Category: Culture

In Belgian lab, scientists search for ‘perfect’ beer yeast

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LEUVEN, Belgium (Reuters) – Belgium famously produces hundreds of different beers, but that is nothing compared to the varieties of yeast used to make it – around 30,000 are kept on ice at just one laboratory by scientists seeking the perfect ingredient for the perfect brew.A team from the University of Leuven and life sciences research institute VIB are examining and cross-breeding yeast strains, adding modern genetics to a search for brewing perfection that dates back centuries.“We’re … using robots to cross different yeast like farmers have been doing with cattle and livestock for centuries,” genetics professor Kevin Verstrepen told Reuters.“We’re now doing the same with yeast on a massive scale, making millions of new strains or variants of yeast and testing which are the better ones.” […]

Full Text: In Belgian lab, scientists search for ‘perfect’ beer yeast | Mo4ch News

The Cheese Nun

Mother Noella, of the Abbey of Regina Laudis, practices the sacred art of cheesemaking

“I didn’t even know cows before I came here,” she continued. “When you join an abbey, you get to try many things you never would have done. And I happened to fall in love with a cow named Sheba, and then learned to make cheese.” […]

Source: The Cheese Nun – CBS News

Discover the winners of the Time Out 2016 Love Paris Awards

The results are in! Discover Paris’s best-loved restaurants, cafés, bars, boutiques and cultural centres in each of the 20 arrondissements.

Over the last eight weeks, Parisians have nominated, and then voted for their favourite bars, restaurants, shops and cultural centres in each arrondissement. 7000 nominations and 12,000 votes were cast to decide on the Love Paris Awards winners.

 

The 2016 hall of fame reflects the richness, diversity and energy of Parisian life. Among them, there are the capital’s staples, the unmissable addresses of the city, such as the bar Piano Vache in the hills of Sainte-Geneviève, the Menilmontant bookshop le Monte-en-l’air, the 3rd arrondissement’s hidden cocktail bar Candelaria and even the famous Japanese Higuma in the 1st. La Recyclerie, the bar Les Chaises or the Shakespeare & Company have once again triumphed for 2016, winning the best place in their arrondissement for another year.
We’ve also discovered plenty of new spots in the winners, like quai de la Râpée’s Social Bar, beer-brewing workshop Brew Unique or Animal Kitchen, Point Ephémère’s resident kitchen. […]

Read Full Story: Discover the winners of the Time Out 2016 Love Paris Awards

Jim Jarmusch: ‘I shy away from sex in my films. It makes me nervous’ 

After almost 40 years in cinema, the director remains the quintessential leftfield auteur. He discusses how his gentle new film Paterson offers a Zen alternative to blockbuster chaos

There’s a line in Jim Jarmusch’s 1986 film Down By Law that seems apposite in November 2016. It goes: “My mama used to say that America’s the big melting pot. You bring it to a boil and all the scum rises to the top.”

Over tea in a Paris hotel, Jarmusch considers whether he’d agree. “Kind of appropriate, but also kind of cynical,” he says finally. “But it’s a scary and sad time with these creeps coming to the top. I think we all have to be vigilant around the world now with Brexit, and Marine Le Pen in France. There’s a lot of scary shit, you know?”

There’s a line in Jim Jarmusch’s 1986 film Down By Law that seems apposite in November 2016. It goes: “My mama used to say that America’s the big melting pot. You bring it to a boil and all the scum rises to the top.”Over tea in a Paris hotel, Jarmusch considers whether he’d agree. “Kind of appropriate, but also kind of cynical,” he says finally. “But it’s a scary and sad time with these creeps coming to the top. I think we all have to be vigilant around the world now with Brexit, and Marine Le Pen in France. There’s a lot of scary shit, you know?”

Source: Jim Jarmusch: ‘I shy away from sex in my films. It makes me nervous’ | Film | The Guardian

French secularism: Anti-religious or safeguarding freedoms?

This week we take a closer look at France’s cherished state secularism. Laïcité [secularism], a product of French history and philosophy, is central to how France defines itself. But critics say it is anti-religious and increasingly used to stigmatise Muslims. Is laïcité compatible with a multicultural society?

We spoke to Jean-Louis Bianco, the President of the National Observatory on Secularism, to find out more. […]

Full Story: French secularism: Anti-religious or safeguarding freedoms? – France 24