Anti Gravity: Attack on the Clones; April 2008; Scientific American Magazine; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

Where would we be without bananas? The silent-movie industry, founded on images of men in bowler hats being launched into the air by banana skins, might never have gotten off the ground, so to speak. Kids would have to pack drippy citrus into their lunch boxes. The band Bananarama could have been the more fetid Apricotarota. When Shakespeare "let slip the dogs of war," what do you think they slipped on?

I am banana-powered. When I was growing up, my daily breakfast carried the official name of "Rice Krispies, banana and milk." Nowadays I often tuck a banana into a pocket on my cycling shirt, for a midride potassium pick-me-up. In fact, I'm taking a short break to eat a banana right now.