WHEN I started putting together recipes for this book, I wanted to re-create ice creams with the flavors and textures found in an old-fashioned ice cream parlor—a place where classic ice creams and traditional toppings held court. There, handwritten blackboards announced what was made each day, and toppings such as hot fudge, marshmallow, and butterscotch were commonplace. Lemongrass-ginger sauces and cassis-cabernet reductions were simply not on the menu.

    But I also wanted to create flavors for today’s more adventurous palates—refreshing flavor combinations that could satisfy even the most sophisticated among us. So I’ve put together a collection of classic ice cream flavors, and then customized them with mix-ins and simple substitutions. Each basic recipe is followed by a list of variations designed to push the idea just a little, and then some more. You should even feel free to write your own variations in the margins. After all, you can have your ice cream and eat it, too.


    Mahluk kecil yang lucu ini adalah bayi Undulate Ray ikan pari langka yang ditemukan di Mediterania dan Atlantik timur, termasuk perairan di sekitar Inggris.  Mata yang bersinar itu sebenarnya lubang hidung ikan ini, yang digunakan untuk mencium bau. Jenis ikan pari ini bernafas menggunakan insang (lima pasang celah insang yang terlihat di gambar ini di bawah mulut). Berbeda dengan daerah putih disekitarnya, punggungnya ditutupi warna coklat dan pola kuning yang berpadu sempurna dengan dasar laut berpasir dalam hal berkamuflase.

     Meskipun hanya beberapa sentimeter panjang bayi ini, setelah dewasa pari ini bisa mencapai panjang 1m dan hidup selama 23 tahun. Bayi Undulate Ray memulai hidup tertutup dalam cangkang telur kasar dan keras. cangkang kecil ini melindungi dan mengembangkan embrio, sementara kantung kuning telur menyediakan semua nutrisi yang dibutuhkan untuk untuk tumbuh, Cat Gordon dari Shark Trust menyatakan bahwa celah kecil di sepanjang tanduk dari cangkang telur memungkinkan oksigen air laut masuk ke dalam kapsul dan pari akan menggerakkan ekornya seperti pompa untuk mensirkulasikan oksigen ini. Setelah menetas, pari muda sepenuhnya terbentuk, versi miniatur dari pari dewasa, siap berjuang untuk diri nya sendiri.

    (Courtesy of BBC Knowladge Dec 2015)

    Beruang Panda, harus bersiap diri untuk pindah jauh dimana pergeseran makhluk ini sangat penting jika mereka berusaha untuk bertahan hidup dari dampak perubahan iklim. 

     Panda yang terkenal rewel dan sangat tergantung dengan lingkungan pohon bambu serta dan kehidupan seks loyo. Dimana populasi liar telah tergerus oleh tekanan baru dari pertumbuhan eksplosif dalam pembangunan jalan di Cina. Akibat dari faktor-faktor ini, Ming Xu dari Rutgers Universitas di New Brunswick, New Jersey, dan rekan telah melakukan pemetaan bagaimana rentang geografis panda bisa berlanjut dalam pengaruh perubahan iklim.

     Mereka menemukan skenario bahwa bahkan dengan rencana yang paling konservatif, yang meramalkan rata-rata perubahan suhu 1°C hingga tahun 2100, dapat mengakibatkan habitat yang cocok untuk panda berkurang lebih dari separuh pada tahun 2070 (Biological Conservation, doi.org/xz7). Dan membuat keadaan menjadi lebih buruk, populasi panda bisa juga menjadi lebih sulit di prediksi. Analisis Xu memprediksi bahwa rata-rata ukuran habitat panda akan menurun sekitar 19 persen. Itu berarti kelompok-kelompok kecil, seperti sebagai 29 hewan yang hidup di pegunungan Daxiang dari Cina selatan-barat, bisa punah dan sisanya menghadapi risiko lebih besar untuk mati. Dan sebaliknya, Xu memprediksi bahwa beberapa daerah ke utara dari tanah air pegunungan panda  dapat menjadi daerah yang cocok untuk para panda. Menanam bambu di sana sekarang bisa menjadi hal utama agar daerah tersebut dapat menjadi daerah relokasi panda masa depan.

    (Courtesy of New Scientist, January 2015)


    Ancient Egypt – the land of the pharaohs – is one of the oldest civilizations in the world. Its monumental tombs and temples, decorated with reliefs and hieroglyphs, have been the source of awe and admiration for millennia. Art and crafts of great beauty, and well preserved organic evidence (especially mummies) have added to ancient Egypt’s fascination. “How did they do it?” is a question, often asked about the ancient Egyptians, that has sometimes given rise to highly speculative and fantastical explanations. For example, it has been suggested that the Great Pyramid at Giza (built by Khufu in the 4 th Dynasty), which was the largest structure in the world until the 19th century ad, and other Egyptian monuments, could not have been built without the technological and mathematical knowledge of an earlier civilization – the fictitious lost continent of Atlantis. But there were no earlier civilizations anywhere in the world and such an explanation is based entirely on fanciful beliefs which do not credit the ancient Egyptians with the intelligence and ability to organize and carry out such a project.


    A closer look at the archaeological evidence provides information about how the Egyptians built their monuments. At Khufu’s pyramid there is evidence of rectangular cuts in the bedrock used by ancient surveyors, and the remains of pyramid construction ramps have been identified to the south of the three kings’ pyramids at Giza. Evidence of ancient stone quarries at Giza has also been located. Graffiti naming gangs of workmen can still be seen on blocks used to build the pyramids, and are found in stress relieving spaces above the burial chamber in the Great Pyramid.

    To begin a study of Roman history is to begin the study of Western civilization,  and this introductory work provides a fine place to start. In truth, all roads lead not only to Rome, but from Rome. Upon Rome’s extensive system of roads moved not just the building blocks of society and commerce, but also an invisible cargo of ideas that connected Roman society and later the Christian Church, early modern Europe, and all that followed. Roman culture was syncretic from the beginning. The early years of monarchy (753–510 BCE) witnessed the amalgamation of Etruscans, Oscans, Sabines, and other Italic peoples. Bit by bit the Romans of the republican period (510 BCE–27 BCE) extended their imperium. By 270 BCE, Rome controlled the entire Italian Peninsula. The expansions continued and established the foundation for an empire that by 116 CE would encompass more than 6.5 million square miles (16.8 million sq. km) under the emperor Trajan.At this time the empire covered the full perimeter of the Mediterranean Sea, stretching north to Scotland, south to Arabia, and east to Mesopotamia.


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