April 12, 2021

GASTRO OBSCURA The Joys of Sour Orange Pie As anyone who visits Florida knows, the state’s sweet calling card is Key lime pie. But Key lime’s cousin—sour orange pie—is not nearly as famous in the Sunshine State. And yet, their recipes are almost identical. Both have a graham-cracker crust topped with a tangy, condensed milk–based custard. The only real difference is the fruit that’s supplying each pie’s signature flavor. The story of how one pie was catapulted into the spotlight, while another remained an obscure, though beloved, regional specialty is one of misadventures, clever marketing, and a fruit’s inability to shake its bitter reputation. READ MORE → How PPE Endangers Wildlife Humans have now been living alongside COVID-19 for more than a year—and that means other animals have, too. For months, scientists have suspected that animals are affected by the disposable masks, plastic gloves, and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that people lost or discarded around parks, waterways, and other public spaces. Now researchers have pulled together observations from several countries to see how creatures are grappling with our castoffs. READ MORE → IRKUTSK, RUSSIA The Irkutsk Babr Thanks to a spelling mistake this bizarre beaver-tiger hybrid became the symbol of a Siberian town. The symbol was outlawed during the Soviet era, but it has been restored in modern times, to the delight of locals. READ MORE → Lake Livestock When Kyle Stone tries to explain his work, he sometimes compares it to keeping track of cows in a field. His job is to make sure there are enough cows in the pasture to keep it from getting overgrown, but not too many, so there’s enough grass to go around. Except his cows are tiny aquatic creatures called brine shrimp, they eat algae instead of grass, and there are about 17 trillion of them. Abundant as the brine shrimp seem, scientists are watching closely, as the future of the brine shrimp, and the lake overall, is uncertain, with climate change and water use threatening the lake’s very existence. READ MORE → NEW SMYRNA BEACH, FLORIDA Old Fort Park Walking up to the ruins along a paved footpath, this initially appears to be an 18th-century Spanish fortification. The site itself is named after a Scottish physician Andrew Turnbull, who established the colony of New Smyrna in 1767. Turnbull built his settlement during Florida’s British period which lasted approximately 20 years, from 1763 to 1783. READ MORE → FROM THE ARCHIVES Isolation Accents Linguists know something about how new languages evolve. After subtle accent changes comes the development of dialects, and after dialects, whole new tongues. And isolation is key to the whole process. So in 2017, when Jonathan Harrinton, a linguist, got word of a new cohort about to spend four months isolated on Antarctica, he saw an opportunity to map the first step in that phenomenon. Could they develop a whole new accent? READ MORE → SAPPORO, JAPAN Dog's Roasted Sweet Potato Stand Who’s the best dog in the world? We could debate this question for hours, but undoubtedly, Ken-kun, the proprietor of the Inu no Yakiimoyasan sweet potato stand in Sapporo is up there. Loyal, friendly, and steadfast, this friendly salesman greets visitors and welcomes them to sample his signature roasted sweet potatoes. He can’t give you change, though. After all, he’s still a dog. READ MORE →