Cravings

What drives your desires for the foods you love? Is it the colour of your spoon, the food your mum ate while pregnant, the trillions of bacteria that dine with you, or the little known ‘second brain’ in your gut?

From the flavours you learned to love in the womb, to the very next bite you take, your appetite has been shaped by food. Through personal stories, fascinating objects and cutting-edge science and technology, explore how food affects your body, brain and eating habits.

Visit Cravings in the Antenna gallery to:

See an artificial gut whirring away.
Take part in a real experiment on flavour perception.
Touch some 3D-printed mice, sniff a scientific smell kit, and ‘chew’ some ‘bread’ in the interactive displays.
Play Craving Commander and express your opinion on how we can get raging cravings under control. Should we ban cake except on birthdays? Use smart refrigerators that police what we eat? You decide in this fast-paced game.
Discover unconventional dining utensils designed by scientists and chefs to trick our sense of taste.
Find out if scientists think we ‘eat with our eyes’ and if we can be ‘addicted’ to food.