The Friday Fermentable: The Family Free-Ride on Fermentation and Distillation

Like many of my readers, I am continually blown away by the parenting skills and science education abilities of my friend and colleague, Dr Janet D Stemwedel (aka Dr Free-Ride). Among her many gifts is her Friday feature with her family documenting how kids learn about science. And like her commenters state, I'd love to see these posts compiled into a book.

As an aside, having children returns one, whether one likes it or not, back to the days of asking "why" about everything (or, more appropriately, being forced to answer why about things you've taken for granted for 20 or more years). One of our top ten posts here came from when PharmKid asked me where helium came from. Many of us try to keep this childlike curiosity in our daily research lives but, sadly, funding pressures require that we be more focused.

So, I refer you today, Dear Reader, to Adventures in Ethics and Science's Friday Sprog Blogging: fermentation and distillation.

Younger offspring: Why do they call booze "spirits"?

I assure you that you learn far more there about fermented beverages than we have offered here over the last three years.