Medicine
Inviting Writing: College Food
As I was reminded on a trip to a packed Target the other day, the back-to-school season is upon us. Seeing carts filled with things like electric hot pots, microwave popcorn and instant soup got me thinking about dorm life...which brings me to our latest Inviting Writing theme: College food.As alwa...
August 23, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Listening to Bacteria
By studying microbial communications, Bonnie Bassler has come up with new ways to treat disease
August 2010 |
By Natalie Angier
Melinda French Gates on Saving Lives
The co-chair of the world's largest philanthropy talks about what can be done to improve global health and poverty
August 2010 |
By Terence Monmaney
Can Nanotechnology Save Lives?
Harvard professor and scientific genius George Whitesides believes that nanotechnology will change medicine as we know it
August 2010 |
By Michael Rosenwald
The Sociology of Picky Eating
A couple of months ago I wrote about two major influences on individual food preferences: genetics and early exposure to flavors in the womb and through breast milk. I recently spoke to Marci Pelchat, a researcher with the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, about another piece of the pu...
July 30, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Painting With Penicillin: Alexander Fleming's Germ Art
The scientist created works of art using microbes, but did his artwork help lead him to his greatest discovery?
July 12, 2010 |
By Rob Dunn
Salt: A Matter of Taste, And Genes
On the premiere episode of Top Chef's seventh season last night, there was a moment when judge Tom Colicchio dismissed one contestant's dish with a single complaint: "I couldn't get past the salt."It's not the first time he's said a dish was "way too salty." How could these skilled chefs keep makin...
June 17, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
The Price of Corn
Aaron Wolff, the director and producer of two documentaries about the consequences of corn being America's most subsidized crop, stopped by the Lake Placid Film Forum this past weekend for a Q&A and a screening of his films King Corn (2006) and its follow-up, Big River (2009).The original film ...
June 16, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Inviting Writing: Fear and Food
Welcome to the second installment of Inviting Writing, our new monthly storytelling feature where we welcome food-related submissions from readers. In case you missed the first set, here's how it works: We give you a writing prompt—last month's was "manners"—and then Amanda or I will share a story ...
May 17, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Taking Childhood Obesity to Task
Here's a statistic to ponder: One in three American kids weighs more than is healthy, as measured by body mass index. Nearly 20 percent are downright obese; barreling toward an adult life of serious health complications like diabetes and heart disease.Here's another one: A mere 30 years ago, the na...
May 11, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Broccoli-Haters
Of the many things you have to thank your mom for this Mother's Day, you can add one of her first gifts to you: your food preferences, at least your earliest ones. Even before you were born, she was exposing you to different flavors in the womb via amniotic fluid. If she breast-fed you, what she at...
May 07, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Stinging Nettle Soup
There's a restaurant in northwest D.C. called Blue Ridge (the brainchild of chef Barton Seaver) that I enjoy because it focuses on local, seasonal, sustainably sourced ingredients without coming across as self-righteous. It's the kind of place where waiters wear jeans and serve popcorn in brown pap...
May 04, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Q and A with Barron Hall, Veterinary Dentist
Root canals on cheetahs, lions and gorillas is just another day at the office for veterinary dentist Barron Hall
May 2010 |
By Megan Gambino
How Our Brains Make Memories
Surprising new research about the act of remembering may help people with post-traumatic stress disorder
May 2010 |
By Greg Miller
Dandelions—From Lawn to Lunch
Depending on your perspective, the little dandelion flowers that dot green lawns with yellow this time of year can be a cheerful sign of warmer days, a pesky weed to be destroyed or, once they've transformed into downy orbs, wish-fulfillment predictors.To others, they represent free lunch. Dandelio...
April 22, 2010 |
By Lisa Bramen
Give Sardines a Chance
As you may have heard, America's last sardine cannery closed down last week in Maine (though it may get a second life as a processing plant for other seafood).I was startled and a little confused by this news, because sardines seem to be so trendy these days, showing up on menus at both fine and ca...
April 20, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
Inviting Writing: Manners, Scrapple and Fake Vegetarians
This is the beginning of an experiment. Hypothesis: Everyone's got at least one good story to tell. And everyone eats, so I suspect many of you are harboring some wonderful food-related tales. Let's hear them!Here's how it works: Once a month, I'll give you a prompt—a word or general theme to use a...
April 06, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
The FDA Cracks Down on Food Health Claims
If you’re like one of my college roommates, who would probably eat tar if it was labeled “low-carb,” you might want to think again before you grab a product based on what it says on the box.Today, as the Washington Post reported, the Food and Drug Administration sent letters to 17 food producers be...
March 04, 2010 |
By Erica R. Hendry
Decoding Expiration Dates
Last week Nadia Arumugam in Slate validated my long-standing skepticism about food expiration dates. I have always operated on the assumption that if food looks okay, smells okay and tastes okay, it should be fine. I have been known to cut mold off a block of cheese and eat the rest.As Arumugam wri...
February 22, 2010 |
By Abby Callard
Eating Snow
It's been an unusual winter here in Washington, D.C., with dozens inches of snow so far in a region that usually escapes with a mere dusting. I grew up in Vermont, so waking up to white-washed views still makes me smile (at least, until I remember that I no longer live in the shadow of a ski resort...
February 04, 2010 |
By Amanda Bensen
