bananas

17 Stories

Price of the $120K Duct-Taped Banana Has Gone Up

Maurizio Cattelan's piece is heading to auction; Sotheby's says it'll fetch $1M to $1.5M

(Newser) - If you thought that selling banana duct-taped to a wall as "art" for $120,000 was—let's just go for the low-hanging fruit here—bananas, well, Sotheby's would like you to know the price has gone up. The Art Newspaper tackles next month's scheduled auction:
  • The
...

Before Peeling Your Beloved Banana, Ask a Question
That Inexpensive
Banana
Comes at
a Steep Price
OPINION
Aug 27, 2024 9:14 AM CDT

That Inexpensive Banana Comes at a Steep Price

'Every bite contains a drop of the banana industry's bloody history,' writes Colombian journalist in the New York Times

(Newser) - In June, the banana conglomerate Chiquita lost a civil case in Florida and was ordered to pay nearly $40 million to the families of eight men murdered by a Colombian paramilitary group. More cases are pending, both in the US and Colombia, and it's long overdue, writes Ignacio Gó...

Trader Joe's Hasn't Upped Cost of This in 20 Years—Until Now
Trader Joe's: Sorry, Everyone,
We Had No Choice on This
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mar 30, 2024 4:27 PM CDT

Trader Joe's: Sorry, Everyone, We Had No Choice on This

Grocery chain increases price of single banana from 19 cents to 23 cents, first bump since 2001

(Newser) - Trader Joe's has been selling bananas for 19 cents apiece since the George W. Bush administration, but staffers are now changing up the fruit's price tags. It's not quite a Lucille Bluth-level bump , but the grocery chain will now be hawking individual bananas for 23 cents each...

Judge Weighs In on Legal Fight Over Banana Art

Joe Morford fails to show Maurizio Cattelan's 'Comedian' copied his earlier creation

(Newser) - The Italian artist who stuck a banana to a wall with duct tape wasn't copying the work of a contemporary who taped a banana and an orange to two panels and called it art years earlier. A US district judge for the Southern District of Florida ruled against California-based...

Want to Scare a Male Mouse? Try a Banana


Want to Scare
a Male Mouse?
Try a Banana
new study
May 31, 2022 11:22 AM CDT

Want to Scare a Male Mouse? Try a Banana

Scientists make an odd, and accidental, discovery

(Newser) - It's one of the weirder scientific discoveries in a while: Scientists accidentally found that mice are afraid of bananas—but only male mice, and particularly virgins. It seems that bananas give off the same scent that female mice emit when they're warning males to steer clear of their...

She Opened 'Worst Christmas Gift Ever,' Then Ate It

Toddler's reaction to a prank banana is priceless

(Newser) - While some kids are hoping ( in vain ) that Baby Yoda will show up under the Christmas tree, little Aria Mojica is much easier to please. Her parents found that out when they tried to prank the 2-year-old with what dad Justice Mojica calls the "worst Christmas gift...

Some Guy Ate the $120K Banana
Some Guy Ate
the $120K Banana
Dec 8, 2019 7:11 AM CST

Some Guy Ate the $120K Banana

Here, have some really pricey potassium

(Newser) - On much of planet Earth, a banana costs about 39 cents a pound. But in Miami, where a banana will run you $120,000 , you probably want to make sure you chow down before you're looking at some very pricey brown spots. David Datuna, identified as a New York...

Artist Cashes In Big Time With ... Bananas Taped to Wall

2 of Maurizio Cattelan's creations have gone for $120K each; a third is set at $150K

(Newser) - For everyone who's ever dreamed of hitting it big, file this story out of Florida in the "why didn't we think of this" catalog. Artnet reports on a piece called "Comedian," by known prankster-artist Maurizio Cattelan, on display at the Art Basel Miami Beach show...

The Planet's Banana Woes Are Multiplying
The Planet's
Banana Woes
Are Multiplying
in case you missed it
Aug 17, 2019 7:00 AM CDT

The Planet's Banana Woes Are Multiplying

Devastating fungus has reached Colombia

(Newser) - Say goodbye to the banana as we know it? Not quite, but we're getting closer. Colombia on Thursday confirmed that a nefarious fungus has managed to make its way to Latin America. Panama disease Tropical Race 4—or TR4—infects the soil, and there's currently no way to...

7th Graders' Prank on Teacher Could Have Killed Her
7th Graders'
Banana Prank
Could Have
Killed Teacher
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Aug 3, 2019 2:30 PM CDT

7th Graders' Banana Prank Could Have Killed Teacher

Columbus, Ohio, teacher has severe banana allergy

(Newser) - It was a prank. But that's not how a Columbus City Schools security officer characterized the incident to responding police in the Ohio city: It "could be attempted murder." The November incident, in which 7th graders caused a teacher to go into anaphylactic shock by exposing her...

Someone Just Donated $18M of Cocaine to Texas

There was a surprise tucked amid 2 pallets of bananas donated to Department of Criminal Justice

(Newser) - "Sometimes, life gives you lemons," begins the Facebook post from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. "Sometimes, it gives you bananas. And sometimes, it gives you something you'd never expect!" The unexpected came amid a donation of 45 boxes of bananas that were donated to...

There's a Natural, Cheaper Alternative to Sports Drinks

Peel a banana

(Newser) - During an Australian Open match in January, tennis star CoCo Vandeweghe refused to continue play until someone gave her a banana. She was mocked, reports Deadspin , but the snack was probably worth the scorn. Like sports drinks, bananas are packed with sugars—14.43 grams in a medium-size one—proven...

Craving a Banana Peel? Japan Has the Perfect Fruit

Peel from Japan's Monchee banana has texture like 'lettuce' and a slightly bitter taste

(Newser) - About the only thing banana peels were good for up to this point were comedy pratfalls and composting. A farm in Japan appears to have changed that, producing a banana with a tasty edible peel thanks to what Quartz labels a "bizarre method of production." The technique used...

They Flew Across the World on a Failed Quest for a Banana

Inside the search for the Cavendish banana's successor

(Newser) - The Cavendish banana—that's the kind sitting in your kitchen right now—is "almost perfect," a scientist with Dole Food Co. tells the Wall Street Journal . Well, "laments," is the word the paper uses. That's because, as has been reported for the past couple...

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Big Idea Was Bananas

Tech giant gives away thousands of free bananas every day

(Newser) - There's always money in the banana stand . Unless you're Amazon, of course. Then you just give those suckers out for free. The tech giant tells the Wall Street Journal it gives away about 8,000 bananas to employees and hungry passersby every weekday from two stands at its...

Cocaine Transport Device: Fake Bananas

2 Spanish men have been arrested

(Newser) - Spanish police have arrested two men for allegedly transporting large quantities of cocaine inside fake bananas, the AP reports. Spain's civil guard made the arrests Sunday after an investigation was started in November when agents discovered the drugs in a shipment of bananas. Among the real bananas, police found...

Deadly Spider Found in Family's Bananas

World's most dangerous arachnid gnawed its own leg off in escape attempt

(Newser) - The last thing you'd expect to find lurking in your bananas is a creature whose Greek scientific name means "murderess." But that's exactly what one London family found after a grocery delivery from the Waitrose supermarket chain, the Daily Mail reports. The family patriarch (known only...

17 Stories