I really like soda, especially the kinds with lots of caffeine and sugar. However, I have minor panic attacks whenever I drink them and think about all the corn syrup and other scary junk that goes into the soda flowing through my body. On the other hand I can't stand diet sodas - whose chemicals won't make me fat and diabetic (and probably take a lot longer to insidiously wreck the body) but taste like crap.

So why do they taste like crap?!

A group from my own campus (The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign), has come up with some methods to determine why diet sodas suck.

Consumers may claim they don't like diet soda because of artificial sweeteners, but Schmidt and sensory scientist Lee think people are also influenced by a subtle difference called "mouth-feel." Think body, fullness, thickness; regular soda contains high-fructose corn syrup, diet soda doesn't.

What makes these scientists think mouth-feel is the culprit? For one thing, artificial sweeteners have been greatly improved and extensively studied. "Taste profiles for artificial sweeteners now closely match the one for sucrose, which humans describe as the perfect sweetness," Lee said.

But the most compelling piece of evidence is the verdict of Lee's sensory panel--12 people trained for four weeks to use a 15-point scale in order to rate the characteristics that contribute to the mouth-feel of diet and regular soda. Lee called her panelists "highly trained instruments" because they could detect significant differences in the mouth-feel of 14 samples that the scientist's super-sensitive lab instruments identified as very, very small.

Too bad they haven't found a non-toxic ingredient to replace all the bad ones in order to attain the same "mouth feel" as a regular soda.

Before I leave you with this exciting new information I thought I'd give you this last little quote;
"The human mouth cavity appears to be a super-rheometer (the lab instrument that measures viscosity or thickness)"

A mouth cavity?! sounds like the author is talking about a huge alien demon mouth ready to engulf Tokyo.

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It looks like Slate, over the next few days, is going to have a series of articles on some yummy looking neuroscience!
Here's a few details:

Welcome to "Brains!", Slate's special issue on mind science and the state of neuro-culture. Over the next few days, we'll present a series of articles about how laboratory research on the brain makes its way into our daily lives.
Wednesday, William Saletan revisits the most compelling brain-related stories of the year, from mind-reading fMRI scans to the effects of brain damage on morality. Max Linsky heads to the local brain gym for a neurobic work out--and ends up in a battle of wits with a woman 50 years his senior. Meghan O'Rourke sits down and assesses the growing trend toward neurological self-improvement, and Brendan I. Koerner explains how Jerry Falwell and a Nobel prize-winning chemist helped make ginko biloba the top-selling brain-enhancing supplement. Finally, we ask a panel of eminent scientists--like Steven Pinker and Oliver Sacks--to explain how learning about the brain has changed the way they behave from day to day.

And more!!!

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I'm heading out to San Francisco in a couple weeks and am looking forward to hitting up the Exploratorium! Too bad I'm going to be missing this exhibition coming in November!

Mind Opens November 9, 2007-December 31, 2008

In Mind, you are the exhibit. Experience your own thoughts, feelings and
actions in provocative and unexpected ways in this major new
5000-square-foot Exploratorium exhibition featuring over 40 brand-new
interactive exhibits. In a very real sense, you¹ll discover that the
exhibits in Mind are actually within yourself.

At A Sip of Conflict, for example, drink from a water fountain fashioned
from a very real but unused toilet. The tension between reason and emotion
runs high in this experience at the heart of the exhibition. At Limelight,
stand before a simulated lively audience and examine your own emotional and
cognitive reactions to being the center of attention. Combining exhibits,
activities, demonstrations, public programs, and specially commissioned
artist installations probing the mysteries of thought and emotion, this
exhibition invites you to experience -- as never before -- the workings of
your own mind. Mind is made possible by with the support of the National
Science Foundation.

For images, go to http://www.exploratorium.edu/pr/pdf/Mind_PRimages.pdf

It looks like there might be some interesting exhibits going on while I am in San Fran though! Anyone want to meet up with me to explore? Maybe I can even convince the museum to hook me up with a couple free passes for the "press" ;)

Check out what's happening while I'm in San Francisco below the fold:

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Scientists in Dundee have announced plans to create a "robot village" in an effort to learn how different cultures emerge in society. The University of Abertay's four-year study will feature about 60 miniature robots who will be organised into groups and

Ahh... it all makes sense now! John Wiley and Sons are the publishers of the "for Dummies" series of books - you know... Sex for Dummies, Astrology For Dummies and of course the classic The Supreme Court for Dummies. It seems that their business may be based on a couple of their own books! Particularly these:

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Illustrated below...

For more on this issue, visit Shelley's page tracking the buzz, and earlier explanations.

This is just the sort of reason we're stoked to have the EFF, or Electronic Freedom Foundation, as guardians of online liberty. They do great work fighting US legal battles with companies who bully users, while the adage "information wants to be free" still echoes through the years. Every blogger owes a bit of their freedom to the EFF. They need your support, too. Donate to help fight old media bullies like the academic science press.

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