In the real world, disasters aren’t just a matter of scale – they’re a question of preparedness and of a society’s capacity to handle the fallout. Vaccines, rapid-response teams and early-warning systems can move the needle from calamity toward recovery, while poverty, corruption and ignorance slide it toward catastrophe. So, cue announcer: “In a world … where real disasters aren’t single events that arise from simple problems that are solvable in 93 minutes …”
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 …
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:
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 …
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.