Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2020 i Muse: The magazine of science, culture, and smart laughs for kids and children

Magic, Mirrors, Mechanics I have a lot to say, so sorry if this sounds a little jumbled. First of all, I’d like to point out that I’ve noticed a lot of people say stuff about the HPBs (hot pink bunnies) and how they’re evil and such, but I think they’re kind of cute. Second of all, my top three things are gears, mirrors, and magic. I’ve always liked mechanics and finding out how things work. Did you know that an internal combustion engine is powered by a bunch of tiny explosions? I’m also superstitious. I wish that Halloween wasn’t so stereotyped into some candy-eating holiday. The original point of dressing up was to scare spirits away. Muse is one of my favorite magazines ever! I really like the subjects you…

Pennsylvania native Leland Scales has been interested in food most of his life. He started working in restaurants when he was 14, then went to culinary school. He has a Master of Arts in food studies from Chatham University in Pittsburgh. There, he was introduced to the social justice side of the food system. He learned about introducing fairness into the process of growing, distributing, and buying food so less is wasted and people are able to get healthy food near where they live. Scales now works for an organization in Pittsburgh called 412 Food Rescue. He is part of a team of people who try to end food waste while working to make sure nobody goes hungry. AT CHATHAM UNIVERSITY YOU LEARNED ABOUT SOCIAL JUSTICE AND FOOD. HOW DID…

(The place food is grown) + (How many miles to my town) = food miles Choose a favorite meal and make a list of the main ingredients. How far did each ingredient travel to your hometown? Tip: when researching the origin of an ingredient, check the package or search for the state or country known for producing that food. Example lunch at Muse HQ INGREDIENTS Fruit Salad: strawberries, bananas, grapes, pineapple Burrito: rice, beans, tomato, avocado, cheese ORIGIN Origin of ingredients and approximate miles traveled to Chicago, Ill.: Avocado (Mexico) 1,822 Bananas (Ecuador) 3,075 Beans (North Dakota) 875 Grapes (California) 2,138 Pineapples (Costa Rica) 3,578 Rice (India) 8,031 Strawberries (Florida) 1,214 Cheese (Wisconsin) 174 Tomato (California) 2,138 MILES TRAVELED TO CHICAGO, ILLINOIS Fruit salad food miles…

it was the beginning of the twentieth century. City households depended on the “ice man” to deliver blocks of ice to keep their perishable foods cold. On rural farms, tiny buildings called springhouses were erected over a running creek. These served as storage rooms for cans of milk, crocks of butter, and fresh eggs. The cool temperature of the water running through the bottom of the springhouse helped keep food from spoiling. Families did not enjoy the modern marvel of a refrigerator or freezer. As urban populations increased, fewer people grew their own food or raised chickens at home. City dwellers depended on farmers for dairy, meat, and vegetables. However, buying fresh food was difficult. Farmers transported goods to market by train. Eggs, milk, and poultry often arrived damaged and…

WHAT ARE A NINJA’S FAVORITE SHOES? SNEAKERS! Did you laugh? Did you groan? You might have found this joke funnier if you heard someone else laughing at it, a new study shows. Researchers collected a set of cheesy “dad jokes.” They recorded a professional comedian reading the jokes aloud. Then they asked people to listen to the recordings and rate how funny each joke was, on a scale from 1 to 7. Sometimes, subjects heard a joke along with a recording of people laughing at something funny. At other times, there was a recording of people pretending to laugh. And sometimes people heard the jokes with no laughter at all. People thought these corny jokes were funnier when they heard laughter at the same time. Jokes with real laughter were…

DO YOU ALWAYS LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE? Do you see the glass as half-full? If so, here’s one more thing to smile about: You might live longer. Researchers used two large studies to look at how long optimists and pessimists live. The studies had followed large groups of men and women over many years. Participants had answered questions about their health, their attitudes, and other aspects of their lives. The data showed that the most optimistic people lived about 11 to 15 percent longer than the least optimistic people. Optimists were also more likely to live past the age of 85. One reason optimists live longer might be that they have healthier lifestyles, researchers say. Optimists might make healthier choices such as exercising, eating nutritious foods, and avoiding alcohol…

Iceland is appropriately named. Massive glaciers cover approximately 10 percent of the country. During its frigid winters, the sun peeks above the horizon for only about five hours a day. And if the cold and dark weren’t enough, rocky lava fields and a mountainous terrain stretch as far as the eye can see. Just under 20 percent of the land is used to grow crops or raise animals. Iceland seems to be one of the most unlikely places on Earth for farming. But bubbling just beneath the surface is a secret ingredient that has changed the country’s food landscape. With a Little Help from Geysers Pall Olafsson walks to work on his remote farm in northern Iceland. It is 11:00 a.m. in December, below freezing, and the sun has yet…

Q: Was there life on Mars ever? And if scientists found a way to live on a different planet, would they tell people they could live there and make it a new Earth?? —Emilyann O., age 11 A: Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, has been wondering about these two questions ever since he learned that Mars wasn’t always the frozen wasteland it is today. Billions of years ago, “Mars had rivers and lakes and oceans,” McKay says. To keep all that liquid water from freezing, Mars must have also been a lot warmer, with a thick atmosphere trapping the sun’s heat. In short, McKay says, ancient Mars “was very much like Earth.” So could life have evolved there too? McKay thinks it probably did, since…

Hi! I’m Divey. And this is my brother Dippy. We both know that stores often throw away food that is still good to eat—and that “dumpster diving” is a way to save this food from being wasted. But Dippy does it all wrong! As you shall see. (But DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME! Even Dippy knew I was going to say that.) DIVEY: I search for a dumpster near a grocery store and quietly check it out after the store’s closed. DIVEY: I look for boxes of pretty-good produce, big bags of baked goods, and non-perishable cans of things like tuna and soup. Dippy: I leap on top of a dumpster in broad daylight and proclaim: GOOD STUFF, HERE I COME!!! Dippy: I rescue seven gallons of melted ice cream…

THE MOON is not really made of cheese, of course. But a new company plants to make cheese on the moon. Most cheeses need to be “aged.” This is a process where the cheese stays in a controlled environment for days, months or even years. Aging the cheese helps its distinct flavor develop. A company called LunarFoodie says it can create cheeses like no one has ever tasted before—by aging them on the moon. LunarFoodie plans to land its first cheese-aging spacecraft on the moon sometime in 2021. When the cheeses are ready to eat, the robotic craft will return to Earth. The first types for sale will be Moonchego, Moonterey Jack, and Blue Moon.…

About 50 percent of food in the United States is wasted. Let that sink in. Half of all food produced for the country actually gets eaten. The rest of it—over 60 million tons each year—ends up in landfills. That’s the weight of four bags of flour per person, per month. Rotting food emits methane, a gas that traps heat in the atmosphere and contributes to a warming climate. And landfilled food is not the only environmental concern. “It’s not just what you buy or consume, but the resources used to put it on your plate,” says Celise Vaughn, a vice president at food and product packaging company Sealed Air. “When food is wasted, we lose everything that went into producing and transporting that food.” Those wasted resources include freshwater, land,…

You’re standing at a city bus stop, waiting for a bus to arrive. You wait and you wait. There’s supposed to be a bus every 10 minutes, but you haven’t seen one for at least 20 minutes. Finally, a bus arrives. It’s full of people. Just as you try to squeeze yourself in, you spot another bus coming down the street, and another one behind it! What’s going on? Why do buses always seem to come in bunches instead of at regular intervals? Some people claim that bus bunching doesn’t happen very often. They say that passengers tend to remember the few times when more than one bus arrives at a stop and to forget the many more times when a bus arrives alone. Mathematicians who study traffic, however, say…

When Annabel Bradbury was earning a bachelor’s degree in Human Geography, she traveled from her home in the UK to southern India. There, she collected data for two months about people who frequently move from one place to another. The research informed her final paper. Bradbury felt a growing interest in working overseas, particularly in relatively poor nations (sometimes known as developing countries). Later she worked in the international department of a research institution for transportation. The institution sponsored her PhD, giving her the chance to work while earning another degree in geography. In graduate school, Bradbury focused on the importance of accessibility and mobility in three developing countries: Cameroon, Zambia, and Kenya. Now, at another international company, she helps manage projects related to rural roads and transportation in Sub-Saharan…

Don’t be too hard on that droopy slice of tomato on your sandwich. It’s had a long trip. And, if your carrot sticks have lost their crunch, give ’em a break. They’ve likely traveled around 1,500 miles (2,400 km) to your lunch plate. The lettuce in your dinner salad may have had an even longer journey . . . more than 2,000 miles (3,200 km)! Our food tends to be less tasty and less healthy when it travels long distances. What’s more, the vehicles that move it contribute to a warming climate. But a group of high school students in the Bahamas can show us a delicious way to reduce food miles. A Different Kind of Classroom No internet, no cell phones, no grades. At the Cape Eleuthera Island School…

AQUAPONICS combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (farming crops in water, without soil). Fish poop feeds the plants and the plants filter the water, returning clean water to the fish. Here’s how pet fish can help you grow vegetables and herbs indoors—no soil required. You’ll need Materials for fish tank: Fish tank, 5 to 10 gallons Air pump sized for the number of gallons in tank Air stone (1–3") Increases oxygenation in the water Small circulation or fountain pump Water pump tubing or hose Drain tubing or hose Air tubing Connects the air pump to the air stone Goldfish or guppies, numbered according to size of tank Fish food Optional: aquarium gravel, airline “check valve,” and 3-tiered wire shelving unit Materials for garden bed: Sturdy, rectangular plastic dishpan: 14-quart size…