Archive for the “science!” Category

Perhaps it’s fitting that on this preliminary Boston election day it’s time for another Bacon Technology Update.  Alert porkavore Tangyslice gave me these last week:

Just so there’s no misunderstanding, let’s be clear: there is no actual pork – or actual mint for that matter – in these “bacon mints.” They are entirely synthetic and could probably be kosher if they were in fact food.  That’s what they are not.  Here’s what they are: baconesque.

They are uncannily reminiscent of bacon and yet utterly devoid of true bacon nature.  Miracle of science or sign of the apocalypse?  I’m not sure but after uncharacteristically poor service at Toro, I left the with the tip.

This weekend I went on a three-hour tour with the New England Aquarium’s whale watch with Professor M and her friend J.  An hour before the departure, I got the text message, “forgot Dramamine, please buy some before we leave” I couldn’t find any near the wharf, but was assured that it would be available on board, no doubt at extortionate prices.

We took seats inside the middle deck, plopping down at a table thoughtfully decked out with sick bags. Pretty much immediately after departure, the announcements of the availability of Dramamine started.  Well, the professor and I got the message and took the pills.  The hour-long trip to the whale zone was choppy, with 3-4 foot swells in the wine-dark sea.

I won’t dwell on this at length, but I will say that not in any given year of my college career, possibly not even in all four years, did I witness as much reverse peristalsis as I did on this cruise. Seriously, people – the concession stand sells just three things: soft drinks, hot dogs, and Dramamine – how could you all have picked the wrong two?

When we arrived at the Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary and cut the engines, the ride became a lot more comfortable, if a little chilly.  After some slow circles, we started to spot whales.  At first, a pair of relatively rare and fast-moving fin whales, and then later a couple of groups of humpbacks which came pretty close to the boat, or at least allowed the boat to approach them.

The light green area visible above next to the whale is actually its flipper, which is a much lighter color than the bulk of the animal, and often the first part you see through the water before its back and blowhole break the surface. The previously queasy were roused and inspired by even these fleeting glimpses.

The trip back was smoother, owing to the direction of current, but unfortunately a couple more lunches were lost before we returned to port.  Undeterred, we headed off around the corner to Sel de la Terre for dinner.

After warming ourselves with tea and coffee, we had an excellent roasted tomato soup with a taleggio crostini (crostino?) which was a highbrow version of the classic tomato soup and grilled cheese.  It doesn’t hold a candle to that available at Garden at the Cellar, but that’s probably not what Sel set out to do.

For an entree, I enjoyed the sautéed gnocchi with asparagus, foraged mushrooms and piave vecchio.  The rustic hand-cut gnocchi were almost smooth in texture, complemented by meaty mushrooms, sharp cheese and fresh asparagus.  Somehow the transition from the wild windy ocean to a cozy french table wasn’t jarring at all.

I was half-listening to the radio and I was pretty sure I heard the announcer say, “blah blah blah red tide blah blah surf clams and carnivorous snails…”  Carnivorous snails?? On the rampage and out for blood, causing the tide to run red??

OK, they’re not actually on a rampage, and they don’t look like that illustration.  But still, how embarrassing would it be to be so slow or unwary that you could be devoured by a snail?

A little surfing came up with this turgid notice from the Division of Marine Fisheries which outlines what critters are off-limits due to toxins produced by the algae that comprise red tide. I consider myself a somewhat adventurous eater, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen “carnivorous snail” on a menu.

Under authority of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 130, Section 74A and 75, the status of the below-defined areas have been changed to CLOSED TO THE TAKING OF BLUE MUSSELS, SURF CLAMS, CARNIVOROUS SNAILS AND WHOLE SEA SCALLOPS WITH THE EXCEPTION OF SEA SCALLOP ADDUCTOR MUSCLE effective immediately. Digging, harvesting or collecting and/or attempting to dig, harvest or collect shellfish and the possession of shellfish, including carnivorous snails, from the below- defined areas is prohibited.

By June 3, the red tide had at least partially subsided, as reported under the possibly punny headline, clam beds partially open but alas, (or fortunately, depending on your point of view) carnivorous snails are still off-limits.

The Division of Marine Fisheries has reopened clam beds in Essex Bay and the Annisquam River for softshell clams and razor clams … The beds remain closed to taking other shellfish including blue mussels, surf clams, carnivorous snails and whole sea scallops …

Answering my earlier question about just what a carnivorous snail might eat, I’ve learned that carnivorous snails have some sort of drill-like attachment that they use to bore holes in the shells of other shellfish in order to devour them.  Eek.  More horrifying mollusc-on-mollusc predation here, including, and I kid you not, “The cone snail: the bearer of flying venom-filled needle teeth.”  Not for the faint of heart.

A while ago I noted the appearance of a bacon chocolate bar, and I ate it.  Today I am recognizing the existence of gummy bacon – a gift from J – but I’m not actually going to try it.  Not because it’s gummy or because it contains titanium dioxide, actually I’m not going to eat this, not even in the name of science, because it’s artificial strawberry flavored.  Yech.  Nonetheless, the packaging is super cool, and in this day of swine flu anxiety, maybe the world needs more fake bacon.

Maybe Central Square isn’t going to the dogs after all.  This weekend I caught a performance of a stage adaptation of one of my favorite books ever, Alan Lightman’s Einstein’s Dreams.  The show is closed now, and you can read better reviews of it in the Phoenix for example.  I enjoyed it a great deal, but more than that, I’m happy that it was put on in a new theater space in my neighborhood in collaboration with another neighbor, MIT.

If you don’t know, the Central Square Theater opened this summer or fall at 450 Mass Ave, on or near what I think was once the site of Pho Republique.  The production of Einstein’s Dreams is the work of something called the Catalyst Collaborative, a joint venture of MIT and Underground Railway Theater (URT) for “creating and presenting plays that deepen public understanding about science, while simultaneously providing an artistic and emotional experience not available in other forms of dialogue about science.“  How cool is that?  In addition, I spotted MIT Prof. Robert Jaffe’s name on the advisory board – you might remember him from another excellent MIT arts collaboration, the MIT-Photographic Resource Center gallery at the Center for Theoretical Physics.  And yes, the show did feature blackboards.  The next Catalyst Collaborative joint is going to be Bertolt Brecht’s Life of Galileo – with puppets! – in conjunction with the Cambridge Science Festival in the spring.

One should’t have to choose, but I’d probably take a theater over a police station as a neighbor.  But I’d certainly rather have police patrolling the neighborhood than actors.