For a long time, scientists thought that humans had only four basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. Then, a Japanese scientist discovered a fifth basic taste — umami, an elusive savory and pungent taste that is often associated with truffles, parmesan cheese, and anchovies. And now, scientists believe there may be a sixth basic taste that's been hiding in plenty of foods we've eaten all along — fat.
In a new study, scientists discovered that fat interacts with our taste buds in ways that make it capable of changing the way we perceive a food. Like the five other basic tastes — which The Washington Post explains can be likened to the primary colors in the way they mix and match to create other tastes — the basic taste of fat seems to stand on its own as a taste that doesn't share characteristics with the other basic tastes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
There is a 'third state' between life and deathUnder the radar Cells can develop new abilities after their source organism dies
-
Is it worth getting an interest-only mortgage?The Explainer Your monthly payments may be cheaper but the full mortgage amount will need to be paid back eventually
-
Sudoku medium: March 6, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 yearsSpeed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an eggSpeed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
-
Europe records big leap in renewable energySpeed Read Solar power overtook coal for the first time
-
Blue Origin conducts 1st test flight of massive rocketSpeed Read The Jeff Bezos-founded space company conducted a mostly successful test flight of its 320-foot-tall New Glenn rocket
-
US won its war on 'murder hornets,' officials saySpeed Read The announcement comes five years after the hornets were first spotted in the US
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was rightSpeed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
-
New DNA tests of Pompeii dead upend popular storiesSpeed Read An analysis of skeletal remains reveals that some Mount Vesuvius victims have been wrongly identified
-
NASA's Europa Clipper blasts off, seeking an oceanSpeed Read The ship is headed toward Jupiter on a yearslong journey
