Favourite Foods Determined by Mother's Milk

Scientists have found that children's food preferences depend on the flavours passed to them through their mothers milk.

Dr. Beauchamp of the Monell Chemical Senses Center in philadelphia, found that children who had been fed savoury milk preferred savoury tastes, where as those with sweet milk preferred sweeter tastes.

The critical time in which babies learnt this preference was at the age of two to five months. It is believed that if mothers eat healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables at this critical time, babies can be primed to like it later in life. Mothers are therefore to be advised to increase consumption of healthy products during this time.

This means that babies who are fed formula milk instead of breast milk do not get this priming, and do not get the varied sensory stimuli that they would be exposed to with breast milk.

To find out more:

Paper: Beauchamp, G. et al. (2009) Early milk feeding influences taste acceptance and liking during infancy. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Article: Flavours in mothers milk may determine the foods children like, Telegraph.

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Glass half full genetics

Scientists at the University of Michigan have discovered that people optimistic or pessimistic outlook to life is genetic, and depends on levels of just one molecule: Neuropeptide Y.

They found that if you have lower levels of NPY, you are likely to be more pessimistic than those with higher levels. This in turn means that people with lower NPY are more likely to have depression and react badly to stressful situations.

The scientists made this finding by scanning peoples brains while showing them neutral and emotionally charged photos. Those with high NPY had a stronger emotional response to the photos than those with lower levels. This means that people may be diagnosed earlier with psychiatric conditions such as depression.

To find out more:

Original paper: Mickey et al (2011) Emotion processing, Archives of General Psychiatry.

Articles: Born miserable - some people genetically programmed to be negative, Telegraph

Wear Blue to Prevent Shark Attack

Researchers have found that sharks are colour blind. They can only distinguish between light and dark areas. This has lead researchers to conclude that swimmers who wear blue wetsuits are less likely to be attacked as the sharks could not distinguish between them and the surrounding sea.

Statistics shows that people attacked by sharks usually are wearing black wetsuits, backing up this claim.

This information means that surfing equipment and swim wear will be able to be designed to be essentially invisible to sharks. I could also be used when designing fishing lures, to prevent sharks from being caught.

To find out more:

Articles: Sharks are colourblind new research finds, Daily Telegraph

'Colour blind' sharks are less likely to attack a swimmer wearing a sea blue wetsuit, Daily Mail

Bullet-Proof Custard

A new type of body armour, dubbed "bullet-proof custard" has been developed for the army.

The armour contains a custard like substance embedded between layers of kevlar. The substance is compared to custard as it hardens when it is impacted. It means the armour is more flexible than traditional designs but even more effective at preventing damage from bullets.

The armour is half the weight as traditional designs, allowing soldiers more maneuverability, and to stay cooler under extreme conditions.

To find out more:

Original article: Bullet-proof custard: British soldiers could be wearing revolutionary new liquid body armour within two years, Daily Mail

Prehistoric Bird Found To Have Club Wings for Fighting

Researchers have found evidence of clubbed wing in a prehistoric flightless bird. Xenicibis has unusual wing bones which are thick and curved which were believed to be used for fighting.

The bird would have lived about 10000 years ago in Jamaica, and was the size of a chicken.

The researchers at Yale University said they believed the wings were used for fighting as the breastbone was larger than expected and the wings longer, structures that would give greater strength for this use. They believe the birds flailed their wings to cause damage to rivals.

More evidence comes from bones found with damage matching injuries expected from combat.

To find out more:

Original paper: Longrich & Olson (2011). The bizarre wing of the Jamaican flightless ibis xenicibis xymoithecus, Proceedings of the Royal Society.

Articles: Xenicibis: The flightless 'jousting' prehistoric bird from Jamaica discovered, Daily Mail

Extinct bird swung wings like a club, Discovery News

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Poo Transplant?!

Would you have a poo transplant to save your life? Many people have, but not many of us know about this unusual procedure, as the thought of poo is such a taboo subject. 

Faecal transplants are happening around the world, and are giving high success to curing intestinal infection. Most cases show that people recover within 48 hours of receiving the transplant. 

The transplants have been particularly good at curing infections of C. difficile, the superbug, which often takes hold after patients are given large doses of antibiotics that kill off their gut microbes, the good bacteria we are used to hearing about.

By transplanting poo, the gut bacteria can be restored and fight off the C. difficile infection. 

Donors are best if they are related to the patient. The faeces are mixed with a saline solution and large particles are removed. There are then a number of ways in which the solution is delivered into the patients colon.

The procedure has been carried out thousands of times with a high success rate. But the idea of poo is just too much for some, so this transplant may be taboo for some time.

To find out more:

Original article: Taboo transplant: How new poo defeats superbugs, New Scientist

Sea Urchins Inspire Self Sharpening Knives

Self sharpening knives may be seen in the future thanks to scientists who have discovered how sea urchins keep their teeth sharp.

Sea urchins use their teeth to carve through tough material such as stone. Scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that their teeth remained sharp due to their layered structure of calcite crystals and cement. As each layer becomes blunt it breaks off revealing a fresh sharp layer underneath.

By using the same layering idea, knives could be made to break along weak spots removing the blunt edges.

To find out more:

Articles: Ever-sharp urchin teeth may yield tools that never need honing, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Rock-chewing sea urchins have self-sharpening teeth, National Geographic

Sea urchin could lead to knives that never need sharpening, Telegraph

Can Scientists Make the Best Strawberries and Chocolate?

Scientists from Penn State University, the University of Florida and CIRAD in France have published in Nature Genetics that they have mapped the genetic codes for strawberries and chocolate. They believe that this means that new varieties can be made that could not only be tastier but also healthier.

The chocolate, from the Theobroma cacoa, is one of the finest types of chocolate in the world. by modifying the genetics, there is a potential for greater productivity allowing farmers to earn more and make the production more sustainable.

The woodland strawberry, has the potential to be made more tasty and more hardy allowing it to be farmed a lot more easily.

So would you buy the most delicious strawberries dipped in chocolate in the world?

To find out more:

Original papers: Argout et al (2010), The genome of Theobroma cacao. Nature Genetics.

Shulaev et al (2010),  The genome of woodland strawberry (Fragaria vesca). Nature Genetics.

Articles: Scientists crack genetic code of strawberries dipped in chocolate, Telegraph

Mystery melts as chocolate DNA decoded, Guardian

Christmas Hangover? Honey is Your Friend!

Eating honey has been found to help alleviate the effects of a hangover due to the fructose in it breaking down the alcohol into harmless by products. 

Dr John Emsley of the Royal Society has described how hangovers are caused by the alcohol in our bodies being broken down into acetaldehyde, a toxic substance. The fructose in honey has the ability to break this down into acetic acid which the body uses in normal metabolism, eventually turning it into carbon dioxide.

The acetaldehyde is responsible for the headaches, nausea and vomiting we may experience after a night of drinking. The body naturally breaks down the acetaldehyde over time but fructose speeds up the reactions.

Dr Emsley also advised that in order to prevent a hangover it is a good idea to drink mink before consuming alcohol to slow down absorption, sticking to clear alcohol, and drinking water before going to bed to prevent dehydration.

To find out more:

Articles: Secret to a smooth hangover - honey on toast, Telegraph