Surprising uses for lemons

Lemons are tasty and healthy, but they are simply so much more than for making lemonade. 【小题1】

◇Lemons are used to refresh and clean a cutting board.

With garlic and onions being used widely in cooking, the struggle of washing the unpleasant smell out of a cutting board is something many people can relate to. But not only that, the cutting board can be home to all sorts of harmful bacteria.

【小题2】 Cut one in half and press the fruit against the board, wipe hard until the juices flow over the board, wash and enjoy your lemon-fresh cutting board.

◇Lemons are used to unclog a drain（疏通排水管）.

First, several lemons are squeezed for their juices into a cup, then the drain is washed with boiling water before being filled with half a box of baking soda（苏打）. Lemon juice is poured over the baking soda, causing it to bubble. 【小题3】

◇Another part of your kitchen you can clean with lemons is your microwave.

Putting some lemon juice into a cup of water and microwaving for 5 minutes not only loosens up stains in the microwave so they are easily wiped away, but leaves a fresh smell behind.

◇【小题4】

If you are lucky enough to have a dishwasher in your house, you can freshen things up by putting a few lemon slices into your dishwasher.

◇Lemons can be used to create a homemade face scrub（磨砂膏）.

First, you need three tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of a lemon, two tablespoons of honey and half a cup of sugar.【小题5】 After the time is up, wash to brighten your skin.

Looking around, we may find someone a picky eater, who tends to dislike some common food regularly and causes social embarrassment when ordering at restaurants. But for some people picky, eating can actually become a serious disorder, and clinical definitions of picky eating behaviors often include people who only consume around 20 different kinds of foods for a long period of time.

“Then, nutritional deficiencies will come in, as well as other health concerns,” explained Lorenzo Stafford, one of the authors on the latest study. “There is also a social cost because normally enjoyable moments between family members can easily turn into stressful, anxious, and conflict-causing situations when picky eaters feel ashamed or pressured to eat certain food.”

A new research homed in on the effect of plate color on food desirability for picky eaters. The experiment was based on a foundational study from 2018 which looked at the way different colored food bowls affected a person’s sense of taste. Using a design similar to the 2018 research, the new experiments had participants rate the sweetness, saltiness and overall desirability of a snack food eaten from either a red, blue or white bowl. Around 50 participants are classified as either picky or non-picky eaters based on a standard questionnaire.

The results revealed picky eaters considered the snack to be saltier when it was eaten from a red or blue bowl compared to the white bowl. And overall, picky eaters found the snack generally less desirable when eaten from a red bowl.

It is worth mentioning that a recent survey estimated nearly one in five American adults could be clinically classified as picky eaters. So exploring ways to help these people better engage with more types of food could result in valuable health outcomes.

When we give blood or need a blood transfusion, we have to think about our blood types — or blood groups as scientists refer to them.

But how much do animals think about their blood types? Probably never, given what we know about animals. But we humans do think about our animals, because sometimes animals receive blood transfusions too, and we want to make sure the blood we’re giving doesn’t cause a blood incompatibility reaction. That’s a negative reaction, causing the recipient’s immune system to attack foreign blood, producing antibodies (抗体) against the red blood cell proteins, or antigens (抗原), in the donated blood. Although all animals have blood groups, every species has a different system, and we know the most about the systems of domesticated mammals.

Dogs, for their part, have more than 8 different antigens that can attach to their red blood cells. Most of them are labeled Dog Erythrocyte Antigen (DEA 1.1, 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7). Often, individuals within a specific breed of dogs will have the same blood type — for instance,60 percent of greyhounds fall into the DEA 1.1 negative (the universal dog donor) blood group. But new dog blood groups are still being detected — the recently discovered Dal blood group, for example, is only found in Dalmatians.

Cats, on the other hand, have only 2 possible antigens — A and B, although they aren’t the same A and B antigens found in human blood. There is no universal donor or recipient feline blood groups, but the vast majority (around 90 percent) of domestic cats have type A blood, while more special purebreds often type B. AB is also possible, but very rare.

Like dogs, horses’ blood groups are loosely organized along breed lines, but there are 30 different groups. That represents combinations of 8 different antigens (A, C, D, K, P, Q and U are internationally recognized, while T is still being researched). Cows are tricky because there are 11 major blood groups (A, B, C, F, J, L, M, R, S, T and Z), but the B group includes over 60 different antigens, making blood matches for transfusions tough.