News: Bird Flu Is Circling in China Again—Here's How It Could Develop into an Outbreak
Avian flu is making the news again with new human cases in China reported in January. What does "avian flu" mean to you—and how dangerous is it?
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Bye Bye, OJ: How a Blue-Bellied Insect Helps Bacteria Kill Off Citrus Crops
A tiny louse is responsible for decimating the citrus industry. Diaphorina citri, the louse in question, better known as the Asian citrus psyllid, harbors and spreads the "Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus" bacteria that causes citrus greening disease.
News: New Doggy Flu Vaccine Could Stop Outbreaks, Keep Pets Healthy
You know the signs—sneezing, fever, nagging cough, no energy, no appetite. It's the flu, but this time, it's your dog who's down and out. Yes, dogs get the flu, too. However, a team from the University of Rochester Medical Center and their collaborators have developed a new vaccine that may make the doggy flu a thing of the past.
News: Genetically-Modified Parasites Could Save People from Malaria
You might feel the bite, you might not, but an infected mosquito has injected you with a parasite named Plasmodium falciparum, a single-cell protozoa that quickly takes up residence in your body.
News: Visiting a National Park in the East? Watch for Lyme-Spreading Ticks
Transmitted by ticks, Lyme disease is a serious infection that is probably headed your way. A recent study confirms the pathogen that causes Lyme disease is now established in nine national parks in the East, including Acadia and Shenandoah National Parks.
News: 'Vampire' Bacteria May Lead Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance
New weapons are needed to combat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Instead of drugs, scientists have discovered in an animal study that they may be able to harness vampire bacteria to vanquish pneumonia.
TESTED: 10 Secret & Bizarre Chili Ingredients—Here's the Best
It's that time of the year, y'all—when the air becomes crisp, the nights grow long, and people crave hearty, warm soups and stews. And of all the season's offerings, my hands-down favorite has to be chili: It's versatile, meaty, and above all else, it's damn easy to make. (Thank you, Lord, for the slow cooker. Amen.)
News: AltspaceVR's Democracy Plaza Puts You in the Middle of the 2016 Election
Most of us don't get the opportunity to see election coverage first hand, but with virtual reality, we're not as restricted. AltspaceVR has teamed up with NBC News to let you log in on your computer or VR headset and actually take part in the action—just not physically.
How To: Clone Shake Shack's Bacon CheddarShack Burger
Most people I've talked to agree that Shake Shack has mastered the upscale, fast food hamburger quite well. So when a new burger comes out on the ultra-popular fast food chain's menu, you've got to take notice—even if you live nowhere near one.
How To: Have Your Wine & Eat It Too with These 7 Boozy Dinner Ideas
From vodka to beer, booze is great for drinking, great for mixing, and, yes, great for cooking with. But there's really no alcohol better for bringing into the kitchen than wine. From savory dishes to sweet ones, wine is so versatile that it can make almost any meal better. And contrary to popular belief, it's easy to cook with.
How To: 7 Must-Know Tricks to Master Your Samsung Galaxy S7
When the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge came to market in 2016, they were universally praised as being the pinnacle of Android smartphone design, even topping Consumer Reports' smartphone ratings.
How To: Chickpea Liquid Makes a Fantastic Vegan Mayonnaise
We had some friends over for a barbecue a few weeks back. Among other items, this outdoor soirée featured an epic potato salad (bacon, basil, crushed potato chips, pickles—the whole nine yards). And, like many potato salads, ours was made with a hearty amount of mayonnaise.
How To: 8 Easy Ways to Enjoy Eating Octopus
The octopus is famous for its bulbous head, enormous eyes, and four pairs of long arms. The stuff of legends and nightmares, octopi have been featured in stories, artwork, and meals galore. But how do you eat this distinctive looking, bilaterally symmetrical sea creature?
How To: Get Your Master Griller's License with These BBQ Tips
We love standing around a barbecue with an icy cold beverage in hand, enjoying the delicious smell of smoky food and chit-chatting with pals. Grilling season — it's our favorite time of the year.
How To: It's Actually Really Simple to Make Fritos, Doritos, & Tostitos at Home
Chips are one of the most overpriced snacks on the market, and they're wildly unhealthy... even though they don't need to be.
How To: 5 Fantastic Ways to Cook with Leftover Lemon Peels
Lemon peels have long been known for their ability to be home remedies for cleaning and medicinal needs. In the kitchen, they are equally as useful and can transform many common dishes and drinks into more memorable ones with just a hint of citrus. To give you some ideas, below are five ways that lemon peels can spruce up your recipes.
How To: 8 Easy Ways to Remove Cigarette Smoke Smells from Your Car
The lingering smell of cigarette smoke can bother just about anyone, including smokers themselves. Unfortunately, it can be quite difficult to mask or completely get rid of the smell altogether. While you can go through extremes like washing and even repainting the walls in your home, those options don't exist when the odor is in your car.
How To: Screw Sandwiches—Toast Is Where It's At
Local cafés and food bloggers are catching onto a gourmet toast trend that makes bread and butter look like movies before color TV was invented.
How To: Why You Don't Actually Need Any Pans to Bake Like a Pro
If you're anything like me, the urge to bake comes in waves. Winter constitutes an especially large wave; when I need to put on a few extra pounds for insulation, I go a bit carb crazy and take any opportunity to make breads, pies, and cakes.
How To: 5 Delicious Foods to Boost Your Mood & Shake the Winter Blues
Winter and the winter holidays in general are a time of joy, laughter, and love… but not for everyone. For some, the stress of preparing for parties, hosting family, traveling long distances in bad weather, and just keeping up with your daily routine can start to bring you down.
How To: 5 Surprising Uses for Your Coffee Grinder
During my time living in dorm rooms and small apartments, I would find myself in need of many different appliances—a food processor for making hummus, a blender for vegetable smoothies, or even a mortar and pestle for muddling mojito-bound mint leaves. Luckily, there was one tiny, inconspicuous tool that solved all of these problems: the coffee grinder.
How To: Trick Beef Lovers into Eating Your Turkey Burgers
I recently had a small gathering of friends over for a quick cookout consisting of mostly burgers on the grill. One of my friends informed me beforehand that she didn't eat red meat, but that she would be perfectly okay with eating a turkey burger.
How To: The Lazy Person's Guide to 'Homemade' Chicken Noodle Soup
One of the best things about cold weather is soup, and there's nothing more comforting than a great chicken noodle soup. But I've often grabbed a can from the grocery store and found the chicken dried out and over-processed... and the noodles soggy and tasteless. What's worse: there's never enough of the stuff you like (such as the vegetables) and too much of what you don't (the nasty stuff I mentioned above).
Mulling Spices: The Process for Making a Great-Tasting Giftable Drink
Nothing signals the end of fall and the start of winter like hot, seasonal drinks. And while pumpkin spice lattes may be the flavor of the day, and eggnog the Christmas favorite, one seasonal drink stands apart in my eyes: mulled cider.
How To: How We Feasted Like Kings on… Instant Ramen?
I held the orange packet in my hands and presented it to my friend, Seth, as though it were a plastic-wrapped jewel—rather than three ounces of dehydrated noodles.
How To: 12 Browser Add-Ons for Reddit Pros
Reddit, the self-proclaimed "front page of the internet," continues to take a big bite of my free time each and every day, as well as millions of its other users'. The clicking and scrolling through page after page never gets old, but you could speed things up with a few browser extensions and double your Reddit knowledge in half the time. Here are my favorite extensions you can try out for the Chrome, Firefox, and Safari web browsers.
How To: Make Rotisserie-Style Chicken at Home Using a Bundt Pan
Nothing makes my stomach growl and my mouth water quite like the smell of roasting chicken. It's a pretty universal reaction, too—there's a reason every grocery store places its rotisserie grills and delis near the entrance, after all.
How To: Cook Fish Without Actually 'Cooking' It
Preparing and serving seafood can be a daunting task. Fish is so delicate that one extra minute of heat can turn a juicy, flaky filet into a dried-out disaster. But that same fragility also allows us to use unconventional methods to chemically transform the fish into its cooked consistency.
How To: 5 Reasons You Need a Pizza Stone in Your Kitchen
It goes without saying that a pizza stone is one of the keys to making a perfect pizza. The science behind pizza stones is relatively simple: the stone conducts and holds heat, which keeps the oven temperature steady even when a cold ingredient (such as an uncooked pizza) is introduced. This not only helps the pizza cook more evenly, but also allows the bottom to get crisp.
Food Tool Friday: Build Your Kitchen with These Five Buy-It-for-Life Tools
One of my favorite things to do when I visit my parents is cook. Aside from the fact that I adore cooking with my mom, there's something comforting about returning to the kitchen that I first started playing in 20 years ago. Nearly all of the tools and appliances are the same ones that I used as a kid, and the familiarity is palpable.
How To: Make 5 Amazing Appetizers Using the Same 3 Ingredients
When you look at an Italian flag, what do you see? Green, white, and red? Well, I see a Caprese salad. And no, I do not need to have my vision checked. It simply means that I have the eyes of a chef.
How To: 10 Clever Ways to Cook Out Without a Grill
Whether it's the start, middle, or end of summer, it's prime-time grilling season. If you find yourself without a grill, however, it may seem as if half your summer plans of swimming by the pool while stuffing hot dogs in your face could be ruined.
News: The Intriguing Allure of Eating Crickets
When I was younger, my best friend's dad would always give us a lollipop on long car rides. I remember three things about those lollipops: they were bright green, tasted delicious, and had a cricket in the center. You know, like a Tootsie Roll Pop... only instead of a Tootsie Roll, a cricket.
How To: 5 Chrome Extensions That Make Buying from Amazon Even Better
Amazon makes it exceptionally easy to purchase anything you want in just a few minutes. From textbooks for school to live ladybugs, its more surprising when you can't have something delivered to your doorstep in a few day's time.
Pop Rocks Recipes: Add Some Fireworks to Your Food
If you're a child of the '70s, then you'll probably remember Pop Rocks, those fizzy little candies that created such a buzz. They went out of style in the States for a while, but now they're back with retro status. I was surprised to see them in my kids' Halloween bags a few years ago, and one taste brought me back to my childhood.
How To: Deconstructed Sushi for All the Flavor & None of the Labor
If you're a sushi lover but not an expert sushi maker, you can still enjoy the flavors of sushi rolls at home with these deconstructed sushi dishes.
How To: 5 Delicious Ways to Reinvent Your Stale Potato Chips
Now that the Super Bowl is over, you might find that you have an econo-sized bag or two of opened potato chips slowly going stale in your pantry. After all, there are only so many bowls of Buffalo Chicken Pizza Beer Dip you can eat with 'em—and you definitely don't want them to get so old that you have to throw them out.
How To: 5 Common Kitchen Mistakes You Always Make & Need to Avoid
A little cooking mistake can lead to tough meat, spoiled food, and even a bacterial explosion in your kitchen if you're not careful. These five simple, easy-to-fix kitchen mistakes are some of the most commonly made in households around the world. Luckily, you can correct these innocent errors with just a few minor tweaks.
Food Tool Friday: Why Pros Use Carbon Steel Knives
A good, sharp knife is a cook's best friend, which is why there's so much passionate debate about what kind you should get. Most enthusiastic home cooks opt for a stainless steel knife, but it turns out there's a different option that the pros favor, and that's carbon steel.
Weird Ingredient Wednesday: Cook with Lapsang Souchong Tea
Like cigars and whiskey, Lapsang Souchong tea is an acquired taste. Some people never get over the pungent, tarry flavor and intense smell of the beverage, but using it as a rub, marinade, or other seasoning is totally smart. The tea adds a smoky yet not overwhelming flavor to dishes of all kinds. With it, you can easily get barbecue-like results for meats and vegetables, all without breaking out the grill. Lapsang Souchong tea smells like a dry campfire and tastes like a smoked sausage cooke...