In the classic commercial asking how many licks it takes "to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop," the conclusion was: "The world may never know." Turns out that was wrong—scientists have figured out how many licks are required, though the figure is approximate. It takes about 1,000 licks to get to a lollipop's center, researchers say in a New York University press release.
The finding was incidental to research on what some might see as a topic of more importance: the way water currents shape objects they're rushing past. The findings help explain how solids dissolve—handy knowledge for pharmacologists making pills and geologists studying erosion.
Researchers used candy to reach their conclusions. When they dipped homemade hard candy into flowing water, they found that the same shape was eventually left—no matter how the candy was shaped to begin with—before the candy disappeared completely. "We used these results to figure out in general how fluids dissolve materials, and we realized that that is basically what you're doing when you're enjoying a lollipop," a scientist tells ABC News.
Tootsie Roll Industries applauds the work. "How many licks is a question fans of our candy have asked us for decades," the company's president tells ABC. “We're thrilled that New York University has conducted a study to help find out." But it wasn't without sacrifice, says the researcher: "Resisting the temptation to just bite into one is tough."
I will admit, as a child, I often pondered the answer this question. On numerous occasions, I even attempted to solve this conundrum by personal experiment. But while I got always beyond the three licks undertaken by the wise old owl, I never got to the center of the pop without giving in and crunching down on the remains. For that reason, if for no other, I am glad to finally have my answer.
But as I grew older, far more serious questions arose in my mind – questions about my identity as a human being, as well as about my origins, and above all about my destiny. In other words, who I am, where I came from, and what my future holds.
In my study of the Holy Bible, I have been able to find the answers to all three of these profound questions.
The answer to the first two questions comes in the opening pages of the Bible… the early chapters of the Biblical Book of Genesis tells us that all men and women everywhere have been created by God in His very image! Quite literally, we all bear the stamp of God! We are His children! As such, we exist to glorify our Creator as we enjoy the goodness of life He has given to us within all that He has created.
The answer to the third question comes in the closing pages of the Bible. Here, we discover that God desires that all humans being everywhere, created in His image and placed within this world, to one day dwell with Him forever in a wonderful place called Heaven.
Of course, if that were all the Bible had to say, things would be great. But alas, the Bible has far more to say. For that which ties these two portions of the Bible together, and which constitutes the bulk of the Bible’s content, is the story of mankind’s fall into sin by rejecting God, resulting in spiritual death, followed by the story of God’s work of redemption to restore fallen men and women to a proper relationship to Him, in and through the death, burial, and resurrection of His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
Along the way (in the Old Testament Book of Job, chapter 14, verse 14), the question is asked: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” And the resounding answer is “Yes, as long as he has a relationship with God’s Son!” As the Apostle John puts it (in his first general New Testament Letter, chapter 5, verses 10-12)…
10Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
And there you have it – the essential assertion of the entire Bible! Here we see why it was written. Here we see what all its stories and teachings lead up to. And it also explains why the passage containing the world’s most well-known Bible verse (the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 3, verse 16-18) is of such great significance:
16For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Have you ever wondered about your identity? About your origins? About your destiny? If so, then I have some really good news for you! I have found the answers. And you can find them too! Read the Bible and you will see!
SOURCE: http://www.newser.com/story/202533/heres-how-many-licks-gets-you-to-tootsie-pops-center.html?utm_source=part&utm_medium=foxnews&ut
m_campaign=rss_science_syn.
YOUTUBE VERSION OF ORIGINAL CLASSIC 1970 TOOTSIE POP COMMERCIAL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rHeD5x2tI.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES: http://biblehub.com/niv/1_john/5.htm and http://biblehub.com/niv/john/3.htm.