Who knew rats could become wine connoisseurs? Most people know what white wine is, but couldn't identify the variety of grape it was made from. A few people are very good at this, and won't ever let you forget it. The question was whether this learned skill is affected by the language we use in wine tasting. Rats have no wine-tasting language, but an experiment shows they can learn their grapes. Some rats were trained to push a lever if the wine they were exposed to was Sauvignon Blanc, while others were rewarded for pushing the lever when they were exposed to Riesling. During training, these wines were two consistent brands. Then the rats were tested on their knowledge without rewards, and were presented with different brands and types of wine made with Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, and they could still identify which was which.
Lest you imagine a rodent wine-tasting party with progressively drunken rats, the science paper reveals the detail that the rats were only exposed to the scent of the wine, and never actually drank any. Still, considering how many different kinds of wine the researchers had to purchase, you know someone had to dispose of the leftovers. -via Strange Company
(Image credit: Elisa Frasnelli et al)
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