Margaux Dupont
Food & Culture WriterA food historian who has eaten her way across six continents. Believes that every dish tells a story and every ingredient has a secret. Will absolutely judge your ketchup opinions.
Articles by Margaux Dupont
Chickpeas Beat Black Beans at Lowering Cholesterol—And Nobody Knows Why
A 12-week study reveals chickpeas slash cholesterol by 15 mg/dL while black beans do virtually nothing. Two legumes, two completely different metabolic outcomes.
Red Wood Ants Can Ferment Yogurt—And They Taste Surprisingly Good
Scientists revived a forgotten Balkan recipe using live red wood ants to ferment yogurt. The result is tangy, herby, and entirely edible.
The Weird Way Scrolling Food Videos Makes You Eat Less
Dieters who spend time watching junk food videos actually eat less when given real food. It sounds backwards, but neuroscience has an explanation.
A Forgotten Popsicle Created a Billion-Dollar Accident
Frank Epperson was 11 years old when he left a sugary drink outside overnight and invented one of history's most iconic frozen treats by pure negligence.
A Melted Chocolate Bar Changed How We Cook Forever
Percy Spencer was standing near a magnetron when he noticed his chocolate bar had melted in his pocket. He didn't throw it away—he invented the microwave oven instead.
A Dog Covered in Burrs Changed the History of Fasteners
Velcro, the fastening system used on everything from astronaut suits to sneakers, was invented when a Swiss engineer got annoyed at burrs stuck to his dog's fur.
The Resistor That Rewired Medicine
A 1956 component mix-up led engineer Wilson Greatbatch to invent the implantable pacemaker—a device that would eventually save millions of lives. He grabbed the wrong resistor, and the mistake changed cardiac medicine forever.