Sealed honey essentially never spoils. Its water content ... | funfact.wiki | funfact.wiki
Sealed honey essentially never spoils. Its water content is low (~17%) and bound to sugar, its pH of 3–4.5 is acidic, and bee enzymes add hydrogen peroxide. Microbes can't survive, so millennia-old honey is found unspoiled in Egyptian tombs.
About 1,700 years before James Watt, the Egyptian mathematician Heron invented the first steam engine, the Aeolipile. A sphere filled with water, when heated, released steam through nozzles, spinning the ball — likely used to open temple doors.
When bees are repeatedly exposed to explosive scents followed by sugar water, they eventually extend their tongues at the smell alone. A real device was built with 36 trained bees in sensor cartridges as an explosive detector. Training a dog takes months, but bees need only a few hours.
Today's sweet watermelon is the result of millennia of breeding and genetics; wild varieties had pale, bitter flesh. Ancient Egypt knew watermelons well: pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb held 11 baskets of seeds. The red color is lycopene, selected over thousands of years.