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New aromatic take-away coffee lid formulated to improve the taste of coffee
By Jack Martin
12:49 August 4, 2011
Hong Kong-based Mint Urban Technologies has introduced an aromatic coffee lid for take-away cups which it claims improves the taste of coffee when drinking through the lid. The aroma is not "mint," as the company's ill-chosen name suggests, but an aromatic material formulated to enhance the bouquet of the coffee. The secret of the new Aroma Lid is in the plastic, according to Mint's Marc Miller. "Coffee lids block the aroma coming from the coffee," says Miller. "Because taste is 95 percent smell, the lids are stopping us from experiencing the full taste of our favorite morning brew." If the Aroma Lid can indeed enhance the taste of coffee, it could be a significant product - the take-away coffee industry uses 100 billion lids every year. Read More
'Perfumery radar' objectively quantifies scents
By Ben Coxworth
15:58 December 3, 2010
Making perfume is an art, and you can’t objectively break art down into its individual components... right? In the case of perfume, it appears that perhaps you can. Dr. Alirío Rodrigues, a chemical engineer at Portugal’s University of Porto, has devised a system called Perfumery Radar (PR). It is able to analyze the odor of perfumes, and map out what scents are present, and in what proportions. Read More
Stopping to smell the roses is a good mantra to encourage you to take the time to appreciate what’s around you. Stopping to smell the lemons might not have the same ring to it, but scientists in Japan have shown how doing just that can actually alter gene activity and blood chemistry in ways that measurably reduce stress. Read More
Japanese telecommunications company NTT Com is currently seeking volunteers to test a pungent bit of kit which produces different smells at the request of programs downloaded from the Internet. There will be two separate trials of the i-Aroma conducted in Japan from mid-July to the end of August. One course will send out smells matching "the rhythm of daily life" while the other will release odors based on an ancient astrological system. Read More
