Bet You Didn't Know, Cane Toad Redux?, Mmm, Delicious ... Paper

Bet you didn't know

There's some interesting advice in the Feb. 28 issue of First for Women magazine, writes Robert Wolke of the University of Pittsburgh. He says he's learned the following advice from the magazine:

To help alleviate earache pain, heat half of an onion in the microwave for two minutes or until warm, but not hot. Wrap it in a soft cloth or paper towel, applying the flat side to the ear for 15 minutes. The heated vegetable emits sulfur, an anti-inflammatory gas that easily penetrates the ear canal to relieve pressure and pain.

Exposure to dry air from the heater can cause itchy skin. For a cure, add one cup of milk to the bathwater. It contains lactic acid, which sloughs away the dead skin cells that cause scratching.

Since red color molecules are smaller than other colors, they fade quickly.

To remove the white residue tracked onto hardwood floors and tiles during winter, pour a tablespoon of white vinegar onto a damp cloth and dab the marks, starting at the edge and working toward the center. The acid in vinegar neutralizes the salt particles.

And it seems even trade magazines aren't immune to confusing chemistry. Robert K. Bade of Bartlesville, Okla., draws attention to an article in the January issue of Sensors titled "Leak Testing with Hydrogen." One sentence about helium mass spectrometers is particularly confounding: "Furthermore, helium is viscous and can be hard to clean from the test equipment."

Cane toad redux?

In an effort to combat the spread of the foreign climbing fern Lygodium (Lygodium microphyllum), Florida state and federal government officials released the invasive Lygodium moth (Austromusotima camptonozale) into local habitats last week. According to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), the caterpillars of the moth eat Lygodium leaves, killing smaller plants and crippling larger ones. The moth is "the first of many biological control agents that will be released against Lygodium in Florida," the group says. "A complex of biological control agents will most likely be needed to subdue this vigorous weed."

This is not the first time Florida has dealt with invasion by a foreign plant species. During the 1980s, melaleuca, dubbed the "tree from hell," took over nearly half a million acres of land in the south of Florida, with ecologists predicting collapse of the Everglades ecosystem. A combination of herbicides and other control agents have since solved much of the problem, SFWMD says.

But the toads quickly became a plague of their own, consuming native fauna, breeding at prodigious rates, and poisoning wildlife with toxins. Not only did they have no effect on the cane beetle, forcing farmers to go back to chemical treatments, but the cane toads were resistant to control measures as well and now occupy large portions of land on the northwest coast of Australia.

Mmm, delicious ... paper

An article in the Feb. 3 New York Times titled "When the Sous-Chef Is an Inkjet" features the Moto restaurant in Chicago, where Executive Chef Homaro Cantu prepares food with a Canon printer. According to the article, Cantu prints images of food on edible paper made from soybeans and cornstarch, flavored with organic, food-based inks.

Two or more paper items are usually featured in Cantu's meals, which can include more than 10 tasting courses. Diners crush up the menu into their soups as well; it's edible and seasoned to match the other courses. Cantu has big goals for the future, as he plans to purchase a class IV laser to create new kinds of dishes and an ion-particle gun to levitate food. But eating at Moto is pricey: A full meal can cost $240 or more per person.

This week's column was written by Aalok Mehta . Please send comments and suggestions to newscripts@acs.org.