Neuroscientist Explains Why Spicy Food Makes You Sweat
Image Source: Puppa Fromm/Getty Images
Our reactions to spicy food are caused by chemesthesis, "a chemical sense that perceives spiciness in general," says Frederica Genovese, a neuroscientist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. Capsaicin, the chemical in hot chile peppers that's responsible for those reactions, binds to receptors on the tongue which send signals to your brain saying you’ve encountered something burning. Even though the body is not harmed, it responds by sweating, sneezing, coughing and/or crying. “Sweating is literally to wash out whatever got in contact with your mouth, your skin, and everything else,” says Genovese. Since the neurons perceive an increase in temperature, sweating is also an attempt to cool the body down. Genovese says you can train your body to temper these reactions. How? By eating spicy food more often. Time to gorge on those spicy wings.
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Chemist Explains Science Behind BBQ Smoke And Char
Image Source: Harry Knight/Unsplash
Grilling is a simple way cook, right? Actually, there's a lot going on under the hood. Chemistry professor Kristine Nolin explains how cooking with open flame – whether gas, charcoal, or wood – amplifies the "Maillard reaction" and "caramelization," two chemical processes that transform proteins and sugars on the surface of meat, vegetables, and/or fruits, making them taste more meaty, savory, toasty, and/or caramel-like. Nolin also reveals how dry heat creates delectable char and how smoke "seasons" food with alluring aromas. No wonder barbecue tastes so good.
2022 World Food Prize Awarded To NASA Climate Scientist
Image Source: Kisha Bari
Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig has been named the 2022 World Food Prize Laureate for her pioneering work in modeling the impact of climate change on worldwide food production. Rosenzweig founded the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP), a globally integrated transdisciplinary network of climate and food system modelers. AgMIP has directly helped lawmakers in more than 90 countries enhance their food systems' resilience to climate change. Rosenzweig will receive the $250,000 prize officially in an October ceremony.
Japanese Researchers Develop Electric Chopsticks To Enhance Salty Taste
Image Source: Reuters
Homei Miyashita, a scientist at Japan's Meiji University, has developed a pair of chopsticks that increases the perception of saltiness by 1.5 times. The device transmits sodium ions from food to the mouth using a weak electrical current. Miyashita and the beverage maker, Kirin, hope to refine and commercialize the device as early as next year in Japan, where sodium intake is double that recommended by the World Health Organization.
Scientists Raise Pizza Dough Without Yeast Or Chemical Leaveners
Image Source: Francesco Paolo Desiderio/University of Naples Federico II
Yeast is what usually puffs up pizza dough. But there is another way, according to materials scientist Ernesto Di Maio. He and his team at the University of Naples Federico II got similar results by infusing dough with gas at high pressure in an autoclave (pressurized oven) then releasing the pressure during baking. Through a gas inlet, they pumped in carbon dioxide, helium, or air, and brought the dough interior to a pressure of 10 atmospheres (about five times higher than in a standard pressure cooker) and a temperature of 302°F for 10 minutes. The end result? “We tried it, and it was nice and crusty and soft,” said Di Maio.
Image Source: The Atlantic
Tastes that we perceive, including sweet, salty, bitter, and umami, can be traced to biological needs. Sweet foods are sources of needed calories and salty foods provide the mineral needed for proper fluid balance and nerve function. But there's no known biological need for sour foods. And yet we love them, at least up to a certain concentration. Scientists have recently dug deeper into the acidic conundrum and come up with some interesting theories on why we love lemonade as much as kimchi and yogurt.
