Good morning folks! This week at IBS, we’ll be trying a new format based off on some recommendations and our general disposition towards keep things fresh and exciting. So, cozy up and settle down for this week’s edition; it’s an interesting one! Oh, and don’t forget to share your thoughts on the changes and whether you’d like anything else.
🚨Big Story: Milk vs Milk
In an ever growing list of stupid things that Americans like to fight about, the newest entrant is milk. Yup, plain old milk was the cause of a raging controversy last week because of this satirical ad starring Aubrey Plaza.
What? The ad was part of a big marketing push by “Big Milk”- a term used for the collective of dairy companies, to get customers back to buying dairy or ‘real milk’ as these companies like to call it. Even Emma Roberts was a part of this campaign.
Why? The dairy industry in USA has been having a bad few years lately. Well, more like a bad few decades. As per the US Department of Agriculture, consumption of fluid milk (milk that we drink) has been witnessing a secular decline.
Source: US Dept of Agriculture Dairy products- cheese, cream etc, are not doing exceptionally either. The per capita consumption for dairy products in USA have plateaued for 2 decades now. Just look at the chart down below.
Source: Statista Dairy industries have blamed the rise of plant-based alternatives as the cause of their dwindling fortunes and hence, the ad. But that might not just be it. A McKinsey report has found that even though plant-based alternatives have witnessed an increase in consumption, loyalty to those products is fragile.
Whatever the reason is, one thing is for certain that milk is the next frontier in the great American culture wars. If only they could listen to our masala lab… sigh.
🔬Eureka!
Women in science or rather, their absence in the science world is a problem since time immemorial. In fact, when I asked ChatGPT to frame the problem in a sentence, here’s what it came up with…
“Why is it that atoms and men always get to bond, but atoms and women don't?”
Now, it turns out that the problem is not just restricted to human species. In a new research paper from the Harvard Medical School, researches found glaring issues in the common practise of favouring male mice over female mice in experiments in neuroscience. You can find out more about it here.
In a massive achievement, scientists from University of Freiburg in Germany have developed a biochip that heals wounds up to three times faster than normal. While the development is still in early stages, this is a huge boost to bringing humans closer to the X-Men (we’re kidding of course). You can read about this here.
📚Recommendations
Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan 2 is out on the big screen and so, we thought of brining back this amazing thread on the dietary habits and the cuisine of the Cholas. A word of caution though, readers might develop pangs for dosas and idiyappam. Reader discretion is advised.
If you like to obsess over indic culture and its history, then you’re gonna lap up this great piece on Burzahom, Kashmir Valley’s very own Stonehenge.
The last few weeks have been quite tumultuous for the global economy. Closure of banks (both big and small) have caused panic in the world economy. For the uninitiated though, PBS has come up with a brilliant documentary to explain what the hell is going on.
🎁 Wrap it up
This was also the week when America’s Arnab, Tucker Carlson, was fired from Fox News. The New Yorker, as usual, had a brilliant cartoon for that…
That’s all for this week folks! If you liked this week’s edition, don’t forget to share it with your friends and do subscribe to the newsletter. See you next time!
Nice post