"Form follows function" is a maxim that an object's shape and appearance should be defined only by its purpose or function. A quick perusal of any antique shop will show that this maxim is generally ignored. Humans (Homo sapiens) have been called "naked apes," but we and our close species cousins quickly adopted the concept of wearing the fur skins of animals for protection. Our ancestors were likely much more interested in how they would obtain their next meal than how stylish they appeared in hyena fur. As human culture progressed, people desired to distinguish themselves from others; and, what could be an easier way to do that than through dress. This is accomplished by the simple technique of dyeing drab natural fibers, but the simple sewing needle is a technical innovation that's lead to a means of producing more ornate dress. A recent open access article in Science Advances investigates the use of delicate eyed needles in the Paleolithic as the means for producing refined, ornamented dress. One argument for clothing's becoming a means of decoration is that traditional body decoration, such as body painting with ochre, weren't effective in cold climates, since clothing was needed all the time for survival. Homo sapiens arrived in Europe at around 45,000 BC, and the earliest known eyed needles appeared in Siberia around 40,000 BC, in the Caucasus around 38,000 BC, in West Asia around 30,000 BC, and in Europe around 26,000 BC. Clothing the human body regardless of climate is a social practice that's persisted to this day. The eyed needle combined the processes of hole puncture and threading to allow finer and more efficient sewing.

My early adulthood coincided with the New Age movement and its belief in many discredited past ideas, such as astrology. One New Age idea that seemed strange at the time was that talking to plants helped them to grow. What could be more New Age than a hippie chick talking to a potted plant? However, a scientific study by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has shown that this actually works, and it works better when women speak than men. In the RHS experiment, recordings were made of male and female speakers, and these recordings were played to ten tomato plants for more than a month, with two control plants grown in silence. The experiment showed that plants grew an inch higher when exposed to women's voices than for men's voices. Charles Darwin himself did an experiment in which he played a bassoon to a mimosa plant, thinking it might close its leaves as it does when gently touched, but there was no response. However, a bassoon is a low register musical instrument that would resemble a male voice more than a female voice. Not only do plants respond to speech, but they also emit sound when they're in distress. An open access article appearing last year in the journal, Cell, reported experimental finding that tomato plants and tobacco plants will emit loud ultrasonic popping sounds when stressed from dehydration, or by having their stems cut. Although the mechanism of the sound generation in plants is not known, the research team conjectures that it might arise from the formation and bursting of air bubbles in the plant's vascular system. One possible application of this research is monitoring plants to determine when irrigation is needed, thereby conserving water.

The United States Department of Energy has updated its list of critically important materials. The current list of 54 materials includes elements that are presently critical to a transition to green energy, such as the rare earth elements important to turbine generators, and electric vehicle motors; and, lithium for storage batteries. Also included on the list is copper, an element historically so inexpensive and plentiful that it was used as the material for the United States one cent piece. However copper's price eventually increased to the point at which the material composition of this coin was changed in 1982 from being 95% copper to copper-plated zinc with just 2.5% copper. The price of copper has skyrocketed in the 21st century to nearly 15 times its 1960 price. A recent report concludes that copper can't be mined fast enough to satisfy market demand for green energy technology. A standard Honda Accord needs about 40 pounds of copper, but a fully electric version of that same car needs nearly 200 pounds of copper. Upgrades to the electric grid infrastructure depend on copper. An onshore wind turbine has about 10 tons of copper, and offshore wind turbines need more than twice that amount. The study calls into question the presumption that the copper needed for the green energy transition will somehow be available. A production model found that copper can't be mined rapidly enough to satisfy the government roadmap for green energy. For complete electrification of the world's vehicle fleet, about six new large copper mines would need to start production annually through 2050. The average time between discovery of a new copper mineral deposit and getting a permit to mine is about 20 years.

There have been many studies using scientific instrumentation, mostly gas chromatography, in attempts to find what distinguishes a superb wine from an inexpensive house wine. A typical wine can contain more than 800 different aroma compounds. One study examined two Australian red wines in an attempt to synthetically recreate the aroma of these wines. It was found that only about 50 aroma compounds could be detectable by smell, a minimum of 44 compounds were necessary to approximate the smell, and that certain compounds had a major affect on the final aroma. Artificial intelligence has been applied to determination of where grapes were grown. An artificial intelligence analysis of chromatograms from 80 red wines from 12 vintages in the years 1990-2007 across seven Bordeaux estates showed that the estate could be identified perfectly, and the vintage with up to 50% accuracy. Each estate possessed an unique chemical signature, and the method would be an effective way to combat wine counterfeiting. A similar study was done for beer, with artificial intelligence predicting how a particular beer will be rated by consumers, and what aroma compounds can be added to improve it. Beer is one product that can be improved by modification, since it has thousands of flavor compounds derived by a mix of raw materials consisting of malt, yeast, hops, water and spices, and their evolution through biochemical conversions during brewing consisting of kilning, mashing, boiling, fermentation, maturation and aging. The study examined more than 200 chemical properties of 250 commercial beers over 22 beer styles. There was a definite preference for high ethanol and high caloric value. The beer research team's future goal is making better alcohol-free beer.