Japanese Lunch Boxes, Bento

In Japan, a packed meal is called obento. Bento boxes (Japanese lunch boxes) have internal dividers and stacked layers. The food that is packed into the bento box is healthy and tasty, but also of great importance is that it be packed attractively. Japan has always placed great emphasis on food presentation, and packing lunches is no exception.

The approach to bento box preparation is artistic. Bento boxes are intended to be aesthetically pleasing and to make the food enticing. Sometimes the presentation is intentionally fun, or adheres to the Japanese culinary rule that all meals should contain five colors, or is kyaraben (character based).

Starbucks Will Sell Beer and Wine in Some Southern California Shoppes

Starbucks says they are going to start putting religious quotes on cups. The very first one will say, 'Jesus! This cup is expensive!'
~Conan O'Brien

Starbucks is planning to add beer, wine and food to the menus in outlets in Atlanta and Southern California. The extended menu is already available in several stores in the Portland Oregon area. It also intends to make the additions to Chicago area cafes by the end of this year.



The move has proved successful at the Oregon locations, with shares up over 40% from last year. Extended food and beverage options, and later hours of operation are an attempt to boost sales. Already a popular breakfast and lunch destination, Starbucks is hoping to garner more afternoon and evening sales.

There is currently no plan to serve alcohol at all Starbucks locations.

Note: I wonder how expensive the alcoholic beverages will be?

Something else I learned: Burger King now offers beer at new Whopper Bar restaurants.

Silkies, Silkie Bantam, Black Chickens

The Silkie chicken is a chicken that is black-pigmented right down to its bones. It is an old breed of chicken, with an Asian pedigree. In China, Silkies are believed to have healing powers, particularly in the treatment of female complaints.

Silkies are soft, hairy-feathered fowl. Their feathers are not barbed, and look more like silky fluff than feathers.


It is unlikely that you will find black chickens at the local grocery. Asian markets are more likely to have it. Silkies available in the US come from Canada. There the birds are slaughtered by Buddhists, exempting them from USDA inspections.


A Silkie ready for cooking looks very much like any other chicken ready for the pot. Except for the color.  The black chicken does not lose color, so if you cook a black chicken, you also serve a black chicken.

A search for black chicken recipes seems to return a lot of soups, although black chickens can apparently be treated just like regular chickens.

Note: I've decided. If I find a black chicken, I will buy it and cook it. I'm going make chicken salad with it.

Something else I learned: Besides being black, Silkies have 5 toes on each foot (most chickens have 4).

Murray River Turtle Embryos Communicate to Coordinate Hatching

Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out.
~James Bryant Conant

A recent study indicates that the embryos of Murray River turtles communicate while still in their shells. The turtles can adjust their rate of development in the company of other eggs to coordinate the time they hatch. The eggs are laid at the same time, but the eggs near the top of the nest where the soil is warmer tend to develop more quickly that those in the deeper, cooler soil.

In the study embryos that were incubated with the more developed peers, sped up their development. Their heart rates sped up and they exhaled 67 percent more carbon dioxide than the control group.
After they hatched, it was found that the initially slower turtles had used up more of their yolk supplies in order to catch up, but were not fundamentally different from their less rushed siblings.



How the communication takes place is still a mystery. The study abstract is available here. 

Something else I learned: A group of turtles is called a bale.

Google Oversteps. Hugely!

Google announces privacy changes across products; users can’t opt out.

Are You Scientifically Literate? Quiz

Science is facts; just as houses are made of stone, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house, and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.
~Jules Henri Poincaré

Take the Christian Science Monitor Scientific Literacy Quiz.

It is very challenging! I learned how much I remember (and how much I've forgotten) from various science classes I've had over the years. I got 28/50 - disappointing. I had to really search my brain to answer some of them. Funny - I missed the same types of questions I always have. I should brush up on physics equations and energy measurements - but that has been true since high school.




Note: I have never forgotten what element is represented by K on the periodic chart. It has remained an easily accessible fact since the day I learned it.

Something else I learned: The letter c is used to represent the speed of light in a vacuum. I am sure I never learned that. I am also fairly confidant that I won't remember it.

Chinese Year of the Dragon to Cause A Chinese Baby Boom?

No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons, as I would not want to live in a world without magic, for that is a world without mystery.
~R.A. Salvatore

The Chinese New Year begins tomorrow (Jan 23, 2012). The dragon is the only mythical creature in the Chinese calendar. The year of the dragon is believed by many to be the most auspicious of the 12 zodiac signs. Dragon years in the past have seen a spike in birth rates in China and other places with Chinese populations such as Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and even New York.

China is expecting a 5% increase in births this year, in spite of, or maybe because of, the year of the dragon. The dragon is special," says a pregnant Hong Kong resident, "I am not willing to wait 12 years for a dragon baby, but I was willing to wait one or two years." The one child rule also makes the birth date especially important.  Beijing hospitals are reporting maternity spaces booked through September. The estimate is a baby has to be conceived by May 2 in order to be born by end of the dragon year (February 9, 2013).



The expected boom will create a spending spree, and put a strain on public services. Businesses that cater to mothers and babies are gearing up. Since the one-child policy was introduced, one baby means more spending on children. The boom will put pressure on hospitals, child care, kindergartens, and schools.

Note: Both of my sons were born in years of the dragon. This was not planned, but has certainly been auspicious!

Something else I learned: 2012 is the year of the water dragon, water having a calming effect on the dragon.