Apple and Orange Not Beyond Compare “That’s like apples and oranges.” The classic phrase sums up the impossibility of comparing dissimilar objects or ideas. But are the two foods that different? Each is a seeded fruit “you want to pick up and bite,” notes Cornell University horticulturist Ian Merwin. Yet each grows in “profoundly different ways.” That doesn’t mean you can’t compare them. But Merwin sees subtlety in the cliché: “Apples and oranges may seem the same, but they’re not.” To cite utterly unlike items, try Serbia’s odd pair: “old ladies and frogs.”

Monkey See The cure for color blindness may be within sight. Gene therapy has given adult male squirrel monkeys – which, like color blind people, lack the pigment gene that lets them distinguish red and green – a glimpse of hues they’ve never seen before. About 20 weeks after receiving retinal injections of the L-opsin gene, color-blind monkeys began spotting red and green dots on a computer screen, and their perception improved with time. Conventional wisdom had held that color vision relies on an inflexible nerve network hardwired early in development. But University of Washington neuroscientist Jay Neitz says this study shows that “the brain can adapt preexisting circuitry for a new purpose. It’s extremely exciting.” Someday the therapy could cure the estimated 200 million people, mostly men, who miss out on everything from autumn leaves to signs of sunburn to sight-oriented careers – and might spark fixes for other genetic blindness. Meanwhile, says Neitz, at least one wise-eyed monkey has a new penchant for green M&M’s.

You Versus the Volcano Volcano trekking is for those who like hikes with a built-in fear factor. “Nothing compares to the incandescence of lava,” says John Seach, founder of Volcano Live in New South Wales, Australia, who leads tours to live volcanoes. Of the approximately 1,500 volcanoes in the world, only a handful erupt regularly. Some hot spots: Sunda Strait. Indonesia One of the world’s most notorious volcanoes, Krakatau (or Krakatoa) famously erupted in 1883, producing a tsunami that killed tens of thousands. The trek up the volcano’s rocky face, like all of Volcano Live’s treks (www.volcano live. tom), can be arranged on short notice to catch unexpected eruptions. Volcanoes National Park. Hawaii The lush, 330,000-acre national park on the “Big Island” of Hawaii has two of the world’s most active volcanoes, Kilauea and Mauna Loa. Native Guide Hawaii (www.nativeguidehawaii.com) brings cultural context to the park’s barren lava fields, streaming red lava, and 500-year-old Thurston lava tubes. Hekla. Iceland Though the eruptions of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano earlier this year hurled ash into the airways of northern Europe, stranding millions of air travelers, Iceland’s 200 volcanoes offer more than just canceled flights. Trekking to nearby Mount Hekla’s 4,900-foot summit in the summer promises adventurous travelers stunning views of southern Iceland’s expanse of volcanic terrain and distant glaciers. Tour operator Icelandtotal.com (www.icelandtotaf.com) offers 3- to 4-hour treks.

Sole Searching The official footwear of Texas kicks its heels up a notch with custom designs. Background In Texas, the easiest way to be mistaken for a native is to don a pair of cowboy boots. Although the exact birthplace of the iconic Western boot has been lost to history, the Lone Star State has staked sartorial claim since the 1800s, when cattle ranching began there in earnest. Horsemen around the world have long favored protective footwear with a stirrup-gripping heel, but it wasn’t until cowboys from Kansas and vaqueros from northern Mexico began driving cattle through Texas that the cowboy boot as we know it began to take shape. “Those early cowboys had one pair of boots that they needed to last their whole lives,” says designer Nevena Christi. “And each time they’d take the pair to a bootmaker to be resoled, the cowboys would add their two cents, and tweaks would be made.” Boot Basics Nowadays, seemingly everybody in Texas wears cowboy boots. And buying a pair is intensely personal. Of the main elements that you’ll have to consider – type of leather, style of heel, and shape of toe – the hardest decision will be the decorative touches. “Lately, our most popular styles are Day of the Dead designs,” says Christi, who co-owns Rocketbuster Boots (www.rocketbuster.com) in El Paso. But even though form now largely trumps function, fit is still key. “You shouldn’t have to break in a new boot,” says Lee Wright, a saleswoman at Aliens Boots (www.allensboots.com) in Austin. When buying a boot “your heel should slip a bit when you walk, and your toes should wiggle. When you realize how comfortable cowboy boots are, you won’t want to wear anything else.”