Taste test: Does hot cocoa taste better from an orange cup?

Guess which hot chocolate is most delicious?

(Credit:
Amanda Kooser/CNET)

I've always heard that smell plays an important role in how food tastes. I didn't expect that color could also sway the taste buds. A study published in the Journal of Sensory Studies found that the color of a cup can influence the way people taste hot chocolate.

Betina Piqueras-Fiszman, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain, and Charles Spence, a professor at the University of Oxford in England, subjected 57 participants to what may be one the tastiest science experiments ever.

The participants tasted samples of hot chocolate served in four different colors of plastic cups: white, cream, red, and orange. The sippers preferred the flavor of the beverage in orange or cream-colored cups.

So why did orange and cream set themselves apart from white and red? It's a bit mysterious, but it definitely involves the way the brain processes visual information and allows it to influence our sense of taste.

"These results should hopefully help stimulate chefs, restaurateurs, and those working in the food and beverage packaging sectors to think more carefully about the color of their plateware/packaging and its potential effects on their customers' perception of the taste/flavor of the products that they happen to be serving/delivering to market," the researchers write.

There has already been research into how the color of food itself impacts our taste. A 2007 study in the Journal of Consumer Research showed that the color of orange juice had a greater impact on taste perception than actual differences in samples. What's intriguing about this latest study is how the color of the packaging impacts our taste perceptions.

The taste challenge
Not one to shy away from a science challenge, I took it upon myself to become a guinea pig and tackle this important issue head-on. I raided the cabinet for Fiestaware, coming up with mugs in the colors of red, blue, and orange.

I prepared two packets of Starbucks-brand hot cocoa in double chocolate flavor in a 2-cup measuring cup. I poured an equal amount into each mug. Sipping them thoughtfully, I thought I detected a greater smoothness and sweetness in the hot chocolate that was gently steaming in the orange mug.

The problem with my findings is that I already knew the results of the study. I needed an unwitting test subject, so I called the one person I know who is a hot chocolate connoisseur... my mother.

My mom came over and tasted the hot chocolate from each cup. She considered the flavors. She thought the red mug tasted a bit bitter. She thought the blue was nicely chocolatey. Her favorite, though, was the hot chocolate in the orange mug.

Sure, my test sample size is incredibly small, but the orange mug is the clear winner of my mini-experiment. I also learned something very important today. Science is delicious.

The taste test requires deep contemplation.

(Credit:
Amanda Kooser/CNET)

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Obama Poised to Name New Defense, Treasury Chiefs

With the "fiscal cliff" crisis behind him, President Obama is poised to name two new key players to his cabinet, with at least one announcement expected early next week.

The announcement of who will replace outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta could come as soon as Monday, sources told ABC News.

Meanwhile, the president is also eyeing a replacement for outgoing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, the longest-serving member of Obama's first-term economic team and one-time lead negotiator for the administration in the "fiscal cliff" talks.

Former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel is a leading candidate to head the Department of Defense, while current chief of staff Jack Lew is the likely nominee for the top role at Treasury.

Geithner plans to depart his post "around the inauguration" Jan. 20, a Treasury spokesperson said Thursday, putting the department in transition just as the administration confronts the next "cliffs" over the automatic spending cuts and nation's debt limit.

During an appearance on ABC's "This Week" in April, Geithner said the next Treasury secretary would need to be someone who is "willing to tell [Obama] the truth and, you know, help him do the tough things you need to do."

Lew, a former two-time Office of Management and Budget director and trusted Obama confidant who has held the chief of staff role since early 2012, is the front-runner for the job.

Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry -- Obama's nominee to replace outgoing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- has begun making more regular appearances at the U.S. State Department before his expected confirmation later this month.

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His Senate hearings are set to begin shortly after Obama's inauguration, sources say. The administration still expects Clinton to testify about the Sept. 11 Benghazi, Libya, attacks before Kerry is confirmed.

But it is the potential nomination of Republican Hagel that has caused the most stir.

Critics from across the political spectrum have taken aim at the former senator from Nebraska's record toward Israel and what some have called a lack of experience necessary to lead the sprawling Pentagon bureaucracy or its operations. The controversy has set the stage for what would be a contentious confirmation process.

"A lot of Republicans and Democrats are very concerned about Chuck Hagel's position on Iran sanctions, his views toward Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah, and that there is wide and deep concern about his policies," Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told "Fox News Sunday."

He would not say whether Republicans felt so strongly as to expect a filibuster of the nomination.

"I can tell you there would be very little Republican support for his nomination," Graham said. "At the end of the day, they will be very few votes."

Still, Hagel, 66, a former businessman and decorated veteran who served in the Vietnam War, has won praise and admiration from current and former diplomats for his work on Obama's Intelligence Advisory Board and Panetta's Policy Advisory Board.

"Hagel is a statesman, and America has few of them," former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan Ryan Crocker wrote in a "Wall Street Journal" editorial this week.

"He knows the leaders of the world and their issues. At a time when bipartisanship is hard to find in Washington, he personifies it. Above all, he has an unbending focus on U.S. national security, from his service in Vietnam decades ago to his current position on the Intelligence Advisory Council," he said.

Obama defended Hagel in an interview last week, calling him a "patriot" who has done "extraordinary work" in public service, although he said he still had not made a final decision on who would head the Pentagon.

Other potential nominees for the DOD job include Michele Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and a senior Obama campaign adviser for national security, and Ashton Carter, the current deputy secretary of defense.

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Unique meteorite hints Mars stayed moist for longer

A scorched rock bought in Morocco turned out to be a diamond in the rough. The unusual meteorite may be the first sample of the Red Planet's crust ever to hit Earth, and it suggests that Mars held on to its water for longer than we thought.

The meteorite, dubbed Northwest Africa (NWA) 7034, is strikingly different from the 111 previously discovered Martian meteorites. "You could look at meteorites for the rest of your life and not find another one like this," says Carl Agee of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, who was part of a team that has recently analysed NWA 7034. "This is in its own new group."

The most distinctive difference is its mineral content. Previously found meteorites had unearthly oxygen isotopes that marked them as being from another planet, and their volcanic origin made Mars the most likely culprit. But compared to these meteorites, surface rocks studied by Martian rovers and orbiters are much richer in light metals such as potassium and sodium. This suggests the known meteorites came from deeper inside the Red Planet.

"We're watching data coming back from Mars, and everything that comes back doesn't look like the Martian meteorites we have in our collections," says Munir Humayun of Florida State University in Tallahassee, who was not involved in the new study. "That's kind of a bummer."

By contrast, NWA 7034's chemistry closely resembles the rock and soil studied by NASA's Spirit rover. Preliminary measurements from the Curiosity rover, which landed in August 2012, suggest its landing site also has a similar composition.

Drying era

"Finally, it looks as if we have a sample that is very similar to the rocks that the rovers are seeing," Agee says. What's more, the Moroccan meteorite may come from a period in Mars' history when the planet was drying out.

Mars is thought to have once been much warmer, wetter and more hospitable to life. Then it morphed into the dry, cold desert we see today. The oldest known Mars meteorite, called the Allan Hills meteorite, is 4.5 billion years old. The other 110 meteorites are much younger – 1.5 billion years old at most – and formed after Mars is thought to have lost its water.

NWA 7034 is 2.1 billion years old, making it the first meteorite that may hail from the transitional era. Intriguingly, it has as much as 30 times more water than previous meteorites locked up in its minerals. "It opens our mind to the possibility that climate change on Mars was more gradual," Agee says. "Maybe it didn't lose its water early on."

Hot deal

The 319.8-gram rock found its way to Agee's lab via an amateur collector named Jay Piatek. He bought it for what turned out to be a knock-down price from a Moroccan meteorite dealer, who recognised its scorched exterior as a sign that it fell from space. "It didn't look like a Martian meteorite, so it didn't have the Martian meteorite value at the time," Agee says, adding that Mars rock can go for $500 to $1000 per gram.

Piatek brought the rock to Agee's lab to find out what it was. "Honestly, I had never seen anything like it. I was baffled, initially," Agee says. "Now, about a year and a half after the first time I set eyes on this thing, we are convinced that it is Martian, a new type, and has important implications for understanding the history of Mars."

Humayun says the results so far are exciting, and that the rock's carbon content could also yield valuable insights once other researchers get their hands on it.

"What's the most exciting thing you would want to do with a rock that comes from the near surface of Mars, especially one that seems to be loaded with water?" he asks. "I would say, what about life?" Agee and colleagues found organic matter in the meteorite, he says, but it will take more work to determine whether it was of Martian or terrestrial origin.

If it's Martian, "that would spark a lot of excitement", he says.

Journal reference: Science, DOI: 10.1126/science.1228858

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New US Congress faces broader fiscal battles

WASHINGTON: The 113th US Congress, featuring dozens of new faces in the House and Senate, convened Thursday fresh from the year-end "fiscal cliff" fiasco, as lawmakers cast a wary eye towards the tough budget battles ahead.

Twelve freshman senators and 82 newly-elected congressmen took the oath of office, with President Barack Obama's Democrats enjoying modest gains in both chambers.

But the balance of power remains divided on Capitol Hill: Democrats control the Senate, while Republicans hold sway in the House of Representatives, where John Boehner kept his job as speaker.

There was little expectation that he would lose the leadership role, but Republican infighting over backing a fiscal cliff deal that hikes taxes on the wealthy triggered speculation about Boehner's hold on the gavel.

Lawmakers burned the midnight oil in the waning days of the 112th Congress hammering out a deal to prevent US$500 billion in tax increases and spending cuts from kicking in on January 1 -- and possibly tipping the US economy back into recession.

But larger budget battles are on the horizon, particularly over US borrowing, an extension of the government's 2013 budget, and the now-looming spending reductions set to hit the Pentagon as well as most domestic programs.

The Senate's Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell welcomed the new members, and offered warm words to Senator Mark Kirk, who returned Thursday after spending most of 2012 recovering from a stroke.

But McConnell quickly turned to what he called "the transcendent challenge of our time."

The out-of-control federal debt, McConnell said, is "so huge it threatens to permanently alter (our) economy," he told the Senate.

McConnell acknowledged his last-gasp deal forged with Vice President Joe Biden was an "imperfect" one that went against Republican no-new-taxes orthodoxy.

But with the battle over taxes behind them -- the deal raises rates for individuals earning over US$400,000 and on couples earning more than US$450,000 -- McConnell was already eyeing the looming bout over spending and the debt ceiling.

"It's time to face up to the fact that our nation is in grave fiscal danger, and that it has everything to do with spending," he said, throwing down the gauntlet to Obama.

"The president knows as well as I do what needs to be done. He can either engage now to significantly cut government spending or force a crisis later," McConnell added. "It's his call."

Obama left Washington to resume his Hawaii vacation hours after the "fiscal cliff" deal was approved by Congress late on New Year's Day, and signed the legislation Wednesday by auto-pen.

But Biden was on hand to swear in the new senators, including five women, bringing to a record 20 the number of female senators, as well as Tim Scott, the first black Republican in the Senate since 1979.

"Enjoy it," Biden told the newcomers, adding that he missed the chamber where he served for 36 years.

"The best time I ever had in my life was serving here," he told AFP off the Senate floor.

Asked about the trio of looming fiscal fights, Biden expressed confidence that the White House and lawmakers would overcome their differences.

"We've always had the battles, and we get through," he said.

The Biden-McConnell deal largely averted a financial crunch that had global repercussions, but the International Monetary Fund, rating agencies and analysts have warned that the critical problem of deficits and debt still hang over the US economy.

Financial markets cooled Thursday over the last-minute agreement, in contrast to the initial stocks surge which had greeted the deal Wednesday.

The hard-fought agreement, seen as a political victory for Obama, raised taxes on the very rich and delayed the threat of US$109 billion in automatic spending cuts for two months.

The respite will prove temporary: aside from clashes on spending cuts, there are worries over lifting the debt ceiling -- also at the end of February.

Analysts say the country could see a repeat of the 2011 row that saw Washington's credit rating downgraded for the first time.

Nancy Pelosi, re-elected to her role as House Democratic leader, took a conciliatory tone.

"I hope with all my heart that we find common ground," she told the chamber.

Boehner called for a fresh start after the startlingly unproductive record of the 112th Congress, reminding lawmakers to resist the pull of special interests and "follow the fixed star of a more perfect union."

But he turned swiftly to the "peril" of America's US$16 trillion debt, saying it is "draining free enterprise and weakening the ship of state."

- AFP/jc

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Pictures We Love: Best of December

Photograph by Paula Bronstein, Getty Images

Elephants are likely one of the last things jittery coffee junkies think about while waiting for their latest shot of caffeine.

But these ponderous pachyderms are essential in the production of the latest brew from Black Ivory Coffee, a Thai company. The elephants, pictured above going for an early morning bath in northern Thailand on December 10, ingest Thai arabica coffee beans, digest them, and then expel them.

Workers pluck the processed beans from the elephant dung, wash them, and then roast them. Each serving costs about $50.

Asian elephants aren't the only animals involved in this type of 'refining' process. Asian palm civets are perhaps the most famous example of an animal whose digestive tract mellows the bitterness found in coffee beans.

Why We Love It

"The repetition of the elephants make this idyllic scene fascinating."—Amina El Banayosy, photo intern

"This picture is like a daydream, temporarily transplanting me somewhere far from the chaos and noise of city life. The pop of color in the first rider's red shirt, the sun pouring through dark clouds, and the ripples of water forming from the wading elephant are all nice details in this serene frame."—Ben Fitch, associate photo editor

Published January 3, 2013

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Watch CNET's The British Are Coming panel at CES

From left: Colin Crawford (Pure), Ian Drew (ARM) and Ambarish Mitra (Blippar)

I am the Editor of CNET UK and I have been going to CES for over a decade now, but there's one country's tech that I almost never see reported on at the show -- my own. I've always wondered why that is.

Brits have been involved in so many important tech inventions over the years, from television to the World Wide Web -- are our best discoveries behind us, or do we still have something left to give?

On Tuesday at 2pm Pacific time (10pm UK time) I'll be trying to find the answer to that question and more by talking to three people at the coalface of the UK tech industry, to find out what they are up to. From the gadget side, I'll have Colin Crawford of Pure, a company dedicated to streaming audio and radio products, which is launching a wireless speaker to rival Sonos into the US.

Representing British inventors will be Ian Drew from ARM, probably the UK's biggest tech success story. ARM's technology dominates the mobile industry, featuring in most smart phone and
tablet chips.

Finally, as a young successful company that won a place at the 2012 CES in a competition, Blippar has a thing or two to say about what it's like to start and run a company from the UK. Ambarish Mitra, Founder & CEO, will be at the stage to tell us about that.

We'll discuss what each of them is launching at the show and get into subjects such as what it's like to run companies in these fields from Britain -- the advantages and disadvantages. We'll chat about the tech scene in the UK, whether it's thriving or shrinking and how it compares to the big daddy, Silicon Valley.

So please do join us at 2pm on Tuesday - it'll either be live-streamed at ces.cnet.com or live.cnet.com (once I find out for sure, I'll update this post). Toodle-pip for now.

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Senate Panel Probes Bin Laden Movie Torture Scenes

The Senate Intelligence Committee has launched a new probe to determine how much the CIA may have influenced the portrayal of torture scenes shown in "Zero Dark Thirty," the Hollywood dramatization of the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden.

The probe, as first reported by Reuters and confirmed to ABC News by a spokesperson for the committee's chairman, will attempt to answer two questions: Did the CIA give filmmakers "inappropriate" access to secret material and was the CIA responsible for the perceived suggestion that harsh interrogation techniques aided the hunt for America's most wanted man?

Brian Weiss, a spokesperson for Committee Chairman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.-Calf.), told ABC News the committee sent a letter to acting CIA Director Michael Morell in late December requesting information about the filmmaker's contact with the CIA. A representative for the spy agency confirmed it had received the letter.

"As we've said before, we take very seriously our responsibility to keep our oversight committees informed and value our relationship with Congress," another CIA spokesperson said, declining to comment further.

The movie features multiple scenes in which American interrogators oversee or take part in harsh techniques including simulated drowning, violent beating, and force feeding of alleged al Qaeda operatives or associates. Directed by Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow and hailed by critics since its limited release last month, "Zero Dark Thirty" has also become a lightning rod for the ongoing debate over the role torture may have played in the ultimately successful hunt for bin Laden.

In mid-December, Feinstein joined Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D.-Mich.) and former Presidential candidate John McCain (R.-Ariz.) in sending a letter to Sony, the film's distributor, to express their "deep disappointment" with the movie.

"We believe this film is grossly inaccurate and misleading in its suggestion that torture resulted in information that led to the location of [Osama bin Laden]," the letter says. "We have reviewed CIA records and know that this is incorrect."

In his book "The Finish," "Black Hawk Down" author Mark Bowden wrote that enhanced interrogation appeared to play a significant role in corroborating the identity of an al Qaeda courier who years later led U.S. officials to bin Laden.

In a rare public statement just two weeks ago, CIA Director Morell directly addressed questions about the movie on the CIA's website, saying it was "not a realistic portrayal of the facts" but said some information did come from detainees subjected to enhanced interrogation., CIA Director Morell directly addressed questions about the movie on the CIA's website on Dec. 21, saying it was "not a realistic portrayal of the facts" but said some information did come from detainees subjected to enhanced interrogation.

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Humble coin toss thrust to heart of multiverse debate

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Al Jazeera eyes Gore-founded TV group: report

WASHINGTON: The Qatar-owned media group Al Jazeera is in talks to buy Current TV, a struggling cable channel founded by former US vice president Al Gore, The New York Times reported Wednesday.

The deal could allow Al Jazeera broader entry into US homes, by acquiring the cable group available in around 60 million American households, the report said.

Contacted by AFP, Current Media did not immediately respond to the report.

The Times said that if the deal is completed, Al Jazeera would create a new channel instead of using its existing English-language channel Al Jazeera English.

This would tentatively be called Al Jazeera America, the report said, and produce around 60 per cent of its programming in the United States and draw the rest from Al Jazeera English.

The plan could put the broadcaster financed by the government of Qatar into closer competition with CNN and other news channels in the United States, according to The Times, which noted that Al Jazeera is offered only by a handful of US cable and satellite distributors.

Current Media, founded in 2005, operates Current TV, reaches households in Britain and the United States, and a youth-focused website Current.com, where users can submit their own content.

Founded by Gore and businessman Joel Hyatt, Current has won two Emmy Awards and other honours. It reaches 71 million households worldwide, including 60 million in the US market.

But The Times said a sale was being considered because of low ratings, with an average of just 42,000 people watching the channel last year.

- AFP/jc

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Pictures: Errant Shell Oil Rig Runs Aground Off Alaska, Prompts Massive Response

Photograph courtesy Jonathan Klingenberg, U.S. Coast Guard

Waves lash at the sides of the Shell* drilling rig Kulluk, which ran aground off the rocky southern coast of Alaska on New Year's Eve in a violent storm.

The rig, seen above Tuesday afternoon, was "stable," with no signs of spilled oil products, authorities said. But continued high winds and savage seas hampered efforts to secure the vessel and the 150,000 gallons (568,000 liters) of diesel fuel and lubricants on board. The Kulluk came to rest just east of Sitkalidak Island (map), an uninhabited but ecologically and culturally rich site north of Ocean Bay, after a four-day odyssey, during which it broke free of its tow ships and its 18-member crew had to be rescued by helicopter.

The U.S. Coast Guard, state, local, and industry officials have joined in an effort involving nearly 600 people to gain control of the rig, one of two that Shell used for its landmark Arctic oil-drilling effort last summer. "This must be considered once of the largest marine-response efforts conducted in Alaska in many years," said Steve Russell, of Alaska's Department of Environmental Conservation.

The 266-foot (81-meter) rig now is beached off one of the larger islands in the Kodiak archipelago, a land of forest, glaciers, and streams about 300 miles (482 kilometers) south of Anchorage. The American Land Conservancy says that Sitkalidak Island's highly irregular coastline traps abundant food sources upwelling from the central Gulf of Alaska, attracting large numbers of seabirds and marine mammals. The largest flock of common murres ever recorded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was in Sitkalidak Strait, which separates the island from Kodiak. Sitkalidak also has 16 wild salmon rivers and archaeological sites tied to the Alutiiq native peoples dating back more than 7,000 years.

Shell incident commander Susan Childs said Monday night that the company's wildlife management team had started to assess the potential impact of a spill, and would be dispatched to the site when the weather permitted. She said the Kulluk's fuel tanks were in the center of the vessel, encased in heavy steel. "The Kulluk is a pretty sturdy vessel," she said. " It just remains to be seen how long it's on the shoreline and how long the weather is severe."

—Marianne Lavelle

*Shell is sponsor of National Geographic's Great Energy Challenge initiative. National Geographic maintains editorial autonomy.

Published January 2, 2013

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