All posts by Nicholas Gerbis

Consumer, Electromagnetism, Engineering, Green, Materials, Physics, Science, Technology

Tesla’s Powerwall: Reading the Meter

June 23, 2015 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

April 2015 saw Tesla Motors’ entry into the home and industrial battery market. Thousands of pre-orders – and more than a little hype – attended the announcement, and it’s easy to see why: The promise of a cost-effective home battery, one that could make self-storage an equal or better option for solar customers than the prevailing sell-and-buyback model, could revolutionize the solar industry.

Yet some experts argue that the battery is not all it’s cracked up to be, while harsher critics accuse Tesla of using the storage cells as big green stalking horses, part of a plan to bilk taxpayers into subsidizing the company’s massive battery factory and R&D facility in Nevada. Read on as I make the connections in …

How the Tesla Powerwall Works

Biochemistry, Science, Technology, Top 10

Marine Biology Breakthroughs: I Cover the Waterfront

June 8, 2015 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

In honor of World Oceans Day (June 8), here’s my recent article on some of the remarkable discoveries made by marine biologists over the past few years. From clearing up the murky “lost years” of juvenile turtles to further solidifying our understanding of a jellyfish’s final fate, these delvers of the deep have shrunk what Shakespeare called “the vasty deep” to something a bit more fathomable but no less amazing. Find out more as I take a deep dive into …

10 Recent Breakthroughs in Marine Biology

Biochemistry, Genetics, Science

10 Reasons Insects Would Eat Bear Grylls for Lunch

May 25, 2015 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I could spend all day watching nature documentaries. Nature is endlessly fascinating, adaptive and, occasionally, just plain scary.

Take the insect world, for example. You can wax lyrical about butterfly wings all you like, but when it’s time to throw down — or just plain survive — you do not want to mess with an insect. They will end you, and I’ve 10 good reasons why:

10 Traits That Make Insects Survivors

Anthropology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Consumer, Culture, Health, History, Neuroscience, Psychology, Religion, Science, Top 10, Weird

A Bizarre Bazaar of Food Facts

April 19, 2015 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

Smashed buildings and detritus litter a flooded street following the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919. — The aftermath of the Boston Molasses Disaster of 1919. Photo courtesy Globe Newspaper Co.

Food is both mundane and magical, ephemeral and essential – the ultimate cultural touchstone. Our religions proscribe taboo foods, oblige sacred meals and employ food as a conduit for sacred power. Our myths abound with divine edibles that grant gods immortality, while our folktales counsel against feasting in fairyland lest we trap ourselves forever.

But for all the reverence we pay them, many comestibles arose from humble, bizarre or even disgusting sources, while what we choose, or are compelled, to eat is driven by everything from necessity to neurosis. For better or worse, food scientists, molecular gastronomists and, yes, marketing firms channel these impulses in profitable (if not always healthy directions). The results are, shall we say, appetizingly bizarre …

10 Weird-but-true Food Facts

Biochemistry, Chemistry, Consumer, Technology, Weird

Color-changing Ice Cream: It’s All About That Base (and Acid)

April 7, 2015 Nicholas Gerbis Leave a comment

OK, so that’s not color-changing ice cream. It’s a Neapolitan ice cream sandwich. So sue me.

It’s said that we eat first with our eyes. It’s also said that there’s nothing new under the sun. There are a lot of sayings, is my point, but this isn’t an article about that. It’s an article about color-changing food.

“But wait,” I hear some of you saying. “Food already changes color. How do you think we get brown bananas?” To which I reply that nobody likes a smart aleck. Or something about “out of the mouths of babes,” assuming you’re a babe. Because you’re not far off from some of the ways that food scientists are using to take color-changing foods to the next level, particularly in the frozen food aisle.

How Color-changing Ice Cream Works

Writing • Editing • Commentary