Can you smell this?
Getty Images
Patients who later test positive for COVID-19 are reporting early loss of smell and taste. Researchers are now trying to understand if this could be an early sign of the disease.
A lot of of chemistry and physics are behind how you perceive a sip of wine.
GANNA MARTYSHEVA/Shutterstock.com
Researchers would like to find a way to relate the human perception of dryness to the chemical and physical properties of the wine.
Favourite treats might not taste the same as they once did as we age.
Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
As we get older, the way we experience taste can change drastically – but it’s not all down to one sense.
Do the eyes have it?
Irina Bg/Shutterstock
Would you rather lose your sense of touch or your vision? Here are the pros and cons of each, according to science.
Your tongue has special parts, bundled together as taste buds, that pick up flavour. But your other senses also help your brain work out how something tastes.
Flickr/Jessica Lucia
Your tongue, saliva and nose work together to help you taste your food.
Our taste system is conditioned so foods higher in energy taste better.
from shutterstock.com
Recent studies have shown that we may be able to train ourselves to become more sensitive to certain tastes, which leads to feeling more full and satisfied after eating a meal.
Americans tend to prefer beers that have corn or rice ‘adjuncts,’ or fillers.
RetroClipArt/Shutterstock.com
The unique role of the temperance movement in US history might explain why, when it comes to Americans’ tastes, bland beer is still king.
Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know was voted ninth in the Hottest 100 of the Past 20 Years poll. What makes some songs endure as a classic and others fade away?
Number crunching the Hottest 100 votes produces fascinating insights into shifting musical tastes and poses the question: why was 1997 such a great year for music?
Chatchy4406/Shutterstock.com
Make that winter dram an intellectual one.
What can you do to ensure a more perfect brew?
Chris Hendon
The science behind why what your barista achieves at the cafe tastes better than what you can come up with at home.
Blue cheese: either you love it or you hate it. But why?
Flickr/Susie Wyshak
Taste dictates most food choices, but there’s more to it than just the taste buds on your tongue.
It can be tempting to look for shortcuts when it comes to eating your five serves of vegies a day.
from www.shutterstock.com
Is it best to chop your salad vegies? What’s good in theory doesn’t always make much difference in practice, as the science tells us.
Martin Fisch/Flickr
The first teeth may have evolved from combination of scales and tastebuds.
PA/PA Archive
The dress Marilyn wore to sing happy birthday to JFK sold at auction recently for a record-breaking $4.8m.
Pleasure at the table, pleasure in life.
Natasha Mileshina
If New Year’s resolutions have you in an abstemious mindset when it comes to enjoyment these days, consider a pleasure recalibration based on ‘l'éducation du gout.’
The savory tastes so closely associated with Thanksgiving recall umami, which was ‘discovered’ more than 100 years ago by a Japanese chemist.
mr_t_in_dc/flickr
When you enjoy the delicious, savory foods of Thanksgiving, you’re experiencing umami, the fifth taste, with a little-known history rooted in Japan.
Robert H Howington/Flickr
Cats share some important genes associated with herbivores – this might explain their particular eating habits.
‘Tasters’ often dislike bitter green vegetables, such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts.
Kevin O'Mara/Flickr
Hate the taste of Brussels sprouts? Do you find coriander disgusting or perceive honey as too sweet? Your genes may be to blame.
Taste receptors for salty, sweet, bitter and sour are found all over the tongue.
Tongue via www.shutterstock.com.
We can thank scholarly misinterpretation for the well-known but inaccurate map of the tongue.
Drink up.
Drinking straws via www.shutterstock.com.
Last month Burger King took soft drinks off of their kids’ menu. But will making low-fat milk and apple juice the new default options change how kids eat?