The Science Of Human Taste And Smell

Faye Flam, Bloomberg: The Science Behind a Chocolate Funk

It's been a horrible week for Mast Brothers Chocolate, and therein lies a scientific mystery.

Just days ago, serious foodies were buying the stuff for $10 a bar. Then, a series of posts on a blog called Dallasfood.org suggested the chocolate was not as authentic as the Brooklyn-based company claimed, and suddenly the food press was calling the product “crappy," “bitter” and “chalky.” One scathing review in the Guardian suggested that one of the bars carried “that sweaty gym sock sourness” associated with funky cheese.

If the chocolate really tastes that terrible, why is it only obvious now?

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CSN Editor: I have tried their chocolate .... it is not bad at all.

Smell Your Way to a Longer Life? Odors That Represent Food or Indicate Danger Can Alter An Animal's Lifespan

New research reveals that specific odors that represent food or indicate danger are capable of altering an animal's lifespan and physiological profile by activating a small number of highly specialized sensory neurons. (Credit: iStockphoto/Jodi Jacobson)

From Science Daily:

ScienceDaily (Apr. 20, 2010) — What does the smell of a good meal mean to you? It may mean more than you think. Specific odors that represent food or indicate danger are capable of altering an animal's lifespan and physiological profile by activating a small number of highly specialized sensory neurons, researchers at the University of Michigan, University of Houston, and Baylor College of Medicine have shown in a study in the online, open-access journal PLoS Biology.

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Why King Kong Failed to Impress: Humans, Apes Use Odor-Detecting Receptors Differently

New research shows that humans and other primates use the same receptors for detecting odors related to sex in different ways. (Credit: iStockphoto/Larissa Lognay)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Dec. 9, 2009) — Humans have the same receptors for detecting odors related to sex as do other primates. But each species uses them in different ways, stemming from the way the genes for these receptors have evolved over time, according to Duke University researchers.

Varying sensitivity to these sex-steroid odors may play a role in mate selection -- and perhaps prevent cross-species couplings, the researchers speculate.

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Early Scents Really Do Get 'Etched' In The Brain

Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain. (Credit: iStockphoto/Olga Solovei)

From Science Daily:

Science Daily (Nov. 6, 2009) — Common experience tells us that particular scents of childhood can leave quite an impression, for better or for worse. Now, researchers reporting the results of a brain imaging study online on November 5th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, show that first scents really do enjoy a "privileged" status in the brain.

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