BRAINDUMP
Can we tame tigers?
Not in the way you might tame a dog or break in a horse. Dogs and horses have been domesticated for millennia, and selective breeding has gradually favoured the genes that make them more friendly. Tigers – even raised from a cub – retain all their predatory instincts. In Thailand, ‘tame’ tigers live in a monastery side by side with the monks and tourists, but it’s a precarious balance. Roy Horn of the entertainment double act Siegfried & Roy was critically injured in 2003 when the tiger he had performed with for six years bit him.
WHY DOES COOKING BACON SMELL SO GOOD?
Bacon’s mouth-watering smell comes from the meat’s amino acids and sugars reacting to heat. Known as the Maillard reaction, the process releases hundreds of compounds associated with desirable aromas and flavours, resulting in a complex assault on our senses. Our brains have evolved to recognise these smells as good, presumably due to the survival advantage that heating food had for our ancestors. The Maillard reaction also happens when you toast bread or roast coffee beans, although different compounds are given off. Some of the compounds have similar characteristics and are often described by food scientists as nutty, smoky and caramel-like.