Gas From Food

  Hi, I’m doing a science experiment for the science fair at school. I am trying to produce gas from four foods. I ground each of the following in a food processor: dry and frozen navy beans; fresh & frozen yellow turnips; fresh cabbage and canned sauerkraut. I put all these in a separate test tubes and added one tablespoon of water to each. I then added 1/8 tsp. of yeast to every other tube so that I had one tube with each food mixed with just water and one with water and yeast. I then put a balloon over the top of each tube to trap any gases produced. It has been 48 hr. and no gas has been produced. Will they produce any gas? have I done something wrong?

———- from Tosha Tripp of grade 7, Windsor Ontario, Canada

  I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’ve loused everything possible up to a point that you should just give up. Have you thought of library science or one of the social sciences? The pay is lousy and the work is boring, but you might be able to get into a low ranking graduate school.