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ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: About a hundred years ago, a Japanese chemist named Dr. Kikunae Ikeda set out to solve a mystery - what made the taste of the soup stock dashi distinct from other tastes like salty, sweet, sour and bitter? He ultimately distilled a single compound from the stocks' seaweed. It was glutamate. Yet it was only recently that the taste associated with that compound was commonly acknowledged in the West. Chloee Weiner and Emily Kwong at NPR's science podcast Short Wave pick up the story. EMILY KWONG, BYLINE: Glutamate is just an amino acid, a building block of...

CAMP DAVID—Amid increased calls to address the nation as Afghanistan falls to the Taliban, the Biden Administration has confirmed he will give an emergency press conference to announce which ice cream flavor he plans to eat today. "Amid rising tensions throughout the country and in the middle east, our beloved leader is giving the American people exactly what they need right now," said CNN correspondent Kaitlan Collins. "We're all dying to know—will it be chocolate chip? Maybe chocolate-chocolate chip? I believe I speak for the entire country when I say the suspense is totally killing me!" Exploiting a tragic scenario...

The flavor of a tomato is an interaction between its taste and aroma. Now, researchers from Japan and the United States have revealed that the pigments that determine the colors of tomatoes also affect their flavor. In a study published this month, researchers from University of Tsukuba developed a new method to rapidly measure the pigment profiles of tomatoes and used the technique to explore how pigments affect the taste and aroma of different tomato varieties. The color of tomatoes is produced by combinations of different types of pigments, including carotenoids and chlorophylls. These pigments can also affect the accumulation...

The mystery of why supermarket tomatoes smell delicious but taste watery and bland has been explained by scientists. Tomatoes gain their flavour from a combination of sugars, acids and aromas, but a new study has examined exactly how different elements influence their taste.

There’s a revolution coming to your supermarket, and it’s going to start in the tomato aisle. After more than a decade of study, researchers at the University of Florida have identified the chemical compounds responsible for giving a great tomato its distinctive sweet, earthy, slightly grassy taste. They have also determined the genes that code for these chemicals and where they can be found in the tomato genome. Their results, published Thursday in Science, could help breeders create tomatoes that are hardy enough to survive the often long and arduous journey from field to store without sacrificing flavor. Experts say...

Ever wonder why most store-bought tomatoes are so tasteless? The answer (surprise, surprise) has to do with revenue: Tomato farmers care about yield, and the genetic variants associated with yield are not associated with tasty tomato flavors, a new study finds. "Consumers complain that the modern tomato has little flavor. [It's] like a 'water bomb,'" said the study's co-principal investigator Sanwen Huang, the deputy director general at the Agricultural Genome Institute at Shenzhen at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. How can farmers ditch this "water bomb" and reinstate the rich, sweet flavor of the tomato? To find out, Huang...

LARGO, FL, March 5, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Pepsi Company, which is set to release the new product Pepsi Next in the coming weeks, is facing a more robust boycott as pro-life activists protest the company use of cells derived from an aborted fetus in flavor-enhancing research. But Pepsi has succeeded, with help from the Obama Administration, in keeping its controversial operations from consideration by its shareholders. In a decision delivered Feb 28th, President ObamaÂ’s Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ruled that PepsiCoÂ’s use of cells derived from aborted fetal remains in their research and development agreement with Senomyx to...

Company Using Aborted Fetal Cells in Flavors Shields Partners Washington, DC -- The company that was found to be testing their food additives using fetal cells from abortions is now working to hide the names of the corporations it contracts with as a pro-life boycott continues. http://www.lifenews.com/2011/07/15/company-using-aborted-fetal-cells-in-flavors-shields-partners/

In the mood for takeout? Try this tasty Mexican dinner.

I listed my qualms about him a few days ago. Right now I would consider McCain and Rudy above Fred, but not Brownback. This solely rests upon the fact that other than voting correctly and saying good things on Paul Harvey, I am very skeptical of Thompson’s ability to, 1. Formulate good policy (detail work) 2. Negotiate with the other side and foreign governments 3. Run a organization (whether a campaign or an administration) 4. Something that shows those lazy accusations are not true (i.e. some where he has put forth good effort.) I know that a lot of people...

Scientists Bring New Twist To 'Death By Chocolate' With Chocolate Flavoured Mousetrap <!-- BODY BEGIN <p>A mousetrap made out of chocolate developed by scientists at the University of Warwick is set to bring a new meaning to 'Death by Chocolate'. The novel invention leads mice into temptation with the irresistible, alluring scent of chocolate essence without the use of bait. </p> <p><p>A collaboration of the University of Warwick's Innovation Direct service, a free consultancy service for SMEs (Small and Medium Sized Enterprises) and Sorex Ltd, a leading manufacturer of rodent control products, from Cheshire, has developed the mousetrap made out...