Author: Jo Louise Seltzer

Modern plant science could be instrumental in finding replacements for dwindling petroleum supplies. And the Danforth Plant Science Center is looking into a hardy plant that could be grown in Missouri as a key in making the transition.

“It is absolutely inevitable that the price of fuel will go up,” said Jan Jaworski, vice president for research at the Danforth Center. “In about 10-15 years the supplies of petroleum will begin to go down.”

Jaworski and his colleagues at the Danforth Center are focusing on Camelina sativa, pictured above. It was grown for centuries in northern Europe as a source of lamp oil, In this country, companies have begun cultivating camelina in Montana as a source of omega-3 oils contained in some food supplements.

The scientists envision that this rediscovered “near-crop” could be a vehicle for producing commodities to either replace some petroleum products, or be part of the manufacturing process of petroleum supplements such as ethanol — or both. If Camelina could be grown as a seed crop in Missouri, oils could be pressed from the seeds, and the remaining proteinaceous matter could be used as a source of enzymes to be used in the production of biofuels.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Kix cereal –“a good source of vitamin D.”
“One serving of these mushrooms will provide your complete daily requirement of vitamin D.”
“A glass of Minute Maid multivitamin orange juice supplies as much vitamin D as milk.”

Vitamin D is enjoying its day in the sun. Increasingly, the nation’s food suppliers are associating their grocery items with the nutrient known as the sunshine vitamin, long recognized as necessary for bone health. You can hardly pick up a national publication over a year’s time without noticing a health piece on the virtues of vitamin D.

Prestigious medical associations and publications have advised increasing the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D. In October the American Academy of Pediatrics urged that all children get 400 international units (iu) rather than the previously suggested 200iu. Researchers writing in the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association have recommended that adults get 800iu or more of vitamin D, rather than the current standard of 400iu.

A few years ago, increasing our intake of vitamin E was promoted as the secret to good health. Before that, many believed that mega doses of vitamin C would prevent the common cold, among other illnesses. Neither of these vitamins lived up to the hype. Why should we now change our habits to get more vitamin D?

 

This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Up to three centuries ago, at the time of Galileo, there was no clock worthy of the name. The most technically sophisticated instruments used to measure time were sundials.

Sundials date back to about 1500 BC. And today, most are out of sight and out of mind.

But they made a comeback of sorts here earlier this month when the North American Sundial Society (NASS), a group devoted to the study and creation of sundials, met in St. Louis for its 2008 Annual Conference. About 45 sundial aficionados from the far reaches of the continent met to appreciate the relationship between time, the Earth and the sun. By the end of their conference, they left permanent additions to the culture and aesthetics of St. Louis.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

You’re driving down I-44 about an hour south of St. Louis.  You glance at another dead opossum by the side of the road.

Look again.  These days that possum is very likely to be an armadillo.

The armadillo population in Missouri has exploded in the last twenty or so years, to the point where the Conservation Department published an article in The Conservationist last November about living with these pesky creatures.  ‘Pesky’ not because they are dangerous, but because in their constant quest for insects and grubs, they dig up whole lawns and golf courses.  Consuming more than half a pound of insects per day, a single armadillo can do a whole lot of digging.  In southern Missouri, sometimes a newly sodded lawn seems like an invitation for the armadillos to ‘come and get it—the digging is easy.’

Armadillos have been steadily dispersing northward since they first crossed the Rio Grande into Texas in the 1850’s.  Relatives of anteaters and sloths, they are native to South America, which is still the home of most species.  But the armadillo we know, the nine-banded armadillo, has been able to expand its habitat as far north as the Missouri River (and perhaps even beyond.)

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

“Every time there’s a food scare, it’s like a billboard advertising local food,” says Andy Ayers, owner emeritus of Riddles Penultimate Cafe and Wine Bar in the U. City Loop.

This summer’s tomato scare has left many of us wondering what is the safest way to enjoy the fruits of summer? Where is the best place to buy produce? How does produce get contaminated anyway? Once you’ve brought those bags of fruits and veggies home, what should you do next?

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.