Lars Williams is R&D chef at the Copenhagen restaurant Noma. Here, he extracts flavor from rose petals using a rotary evaporator.

A test subject at the University of Florida undergoes the Blue Stain Tongue Test. A lab worker has stained her tongue blue and is about to photograph it. Counting the number of papillae on the tongue reveals whether or not she is a super taster.

Dr. John Caprio studies catfish at Louisiana State University's Department of Biological Sciences to better understand how taste works. Catfish are super tasters, with over 100,000 taste buds covering their bodies.

A worker at the Taste Testing Labs passes a tray of tomatoes to participants in a taste test.

A plant basks under the glow of purple light in a lighting chamber at Fifield Hall at the University of Florida Gainesville. Scientists are studying whether different wavelengths of light impact how vegetables and fruits grow and taste.

A man inhales a cloud of flavor at BevLab workshop, put on by Future Food Studio in Toronto.

A participant preserves flowers with juice and liquid nitrogen at a BevLab workshop presented by Future Food Studio in Toronto.

Josh Evans works as lead researcher at the Nordic Food Lab in Copenhagen. He is straining fermented garum made from insects.

Staff at the Copenhagen restaurant Noma dip elderflower in liquid nitrogen to preserve its freshness.

Students at the Culinary Institute of America make cheese powder to garnish cauliflower and corn. It’s an intense process that takes more than a day.

Head of Research Arielle Johnson measures the savoriness of various ingredients using a homemade umami meter.

Nordic Food Lab head chef Roberto Fiore stirfrys bee larvae.

Head Chef Roberto Flore freezes bee larvae with liquid nitrogen.

Students learn about different kinds of food equipment at a lab at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.

Dr. John Caprio works inside a faraday cage recording the nerve impulses that emanate from catfish’s taste buds.

Participants at the Taste Testing Labs at the University of Florida Gainesville sit in neutral rooms when trying fruits and vegetables growing by the university’s horticulturists. The neutrality is supposed to eliminate sensory distractions that might impact taste.