Man has forever been plagued by the horrors of stale day-old cake—the result of leaving the cake’s interior flesh exposed to the air after a slice has been removed. It turns out the solution to this problem has been under our noses since 1906. Thankfully, the Numberphile YouTube channel has uncovered a turn-of-the-century scientific letter detailing how to properly cut a round cake in order to “maximize the amount of gastronomic pleasure.”
The charming five minute video—which takes a brief detour into cultural differences of the term “pie chart”—details the mathematically perfect way to cut a round cake. Essentially one need only cut a long narrow strip out of the middle of the cake and then press the remaining sides together with a rubber band so as to keep the inside of the cake fresh. Of course this video presupposes you aren’t going to eat the whole cake in a single sitting, meaning its scientific foundation is deeply flawed.