In the first few years of our relationship, Neil and I used to start the new year by making a (short) list of the achievements of the old year and the plans for the new one. Then came 2003 and the big achievement was getting pregnant of twins, followed by 2004 when they were born. After that, it all became a blur. In the beginning of 2008, I sort of restarted the tradition with this blog, plannning the highlight of 2008: the celebration of my 40th, Neil's 50th, our 10th anniversary together. Now, I am going to do the whole thing. So, here are the highlights of 2008 (to keep updating!):
my 40th birthday
Neil's 50th birthday
the 10th anniversary of our relationship, together with the 7th wedding anniversary, that we almost forgot on the day...
the kids 4th birthday and the huge birthday party we had for all of us
the trip to the UK
this blog, which became a diary of sorts
the conference I organized for my ex-supervisor
a couple of weekends away, traveling a little bit more in Portugal
O Mark perdeu o cão e o coelho de peluche (esqueceu-se de onde os tinha enfiado...) e eu chamei-lhe cabeça de alho chocho. Foi a melhor piada do ano, os miúdos não paravam de rir. Fica aqui a História do Dia:
Era uma cabeça de alho chocho. Não fixava nada. A mãe dizia-lhe: – Vai à farmácia e traz-me um frasco de álcool. Vai à padaria e traz-me meia dúzia de pãezinhos. Ela ia à farmácia e pedia: – Meia dúzia de pãezinhos se faz favor. – Não temos – diziam-lhe, na farmácia. Ia à padaria e pedia: – Um frasco de álcool, se faz favor. – Não temos – diziam-lhe, na padaria. Então ele voltava para casa e despachava-se assim: – Está tudo esgotado, mãe. Posso ir brincar? Outras vezes, a mãe dizia-lhe: – Vai à mercearia e compras-me três quilos de bacalhau e cento e vinte cinco gramas de azeitonas pretas. Passado um bocado, ele, o cabeça de alho chocho, voltava ao pé-coxinho pelo passeio e despachava-se assim: – Mãe, eles na mercearia dizem que cento e vinte e cinco de bacalhau nem que fossem só espinhas e três quilos de azeitonas pretas não têm que chegue. Posso ir brincar? Mas a mãe não desistia. No Natal, recomendou-lhe: – Levas este embrulhinho para o vizinho Almiro e este bolo de amêndoas para a tia Clotilde, com as nossas boas festas. Recado feito, voltava ele, o cabeça de alho chocho: – Ó mãe, o vizinho Almiro agradece, mas diz que não pode comer bolos, porque é diabético e a tia Clotilde, depois de abrir o embrulho, perguntou-me se andamos a brincar com ela ou quê... A propósito, posso ir brincar? Sabem o que continha o embrulho? Continha uma loção para depois da barba, que, sendo para o senhor Almiro, estaria bem, mas para a tia Clotilde, um pouco forte de buço, já parecia mal... FIM
The kids went to the Batatoon Circus today, fortunately without us - many thanks Ana! They enjoyed it lots, Mark held some stick with plates on top and rode a pony. Luke says he rode a donkey, but he is just fibbing. The circus is at the Fun Park Lisboa, the most sordid and derelict place to have a fun fair I've ever seen!
You know Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen, Comet, and Cupid, and Donder and Blitzen. But do you recall the most famous reindeer of all?
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw him, you would even say it glows.
All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph join in any reindeer games.
Then one foggy Christmas Eve Santa came to say: "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you guide my sleigh tonight?"
Then all the reindeer loved him as they shouted out with glee, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, you'll go down in history!
From wiki: The story is owned by The Rudolph Company, L.P. and has been sold in numerous forms including a popular song, a television special (done in stop motion animation), and a feature film. Rudolph was created by Robert L. May in 1939 as part of his employment with Montgomery Ward. May wrote the story of Rudolph in a book that Montgomery Wards could give away to children at Christmastime. His brother-in-law, the songwriter Johnny Marks wrote a song based on the story in 1949 that first became a hit for Gene Autry.
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads; And mamma in her kerchief, and I in my cap, Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter. Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below, When, what to my wondering eyes should appear, But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than eagles his coursers they came, And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name:
"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen! On, Comet! on, Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen! To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall! Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky; So up to the house-top the coursers they flew, With the sleigh full of Toys, and St. Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof The prancing and pawing of each little hoof. As I drew in my head, and was turning around, Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot, And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot; A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes--how they twinkled! his dimples how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath; He had a broad face and a little round belly, That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf, And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself; A wink of his eye and a twist of his head, Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work, And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk, And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."
From wiki: "A Visit from St. Nicholas" (also known as "The Night Before Christmas" and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" from its first line) is a poem first published anonymously in 1823. It is largely responsible for the conception of Santa Claus from the mid-nineteenth century to today, including his physical appearance, the night of his visit, his mode of transportation, the number and names of his reindeer, and that he brings toys to children. Prior to the poem, American ideas about St. Nicholas and other Christmastide visitors varied considerably. The poem has influenced ideas about St. Nicholas and Santa Claus beyond the United States to the rest of the Anglosphere and the world. (...) The poem was first published anonymously in the Troy, New York Sentinel on December 23, 1823, and was reprinted frequently thereafter with no name attached. Authorship was later attributed to Clement Clarke Moore and the poem was included in an 1844 anthology of his works.
Happy Festivus! From wiki: Festivus is an annual holiday created by writer Dan O'Keefe and introduced into popular culture by his son Daniel, a scriptwriter for the TV show Seinfeld. Although the original Festivus took place in February 1966 as a celebration of O'Keefe's first date with his wife, Deborah, many people now celebrate the holiday on December 23, as depicted on the December 18, 1997 Seinfeld episode "The Strike". According to O'Keefe, the name Festivus "just popped into his head." The holiday includes novel practices such as the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Also, after the Festivus meal, the "Feats of Strength" are performed, involving wrestling the head of the household to the floor, with the holiday ending only if the head of the household is actually pinned. These conventions originated with the TV episode.
LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — There may be a perfectly good reason why Santa doesn't get lost on his annual Christmas globetrot: His flying reindeer just might be female and don't mind stopping for directions.
The gender of Rudolph and his or her sleigh-hauling friends — the subject of goofy Internet chatter every year around this time — is now being pondered by renowned wildlife experts at Texas A&M University.
"Santa's reindeers were really females, most likely," said Alice Blue-McLendon, a veterinary medicine professor specializing in deer who cites the depictions of Santa's helpers with antlers as the primary evidence. It turns out reindeer grow antlers regardless of gender, and most bulls typically shed their fuzzy protrusions before Christmas.
But Santa's sleigh helpers might also be castrated males, known as steers, said Greg Finstad, who manages the Reindeer Research Program at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Young steers finish shedding their antlers in February and March, just as non-expecting females do. Bulls generally lose theirs before Christmas, while expectant mothers retain their antlers until calves are birthed in the spring. This allows them to protect food resources through harsh weather and to have enough for developing fetuses, he said.
Sledders most often use steers because they maintain their body condition throughout the winter, he said. Bulls are tuckered out from rutting season when they mate with as many as a dozen females in the months leading up to December. That leaves them depleted and too lean to pull a sleigh or sled through heavy snows, Finstad said.
Many females are pregnant after rutting season, which lasts from summer and into the fall. That would mean long hours of backbreaking work for an expecting Rudolph, as well as Donner, Blitzen, Cupid, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Comet and Vixen.
"You don't hook up your pregnant females to a sled," Finstad said. "That is not good animal husbandry."
But other aaspects of the Christmas story support the all-girl sleigh team theory, Blue-McLendon said.
For example, would a boy reindeer really sport a shiny red nose that almost glows?
"Females like accessories," said Blue-McLendon, who in 2003 led the school's cloning of a white-tailed deer. "I think that fits because females like bling. We like shiny stuff."
As for the reindeer games, forget the rough antler-smashing stuff. Blue-McLendon suggests a female Rudolph would be more up for "games of wit."
And as for the name, Rudolph could certainly still work.
"Why not?" Blue-McLendon said. "I know women named Charlie."
You can call it dino daddy day care. Scientists who examined the fossilized remains of three types of medium-sized dinosaurs found with large clutches of eggs have concluded that the males rather than the females seem to have guarded the nests and brooded the eggs. From Daddy day care: dinosaur fathers guarded the eggs, Reuters
Our Christmas presents from the kids: they were the ones that just had to open them... Mark's (on the left) is a Nativity scene, with me, Neil and Mark. Luke was away, ill!
The traditional Nativity scene at school:
Mark's works - the elephant, the camel and the cow, and the giraffe:
A team of students from the University of Cambridge sent four teddy-bears into space this week as part of an initiative to engage local schoolchildren in science and engineering.
Bravely going where few of their kind have gone before, the Teddy-nauts were dressed in special space-suits designed and made by 11 and 12 year-old pupils from Parkside and Coleridge Community Colleges as part of a project with Cambridge University Spaceflight to help them learn more about science, engineering and space.
After a nail-biting wait for optimal weather conditions, the children were scrambled by their schools to the mission launch site at Churchill College, Cambridge on Monday. From there the four intrepid space pioneers, dressed in their special suits were launched on a foam padded box containing instrumentation and cameras attached to a helium balloon.
The Teddy-nauts spent two hours and nine minutes in flight from the launch site in Cambridge reaching heights of more than 30 thousand metres - known as Near Space or the Edge of Space. In spite of enduring temperatures of between minus 40 degrees and minus 53 degrees, depending on the effectiveness of their spacesuits, all four landed safely just north of Ipswich to be retrieved by the team of student scientists who'd travelled from Cambridge by car, following the Teddy-nauts' progress via an onboard GPS system.
The enthusiasm of the pupils for the project was evident:
"This was a really fun thing to do. The best bit was when we set the balloon off with the bears. The CU Spaceflight team made us really involved and we helped assemble all the equipment." Aiyana Stead age 12
"It was really fun when the balloon was blowing up. We had to hold it in the freezing winds. It felt like we were being smothered by a giant dumpling." Megan Makinson age 12
"I really enjoyed launching the teddy-bear into space and I also enjoyed designing and building the teddy-bear suit. The balloon was enormous compared to the normal balloons, and it was really hard to keep hold of, but it was great fun letting go of it." Kane Robbins age 12
Ed Moore - one of the CU Spaceflight team involved in the project said:
"Space is inspiring, and getting there brings together science, engineering, imagination, and lots of fun. As a team, we all have stories of the spark that lit the fire and motivated us to choose science and aim for Cambridge. There can be few more worthwhile things for us to do than to try and provide that spark for the current generation of school kids. We had a fantastic time working with the kids and their teacher, Dr Hinshelwood, and as a team we're delighted that there could, with luck, be some hugely talented people joining CU Spaceflight in a few years time!"
Teacher, Steve Hinshelwood, who runs Science clubs at Parkside and Coleridge said:
"This was a super activity for the students to be involved in. They had great fun problem solving as they tried to turn their original space suit designs into something that they could actually build. Suddenly scientific ideas such as insulation, convection, conduction and radiation became important. Thinking about weight made ideas of buoyancy, pressure and the composition of the atmosphere relevant. The need to get the teddies back gave the students a chance to think about computer control and radio communications. I don't think that the students realized how much science they were learning - they were just having fun. CU Spaceflight is a super team to work with. They were able to engage with the students at just the right level, stretching their understanding and always encouraging. They're superb ambassadors for the fun that can be had following science."
No treasured possessions were endangered in the experiment. The four teddy-bears used were purchased specifically for the mission by Mr Hinshelwood.
Skynews - Teddies sent into space as part of a University Experiment: Two teddy bears have boldly gone where no stuffed toys have gone before. The pair flew to the edge of space - almost 20 miles above the earth, braving temperatures of minus 53 degrees - as part of an experiment to measure stratospheric weather. Then they parachuted back home. The budget for the Cambridge University Space Flight Club mission was just sixty pounds.
Luke has eaten all the chocolates in his advent calendar ages ago. Today, Mark discovered that his Christmas chocolate (which is bigger than the others) has vanished. According to Luke, a scarecrow came out of the rubbish bin, ate the chocolate and then ran home to hide... Just to be on the safe side, Mark has asked us to keep his advent calendar and the biscuits he baked at school very high up on a shelf, where Luke (or the scarecrow...) can't reach them.
La cigale, ayant chanté Tout l'été, Se trouva fort dépourvue Quand la bise fut venue. Pas un seul petit morceau De mouche ou de vermisseau Elle alla crier famine Chez la fourmi sa voisine, La priant de lui prêter Quelque grain pour subsister Jusqu'à la saison nouvelle «Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle, Avant l'oût, foi d'animal, Intérêt et principal.» La fourmi n'est pas prêteuse; C'est là son moindre défaut. «Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud? Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse. —Nuit et jour à tout venant Je chantais, ne vous déplaise. —Vous chantiez? j'en suis fort aise. Eh bien: dansez maintenant.»
We opened this Christmas present a bit early... And Luke and I started watching Life in the Undergrowth. Amazing!
Watch this on youtube (embedding disabled): Amazing Cicada life cycle - Sir David Attenborough's Life in the Undergrowth - BBC wildlife: After lying beneath the earth for up to 17 years, cicadas venture above ground as a massive group to shed their larvae shells, sprout wings and sing for a mate. Sir David Attenborough demonstrates how easy it is to hypnotise a male cicada with the click of his fingers in this amazing wildlife video from BBC animal show 'Life in the Undergrowth'.
The periodical cicada (Magicicada septendecim). A female inserting eggs with her ovipositor into the under surface of an apple twig. From Insects, their way and means of living, R. E. Snodgrass.
After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig, and into these she deposits her eggs. She may do so repeatedly, until she has laid several hundred eggs. When the eggs hatch, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years. Some species have much longer life cycles, e.g., such as the North American genus, Magicicada, which has a number of distinct "broods" that go through either a 17-year or, in the American South, a 13-year life cycle. These long life cycles are an adaptation to predators such as the cicada killer wasp and praying mantis, as a predator could not regularly fall into synchrony with the cicadas. Both 13 and 17 are prime numbers, so while a cicada with a 15-year life cycle could be preyed upon by a predator with a three- or five-year life cycle, the 13- and 17-year cycles allow them to stop the predators falling into step.
Cicadas live underground as nymphs for most of their lives, at depths ranging from about 30 cm (1 ft) up to 2.5 m (about 8½ ft). The nymphs feed on root juice and have strong front legs for digging.
In the final nymphal instar, they construct an exit tunnel to the surface and emerge. They then molt (shed their skins), on a nearby plant for the last time and emerge as adults. The abandoned skins remain, still clinging to the bark of trees.
Transformation of the periodical cicada from the mature nymph to the adult. From Insects, their way and means of living, R. E. Snodgrass.
Pigeons Clip from BOLT at youtube. The pigeons were the best!
We made it! Another film! But Luke doesn't seem to like cinema and he gets scared. Anyway, he started getting a bit of a temperature and slept through it. Mark did like it and we thought it was nice (and better than what we expected...).
Speaking of insects in food (not exactly meant to be there, unlike in smarties), here is an excerpt of some very interesting guidelines... What's your favourite? Maggots; thrips, aphids and mites; rodent hair or rodent excreta pellets; larvae; mammalian excreta; sand and grit; fly eggs; or the wonderful pus pockets?
U. S. Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
The Food Defect Action Levels Levels of natural or unavoidable defects in foods that present no health hazards for humans
ASPARAGUS, CANNED OR FROZEN Insect filth - 10% by count of spears or pieces are infested with 6 or more attached asparagus beetle eggs and/or sacs Insects - Asparagus contains an average of 40 or more thrips per 100 grams OR Insects (whole or equivalent) of 3mm or longer have an average aggregate length of 7mm or longer per 100 grams of asparagus
BAY (LAUREL) LEAVES Mold - Average of 5% or more pieces by weight are moldy Insect filth - Average of 5% or more pieces by weight are insect-infested Mammalian excreta - Average of 1 mg or more mammalian excreta per pound after processing
BERRIES Mold - Average mold count is 60% or more Insects and larvae - Average of 4 or more larvae per 500 grams OR Average of 10 or more whole insects or equivalent per 500 grams (excluding thrips, aphids and mites)
BROCCOLI, FROZEN Insects and mites - Average of 60 or more aphids and/or thrips and/or mites per 100 grams
CINNAMON, GROUND Insect filth - Average of 400 or more insect fragments per 50 gram Rodent filth - Average of 11 or more rodent hairs per 50 grams
CURRY POWDER Insect filth - Average of 100 or more insect fragments per 25 grams Rodent filth - Average of 4 or more rodent hairs per 25 grams
EGGS AND OTHER EGG PRODUCTS, FROZEN Decomposition - 2 or more cans decomposed and at least 2 subsamples from decomposed cans have direct microscopic counts of 5 million or more bacteria per gram
Tullibees, Ciscoes, Inconnus, Chubs, and Whitefish Parasites (cysts) - 50 parasitic cysts per 100 pounds (whole or fillets), provided that 20% of the fish examined are infested
Blue Fin and other Fresh Water Herring Parasites (cysts) - 60 parasitic cysts per 100 fish (fish averaging 1 pound or less) or 100 pounds of fish averaging over 1 pound), provided that 20% of the fish examined are infested
Red Fish and Ocean Perch Parasites (copepods) - 3 % of the fillets examined contain 1 or more copepods accompanied by pus pockets
MACARONI AND NOODLE PRODUCTS Insect filth - Average of 225 insect fragments or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples Rodent filth - Average of 4.5 rodent hairs or more per 225 grams in 6 or more subsamples
MUSHROOMS, CANNED AND DRIED Insects - Average of over 20 or more maggots of any size per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms OR Average of 5 or more maggots 2 mm or longer per 100 grams of drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms Mites - Average of 75 mites per 100 grams drained mushrooms and proportionate liquid or 15 grams of dried mushrooms Decomposition - Average of more than 10% of mushrooms are decomposed
OREGANO, GROUND Insect filth - Average of 1250 or more insect fragments per 10 grams Rodent filth - Average of 5 or more rodent hairs per 10 grams
POPCORN Rodent filth - 1 or more rodent excreta pellets are found in 1 or more subsamples, and 1 or more rodent hairs are found in 2 or more other subsamples OR 2 or more rodent hairs per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples OR 20 or more gnawed grains per pound and rodent hair is found in 50% or more of the subsamples Field corn - 5% or more by weight of field corn
RAISINS, NATURAL & GOLDEN Mold - Average of 10 subsamples is 5% or more, by count, moldy raisins Sand and Grit - Average of 40 mg or more of sand and grit per 100 grams of natural or golden bleached raisins
SPINACH, CANNED OR FROZEN Insects and mites - Average of 50 or more aphids, thrips and/or mites per 100 grams OR 2 or more 3 mm or longer larvae and/or larval fragments or spinach worms (caterpillars) whose aggregate length exceeds 12 mm are present in 24 pounds OR Leaf miners of any size average 8 or more per 100 grams or leaf miners 3 mm or longer average 4 or more per 100 grams
TOMATO JUICE Drosophila fly - Average of 10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams OR 5 or more fly eggs and 1 or more maggots per 100 grams OR 2 or more maggots per 100 grams, in a minimum of 12 subsamples Mold - Average mold count in 6 subsamples is 24% or more and the counts of all of the subsamples are more than 20%
TOMATO PASTE, PIZZA AND OTHER SAUCES Drosophila fly - Average of 30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams OR 15 or more fly eggs and 1 or more maggots per 100 grams OR 2 or more maggots per 100 grams in a minimum of 12 subsamples
WHEAT FLOUR Insect filth - Average of 75 or more insect fragments per 50 grams Rodent filth - Average of 1 or more rodent hairs per 50 grams
Smarties, Science decoded, by Paul Rodgers, New Statesman, June 2008:
The ins and outs of how we colour our food
Nestle’s new television adverts for Smarties are a cross between grown-up Teletubbies in head-to-toe lycra jumpsuits and the parable of the prodigal son. You’ve probably caught a glimpse of their idyllic, pastoral scene being abruptly disrupted by the appearance of Blue Smartie on the ridgeline. His former friends flee to the safety of their tubular home, dispatching Yellow to get rid of the unwelcome intruder. All is well though, because Blue is now free of artificial colours; no longer a pariah, he can rejoin the community. The Smarties rainbow is complete again.
Smarties 'Blue is Back' advert:
How sweet. But, one wonders, why were the old colours dropped? Why has it taken so long to replace blue? And perhaps most importantly, what has it been replaced with?
Nestle got rid of the artificial colourants in Smarties three years ago.
Until then, the blue shade was provided by an extract from coal tar which revels in the food additives label E133. Though banned at one time or another by Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Spain and Sweden, Brilliant Blue, as it is more commonly known, is currently deemed safe for use as a food dye within the EU.
The reason for dropping Brilliant Blue, and several other colours, was for appearances, admits Richard Wood, regulatory affairs manager and food law adviser at Nestle confectionary. A growing number of consumers are demanding additive-free products. The trend got another boost late last year when a study conducted for the Food Standards Agency by Professor Jim Stevenson at Southampton University linked artificial additives with hyperactivity in children, even though the connection was not strong.
Nestle, like other food processing companies, is keen to be on the right side of that trend. Rather than arguing until it’s blue in the face that E133 is safe, it prefers to trumpet its newly natural ingredients, though perhaps without going in to too much detail.
Take cochineal, for instance, an ingredient that contributes to the red, orange and chocolate brown tones in Smarties. Cochineal comes originally from Mexico, where it is found in the bodies of a cactus parasite, an insect called Dactylopius coccus. For centuries, these bugs have been swept off cacti, boiled or baked and used as a reddish dye.
Smarties commercial (1991), 'Do you eat the red ones last?', i.e., 'Are crushed insects your favourites?'....:
Records from Montezuma’s reign show it was part of the tribute paid by at least 11 of the Aztec cities he conquered, before himself being overthrown by the Spanish. During the 20th century, the cochineal industry was all but wiped out by cheaper artificial colours, but has been making a comeback in recent years as demand grows for natural ingredients, no matter how unpalatable they may be.
Blue was harder to replace, though. Which is not surprising. Historically, blue has always been the most difficult colour. The first colour-fast blue dye came from shellfish and was so valuable that only the aristocracy could afford it. Purple has traditionally been the colour of royalty for a reason.
Nestle eventually found a substitute in alkalai ponds. A cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, called Spirulina (actually two species, Arthrospira platensis, and Arthrospira maxima) provides the appropriate colour, though food scientists worried that its strong seaweed smell might put off customers, Mr Wood said. Fortunately, the concentration of Spirulina is so low that the odour is masked by the rich aroma of the chocolate.
Like cochineal, the use of spirulina as a food comes to us from Mexico, where, according to one of Cortes’s soldiers, it was harvested from lake Texcoco (now Mexico City) by dragging a rope across the surface, drying the sludge into cakes and selling them as food under the brand name Teocuitlatl, meaning “stone’s excrement”. Clearly the Aztec’s had an interesting sense of truth in advertising. Both Nasa and the European Space Agency have proposed it as a possible food source for long interplanetary missions, such as to Mars.
At a molecular level, the distinction between artificial and natural disappears. Artificiality does not necessarily mean dangerous, any more than naturalness means safe. Nature has many deadly products, from toadstools and digitalis to snake venoms. As scientists investigate what we eat in greater detail, it is becoming clear that foods can have both beneficial and detrimental effects at the same time.
For an example of this, one need look no further than beta carotene, another natural Smarties additive derived from the fungus Blakeslea trispora found in the orange and red sweets. Beta carotene is most famous for giving carrots their orange hue, but it has also been found to have anti-oxidant properties, and 50mg every two days has been shown to prevent cognitive decline among 4,000 physicians. On the down side, it has been linked to increased risk of lung cancer among smokers and those who have been exposed to asbestos. Fortunately for Nestle, the doses contained in Smarties are so low they are unlikely to make much difference.
Fogaceira linda e nova, Deixa-me tirar a prova Duma fogaça das tuas; Vendendo-as assim a esmo, São pedaços de ti mesmo Que vendes por essas ruas. Quando vais, oh! Fogaceira, Vender fogaças à feira Vais tão cheiinha de graças, Que nos gestos e meneios As fogaças lembra seios E os seios lembram fogaças. Tuas fogaças loirinhas São certamente irmãzinhas das fogaças do teu peito, Pois nem de outra maneira Se compreende, oh! Fogaceira, Quas as vendas todas a eito.
Refrão: Fogaceira minha Que linda que és, Com a chinelinha Toda bordadinha Na ponta dos pés. Quando vais andando, Tens o encantamento, De rosas dançando, De lírios bailando Nas asas do vento.
