TedEd: The beneficial bacteria that make delicious food

A TedEd by Erez Garty

Have you ever wondered where cheese and bread get their holes, and how wine and vinegar are made? They are all made from microscopic organisms that eat the sugar inside the food. Yeast is a unicellular fungus that requires carbohydrates to function. It is used to make bread, wine, and beer, and has two ways to process the carbohydrates. The aerobic pathway requires oxygen, whereas the anaerobic method does not. The latter is also known as fermentation, which is what yeast usually uses first when making bread. This process creates CO2 and ethanol. The aerobic process creates both CO2 and water, and the ethanol evaporates while the CO2 makes the little bubbles in bread that give it its fluffiness. When wine is made, oxygen levels are lowered so that yeast ferments to produce alcohol, and the CO2 is either released or concentrated for carbonated beverages. Wine also uses other types of bacteria to turn tart grape juice into the signature taste of red wines and chardonnays. However, a different type of bacteria, which produces acetic acid from the ethanol in wine in the presence of oxygen. This turns the wine into vinegar. Milk is inoculated with another type of bacteria to create cheese; the bacteria turn lactose into lactic acid, which causes milk to curdle. An enzyme called rennet can speed up the process, and the curdles become curds, which are squeezed to remove water and become cheese. In some cheeses, mold is added.

The New Yorker: Is Russian Meddling as Dangerous as We Think?

The New Yorker: Is Russian Meddling as Dangerous as We Think?

By Joshua Yaffa

    In recent years, there has been much discussion over Russian meddling in US politics through social media. But could our reaction be making their attacks more potent?

    Russia has been running disinformation campaigns since the Cold War. But the effects of their propaganda is hard to gauge. For example, just one Trump tweet or interview can do what thousands of fake social media accounts can't do. For example, after the President touted the use of disinfectant inside the body, poisoning rates went up in several states.

    On the other hand, many Russian attempts at dismantling our democracy are obscure, often with very few views compared to mainland news and politicians. But they can disrupt everything simply by making it look as if they are doing something. It's like when the body over-reacts to a pathogen - we can do more damage to ourselves than the pathogen actually does to us.

    Of course, there are ways we can counter this. Studies have shown that people who don't know how the government functions are more likely to believe conspiracy theories about the government. Although the US cannot combat Russian misinformation with our own misinformation, we can craft the truth to be more coordinated and compelling, making more people believe in it.