Many ex-smokers notice how different food and drinks taste after they’ve quit smoking. It used to be thought that smoking just kind of dulled the taste buds, but research has found that smokers actually do have fewer and flatter taste buds than do non-smokers. The research was published in the most recent issue of the online journal, BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders.
Researchers in Greece tested both smokers and non-smokers, using electrical stimulation to cause a metallic taste. They found that the smokers didn’t taste nearly as well as the non-smokers.
To follow up, the taste buds of both groups were …read more

This is a really cool little video that captures in slow motion exactly how a dog drinks!
Remember when you were a kid and thought it was just a matter of sticking their tongue in the water, and you learned when you got older that they form a sort of bowl at the end of their tongue? This shows exactly how they do it!

This is heartbreaking: Chai the dog was playing with a ball produced by the company Four Paws. The ball is pimpled and has a hole and a small bell inside.
While Chai was playing with the ball his tongue got stuck in the hole, and since there wasn’t a second hole to prevent it a vacuum was created that ended up causing irreparable damage to Chai’s tongue.
Chai’s family have a weblog (warning: some mildly graphic pictures) chronicling the ordeal and how Chai’s tongue ended up having to be removed. Chai has to relearn how to eat and drink.
They’re calling …read more