The debt we owe to wasps
"If wasps didn't exist, picnics would be a lot more fun," says a Discover magazine blog. "But the next time you find yourself trying to dodge a flying, jam-seeking harpoon, think about this: without wasps, many of your ingredients might not exist at all. Irene Stefanini and Leonardo Dapporto from the University of Florence have found that the guts of wasps provide a safe winter refuge for yeast – specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the fungus we use to make wine, beer and bread. And without those, picnics would be a lot less fun."
Bean farmers get lucky
"Sohan Singh's shoeless children have spent most of their lives hungry, dirty and hot," writes Gardiner Harris in The New York Times. "A farmer in a desert land, Mr. Singh could not afford anything better than a mud hut and a barely adequate diet for his family. But it just so happens that when this hard little bean that Mr. Singh grows is ground up, it becomes an essential ingredient for mining oil and natural gas in a process called hydraulic fracturing. Halfway around the world, earnings are down for an oil-services giant, Halliburton, because prices have risen for guar, the bean that Mr. Singh and his fellow farmers raise. … The increase in guar prices is helping to transform this part of the state of Rajasthan in northwestern India, one of the world's poorest places. Tractor sales are soaring, land prices are increasing and weddings have grown even more colourful. 'Now we have enough food, and we have a house made of stone,' Mr. Singh said proudly while his rail-thin children stared in awe. Guar, a modest bean so hard it can crack teeth, has become an unlikely global player, and dirt-poor farmers like Mr. Singh have suddenly become a crucial link in the energy security of the United States."
Pass the caterpillars
Because of their abundance, moths are major players at the bottom of the food chain, a source of food for bats and, as caterpillars, for nesting birds, reports Our Amazing Planet. "In some parts of the world, moths are a major food source for people, too. More than 90 per cent of people in some African countries eat moth and butterfly caterpillars, according to a 2004 survey by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Caterpillars are filled with proteins and healthy fats, and research shows that 100 grams of these insects provides more than 100 per cent of the daily requirement of some vital minerals, such as potassium, calcium, zinc and iron."
Big bucks in image-polishing
"Internet damage control has become a booming industry," reports The Seattle Times. "American companies will spend $2.2-billion (U.S.) in 2012 for 'reputation and presence management,' according to Jed Williams, senior analyst for BIA/Kelsey, a media-consulting firm based in Chantilly, Va. By 2015, that sum will grow to $5-billion, says Mr. Williams. At reputation.com, a Redwood City, Calif., image-fixing firm, businesses can pay several thousand dollars to 'make sure customers only see the truth about your business by eliminating negative material from your top search results.' That negative material would include not only bad online reviews, but repostings of embarrassing tweets."
House fires hotter, faster
"The increase in plastics and other synthetics in homes and the new 'open concept' results in houses burning hotter and faster, U.S. researchers said," reports United Press International. "Members of the New York City Fire Department, the National Institute of Standards and Technology and Underwriters Laboratory set fire to 20 abandoned townhouses on an island in New York City to do 'live burn' experiments. … Because homes [these days] contain less wood, wool and cotton, and more plastics, fires are faster and hotter, which results in a shorter time for flashover – when heat builds up in a burning structure's contents to the point that they burst into flames simultaneously."
Women can find their way
"One stereotype that has plagued women," says The Boston Globe, "is the notion that they have trouble with spatial thinking; they're forced to ask directions, aren't as good at parallel parking, and so on. But are women really handicapped in this regard? Comparing wayfinding performance at an international orienteering competition, a recent study found that in fact men were no better at it than women. The authors conclude that the typical woman is disadvantaged at spatial thinking only to the extent that she doesn't get as much experience."
Death by chewing gum?
"A [New Zealand] man who chewed gum 'all the time' possibly fell asleep while chewing it and choked, a coroner has found," The New Zealand Herald reports. "Stephen Ngatai, 60, was found dead in his bed at his Patea home on Jan. 23. [This week,] coroner Tim Scott released findings into Mr. Ngatai's death, saying that while the cause of death could not be ascertained with certainty, it was possible he died of asphyxiation or choking caused by chewing gum. Police who attended said there appeared to be a ball of chewing gum coming from Mr. Ngatai's mouth."
Thought du jour
"Why do we believe that in all matters the odd numbers are more powerful?"
– Pliny the Elder, Roman naturalist (23-7959AD)