There’s a scene from Mad Men that I think about a lot. Peggy Olson, the young copywriter, is confidently delivering a pitch to an important client. The client licks his teeth at her in what she reads as a crude but ignorable gesture. The meeting...
What is the relationship between smell and memory? Can our sense of smell improve our emotional health? Should a smell check be a part of our regular check-ups? — Click here to listen to the full episode....
The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today the newest class of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences....
Researchers are finally making headway in understanding how the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes loss of smell. And a multitude of potential treatments to tackle the condition are undergoing clinical trials, including steroids and blood plasma. Once a tell-tale sign of COVID-19, smell disruption is becoming less common...
It's said that the man who discovered umami realized he was consuming a unique taste while eating a bowl of kelp broth. We can only hope that the next great discovery comes to us over our own breakfast, but frankly, we're still working on truly understanding...
I hate fish. All fish. Yes, even crab. Yes, shrimp, too. (Actually, especially shrimp. Why do fish lovers always ask, “Even shrimp?”) Flounder. Salmon. I HATE FISH — get it? And I’m the only one. In all my big, happy family, only I don’t salivate...
In 1980, a candy company launched a new gum aimed at kids. Big League Chew sold a pouch of shredded gum that was meant to resemble chewing tobacco. It came in original flavor, grape and sour apple. Big League Chew was just one of many sweet...
Smell is a powerful and important sense that can transport us back in time to our favorite memories, keep us healthy and make meals taste delicious. But it’s often forgotten, under-appreciated, and still has lots of room for scientific exploration. Why do we have favorite...
More than two years into this pandemic, we finally have an antiviral treatment that works pretty darn well. Paxlovid cuts a vulnerable adult’s chances of hospitalization or death from COVID by nearly 90 percent if taken in the first few days of an infection. For...
The majority of people infected in 2020 and 2021 lost their smell, regardless of how sick the coronavirus made them. That began to change with the delta variant that moved into the United States last summer and took over by the fall. Between 15-50% of people...