World's Hottest Research Articles

‘Bhut Jolokia’—The World's Hottest Known Chile Pepper is a Putative Naturally Occurring Interspecific Hybrid

In replicated trials at Las Cruces, N.M., the Scoville heat units (SHUs) of ‘Bhut Jolokia’, a chile pepper from Assam, India, reached one million SHUs. Morphologic characters revealed that ‘Bhut Jolokia’ is a Capsicum chinense Jacq. cultivar. Molecular analysis with randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers confirmed the species identification and, interestingly, revealed that there may have been genetic introgression from Capsicum frutescens L. into ‘Bhut Jolokia’.

Some like it hottest

It is an unpleasant thought but the story goes that when the French were involved militarily in Mexico in the 19th century, the corpses of their dead were fed upon by wolves while local soldiers were left alone because of the high chilli content of the Mexican diet. 1 Davidson A The Oxford companion to food. Oxford University Press, Oxford1999: 171 Google Scholar There are plenty of myths surrounding Capsicum spp so the report on April 1, the one day in the year when the press sets out to mislead readers just for fun, that the world's hottest chilli had been found (again) may have raised a few eyebrows. 2 de Bruxelles S The chilli so hot you need gloves. Times (London), April 1, 2006. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2113507,00.html Google Scholar The fact that this fiery specimen had been bred in southwest England rather than, say, South America or south Asia seemed to confirm the suspicion. Yet the claim is true; the Dorset Naga chilli scored around 900 000 on the Scoville scale on independent testing in the US. (In 1912, while working for the Parke Davis pharmaceutical company, Wilbur Scoville devised a taste dilution test for the heat of chillis). Before April 1 of this year, the record was generally thought to have been held by a habañero, scoring up to 570 000 Scoville units, but the current title-holder has some way to go because pure capsaicin comes in at 15 million or more. 3 Anon Wilbur Scoville & pepper chemistry. http://www.g6csy.net/chile/scoville.htmlDate: March 6, 2005 Google Scholar

Book Review: On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bullseye

Book Review: On Target: How the World's Hottest Retailer Hit a Bullseye

The biodiversity of Madagascar: one of the world's hottest hotspots on its way out

AbstractMadagascar is renowned not only for its high biodiversity and high degree of endemism, but also for ongoing loss of the original primary vegetation. Here we draw attention to the critical degree of vulnerability of Madagascar's littoral forest, western dry deciduous forest, and evergreen forests of the high plateau. Conservation efforts in these forest formations have been low compared to those in the evergreen rainforest of eastern Madagascar. Due to their fragmented nature these ecosystems urgently require reinforced conservation programmes.

The biodiversity of Madagascar: one of the world's hottest hotspots on its way out

Madagascar is renowned not only for its high biodiversity and high degree of endemism, but also for ongoing loss of the original primary vegetation. Here we draw attention to the critical degree of vulnerability of Madagascar's littoral forest, western dry deciduous forest, and evergreen forests of the high plateau. Conservation efforts in these forest formations have been low compared to those in the evergreen rainforest of eastern Madagascar. Due to their fragmented nature these ecosystems urgently require reinforced conservation programmes.

Information Policies for Collection Development Librarians

Beware of “Info‐Smoke” warns Art Plotnick in a recent American Libraries editorial. It clouds the meaning and purpose of libraries by embroiling them in the “world's hottest commodity”—information. “The information age” or “the information society” are clichés used with abandon by many librarians. “Information” is the buzzword for grant applications, articles, and new names for libraries and library schools. As Plotnick rhetorically asks, “Who isn't in the information business?”