Bubbles or No Bubbles?Everybody knows California’s a...

Bubbles or No Bubbles?

Everybody knows California’s a state of bottled water drinkers, rather than tap water drinkers. Is this because we are the trendissimo state, as often charged?

Well, bottled water is certainly a trend. Between 1976 and 1996, American consumption shot up nearly twelvefold, from a quarter of a gallon per capita to 2.9 gallons. But trendiness isn’t the only reason for hitting the bottle. If you look at the top five bottled water-drinking states--California, Texas, Florida, New York and Arizona--it’s striking that all except New York are in hot, thirsty climates. Water just means more out here.

Garlic: Tough on Enzymes

Israeli scientists think they’ve found why garlic seems to protect against traveler’s diarrhea: It’s an enzyme squelcher. Chemists David Mirelman and Meir Wilchek of the Weizmann Institute for Science studied the volatile chemical allicin, which is produced when fresh garlic is cut or crushed, and found that it reduced the activity of enzymes called cysteine proteinases (which microbes use to break down cell walls) by 80%.

They also speculate that garlic’s rumored effectiveness against heart disease may also be attributable to its squelch powers, in this case against the enzymes that synthesize cholesterol.

Less Is Less

An outfit called ULS (Use Less Stuff) studies how to throw away less food. Among its more unpleasant findings: Processed food is 10 times less likely to be wasted than fresh produce, and specialty items are wasted at a rate of 40%. Or as ULS puts it, “The more repetitive the diet, the less is wasted.” It’s enough to make you want to cheer for waste.

Hey, Sam, Give the Poet Some Wine

Like England, we have a poet laureate. But it has been brought to our attention that the British government has long granted its poet laureate an annual stipend of wine, and this in a country that can scarcely grow grapes. Meanwhile, here we are, a vast fruited plain positively sloshing with wine, and Uncle Sam can’t spring for a measly barrel or two of Zin for our national poet? Sam, you get what you pay for.