Showing posts with label weird science. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weird science. Show all posts
Another Splendid "Astronomy Picture of the Day"
More eye-candy from APOD... A time-lapse image of the recent solar eclipse as viewed from Easter Island!
UPDATED: "A Question of Taste"
According to the comic strip "Mother Goose and Grimm," the Wright Brothers invented airplane food using just flour, glue and mayonnaise.
Why does airplane food seem so tasteless? It might be because the average full meal is said to cost less than $3.50 per passenger (down from twice that last decade!) But maybe, just maybe, our own senses are to blame...
According to the Lufthansa in-flight magazine from May 2010, that airline contracted with the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics to test food in their decommissioned Airbus A310 fuselage fitted inside a huge low-pressure chamber (pictured at left).
In this research, they've discovered, for example, that tomato juice is not just consumed on flights because of the bloody marys! Instead, the mustiness of tomato juice when tasted on the ground apparently becomes refreshing and fruity at 30,000 feet (because, they say, that's when those usually-masked flavor notes are finally released).
We may likewise perceive the average airplane meal differently after take-off: according to the researchers, sugar seems about 20% less sweet in flight and salt about 30% less salty; spicy foods have to be made even spicier, herbs seem to lose their punch, while acids still manage to keep tasting every bit as sour.
Why the difference? Even back in 2005, a researcher at Surrey University had discovered that the combination of low air pressure and low humidity generally have a dulling effect on our tastebuds. As a result, he said, some (unmentioned) airlines apparently even have special kitchens which can replicate high-altitude conditions so that their chefs' compositions don't lose something in the translation between take-off and dinner time. In the end, Lufthansa itself declared, "These findings are in line with phenomena we already knew about and will be adopting in our recipes."
Hopefully, for long-haul flyers like myself, airlines will manage to get it figured out sometime before in-flight meals are eliminated all together! Or, as another editorial cartoon put it, "Sir, would you like juice, milk, a soft drink, coffee? Actually, it's just a rhetorical question."
UPDATED (7/27/2010): Everything you ever wanted to know (and surely way more!) about airline food can be found at AirlineMeals.net, including a gallery of meals from the '70s, '80s, & '90s! (via "50 Best Travel Sites You've Probably Never Heard Of")
Why does airplane food seem so tasteless? It might be because the average full meal is said to cost less than $3.50 per passenger (down from twice that last decade!) But maybe, just maybe, our own senses are to blame...
According to the Lufthansa in-flight magazine from May 2010, that airline contracted with the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics to test food in their decommissioned Airbus A310 fuselage fitted inside a huge low-pressure chamber (pictured at left).In this research, they've discovered, for example, that tomato juice is not just consumed on flights because of the bloody marys! Instead, the mustiness of tomato juice when tasted on the ground apparently becomes refreshing and fruity at 30,000 feet (because, they say, that's when those usually-masked flavor notes are finally released).
We may likewise perceive the average airplane meal differently after take-off: according to the researchers, sugar seems about 20% less sweet in flight and salt about 30% less salty; spicy foods have to be made even spicier, herbs seem to lose their punch, while acids still manage to keep tasting every bit as sour.
Why the difference? Even back in 2005, a researcher at Surrey University had discovered that the combination of low air pressure and low humidity generally have a dulling effect on our tastebuds. As a result, he said, some (unmentioned) airlines apparently even have special kitchens which can replicate high-altitude conditions so that their chefs' compositions don't lose something in the translation between take-off and dinner time. In the end, Lufthansa itself declared, "These findings are in line with phenomena we already knew about and will be adopting in our recipes."
Hopefully, for long-haul flyers like myself, airlines will manage to get it figured out sometime before in-flight meals are eliminated all together! Or, as another editorial cartoon put it, "Sir, would you like juice, milk, a soft drink, coffee? Actually, it's just a rhetorical question."
UPDATED (7/27/2010): Everything you ever wanted to know (and surely way more!) about airline food can be found at AirlineMeals.net, including a gallery of meals from the '70s, '80s, & '90s! (via "50 Best Travel Sites You've Probably Never Heard Of")
Predictably Irrational!
I'm spending these couple of days easing into my new (Italian) milieu and catching up on some reading, which - it must be said - I'm doing on the iPhone through a mix of available apps, including eReader, Amazon's Kindle and Stanza. Sure, it lacks the satisfaction of the physical experience of reading a REAL book, but, let me tell you from past experience, it weighs a heck of a lot less than if I'd lugged every book I might possibly want to read over the summer to Italy with me!
The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine was quite entertaining, about the real-life events and intrique that unfold following the $156,000 record-breaking auction in 1985 of a bottle of Château Lafite supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson (not least of which was whether this bottle, and several siblings which also surfaced thereafter, was in fact a fake). My only wish for this fun read would have been for its conclusion to be, well, more conclusive. I understand the legal actions are not all finished, but I can't help but think that the author could have nevertheless given a greater sense of closure at the end for the readers who had followed him and the whole story all that way...
Why spend $156,000 for an object which cannot realize the destiny for which it was made without being destroyed? Not to mention for an object which is practically impossible to guarantee complete authenticity? The next book I read might give us a few clues... Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions is the popularization of the groundbreaking research in behavioral economics by MIT prof Dan Ariely. I first encountered his work through a fascinating podcast for the series "All in the Mind." I've since seen him speak live (via stream) at TED2009 about the economics of honesty and on the PBS Newshour about the current economic crisis, and I remain a great fan of his keen and creative intellect.
For further info, Ariely's going to be in the spotlight a lot again soon! TED just posted this afternoon his talk from the EG ("Entertainment Gathering") 2008 conference, and an expanded and updated edition of his bestseller is out TODAY, with additional information regarding his scholarship and experiments, not to mention addressing the astoundingly predictably irrational current stock market crisis!
Hope they pique your interest as much as they did mine! Enjoy!!
The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine was quite entertaining, about the real-life events and intrique that unfold following the $156,000 record-breaking auction in 1985 of a bottle of Château Lafite supposedly owned by Thomas Jefferson (not least of which was whether this bottle, and several siblings which also surfaced thereafter, was in fact a fake). My only wish for this fun read would have been for its conclusion to be, well, more conclusive. I understand the legal actions are not all finished, but I can't help but think that the author could have nevertheless given a greater sense of closure at the end for the readers who had followed him and the whole story all that way...
Why spend $156,000 for an object which cannot realize the destiny for which it was made without being destroyed? Not to mention for an object which is practically impossible to guarantee complete authenticity? The next book I read might give us a few clues... Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions is the popularization of the groundbreaking research in behavioral economics by MIT prof Dan Ariely. I first encountered his work through a fascinating podcast for the series "All in the Mind." I've since seen him speak live (via stream) at TED2009 about the economics of honesty and on the PBS Newshour about the current economic crisis, and I remain a great fan of his keen and creative intellect.
For further info, Ariely's going to be in the spotlight a lot again soon! TED just posted this afternoon his talk from the EG ("Entertainment Gathering") 2008 conference, and an expanded and updated edition of his bestseller is out TODAY, with additional information regarding his scholarship and experiments, not to mention addressing the astoundingly predictably irrational current stock market crisis!
Hope they pique your interest as much as they did mine! Enjoy!!
Twitter me bad?
A great debate in the media this past week... Print media really seems to want to demonize microblogging!
"Twitter causes immorality nonsense deftly dispatched by bloggers. Most mainstream press lost the plot although Time did a good job and Wired Science were keeping it real."
"Twitter causes immorality nonsense deftly dispatched by bloggers. Most mainstream press lost the plot although Time did a good job and Wired Science were keeping it real."
(via Mindhacks)
VIDEO O' THE DAY: Rube Goldberg vs. the Cadbury Creme Egg!
As they said on the site, "This has to be the most impressive Rube Goldberg contraption I’ve ever seen." (And with cheap household materials, too...) My words can't possibly do it justice. Watch it and enjoy!!
Things to Do with a Cadbury Cream Egg - watch more funny videos
(Thanks to @jackiegerstein for the heads-up!!)
Weird History: "Vampire" Discovered in Venetian Plague Grave?!
I've never, ever heard of anything like this, and I can't wait to learn more!"A SKELETON exhumed from a grave in Venice is being claimed as the first known example of the 'vampires' widely referred to in contemporary documents.
Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence in Italy found the skeleton of a woman with a small brick in her mouth while excavating mass graves of plague victims from the Middle Ages on Lazzaretto Nuovo Island in Venice."
More here...
(Incidentally, Venice essentially invented quarantine, and the Lazzaretto Nuovo was the quarantine holding island for potentially-exposed people who were not yet symptomatic of plague. More info on the 1575 epidemic previously on MMC.)When the Lagoon Froze Over... Scientists Reconstruct the Coldest Winter on Record
In the winter of 1708-9, Venetian artist Gabriele Bella recorded the hijinks that ensued when the city's lagoon froze over between Venice's northern waterfront of the Fondamente Nuove and the island of San Cristoforo della Pace (which would later be incorporated with the nearby island of San Michele and become the official cemetary of Venice).Why did it happen? We may soon have a better idea. Slashdot notes that...
"In England they called it the Great Frost, while in France it entered legend as Le Grand Hiver, three months of deadly cold that fell over Europe in 1709 ushering in a year of famine and food riots. Livestock died from cold in their barns, chicken's combs froze and fell off, trees exploded and travelers froze to death on the roads. It was the coldest winter in 500 years with temperatures as much as 7 degrees C below the average for 20th-century Europe. Now as part of the European Union's Millennium Project, Scientists are aiming to reconstruct the past 1000 years of Europe's climate using a combination of direct measurements, proxy indicators of temperature such as tree rings and ice cores, and data gleaned from historical documents."
Have a snail in your throat?
Today was the first day that I've ventured out of my Venetian in-laws' house in over a week. I stopped by the pharmacy to explain that all I have left is a dry cough, and cough syrups and suppressants aren't doing me any good. The only relief I get is holding a mouthful of water, and I can't exactly do that while trying to get to sleep. Luckily, the Italian pharmacist had two moisturizing throat sprays to suggest... I'm so desperate for a solid night's sleep that I took both! And so far I've tried one of them and been thrilled that it works so well!!
While I was waiting for my credit card to process, another customer came to the counter with a similar complaint. The second pharmacist who was there listened to his complaint and said that there was just the thing for it... I expected to hear again about the throat sprays, but instead she took a box off the shelf and handed it to him. "This cough syrup's made from snails," she said in Italian. Snails?! I must have understood that wrong, I think. "Actually," she continued, "it's not really made from snails." Whew, I think! "What you need is a thick, moisturizing syrup," she went on, "and this is one is made rather from the slime of snail trails."
When I got back to my in-laws' house, I looked it up online. One such syrup is apparently called Karacoflu, and comes from Chile. Information about it says that, in addition to its special characteristic consistency, snail slime is supposed apparently to have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. The snail farmer reported that he had more than 8500 snails working "so we can get material for this ancient cough medicine recipe."
Wow, there but for the grace of God went I! Had I only arrived a couple of minutes later, that would have been the advice I would have received... and as open-minded as I try to be about the medical practices of other cultures because I know that my own can be biased in all kinds of ways, but this I just couldn't, as they say, swallow!
While I was waiting for my credit card to process, another customer came to the counter with a similar complaint. The second pharmacist who was there listened to his complaint and said that there was just the thing for it... I expected to hear again about the throat sprays, but instead she took a box off the shelf and handed it to him. "This cough syrup's made from snails," she said in Italian. Snails?! I must have understood that wrong, I think. "Actually," she continued, "it's not really made from snails." Whew, I think! "What you need is a thick, moisturizing syrup," she went on, "and this is one is made rather from the slime of snail trails."
When I got back to my in-laws' house, I looked it up online. One such syrup is apparently called Karacoflu, and comes from Chile. Information about it says that, in addition to its special characteristic consistency, snail slime is supposed apparently to have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties. The snail farmer reported that he had more than 8500 snails working "so we can get material for this ancient cough medicine recipe."
Wow, there but for the grace of God went I! Had I only arrived a couple of minutes later, that would have been the advice I would have received... and as open-minded as I try to be about the medical practices of other cultures because I know that my own can be biased in all kinds of ways, but this I just couldn't, as they say, swallow!
Police dashboard cam catches meteorite fireball!
Thursday night, a meteorite fell in Western Canada, and it was so brilliant that it could be seen for more than a 400 mile radius! It caused sonic booms and generated radio static that sounded to observers like crackling bacon...
You can see for yourself this spectacular display through the eyes of a copcam that happened to catch the event! Watch and be amazed!!
(read more at io9!)
Venetian Astronomy: The Lagoon Nebula
Couldn't resist posting this "Astronomy Photo of the Day" picture of the Lagoon Nebula, which seems just oh-so-appropriate for a blog which loves all things Venetian! Enjoy!!
Scientists create glow-in-the-dark cat
I totally want one... :-)
It's all part of an experiment which may eventually result in genetic treatments for human cystic fibrosis and other conditions.
The glowing is just the fun part, said the scientist!
(via Mirabilis)
Astronomy Photo of the Day
I've seen these around before, but I never really followed the "Astronomy Photo of the Day" regularly. I see now that I should! Get a load of these images... (and click on the picture for more information about what you're seeing!) 
Heavenly Bodies!
UPDATED: More Sexy Astronomy!
This time, we've got a GOR-GEOUS composite image from observations of our very own sun, taken in three different wavelengths! Enjoy the gloriousness!!
(via Dark Roasted Blend)
UPDATED 10/13: "The Sun" was the theme of today's "Big Picture." The images are splendid... Enjoy!!
"The Straight Poop on Pigeons"
Any great lover of Venice tends to also be a great hater of pigeons! Yet no one can argue that they aren't one of the most successful species in the city. Scientific American gives us some reasons why at Superdove!: The Straight Poop on Pigeons: Scientific American Podcast
(Posted using ShareThis)
Shout it from the mountaintops!
But now you can even call it in when you do...
When you call the "Telemegaphone" number above in Norway, your voice is recorded and then played over the mountains, hills, vales & fjords below. So, go ahead and give it your best yodel!
(via The Presurfer)
Star "Porn": "Birthing Stars Tear Into A Nebula With A Fierce Beauty"
"Here's a detail of a new image the Hubble Space Telescope released to celebrate its 100,000th orbit of Earth. It shows the 'firestorm' of star creation in the nebula near star cluster NGC 2074. The three-dimensional image shows off 'dramadramatic ridges and valleys of dust, serpent-head 'pillars of creation,' and gaseous filaments glowing fiercely under torrential ultraviolet radiation,' says NASA."In other words, GORGEOUS!
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