/oss/taxonomy/term/2551/all en /oss/article/health-and-nutrition/pineapple-eye-floaters-sweet-deal-or-pipe-dream <p>Shadow puppetry can be beautiful to look at, but when it’s happening inside our eyeballs, it’s an annoyance. One of the banes of getting older is the appearance of apparitions in our vision. In Latin, they are known as <i>muscae volitantes</i>. In French, they translate as flying flies. We know them in English as floaters.</p> Sat, 11 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8946 at /oss /oss/article/general-science-you-asked/why-cant-i-use-fresh-pineapple-make-jell-o <p>Pineapple, kiwi and papaya all contain proteolytic enzymes, in other words enzymes capable of breaking down protein molecules. And gelatin, the substance that makes Jell-O gel, is a protein. Gelatin doesn’t actually occur in nature, it is made from collagen, a protein in great abundance in animal tissues, bones and skin. When bones, hides or hooves are treated with either acid or alkali, the intertwined protein chains that make up collagen unravel and set up the three-dimensional partially cross-linked structure of gelatin.</p> Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:05:59 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 1826 at /oss