Usually, when you think of great triumphs in science, you think of robots, supercomputers or cars powered by water. However, have you ever thought of drink lids as an amazing scientific accomplishment? Well, you should, since the luxuries it brings us is pretty beneficial. At first in 1945, cup-covers were just meek protections to lower the chance of your drink spilling. Soon this started to advance, but not to the ones we know today. The first drink tops required you to manually poke a hole where the straw would go and throw away the piece you had to take off. Next, around 1975, a lid with a foldable top would be introduced. Only in 1980, did we see a real leap? By then there were already 26 new concepts for the lid. The upgrades included comfort, one-handed use, grips and splash proof.

One of the many improvements in 1980 incorporated a small hole on the other side of the hole you drink through. No, this isn’t there for no reason or just a product defect. It is actually there to increase your usability of the product because of science! This will make more sense if you imagine trying to poor out a milk gallon all the way upside down. It never will come down smoothly, because when the water comes out, air has to come in with it. So, when you have a hole at the top like in a modern coffee cup (The one we know and love today) We get an easy flowing sip. If it was not to have the hole, we would be splashed and bombarded by scorching coffee right on our poor faces. We would be left with many painful burns on out faces.

Lucky for us, we have the plastic lid now to have an enjoyable experience drinking our hot beverages. Also, to make our experience even more pleasant experience, there is a second hole. No, it doesn’t bring an even more smooth drinking experience, it acts as an exit for the stream from the steaming drinks. It also doubles as a way to present the plastic lid from melting. Could you imagine a plastic lid melting on your face! What a nightmare. They have also added depression points that servers can “punch” in to indicate which drink is which. Other than just drink lid advancements, companies also design logos to put on their cups to advertise their business.