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[ad_1] I n the hipster precincts of Brooklyn, New York, it's getting so you can't ride your fixie down the street without getting your mustache caught in a banjo string. The same type of cultural giggle might be had about a certain fungus, which has, for the past two years, been colonizing the menus of America's top foodie establishments. It's called Aspergillus oryzae, otherwise known as koji, and chefs are slathering it on everything from salad dressings to steaks. Koji ferments food. The Japanese have used it for centuries to make soy sauce, miso, and natural sweeteners. They also use it to brew sake. It's considered the national mold. Kind of like a microscopic mascot that imparts umami wherever it goes. The science behind koji is less well-known. Its spores are fond of hot and humid environments (what spore isn't?), and grows on cooked rice. As they get bigger, they release biochemical agents-protease enzymes that break down protein and amylases that digest...

[ad_1] Most people in America want labels telling them which food is genetically modified. Whatever you think about whether they should or shouldn’t avoid them, more than 90 percent of us want to at least be informed. This has caused something of a rift in the people who study the world of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). One side says that the public is irrationally afraid of GMOs without really knowing anything about them, and that attaching labels to food indicating the presence of a GMO would likely make people averse to buying something that’s perfectly safe. The other side says that whether people are informed or not is beside the point. If people want to avoid GMOs, whether because they think it might harm their health or because of a general distaste for the Big Ag companies that produce GMOs, that’s their prerogative, and they have a right to know what’s in their food. America has never had GMO labels, and so all experts could do was make educated ...

[ad_1] Lego blocks destroy the feet of groggy parents around the world, but as a new study from the University of Texas at Austin demonstrates, these mutable children’s toys can also be used for good—in this case, as a simple- and inexpensive-to-construct scientific apparatus. In the aftermath of a nerve gas attack like the ones that have allegedly occurred in Syria, one of the biggest issues first responders face is figuring out what deadly nerve agent was used. If detection happens fast enough, it can save lives. But the conventional equipment that’s used to ID different nerve gases is expensive and hard to move around. However, as this new paper shows, it should be possible to do this analysis in the field using little more than a smartphone and some Lego blocks. This design builds on earlier work by UT Austin chemist Eric Anslyn and his team. He developed a chemical compound that glows different colors depending on which nerve agent is it exposed to, simultaneously...

[ad_1] This story was originally published on PopPhoto.com. This month Sony announced an updated model to the compact RX line with the introduction of the RX100 VI. We’ve been big fans of this line of compacts since they were first released in 2012 but the compact camera market has changed profoundly since then, leaving only a few high-end models alive, with the RX100 sitting at the top of the pecking order. The VI brings familiar features and form factor, but changes it up in a major way when it comes to the lens. The RX100 VI features the familiar 20.1 MP 1.0-type stacked Exmor RS CMOS image sensor with DRAM chip, upgraded BIONZ X image processing system and a Fast Hybrid AF system with 315-point phase-detection AF points that cover 65 percent of the sensor. According to Sony the updated AF system allows the camera to focus in as little as 0.03 seconds--the fastest for cameras with a 1.0 sensor. The 24-200mm lens isn’t the only major upgrade though. The RX100 VI also utili...

[ad_1] Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom has reportedly said the photo-sharing app’s motto is “do one thing and do it well." For a time, that ethos was clear, and a generation of users came to rely on Instagram as one of the most serene places on the web—a self-curated chronological scrapbook with vacation pics, fashion shots, and unlimited foodie content. Where other apps were pushy, busy, and bright, Instagram’s focus didn’t seem to be on engagement; it seemed to be on the edit. But that’s all changed. In 2018, Instagram is less pastoral playground and more Frankensteined fun house, chock-a-block with features. Instead of doing one thing (photo-sharing), it’s increasingly trying to do everything. In 2013, it released a direct messaging function, which dramatically expanded in 2015. That same year, Instagram ditched its signature square crop in equanimous favor of all photo types. In late 2016, it added Stories, a Snapchat-like service that al...

[ad_1] H uman babies are born half-baked and vulnerable, and around 303,000 women died giving birth in 2015. No other primate has such a brutal labor or an infancy so long and helpless. Some scientists blame our precarious reproductive state on 6 million years of evolutionary pressure—and the resulting biomechanical compromises. It all started with armfuls of fruit. As humanity’s African homeland became a mix of forest and savanna, our predecessors had to go vast distances to gather grub. Walking in long strides—without chimplike swagger or knuckle dragging—made it easier to carry food. Over thousands of generations, the pelvis shifted to make our new method of locomotion more efficient. The tops of the hip bones flared, and the pubic bone moved toward the bottom of the spine, shifting the shape of the birth canal. Its inlet—a baby’s first hurdle in the adventure of birth—widened side to side. ­Offspring now needed to twist t...

[ad_1] NASA researchers announced today that the James Webb Space Telescope would not be launched until March 2021, another delay of many for the long-anticipated space telescope. This past March, NASA announced it would push the launch of JWST back from 2019 to 2020 to allow for additional testing. The space-based observatory, which entered development in 1996, was initially supposed to launch between 2007 and 2011. It didn’t. Technical challenges delayed the spacecraft, and as the years passed, the costs kept adding up. Construction on the telescope was completed in 2016, but issues in testing caused more delays. The estimated tally for the project now rests at $9.66 billion, with the cost of development at $8.8 billion. That does not include money spent on the project by the European Space Agency or Canadian Space agency, both partners on the effort. The final decision on funding for the JWST rests with Congress. NASA has enough funding to cover the project through 2019, but wi...