The UK's Taste for Science

Devonshire teas, Cheddar cheese and other West Country foods have been named the favourite regional foods of the UK. This is just one tasty fact found out by research mapping out taste preferences of the UK's major regions.

Professor Andy Taylor, an expert in flavour technology at The University of Nottingham and Greg Tucker a leading food psychologist proved that each region in the UK has its own unique ‘Taste Dialect’ of flavours and textures which have been forged by culture, geography and the environment.

Some other key findings include:

1) Scots are the slowest eaters but love mouth-melting creamy foods.

2) People from the North East seek tastes that offer immediate satisfaction, borne from a history of hungry heavy industry workers demanding foods that offer immediate sustenance.

4) The Midlands, known to be the Balti centre of the UK, were predisposed to enjoy Asian food long before it arrived in the UK. The region's taste dialect is for soft, suckable foods that impact the front of the tongue, and which can be eaten with their hands like naan.

5)The South: A melting pot of people and cultures from all round the UK and abroad, have a melting pot of preferences and have the least defined taste dialect of all the regions.

6) A quarter of Brits said that London was where they'd had their worst taste experience.

What amazing, yet utterly useless things to know! Part of me is incredulous as to how this research was approved let alone funded. The other part of me can't help being intrigued by it. I don’t know whether this research will improve our lives; but I do know that I will be bringing out one of these little morsels of information when I am next out to dinner, improving the occasion for everyone present. Perhaps there is a pool of funding for dinner table facts?

Redesigning life

I went to a conference last week at the plush London headquarters of The Royal Academy of Engineering. Scientists, sociologists, journalists, artists and ethicists gathered to debate a hot new area of science called synthetic biology.

This 21st century science is both hugely ambitious and very controversial. It involves 'redesigning' the DNA or other fundamental parts of an organism (typically a microbe) to make it produce something useful - like a new medicine or biofuel. Such worthy outcomes might sound attractive. But, given that it involves tinkering with biological systems and possibly creating entirely new forms of life, it's hardly surprising that the RAE and others are concerned about what the public might think...

So to test the waters of public opinion, the RAE carried out a 1000-person telephone survey and an in-depth discussion with 16 people. The results were reported at the conference and, perhaps unexpectedly, they seem to show that the British public are cautiously optimistic about synthetic biology.

63% of participants agreed with the statement 'creating new man-made microorganisms that will produce medicines or biofuels should be supported'. People were also not bothered about the idea of scientists creating entirely artificial new microbes, but they were strongly against the use of animals and plants. Releasing any synthetic microbes into the environment was a no-no too.

So what do you think about synthetic biology and the results of the survey? At the museum we're featuring synthetic biology in our centenary exhibition as an example of future science (see here for details). I'd be really fascinated to hear what people feel about this.

Happy Birthday Science Museum

A new exhibition opened at the museum this week to celebrate a centenary of science in South Kensington. That's right, it's the museum's 100th birthday and to mark this momentous occasion we've picked out ten of the most important objects from our collection. Can you guess what they might be? To find out about all ten objects and vote for your favourite visit the museum. Or, if you'd rather stay at home, take a peek at our new Centenary website.

At the opening Peter Mandelson (above left, answering questions in front of the Apollo 10 space capsule) wished the museum happy birthday and voted for his favourite object: Stephenson's Rocket.

I've been working on this exhibition for the last few months so it was really great to see it open. We'll be using the blog over the coming months to explore all aspects of the centenary, so keep your eyes peeled for new Centenary-themed posts.

Image: Mia Ridge

3D chic on the way

I love 3D films, but there is no way I will be seen wearing those awful, geeky looking glasses just to see a movie in more than two dimensions.

Luckily for me and all those other fashion victims missing out, the EU has funded two projects aimed at developing 3D viewing without the need for those wacky glasses.

The new technology presents the 3D image in a very similar way to light coming from a normal object. This removes the need for the special specs and also puts a lot less strain on the brain than current 3D projections.

Commercial applications are already being investigated with military training an obvious start followed by gaming.

3D TV is a way off yet, but according to Zsuzsa Dobranyi, Sales Director at Holografika "it’s only a matter of time!" - Yippy

Lose Cancer - Lose Fingerprints

A poor chap was held by immigration officials at the US border for four hours because he didn't have any fingerprints.

The man was a cancer patient who was taking the common anti-cancer drug Capecitabine. The drug is known to have a side-effect where your hands and feet swell, peel and blister and can lead to the loss of fingerprints.

After being detained in airport customs, officials let him enter American because they decided he wasn't a security threat. But they suggested next time he carry a note from his doctor explaining the situation.

What seems ludicrous to me is that this can't be the only thing that causes people to lose their fingerprints. Surely it happens quite regularly. A really quick Google search revealed that bricklayers, secretaries, and anyone who works with lime can all lose their fingerprints over time and often don't have enough pattern left to capture a print. As we all get older our fingerprints tend to fade as well and it is common for the elderly not to have any left. I don’t have a fingerprint on my middle finger after the pad was sliced off in a freak unicycling accident. Luckily for me I have nine others that still can be read. But what happens to all these other people when they go to the US?

Is there a better security system out there that could be used given how common it is not to have fingerprints?