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Why is milk white and not green like grass?

20 Mar 2017

Questions about milk are always interesting because, after all, it is our first food. Milk is meant to be the only sustaining food during early life and therefore it must contain all the required...

What makes a fish “organic?”

20 Mar 2017

The use of the label "organic" is regulated by a strict set of guidelines. As it applies to farmed fish, it implies following a number of rules with respect to water recycling, disposal of waste...

Why is Iodine added to Salt?

20 Mar 2017

When back in 1811 Bernard Courtois noticed the violet fumes produced when his seaweed extraction tank was being cleaned, he could have never dreamed that he had set the stage for one of the most...

Does Policosanol Reduce Cholesterol?

20 Mar 2017

When you think of sugar, you don’t think of lowering cholesterol. But Cuban researchers do. In fact they think that a byproduct of the sugar industry, policosanol, is an effective alternative to...

Why does lipstick cause beer to lose its foam?

20 Mar 2017

It just wouldn’t be the same without the foam, would it? Beer I’m talking about. You don’t want the glass to be full of it, but you certainly want enough to tickle your lips when you go bottoms up....

Why do we kiss?

22 Feb 2017

What makes us exchange saliva, sebum, bits of food and millions of bacteria with each other? In other words, why do we kiss? This is not an innate activity. South Pacific islanders, for example,...

Why does a barber's pole have a red stripe?

20 Feb 2017

During the Middle Ages monks were required to shave the crown of their head, a function commonly performed by itinerant barbers. Also, under ecclesiastic law, monks had to be periodically bled....

Why do onions make you cry when you cut them? And why are they sweet when you fry them?

20 Feb 2017

Onion chemistry is extremely fascinating and extremely complex! We’ve been intrigued by this vegetable ever since our prehistoric ancestors gathered and cooked wild onions. By the time of the First...

Can coffee explode in the microwave?

20 Feb 2017

A sensational sounding e-mail about “exploding coffee” has been making the rounds. It describes the misadventures of an unfortunate soul who heated up water for coffee in a microwave oven. When he...

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