THOUGHT: An Era reader passed along this “thought worth contemplating.”

“Nowadays many people view encyclopedias as the most worthless book on the planet.

“However, analyze what one gains from ‘researching’ through those encyclopedias. Google gives one the requested subject; searching via the encyclopedia exposes one to various subjects, facts, photos, charts, graphs, illustrations, etc. Perhaps sundry to what one is currently in search of, but knowledge one may need/could use later.

“People have been telling me for years that encyclopedias are past their time and worthless; funny thing those ‘worthless’ encyclopedias are knowledge filled and energy free. No electricity needed to use. Same applies to the dictionary and other reference sources. Start reading!”

As one who grew up loving the written word — and who spends far too long looking at a screen every day — that’s a thought we can get behind.

PASTA: Jiminy! A group of food science graduate students at Penn State recently won the Ag Springboard student business pitch contest by making a commonplace food in a very uncommon way.

“The team — Pasta 2050 — wants to help westerners warm up to eating crickets by fortifying pasta, a familiar staple product, with cricket flour,” stated a press release from the university.

The thought of eating crickets makes us jumpy, but, with fewer carbs and more protein than traditional pasta, it is a healthier alternative, Penn State reports.

“Finalist judge Deanna Spaniel said the flavor and texture was very close to that of wheat pasta,” the release read.

Pasta 2050 members Lauriel Stewart, Weslie Khoo and Haoshu Zhang will now look to produce and market their product.