Sometimes I wonder how scientists in lab think of new things to study.
I envision it something like this.
There’s a chemically-enhanced man in a white lab coat standing next to a counter top covered with a bunsen burner with a blue flame shooting out of the top of it and a computer nearby. He mulls. He ponders and then the lightbulb flashes on above his head. Gee, humans still don’t have a handle on the common cold and there’s still lots of cancer to cure, but I’m thinking of something I consider a bit more important.
Something like … figuring out how the human mouth tastes hard foods like apples.
Scientists have already figured out the anatomy of a mouth eating soft foods.
Now, they’ve come up with a mechanical mouth designed specifically to “eat” crunchy foods so that the science can improve food quality and learn more about how the body interprets flavor.
It even has simulated saliva
Robot drool … all in the name of progress.
Image: SkeptiSys