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POPSWhy Are Humans Different From All Other Apes? It’s the Cooking, Stupid This is a fascinating and quite fresh view on a possibly groundbreaking view on the evolution of the human specie. “Cooked food does many familiar things,” he observes. “It makes our food safer, creates rich and delicious tastes and reduces spoilage. Heating can allow us to open, cut or mash tough foods. But none of these advantages is as important as a little-appreciated aspect: cooking increases the amount of energy our bodies obtain from food.” (emphasis mine)
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POPSBionic sex chip I think it may be more influential than meets the eye; both in the way sex is perceived and operated in society, and in boosting the augmentation revolution that is coming.
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POPSScience Behind Mysterious 'Fifth Taste' Revealed In the late 19th century, French chef and veal-stock inventor Auguste Escoffier suggested that a fifth taste was responsible for his mouth-watering brew. Though Escoffier's dishes were popular, his theories were dismissed until 1908, when Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda showed that an amino acid called glutamate underlies the taste of a hearty variety of seaweed soup. In honor of Ikeda, the taste was dubbed umami, the Japanese word for delicious. It took another 80 years for umami to be recognized by science as comparable to the other four tastes. In the meantime, monosodium glutamate became wildly popular as a flavor enhancer. But MSG can cause headaches and dizziness, and has been tenuously linked to long-term neurological disorders. Between the public dissatisfaction with MSG and growing demand for artificial meats and dairy products, an umami alternative is welcome.
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POPSHow Creepy Do You Want It? I love stories like this. :) ...because, well, that's where the action is. That's where we get to touch the void, dance on the edge of perception, realize how little we truly know of anything.
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POPSFacebook in a Crowd A nice anacdote story. Technology ,also, is not a concept to be entertained by and not be changed by. This story clearly reflects a transition period, where one uses a new concept with an old habit. It doesn't work, it never works. We are users of new concepts and as such should be open to changes of how we perceive reality and ourselves.
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POPS10 more must-try exotic fruits Rose Apple, also known as Champoo is one of the most interesting exotic fruits on the planet, just for the fact that it smells and tastes a lot like roses. Unfortunately they are rarely found in markets around the world because they spoil very quickly after being picked. The bell-shaped fruits are crisp, crunchy and have a delicious fresh flavor. It can be eaten whole but as with apples, many people prefer to leave the core. Rose Apples are also boiled in hot water to make scented Rose Water.