Italicus is a new liqueur from Italy inspired by rosolio, a drink that was once the toast of the Court of Savoy …. Piecing together the original rosolio recipe was painstaking work; [Giuseppe Gallo, Italicus creator and an authority on Italian drinks,] spent many months trawling the archives of the University of Turin and interviewing superannuated Italians before he pinpointed a formula of roses, lavender, gentian and lemon balm. For his own recipe, he added chamomile, bergamot and fragrant Cedro lemon to the mix, resulting in a slightly more citrusy liqueur that works particularly well served 50/50 with prosecco, lots of ice and a couple of green olives.

[S]ommelier and “maître liquoriste” Deirdre Heekin …. began experimenting with herbal spirits and homemade cordials after returning from a 2002 trip through Calabria, where she encountered a rainbow of different rosolios, homemade liqueurs made from roses and other botanicals. “They were like nothing I’d ever seen before,” she said. “It was a total aha moment.” So, when Eden asked Ms. Heekin to consider developing domestic versions of the aperitifs she recalled fondly from her travels—using not wine, but Vermont ice cider as the base—she dove at the chance.

New research shows that six species of Caribbean and Latin American anoles, a type of lizard, can exhale air to create large, oxygen-filled bubbles that cling to their head. The anoles were seen periodically inflating the bubbles and then drawing them back in through their noses …. “We think this is operating like a rebreathing device,” says study first author Christopher Boccia, a doctoral student at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. That device, also called a rebreather, is an apparatus that allows divers to extend time underwater by recycling exhaled air and breathing the previously-unused oxygen in it.

Scientists, philosophers—and parents—have asked similar questions about what is innate and what is learned in the infant brain, going all the way back to the ancients. A study conducted using an apparatus specifically designed to inspect the brains of babies may bring an answer one step closer …. Rebecca Saxe, a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her colleagues scanned 42 infants ranging in age from two to nine months using a special functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) helmet designed specifically for babies.

From Queensboro Bridge Park, his gaze shifts back to center and the dusty rufescent brown chain link fence momentarily pops back into focus—its color not unlike that of dried blood, a darker version of the still coagulating reds covering the arches over on the Hell Gate and Roosevelt Island Bridges; except for the Triborough, which is the cool blue of a corpse in livor mortis, the paths to Queens seen here are all seemingly slathered in blood—before his eyes can adjust to their target, the slowly moving water below.

Enter the grove, and it is like walking into a vast, dimly lit dome with sunlight barely filtering through the canopy of incredibly old trees, many with a thick covering of green moss and lichen, and others with a decoration of wildflowers and orchids of various species. The floor is covered with a carpet of rotting, rufescent leaves, several inches thick, judging from the way one’s feet sink into them. The atmosphere is as peaceful and solemn as a house of worship. One can hear only the calming sounds of the forest.