Culinary

EU researchers are coming up with advanced technologies to spot early signs of fatigue and erratic behaviour in people behind the wheel. By Tom Cassauwers - When Carlo Polidori is driving and starts rubbing the back of his neck, he knows it’s probably time to take a break. The act is a sign that he’s getting tired behind the wheel. Polidori, who is president of the Italian Association of Road Safety Professionals, drove for decades without being aware of his habit. He spotted it in 2022 when joining an EU project to come up with an advanced electronic device that can check people’s driving performance. Drowsy signs  ‘Before, I had no idea that this was an indicator I’m getting fatigued,’ said Polidori, whose...

Yvonne Prince, Cape Peninsula University of Technology; Glenda Mary Davison, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, and Tandi Matsha-Erasmus, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University A recent report by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that 8 million people die annually from smoking related complications. Despite efforts by governments and various organisations to create awareness about the...

Allan Steigleman, University of Florida and Elizabeth M. Hofmeister, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences Cataract surgery is one of the most popular and commonly performed procedures in the world. The vast majority of patients have excellent outcomes with few complications. Here are the numbers: By age 80, over half of all Americans have cataracts. Close to 4 million cataract surgeries are performed in the U.S. every year. Over 90% of patients have 20/20 vision with glasses after surgery, although those with other eye conditions may not do as well, including those with glaucoma, a progressive disease typically associated with elevated pressure within the eye; diabetic retinopathy, which ultimately can cause leakage in the retinal tissues; and macular degeneration, a disease that is typically related to age. The rate of post-surgery infection from endophthalmitis...

Jacobo García Queiruga, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela and Verónica Noya Padín, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela Nowadays you can buy a cheap pair of sunglasses just about anywhere – from supermarkets and petrol stations to corner shops and online fashion retailers, but such ubiquity may prompt doubts as to the protection they can offer. While their lenses usually meet certain minimum UV protection requirements, their quality in other respects, such as visual clarity, is dismal. Opticians, however, are governed by national health regulations, meaning that they have to meet higher standards such as the CE and UKCA marks. Professional opticians are therefore much better equipped to help customers find sunglasses...

It's in the small choices you make on the plate that a humble meal transforms into something memorable. You can treat plating as a language: color, texture, and placement become your vocabulary. When you approach a dish with intention, even simple ingredients sing. You start by thinking of balance. Place the main element slightly off-center to create visual interest, then add supporting components in varying shapes and sizes. Use height to catch the eye-stack, lean, or layer elements rather than laying everything flat. Negative space matters: leaving empty areas gives each item room to be noticed. Your palette should include contrast. Combine bright vegetables with neutral proteins, add glossy sauces against matte components, and finish with a pop of fresh herbs or citrus zest. Color contrast not only looks appealing but...

Derek Mitchell, University of Leeds - When people think of honey bees, they often think of classic wooden hives, in which beekeepers are having to breed more and more bees just to keep managed populations stable. These man-made boxes, designed to facilitate pollination and honey production in an era before animal welfare was considered, are the hives in which scientists study honey bees. However, these boxes have little in common with the wild nests that featured in honey bee evolution. Are we are missing something from the evolution of wild bees that might help managed bees today? Honey bees, originally a tropical insect, colonised cold climates 600,000 years ago by evolving...

Your cooking improves fastest when you build a reliable...

Skills grow when you practice deliberately in the kitchen,...

Berlin (ots) - A recent study by Wageningen University &...

Yvonne Prince, Cape Peninsula University of Technology; Glenda Mary...