I investigated the flavor question by heating 15 oils - 4 olive and 11 seed oils - with nothing else in the pan, so I could taste what heat alone does to them.

But there's a diverse and abundant population of photosynthetic organisms, collectively called the algae, that can be induced to make the likes of olive oil, oil that can fly jet airplanes just fine.

The researchers suggest that previous studies that have yielded inconsistent results regarding olive oil's effect on the blood may have been due to variations in phenol content.