More Adventures in Fermentation

Made kombucha for the first time.  I long have been a fan of fermentation (beer and wine), but this was kind of an odd choice since no one in the immediate family drinks kombucha.  That didn't stop me - ha ha ha!  Part of the appeal was the similarity to beer brewing that I engage in regularly:  a primary fermentation in a vat then a secondary one in the individual bottles for natural carbonation.  Adding flavors of your choosing for the secondary fermentation also sounded fun. I bottled one plain, one with honey, two with orange juice, and two with mango/pineapple. 

This afternoon we had our first degustation and the summation from the fam was "I wouldn't choose to drink it but I wouldn't reject it outright either".  Okay, fair. I was pleasantly surprised that the plain one wasn't as sour as I thought it would be.  (for the record: 2 weeks primary fermentation in the gallon jar pictured below plus 3 days secondary fermentation in bottles (very mild carbonation but I was a bit nervous to let it go longer without checking on it))

Note that I kept the SCOBY so I can make it again in the future!  (Part of the appeal for me in getting the starter kit)  Look out fam, strange and unusual flavors coming up later this summer!

A bit of history:  apparently the idea of drinking fermented black tea and flavoring it goes back centuries in China but the word "kombucha" comes from a poorly transcribed word from Japanese that refers to seaweed tea (an entirely different beast).  

Pi, Light, and Bird Poop

 A common (good) question* I get from students is "Why can't anything go faster than the speed of light?"  A great question but the reason the question occurs is because the name is misleading.

When we first encounter the transcendental number represented by the Greek letter pi (π), it is to find the circumference of a circle (2πr).  Later in our studies we are surprised to find it in so many places: trig function, exponential functions, integrals, and one of the most famous quantum equations, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle:

But really, it's because pi is always there in nature when we have symmetry (either geometric like we first encounter it or in symmetrical motion like oscillations).  When you reframe the role of pi away from the circumference of a circle into this larger role of symmetry, it is less mysterious when it pops up.

Likewise, the universe has a limit on the speed at which information can spread.  In order to preserve causality, there must be a constraint on this speed (if everything everywhere could happen at once then there would be no cause and, then, effect!).  Light is one example of massless information transfer.  So, once this mental reframing has happened, the original question really isn't the right one is it?

The other day, I was walking to school under the most perfect of spring mornings:  The blue sky was smiling down on me, the green leaves of the trees and the grass was glowing out at me, the birds were chirping, and my steps were light and confident.  I was taking a slightly longer way to work to appreciate nature in all its glory when a bird pooped right onto the back of my hand.

Bemused, I thought to myself (as a wiped it off when one of those bright green leaves I was admiring so) "well now this could really mar the enjoyment of someone's day but I'm going to be thankful it didn't land on my head and that it was apparently from a small bird" followed a little later by "I can even make myself see this as increasing my appreciation for this fine day by being reminded that birds pooping on people is part of it all".  Happy with my reframing, I walked on with long strides.

Vincenzo_Mirabella_20210529_134459.jpg (3964×2972)

* The most common 'bad' question I get is "Will this be on the test?"