Tilapia – a red herring in our diet

The idiom of a “red herring” supposedly originated in a technique to train scent hounds. One version of the story has a smelly smoked herring being dragged around until a puppy learned to follow the scent. Another etymology points to escaping convicts using the pungent fish to throw off pursuing hounds.

Quintessential quince

Over an old garden wall in Midhurst, Sussex, used to trail the branches of a quince tree, whose crop seemed to embody Keats’s “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”. Boys were often tempted to steal a fruit that no one appeared to want, ignorant of how to transform sour inedibility into a food fit for the gods.

A glimpse of Korean ceramics (III)

Moon Jars were made in Korea from the mid-17th to mid-18th century. They are large, white, porcelain storage jars and there are only twenty left in the world. Thrown in two sections and joined in the middle led to many not surviving firing in the kiln.

A glimpse of Korean ceramics (II)

The Joseon Dynasty ruled over a united Korean Peninsula for more than 500 years, from the fall of the Goryeo Dynasty in 1392 through the Japanese Occupation of 1910. The cultural innovations and achievements of Korea’s last dynasty continue to influence Korean society today.

A glimpse of Korean ceramics (I)

Earthenware pottery has been made in Korea since 8000 BCE and the art of making ceramics was perfected in the 11th century. Korean ceramics emphasise function and practicality, focusing on unpretentious forms, understated decoration and subtle colours.

“Now, Voyager, sail thou forth”

Science writing – health, climate change, environment, nanotechnology, biotechnology – often gets a poor press. Too technical, too obscure, too fantastic. A joy, therefore, to find a brilliant article in the latest issue of The Smithsonian on the exploration of outer space.