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Thursday

Antibiotic-Free Meat Business Is Booming, Thanks To Chipotle

The antibiotic-free pigs roam freely on Niman Ranch in Iowa. Sarah Willis/courtesy Niman Ranch hide caption

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Sarah Willis/courtesy Niman Ranch

The Salt

Antibiotic-Free Meat Business Is Booming, Thanks To Chipotle

Antibiotic-free food went mainstream after Chipotle's founder advertised free-range pork on the menu. Now many big players in food service are getting into the act, creating a few supply chain hiccups.

Antibiotic-Free Meat Business Is Booming, Thanks To Chipotle

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Space

SpaceX's Dragon Capsule Returns Safely To Earth

The unmanned Dragon capsule sent up by SpaceX came down pretty much on target in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday. The landing marks the end of a completely successful mission — and the beginning of a new era of private spaceflight.

SpaceX's Dragon Capsule Returns Safely To Earth

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Wednesday

The Salt

From An Israeli Kibbutz, A High-Priced Caviar Prized By Top Chefs

One of the world's most treasured foods comes from an unlikely source — a sturgeon farm on a kibbutz in northern Israel. The prized sturgeon eggs — or osetra caviar, if you must — fetches a hefty price and has a top-chef following.

From An Israeli Kibbutz, A High-Priced Caviar Prized By Top Chefs

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Tuesday

Nuclear Tuna Is Hot News, But Not Because It's Going To Make You Sick

A Tokyo sushi restaurant displays blocks of fat meat tuna cut out from a 269kg bluefin tuna. Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images

The Salt

Nuclear Tuna Is Hot News, But Not Because It's Going To Make You Sick

The amount of radiation found in Pacific bluefin tuna spawned near Fukushima does not threaten our health, despite today's suggestive headlines. What a new study shows is that scientists can rely on tiny amounts of radiation to track animals across great distances.

Nuclear Tuna Is Hot News, But Not Because It's Going To Make You Sick

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Monday

Food

Clogged Ketchup No More With MIT's 'LiquiGlide'

On Memorial Day, many of us flip burgers, spear hot dogs, and whack a ketchup bottle trying to coax a stubborn glob of the stuff out and onto the bun. Now, a team of scientists at MIT has decided that this ketchup-to-bottle adhesion is a problem that must be fixed. Melissa Block talks with doctoral MIT student Adam Paxson about a solution some researchers have developed.

Clogged Ketchup No More With MIT's 'LiquiGlide'

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Sunday

Saturday

Soft-Shell Lobsters So Soon? It's A Mystery In Maine

Lobster boats in Maine have been pulling up soft-shell lobsters strangely early in the season. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption

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Robert F. Bukaty/AP

The Salt

Soft-Shell Lobsters So Soon? It's A Mystery In Maine

Maine Public

Maine lobstermen are hauling in an unexpected catch: soft-shell lobsters, about a month ahead of schedule. Biologists aren't sure why, but lobster-lovers are are glad for the harvest — and know just what to do with it.

Soft-Shell Lobsters So Soon? It's A Mystery In Maine

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Clean Your Grill, And Other Hot Holiday Tips From Food Network's Alton Brown

Food science guy Alton Brown says the last thing you want to see is flames touching food on the grill. iStockphoto.com hide caption

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iStockphoto.com

The Salt

Clean Your Grill, And Other Hot Holiday Tips From Food Network's Alton Brown

If there's one grilling tip to remember this Memorial Day weekend, it should be this: Flame is bad. Whether you're barbecuing OR grilling, a meat-eater or a vegetarian, here's how to keep your flavor from going up in smoke.

Clean Your Grill, And Other Hot Holiday Tips From Food Network's Alton Brown

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Friday

Humans, The World's 'Superomnivores'

In his book The Omnivorous Mind: Our Evolving Relationship with Food, neuroanthropologist John S. Allen discusses the history of human eating, from foraged foods on the savannah to four-star meals cooked by celebrity chefs, and discusses why crunchy foods like tempura and fried chicken have universal appeal.

Humans, The World's 'Superomnivores'

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Breaking Out Of A Web Of Fear

Reporting in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers write that a brief therapy session with people who had a lifelong phobia of spiders resulted in lasting changes to brain areas that process fear. A panel of experts discuss the results, debilitating fear and ways to overcome it.

Breaking Out Of A Web Of Fear

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Food

What's The Secret To Great Tomato Flavor?

Horticulturalist Harry Klee is on a mission to bring great taste back to the supermarket tomato. To do so, he asks taste-testers to rate the most flavorful fruits, and analyzes each winning variety's chemical profile. Then he uses his 'chemical recipe' to breed high-yield, better-tasting hybrid tomatoes.

What's The Secret To Great Tomato Flavor?

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Tick Talk: Lyme Disease Under The Microscope

Banking giant JPMorgan's multibillion-dollar trading loss is blamed on an executive's absence due to Lyme disease. And a mild winter has some scientists predicting a busy tick season ahead. A panel of experts discuss how the infection is contracted, why it's often misdiagnosed and the most effective treatment options.

Tick Talk: Lyme Disease Under The Microscope

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