In the News

Warren Belasco, American Studies, in Washington Post
In her opinion article on July 20, Jennifer LaRue Huget discusses her personal memories of watching the first astronauts walk on the moon and, more specifically, what they ate on the moon. Similar to American food, space food has also evolved over time. “The first space-food programs were informed by ‘scientific nutrition’ and a modernist sensibility that yielded foods that were ‘efficient and high-tech’ but barely edible,” said Warren Belasco, American studies professor. “NASA chemically engineered ‘pills and paste’ designed to provide calories, vitamins and minerals, but the thing is – astronauts wouldn’t eat it. It was little more than edible biomass, food for function, not for the soul.”
The article, “Houston, We Have a Menu,” ran Tuesday, July 21.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/20/AR2009072001057.html
Erle Ellis, Geography and Environmental Systems, in Nature
Quantifying the amount of Earth covered by novel ecosystems (one heavily influenced by humans but not under human management) is no easy task. A few ecologists, however, are looking into these systems in a non-judgmental light. Nature magazine asked Erle Ellis, geography and environmental systems professor, to try to quantify the amount of land covered by novel ecosystems. His estimation was 35% of the globe. The article also cited one of his maps. “Ecology: Ragamuffin Earth,” ran Wednesday, July 22.
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090722/full/460450a.html
Mechanical Engineering Student on National Geographic
Joseph Hyman ’10, mechanical engineering and MARC *U STAR Trainee/Meyerhoff Scholar, appeared on a segment of National Geographic with his summer research team from California Institute of Technology. The program was titled “Wild Spaces, America’s Sand Dunes” and was produced in Death Valley, California. The program will be rebroadcast on August 1.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/death-valley-4296/Overview#tab-Videos/06912_00.