Meeting your pals for a drink after work today? Take a moment to notice your beer glass shape: it might be influencing how much booze you down. New research shows that an optical illusion makes curved glasses seem more alcoholically innocent than they really are.

For many, the scent of freshly brewed coffee is the first highlight of the day. Now, scientists claim to have solved the mystery of why it never tastes as good as it smells.

Although they’re heralded as an international delicacy and served in restaurants across the world, snails have topped the list as the UK's most-hated food. Tripe, oysters, squid and anchovies also made up the top end of the ‘gastro-dislike’ list in a new research report.

If you think your job in the food industry is tough - check out the day, 364 days a year, of a a Mumbai sandwichwallah! Sanjay Singh has been selling sandwiches on the streets of Mumbai for 18 years. Follow his day from fresh chutneys at dawn to a 9.30pm finish.

What goes in, must come out... The world's richest man has set himself a new challenge – to improve sanitation for the poor. More than 230 years after a Scottish watchmaker called Alexander Cummings patented the flush toilet, Bill Gates has handed $100 000 to a team from the California Institute of Technology who believe their invention goes one better.

Suma Kassier, dietician and human nutritionist, launched the University of KZN’s national science week this Tuesday with a titillating presentation “Love Potion No 9: The Science Behind Edible Aphrodisiacs”.

A funky idea for ever-trendy espresso: this edible cookie cup is the prototype creation of a Venezuelan designer named Enrique Luis Sardi made for Lavazza, the famous Italian coffee company. (Click pic to enlarge)

Our love of the braai, the barbecue — and of meat in general — is a fascinating story because if you look at where our species came from, none of our primate cousins could ever survive such a meat-intensive diet as we do today. It all traces back to fortunate mutations in our DNA...