June 30, 2016 at 01:48AM

Today I Learned: 1) If you happen to be drying down proteins under vacuum and at warm temperatures (as in, room temperature), beware of salts! As you dry down the protein, you go through a super-high-salt-density phase that can seriously damage proteins if they're warm enough to react. This fact brought to you be Erik Jue. 2) Watermelon gazpacho soup is really tasty. I had a cold version with watermelon (obviously), lots of cilantro, and... tomato, I think. Definitely something a bit sour/acidic, and something that gave it a red color. I suspect the right vinegar, applied carefully, could give a similar effect. Highly recommend, if you can find a good recipe. 3) We have a baby bird from the middle Cretaceous, trapped in an amber fossil. Well, not a whole baby bird, but a good part of a wing, complete with bones and feathers. It's a beautiful specimen, and really highlights just how birdlike Cretaceous dinosaurs could be. More details here: http://ift.tt/29ctyqH This fact brought to you by Mengsha Gong. Thanks Mengsha!