Whether your palate runs to domestic or imported, a piece of cheese can be a real treat for the senses. Its smell, taste, and texture are all parts of its appeal. A big part of what makes that savory wonderfulness comes from the microbes in and on the cheese. Thanks to a team of researchers dedicated to studying those microbes, we have a better understanding of their importance to cheese and us.
Earlier this year, NASA reported on findings that might point to water, and microbial life, on moons orbiting Jupiter and Saturn. Named Europa and Enceladus, those moons contain large oceans under their icy surfaces, which many speculate could hold microbial life.
Think of the coolest, most unique way to create art that you can. Got it? Now think about creating that art out of living things.
A terrifying antibiotic-resistant superbug, one thought to only infect hospital patients, has made its debut in the real world. For the first time ever, the superbug carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infected six people who hadn't been in or around a hospital in at least a year, and researchers aren't sure how they got infected.
When a dead body is discovered, finding out when the person died is just as important as finding out how the person died. Determining the time of death has always involved lots of complicated scientific detective work and less-than-reliable methods. However, a study by Nathan H. Lents, a molecular biologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, is the first of its kind to show how microbes colonize a body's ears and nose after death.
The headline above may have some spice addicts shaking their heads, but, believe it or not, there are people out there who either don't like or can't handle a ton of spice.
Bad news, guys. The shelf life for liquor leftovers does not apply to your two-buck chuck. While an opened bottle of your favorite whiskey will stay respectable for ages thanks to its high ABV (which makes it inhospitable to outside elements), an opened bottle of merlot will sour quickly. However, it turns out that red and white wines have different life spans once they're opened—for reasons which we'll cover below.
In order to make your food taste good, your favorite restaurant is most likely using way more salt than you think they are (among other pro secrets). Which is why when you ask just about any professional cook what the biggest problem with most home-cooked meals are, they almost always answer that they're "undersalted" or "underseasoned." (In cooking lingo, to "season" food means to salt it.)
Break out the office supplies and kitchen utensils, because improving your morning makeup routine is about to get a lot easier. Some of the things you have lying around the house can provide the perfect solution for some of the most common beauty problems. We've collected 10 of our favorites.
The paper towel is a wondrous invention. It allows cooks to wipe up really gross stuff without having to constantly do laundry and drain fried foods so they're crunchy and crispy instead of oily and heavy. But did you know that your humble paper towel has several other uses besides the obvious ones? Read on to find out these essential hacks.
The microwave oven is a monumental technological achievement that's saved college students and single people from starvation for decades. Almost 97% of all American households have one, which makes it the most-owned kitchen appliance in US homes right after the refrigerator.
Brining is magic. All you have to do is make a mild saline solution, toss in your protein of choice, let it soak, and cook. You end up with incredibly tender, flavorful meat or tofu for very little effort. So why aren't more of us doing it?
Fight me all you want, but it ain't a party without alcohol—whether it's a Halloween party, Christmas party, dinner party, or even a damn wedding. (If you think that people will stick around after dinner for a dry wedding, then you're sorely mistaken.)
In this video series, watch as Matt Cail teaches how to decorate for the Thanksgiving holidays. Learn how to use paper, balloons, pumpkins, plates, knick knacks, streamers, candles, and art to make your Thanksgiving a festive and beautiful gathering that will be remembered even after the world comes to an end and life as we know it has ceased to exist and cannot be found even in the collective memories of the fading atoms and molecules that use to comprise this cold, dark world.
The Interactive Lab Primer (ILP) has been developed as part of the Royal Society of Chemistry Teacher Fellowship Scheme, one of the themes of the Chemistry for Our Future program, and initiative which aims to secure a strong and sustainable future for the chemical sciences in higher education. The aim of the ILP is to address the diverse range of experience and skills students bring with them to a university by offering a resource to support their transition from school to the university chem...
Trippy! Get the kids around the table for this one.
Where would we be without science? Not everybody's always fresh as a daisy; try Odegon Technologies' iron-on "Odour Tags". When attached to clothing, the patches capture your odoriferous molecules in a carbon mesh. Somehow the patches don't come off in the wash and run about 18 bucks for a pack of six.
In this how-to video, you will understand how food becomes belly fat with Dr. Oz. As food is pushed down from the stomach, it is mixed with a bile to make the food easy to absorb. Green molecules will push up through the blue vein and into the liver. The liver will become a white color if you eat too much fatty foods. The momentum is what causes the belly to become extended, as it is pushed out overtime if too much fatty foods is consumed. The small bowel can become irritated by food, especia...
Check out this educational science video tutorial to learn the steps to properly culture myeloid dendritic cells from bone marrow precursors.
Here's a simple bar trick that you can pull off at your next alcohol-fueled gathering. Tap one beer bottle against another to freeze both beer bottles into solid ice in 2 to 3 seconds.
I first heard the term molecular gastronomy while watching an episode of Bravo's Top Chef a few seasons back. Intrigued by the concept, I sought to find out more about this modern, deconstructed type of cookery. If you happen to be around foodies and the topic of molecular gastronomy comes up (which very likely will at some point) you'll want to have a few points to contribute and maybe even give them a run for their money.
Making bread from scratch is extremely difficult. Painstakingly following instructions does not necessarily guarantee successful results. Baking delicious homemade bread takes practice, skill, and frankly, a level of real culinary artistry.
Welcome to Microwave Energy—the next part of my Making Electromagnetic Weapons series. For the Electromagnetic Pulse Generator, check out the last three articles (One, Two and Three).
Science is most marvelous when it's creating an explosion, even at the tiniest of proportions. In the video below, Daniel Rosenberg from Harvard's Natural Science Lecture Demonstration Services reveals the secret to shooting a cork rocket over twenty meters using a little chemistry and an ultraviolet LED light. Rosenberg, who's a research assistant and lecturer for the Natural Science division at Harvard, demonstrates what happens when hydrogen and chlorine are explosively "burned" together t...
PopSci's Gray Matter explains how to "hack light", a simple project that calls for glow sticks, diagonal cutters and Drano. Here's the science behind it:
The newest fuel alternative on the horizon? Pee. U.S. researchers have been experimenting with using urine as a method of producing hydrogen. Not only could this virtually free and readily available resource possibly power automobiles, but it could also aid in the clean up of municipal wastewater.
Turn a used toilet paper roll into a fantastical garden of colorful salt crystals! Creator Jim, AKA HvySteel, is part artist, part scientist. His HowTo brings back great memories of our youth.
WonderHowTo house favorite, Sam Nouyoun gives the lowdown on "fuming" super glue to develop latent fingerprints on smooth surfaces.
I woke up at 4:00 am this morning in order to take some video of the last total lunar eclipse visible from North America till 2014. The eclipse was beautiful. It was amazing to watch the shadow of our planet creep slowly across our nearest neighbor. Once the shadow was blocking out most of the light from the sun, the moon was significantly dimmer and the color had changed to a reddish orange. This color is caused by the same effect that makes our sunrises and sunsets so colorful. The light fr...
Mobile devices can do just about anything these days, thanks to third-party developers. iPhones and Android devices have been known to do some pretty wild things. Need a dupe key made? Scan and order one with your iPhone. Want to know if you're hotter than Justin Bieber? Compare your facial features. Are you a policeman who needs to ID a suspect? Scan their fingerprints and irides. Want to control your Canon DSLR remotely? Use your Android phone.
Giveaway Tuesdays has officially ended! But don't sweat it, WonderHowTo has another World that's taken its place. Every Tuesday, Phone Snap! invites you to show off your cell phone photography skills.
PopSci has compiled an amazing list of 30 college labs that would tempt anybody to re-enroll. If you know any high school juniors or prospective grad students, pass this along. They just might reconsider their initial choices.
No joke. This is not an Onion headline. This coming Friday, October 9th, NASA is actually planning on bombing the moon in search for water. The missile, a Centaur rocket, will blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aiming at the moon's South Pole. Scientists will then analyze the debris from the explosion for traces of water ice or vapor.
