…has me thinking about food. What better way to channel that
hunger, than to look at what has happened the past week where Science meets
Food.
As I mentioned in “It's October…” I like apples. According
to researchers at Cornell University (New York), the Perfect apple may be within reach. The 50-acre New York State Agricultural Experiment
Station has produced two of the newest
apple varieties (SnapDragon & RubyFrost), and their work hasn’t stopped
there. They have already bred the next generation – a mixture of these two.
It seems Cornell has cornered the market on food this week;
some other folks at the Food and Brand Lab are studying how people pour wine.
They have found that if you have had a rough day you should hold your glass while you pour
(you are more likely to pour 12.2% more wine into your glass than if it were
resting on the table). Their work shows how environmental factors affect one’s
ability to pour the ‘proper’ serving of wine comparing things such as size of
food portions, size of the glass, and wine-to-glass color contrast.
Holy calamari! What do you do when a 30-ft, 400-lb squid washes up on your beach?
What if its human head-sized eyes are on you? Well, I don’t suggest firing up
the stove, and running to get a pan & olive oil. The Architeuthis – the
largest invertebrate known – was captured
on video in 2012 by Japanese researchers, giving the world its first
glimpse of the majestic creature. Cited as the inspiration for the Kraken (see:
mythology,
rum, House Greyjoy, and
real
life), this beast is thought to have a highly advanced nervous system and
complex brain.
And if that didn’t upset your stomach – here is something
out of the category of weird science.
Microbiologists and genetic engineers have reprogrammed the notorious
E. coli bacteria into a hunter killer.
Its target…hard-to-kill bacterial infections (called biofilms) caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The goal is to someday be able to use
programmed E. coli to target other infections like those commonly acquired
in hospitals or multi-drug resistant versions of common infections. As a former
microbiologist identifying E. coli in
the American food supply – I think this is very
cool science (and yes, that is a technical term).
The findings at Cornell indicates to me that after a long week I need
to select my favorite Cabernet, pick up large mouth red stained glass next
to a large plate of tasty Kansas City burnt-ends and ENJOY!
Image by Susan Brown – apple breeder at Cornell
University.
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