Given the vastness of It's a food gadget. Let's try it

This cover story kicks off a new series for Science News, The Climate Fix. In future issues, we will focus on covering solutions to the climate crisis, including the science behind innovations, the people making them happen, and the social and environmental impacts. You’ll also see expanded climate coverage for our younger readers, ages 9 and up, at Science News Explores online and in print.this threat, it’s tempting to think that any efforts that we make against it will be futile. But that’s not true. Around the world, scientists and engineers; entrepreneurs and large corporations; state, national and local governments; and international coalitions are acting to put the brakes on climate change. Last year, the United States signed into law a $369 billion investment in renewable energy technologies and other responses (SN: 12/17/22 & 12/31/22, p. 28). And the World Bank invested $31.7 billion to assist other countries.

In this issue, contributing correspondent Alexandra Witze details the paths forward: which responses will help the most, and which remain challenging. Shifting to renewable energy sources like wind and solar should be the easiest. We already have the technology, and costs have plunged over the last decade. Other approaches that are feasible but not as far along include making industrial processes more energy efficient, trapping greenhouse gases and developing clean fuels. Ultimately, the goal is to reinvent the global energy infrastructure. Societies have been retooling energy infrastructures for centuries, from water and steam power to petroleum and natural gas to nuclear power and now renewables. This next transformation will be the biggest yet. But we have the scientific understanding and technological savvy to make it happen.

Are you a foodie in this world of gluttony? If the answer is NO, then you will be out, and you will be despised by even the kids after 00! For non food eaters, food is used to maintain basic vital signs, just a small part of life. For food eaters, food is the whole life, the whole world. I can only say that you don't understand the world of food! Of course, if food is combined with the creative idea of developing gadgets to form stylish and interesting food art works, it is estimated that the diners will love it!

Dan Cretu, a photographer and visual artist from Romania, used some of our common foods, such as oranges, peppers, popcorn, and so on, to create works such as cameras, clocks, tapes, and people. In this way, these foods are no longer just food, but works of art with artists' innovative ideas. These works look vivid and interesting, which makes people feel bright.

So, please pay attention to the food. You can also find some food materials to try and create some interesting gadgets to add some fun to your life!

With this issue, we also welcome our new publisher, Michael Gordon Voss. He comes to us with deep knowledge of the media industry, experience in both for-profit and nonprofit publishing and a love of science. Before joining Science News Media Group, Voss was publisher of Stanford Social Innovation Review, and vice president and associate publisher at Scientific American. With his arrival, publisher Maya Ajmera takes on her new role as executive publisher. Under her leadership, we have seen unprecedented growth. We’re fortunate to have these two visionaries directing our business strategy amid a rapidly changing media environment.

Reader Oda Lisa, a self-described intermediate saxophonist, has noticed these subtle delays while playing.“I recorded my ‘jazzy’ version of a beloved Christmas carol, which I sent to a friend of mine,” Lisa wrote. “She praised my effort overall, but she suggested that I get a metronome because the timing wasn’t consistent. My response was that I’m a slave to the rhythm that I hear in my head. I think now I know why.”

Reader Linda Ferrazzara found the story thought-provoking. “If there’s no consensus on the terms people use … then there can be no productive discussion or conversation. People end up talking and working at cross-purposes with no mutual understanding or progress,” Ferrazzara wrote.

Fly me to the moon
Space agencies are preparing to send the next generation of astronauts to the moon and beyond. Those crews will be more diverse in background and expertise than the crews of the Apollo missions, Lisa Grossman reported in “Who gets to go to space?” (SN: 12/3/22, p. 20).

“It is great to see a broader recognition of the work being done to make spaceflight open to more people,” reader John Allen wrote. “Future space travel will and must accommodate a population that represents humanity. It won’t be easy, but it will be done.”

Reader Helen Leaver shared her trick to a good night’s sleep: “I learned that I was having strong unpleasant adventures while sleeping, and I would awaken hot and sweaty. By eliminating the amount of heat from bedding and an electrically heated mattress pad, I now sleep well without those nightmares.”

In “Why do we hate pests?” (SN: 12/3/22, p. 26), Deborah Balthazar interviewed former Science News Explores staff writer Bethany Brookshire about her new book, Pests. The book argues that humans — influenced by culture, class, colonization and much more — create animal villains.

The article prompted reader Doug Clapp to reflect on what he considers pests or weeds. “A weed is a plant in the wrong place, and a pest is an animal in the wrong place,” Clapp wrote. But what’s considered “wrong” depends on the humans who have power over the place, he noted. “Grass in a lawn can be a fine thing. Grass in a garden choking the vegetables I’m trying to grow becomes a weed. Mice in the wild don’t bother me. Field mice migrating into my house when the weather cools become a pest, especially when they eat into my food and leave feces behind,” Clapp wrote.

The article encouraged Clapp to look at pests through a societal lens: “I had never thought of pests in terms of high-class or low-class. Likewise, the residual implications of [colonization]. Thanks for provoking me to consider some of these issues in a broader context.”