Ever bitten into a hot pie, yelped "Hothothot!" then had your taste buds go on strike for the next week? Taste buds are a ...

Taste buds are specialised sensory organs that facilitate the detection of chemical stimuli, ultimately guiding dietary preferences and enabling protective reflexes. Composed of distinct cell types – ...

Have you ever wondered why only hummingbirds sip nectar from feeders? Unlike sparrows, finches and most other birds, hummingbirds can taste sweetness because they carry the genetic instructions ...

Some taste cells are multitaskers that can detect bitter, sweet, umami and sour stimuli, a new study finds. The research challenges conventional notions of how taste works. In the past, it was thought ...

A biologist studies blind cavefish, a species of fish that dwell in cave ponds in Mexico. He looked at the timeline for when the cavefish develop additional taste buds on the head and chin, finding ...

Taste is one of our most vital senses, shaping appetite, nutrition, and quality of life. Yet taste buds are fragile, relying heavily on the nerves that connect them to the brain. When those nerves are ...