A timeline of the science of taste discoveries

The idea of a tongue map has been discredited (but taste sensitivity varies across the tongue)

The original tongue map, created by German researcher DP Hanig, recorded taste sensitivities reported in psychological studies. His findings were later translated and taken out of context, possibly giving rise to the faulty tongue map. In fact, taste receptors in the oral cavity respond to all tastes regardless of their location.

Each taste bud has 10 to 50 sensory cells that form a flower-like capsule

At the top of the structure are thin filaments known as "taste hairs" that bind taste-producing substances to the surfaces of the cell, after which corresponding electrical signals are sent to the brain. Adults have 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds on their tongue.

Taste buds have evolved to fill a wide variety of functions

Taste buds do more than let you experience your favorite food. These peripheral organs can sense the chemical makeup, potential toxicity, and fleeting experience of flavor, giving the body a chance to respond to undesirable chemicals or tell the brain that you should reach for another scoop.

Breaking down various tongue disorders, from infections to genetics

Taste is one of our fundamental senses, but can be impeded by a wide variety of conditions including glossitis, angioedema, and black hairy tongue. Most are characterized by their color, shape, and sometimes change in function. Causes range from vitamin or mineral deficiencies to fluid accumulation, fungal infection, or more.

How texture affects taste

Texture is the brain's interpretation of several sensations, including pressure, as registered by our teeth, tongue, and finger tips, and sound, as recorded by our ears. Texture also speaks to food particle sizes—smaller than 35 microns contributes to the sensation of creamy—and the balance between flavor and mouth time, such as the crunch of a crispy chip or the bounce of a chewy caramel.

The research that led to sour

Scientists are trying to figure out if there are unique receptors that respond to the molecules that make up flavors we associate with calcium, blood, batteries, and other items that often escape dinner menus. Taste researcher Dr. Danielle Reed says the minimum evidence for a taste category typically involves identifying dedicated receptors and then removing them to show the taste vanishes.

The tongue evolved in animals roughly 350 million years ago

Creatures like fish rely on suction to consume food, flexing their gills to create water currents that vacuum up their meals. The evolution of the tongue enabled vertebrates to completely cut ties with the sea, moving onto land where they could sample new foods and ways to eat them.

Octopuses have taste receptors along their tentacles

Octopus suction cups are filled with modified sensory receptors that can bind with a greater variety of materials and transport a wider array of information, such as flavor, from tactile stimuli. These structures allow the animal to search for food as it crawls the ocean floor.

Our sense of smell affects what foods taste like and how we perceive it

Scent stimulates our olfactory sensor neurons high in the nasal cavity, and the brain attaches labels to those scents. But when we eat, chemicals from the foods travel from our mouths and throat to those neurons. We have roughly 400 odor receptors, and they can be used to decipher more than 10,000 different odors (or more than one trillion by some calculations), including the nuances of different foods.

How science came to understand umami

Before Dr. Kikunae Ikeda sat down in 1907 and pondered the taste of dashi, scientists typically agreed upon four types of taste: sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. He boiled 90 pounds of kelp into a resin that he then stripped of different compounds until he was left with a single ounce of brown crystals. Testing later revealed these crystals were glutamate, an amino acid and one of the protein's building blocks.

Fat is proposed as a candidate sixth basic taste

Oleogustus is Latin for "a taste for fat," and researchers proposed in 2015 that it should be accepted as the sixth basic taste. This article teases apart exactly what it would take to officially be considered the sixth taste and why researchers think the fat taste may be a strong candidate.

Babies taste food in the womb via amniotic fluid, and it may influence future taste buds

Some estimates suggest that around Week 16 during pregnancy, a growing fetus can begin to taste amniotic fluid that contains flavors in the food that their mother consumed, due to taste bud formation. Scientists think those early flavor experiences may influence future taste preferences. Other scientific resources put that time much later, however—around Week 30.

Cultivate your coffee taste with this interactive flavor wheel

Coffee is one of the more complex things humans consume, and taste can vary drastically based on bean genetics, roasting technique, and more. Using this flavor wheel, you can more accurately describe your coffee's aroma by starting from the center and moving outward.

Mapping the origins of the world's crops

Food has evolved alongside humanity, and through globalized trade, much of the world can enjoy foods once isolated to one region. Examine where your favorite foods originated from and see how diet differs across cultures with these interactive...

Intriguing facts about tomatoes

This episode of the Lunchbox Envy podcast dives deep into the world of tomatoes. Why do they taste nicer in certain settings? Do they "scream"? What are their health benefits? All of these questions and more are answered about the luscious red fruit. Listen and reflect on the historical and cultural significance of the tomato.

How winemaking has changed throughout history

Winemaking is an ancient practice, and researchers continue to find evidence that this ritual came even earlier than previously estimated. This article outlines five key turning points in wine’s history, from the fermentation of fruit by our primate ancestors to today’s increasingly popular “New World” wine. Discover the fascinating scientific and cultural factors that led to wine’s changes in flavor and increased symbolic importance.

A list of five scientific theories that were accepted and later disproved

Humoral theory held that everyone's personality derived from different combinations of four bodily fluids: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. The phlogiston theory stated that all combustible materials possessed a fire element—phlogiston—that was released and absorbed by the air during burning. When the air became saturated with phlogiston, the fire would go out.

See a timeline of landmark discoveries in the field of genetics

From the first genetic map of fruit fly genes in 1911 through the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, scientists have built upon each other's discoveries to further our knowledge of the human body and the genetic instructions that inform our traits and disease risks.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

The Oktoberfest taste test

Wondering how the different Oktoberfest beers stack up? This article dives into the six official beers you’ll find at the festival. Each one has a write-up that includes a bit of history, tasting notes, and thoughts on where and when you might enjoy drinking it.

Goose bumps require a surprisingly complex series of steps

Watch an anatomical breakdown of how goose bumps work—featuring real skin from a human cadaver, a segmented brain, and a detailed anatomical model of the skin—to learn about all the jargon behind goose bump science. (Warning: Includes graphic footage of cadaver skin.)

A comprehensive taxonomy of American tacos

Tacos may be a Mexican food, but they're wildly popular in America and in a number of different styles. This lengthy guide from Serious Eats was compiled after visiting more than 1,000 taco shops. It breaks down the differences between the many variations on the form (including breakfast, barbacoa, and Deli Mex) you'll encounter in different regions of the country. We don't recommend reading on an empty stomach!

Vanilla was originally thought to be an additive for chocolate

The classic flavor didn't stand on its own until the 17th century, when Queen Elizabeth I's apothecary began intentionally making vanilla sweets.

How do touchscreens work?

Touchscreens have revolutionized digital interactions, but how they work widely varies depending on the device. Explore the history and workings of the most common types—capacitive and resistive—and new interaction methods incorporated into foldable screens and touchless interfaces.

Tasting a lab-grown chicken nugget

Taste testing the first clean meat chicken nugget from a San Francisco company developing cultured meat. It’s chicken, but not as you know it.

Visualize the different parts of the digestive tract

The digestive tract, also known as the gastrointestinal tract, runs from our mouths to rear ends. Its major components include the esphoagus, stomach, intestines, colon, and more.

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

This poison ivy knowledge quiz—accompanied by photos of the plant's varied forms—may help you identify this common rash-inducing growth.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Lesser-known phobias include turophobia, or the fear of cheese, and nomophobia, the fear of being without your cell phone.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Hear about the 250-year history of the United States Postal Service, complete with some of its strangest deliveries, important innovations, and the figures that made it an American institution.

Before humans, the Soviet Union and the United States sent animals—including apes, dogs, and cats—to space during the Space Race.

Scientists can determine Earth's past climate conditions by analyzing air trapped in microscopic bubbles within ice cores—columns of compressed snow layers that build up over hundreds of thousands of years.

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Explore the history, structure, and species of Australia's Great Barrier Reef with this interactive journey narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Many legends about George Washington, including his supposed wooden teeth and the story of cutting down the cherry tree, lack evidence.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

The syncytiotrophoblast is the outer layer of the placenta and the largest human cell, spanning an area about twice that of a king-sized bedsheet.

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.