Questões de Inglês

The Green Fairy Returns

In the 20,000 years or so that humans have been getting pissdrunk, no spirit has earned a worse rap than absinthe. Said to turn mild- mannered imbibers into raving maniacs, it was banned in the US and much of Europe in the early 1900s. (Remember Van Gogh’s ear incident? Some scholars blame the green fairy.) The chemical culprit was thujone, a toxic compound found in the crushed ftowers and leaves of absinthe’s key ingredient, wormwood. Or so we thought. 

Three years ago, WIRED sent me to meet Ted Breaux, a chemist and microbiologist who had reverse engineered the liquor’s recipe and discovered that there was barely any thujone present (November 2005). During harvest and distillation, he explained, its concentration was reduced to a minuscule five parts per million. Breaux’s research-finaIIy published this spring in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry - and that WIRED story have helped change absinthe’s image from drug to drink. The US has been slowly peeling away its ban, and in March, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau approved the sale of absinthes that were “thujone free” (containing less than 10 parts per million). 

To date, there are four brands on US shelves: Lucid (Breaux’s formula), Kübler, Green Moon, and, St. George Absinthe Verte. “The US is lucky in that its first absinthes are high-quality products, distilled from whole herbs,” Breaux says. “In the European market, 80 to 90 percent is industrial junk.” Under the Jade label, Breaux is making his own absinthes in France and trying to get them green-lighted for saIe in the US. “Even at this point, gaining that approval seems to involve more luck than anything,” he says. Luck, and a littIe chemistry. 

(BRIAN ASHCRAFT - Wired / Aug08)

There’s No Need Ever To Get Up

A CHAIR SHOULD ULTImately be functional, inviting and comfortable. But it can also be a beautiful work of art. At the latest Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka unveiled for Moroso his simple yet stunning Bouquet Chair, which “blooms” on a slim chrome stem with “petals” made of individually sewn fabric squares (price unavailable; moroso.it). To take a seat in the Fantasy Fantasy Chair by New Zealand designer Phil Cuttance is to be transported into a world of mythical creatures and fantastical human forms. The large, boxy piece is covered with fabric illustrated by artistJared Kahi, who created the images using an inkjet textile printer ($1,590; philcuttance. com). The Lathe Chair V by Sebastian Brajkovie features a handembroidered, rainbow-shaped baekrest, whieh gives the impression of a chair in motion, on the verge of tipping over ($29,160; cwgdesign. com). It’s best to take it sitting down. SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP 

(Newsweek, june/08)

There’s No Need Ever To Get Up

A CHAIR SHOULD ULTImately be functional, inviting and comfortable. But it can also be a beautiful work of art. At the latest Salone Internazionale del Mobile in Milan, Japanese designer Tokujin Yoshioka unveiled for Moroso his simple yet stunning Bouquet Chair, which “blooms” on a slim chrome stem with “petals” made of individually sewn fabric squares (price unavailable; moroso.it). To take a seat in the Fantasy Fantasy Chair by New Zealand designer Phil Cuttance is to be transported into a world of mythical creatures and fantastical human forms. The large, boxy piece is covered with fabric illustrated by artistJared Kahi, who created the images using an inkjet textile printer ($1,590; philcuttance. com). The Lathe Chair V by Sebastian Brajkovie features a handembroidered, rainbow-shaped baekrest, whieh gives the impression of a chair in motion, on the verge of tipping over ($29,160; cwgdesign. com). It’s best to take it sitting down. SONIA KOLESNIKOV-JESSOP 

(Newsweek, june/08)

Updata: Bad Blood

It “doesn’t look like something you’d want dripping into your veins,” wrote Wil McCarthy in the August 2002 issue of Wired. At the time, he had no way of knowing just how right he was about Hemopure, the artificial blood that seemed so promising. It was universally compatible and had a three-year shelf life (unrefrigerated). But a recent meta - analysis of trials on several substitutes - including Hemopure  - contains some gory results. Turns out, the fake bloods scavenge nitric oxide, causing vasoconstriction; patients who get them are 2.7 times more likely to have a heart attack and 30 percent more likely to die. A Journal of the American Medical Association editorial has called for a halt to trials. -KATHARINE GAMMON 

(Wired, Aug/08)

Updata: Bad Blood

It “doesn’t look like something you’d want dripping into your veins,” wrote Wil McCarthy in the August 2002 issue of Wired. At the time, he had no way of knowing just how right he was about Hemopure, the artificial blood that seemed so promising. It was universally compatible and had a three-year shelf life (unrefrigerated). But a recent meta - analysis of trials on several substitutes - including Hemopure  - contains some gory results. Turns out, the fake bloods scavenge nitric oxide, causing vasoconstriction; patients who get them are 2.7 times more likely to have a heart attack and 30 percent more likely to die. A Journal of the American Medical Association editorial has called for a halt to trials. -KATHARINE GAMMON 

(Wired, Aug/08)