Countless microorganisms live in your intestinal tract. Researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) have now shown that intestinal bacteria also play a role in determining the strength of serious allergic reactions to foods. The human microbiota - or the entirety of bacteria which live in and on you - has a complex influence on health. Even how you [...]
Our lead scientist is also writes the 'Hygiene Mythbuster' column for Cleaning Matters magazine. In this article he explains the science linking cat ownership to car crashes... Who needs hygiene myths when the facts are so much more interesting? I guarantee this is the coolest thing you will read today so get the kettle on and [...]
Music can influence how much you like the taste of beer, say scientists. Their findings suggest that a range of multi-sensory information, such as sound, sensation, shape and colour, can influence the way we perceive taste. A team of researchers led by Dr. Felipe Reinoso Cavalho, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and KU Leuven, designed an experiment [...]
Many deadly diseases that afflict humans were originally acquired through our contact with animals. But pathogens can also jump the species barrier to move from humans to animals: a new study shows that green monkeys in The Gambia acquired Staphylococcus aureus from humans. But there's more. Genetic analysis showed the monkeys have acquired S. aureus strains from [...]
For the first time, scientists have shown that malaria-transmitting mosquitoes actively avoid feeding on certain animal species such as chickens, using their sense of smell. Odours emitted by species such as chickens could provide protection for humans at risk of mosquito-transmitted diseases, according to a study in Malaria Journal.Researchers found that Anopheles arabiensis, one of [...]
Plastic microbeads are very much in the news right now - and as if the other environmental damage they cause isn't enough, new research has shown potentially lethal bacteria are living on them and hitching a ride into the North Sea. Summer heatwaves could result in the strong proliferation of pathogenic bacteria in North and Baltic Seas. [...]
Our lead scientist is also writes the 'Hygiene Mythbuster' column for Cleaning Matters magazine. In this article he takes a look at how global warming will bring diseases like dengue fever and malaria to our shores...Infections and how they spread is a gruesomely fascinating subject.For example, the Black Death escaped Asia in the mid-1300s for Europe [...]
Many people believe eating too much pasta will make you fat.This is unsurprising because eating too much pasta makes you fat, just like eating too much of anything makes you fat.Now an allegedly groundbreaking study conducted by the Department of Epidemiology at IRCCS Neuromed in Pozzilli, claims pasta consumption is in fact associated with a reduced likelihood of [...]
Biologists at Hiroshima University have identified the genetic mutation that could ruin production of high-quality sake.The research was part of an academic-government-industry collaboration involving the Japan National Institute of Brewing, the Asahi Sake Brewing Company, and several universities.Two types of sake considered to be of especially high quality are daiginjo-shu and junmai-daiginjo-shu and are often [...]
Misconceptions about how to freeze food safely are contributing to food waste in the UK, according to new research by the Food Standards Agency.The research – released as part of Food Safety Week – identified a number of freezing 'myths' that are preventing people from using their freezers to make food go further. 43% of [...]
