"soil" news and stories

Last week results from a soil test came back to NASA from the Phoenix Lander, which is currently on Mars. Turns out that the soil is "slightly alkaline" with several different minerals (magnesium, sodium, potassium and chloride) already mixed in. Further test results will tell NASA whether the soil also has nitrogen or sulfates.

Do you know what that means? According to Scientific American, it means that Mars' soil could possibly grow vegetables that we have here on earth. Apparently, veggies like turnips, asparagus, and green beans make the best candidates. They'd have to be grown under the surface or in green houses due to the harsh ultra violet rays that penetrate to the surface of the planet, though.

Who knows, maybe in the next few decades you'll see vegetables indicating they're a product of Mars, right next to those from earthly locations.

Using fresh herbs in your recipes is a sure way to brighten up your favorite chicken dish or add some dimension to a rice pilaf. The flavors from fresh herbs are more vivid and complex than those from dried herbs. Once way to obtain said herbs is by choosing bunches of fresh at your local market, but growing them at home is going to be more convenient and less expensive than buying them every time you need a few tablespoonfuls. These garden-in-a bag kits are perfect for anyone interested in trying to grow some fresh herbs who doesn't have the space - or gardening abilities - to handle something bigger. The indoor-friendly options include organic chives, mint, basil and lavender, along with a variety of flowers. To get your herbs to grow, all you need to do is stir the included seeds and water into the bag, full of already primed soil, and wait. Germination takes a few days and, depending on what you're growing, you'll have fresh herbs within a couple of weeks.

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In China, eggs are sold by weight and their sale is often unregulated, particularly at local markets and in areas where the customers by large quantities at a time. Unscrupulous vendors have been known to pass off fake eggs to their unsuspecting buyers.

There are three types of faked eggs. The first are empty or cracked shells that are filled with soil. Since the eggs are sold by weight, a few soil-filled eggs in a crate will make it heavier and go unnoticed until it is too late. The second type of fake egg is the red-yolk egg. Because the redder yolks are considered to be more valuable and of higher quality, some egg-sellers feed their chickens very high quantities of food dyes, which causes them to produce red yolks without an increase in the quality of the egg or in the lifestyle of the chicken.

The most disturbing - though some might say disgusting - faked egg is the man-made egg. 

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