Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times
A recent study by the United States government found that about 12 percent of spices brought to the United States are contaminated with insect parts, whole insects, rodent hairs and other things.
There are only about 4,000 black rhinoceroses left in the world — at least until next year, when a high bidder gets a chance to shoot one. This week brought news of a controversial auction, plus an account of what the Food and Drug Administration found in imported spices.
Developments
Archaeology: From Rubble, an Eagle Rises
British archaeologists working on a construction site in London were thrilled to find a Roman-era sculpture of an eagle, nearly 2,000 years old, carved from Cotswold limestone. The 26-inch-tall sculpture was exquisitely preserved and will be displayed in the Museum of London for six months before researchers take it back.
The artifact, which once adorned an aristocratic tomb, is among "the very best statues surviving from Roman Britain," Martin Henig, an Oxford archaeologist who specializes in Roman art, told The Guardian.
Psychology: Moral in the Morning
People are less likely to lie and cheat in the morning, according to a modest study published in the journal Psychological Science. In four experiments, participants were given small financial incentives to lie. In one, 62 undergraduates — those perpetual guinea pigs — were flashed an image of a square that held 20 dots, spread unevenly, and asked if the left or right side held more. The students earned 5 cents for each "right side" answer and 0.5 cents for each "left side" answer, whether right or wrong.
People who took this and other tests in the afternoon were more likely to tilt their answers toward the lucrative ones, the researchers found. "We propose that the normal, unremarkable experiences associated with everyday living can deplete one's capacity to resist moral temptations," they concluded.
Public Health: In Spices, Pathogens and Filth
The Food and Drug Administration calls it a "systemic challenge." You and I might find more colorful words: 12 percent of spices imported to the United States are contaminated with "insect parts, whole insects, rodent hairs and other things," like Salmonella, according to The New York Times. Spices from Mexico and India had the highest rates of contamination.
While India is urging spice farmers to improve practices, the American Spice Trade Association says spices sold in the United States are treated for contamination. "Consumers can have confidence that the spices they purchase at their grocery store from reputable companies are clean and safe to eat," the group said in response to the F.D.A. report.
Endangered Species: Don't Bring It Back Alive
The Dallas Safari Club, a group of big-game hunting enthusiasts, will auction off a rare permit to shoot an endangered black rhinoceros in Namibia and bring the head back as a trophy. The permit, one of five granted each year by the Namibian government, will be the first sold in the United States; it is expected to fetch upward of $1 million at the auction in January.
Critics have piled on, but the club says there are valid reasons to cull older, male rhinos, which often kill other rhinos. The animals being targeted are troublemakers that are too old to breed, the club said, and the money will go to wildlife conservation. "Though it may seem counterintuitive to critics, the hunt is being sanctioned by scientists around the world as helpful to the future of a rare species," it said in a slightly defensive-sounding fact sheet.
Coming Up
Environment: Monitoring Melt
The Greenland ice sheet was first crossed in 1888 in a perilous foot journey led by the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen. Today it is scary for different reasons: Its rapid melting is a symbol of global warming. On Wednesday, NASA will start flying a C-130 research aircraft across the sheet, "to measure changes in the height of the Greenland ice sheet and surrounding Arctic sea ice produced by a single season of summer melt." Studies in recent years have found worrisome melt levels.
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