Many people realize that one could use a laboratory to reproduce all the compounds of an apple and put them in a jar. But fiber is not a compound, so already as a food it would not have the same glycemic index. Not to mention that even with the DNA, histones, and other compounds of the seeds present, pouring the jar's chemicals into soil and watering it will never give us an apple tree.

(Source of data: Composition of Foods, USDA Handbook No.8) We often hear that to help prevent cancer, we should eat a minimum of six fruits and vegetables daily. Although most provide fibre and are a healthier source of calories than most fatty foods, not all fruits are equal from the point of view of fiber, vitamins and antioxidants and other compounds.

I looked at the glossary of an astronomy book, "Astronomy Today", which has gone through many editions. They defined a chemical bond as "a force holding atoms together in a molecule". That is technically incorrect for a variety of reasons. For starters, bonds can exist in compounds such as salts that do not form molecules. They can also exist between molecules, not necessarily between individual atoms.

What are the stars made of? At 25, Cecilia Payne answered this fundamental question in her Ph.D. thesis.

Safety matches have only been commonplace since the 1850s. How did people start fires before then? What did Romans do two millennia earlier? They basically used the same idea but it involved differ…

The dream of making Mars habitable with current technology isn't just difficult—it's physically impossible, forcing any settlement into permanent underground bunkers.

Fifty years ago, polymath Jacob Bronowski, creator of the TV series The Ascent of Man, and author of the book by the same title wrote: Fifty years from now, if an understanding of man’s origins, his e...