prevent it from spraying?

Marty builds a can shaking device to answer the question. He finds that it makes very little difference at all - completely disproving the myth.

Still to come in the series: Thunder and lightning, and can opera singers smash glasses with their voices?

What do you think about Marty's tests? Will you still be tapping your cans and leaving a spoon in the bottle?