This photo shows a green sweet that has been discovered by ants on a paved path in my garden. The sweet had been dropped several hours before, and had attracted the interest of an ant colony which was carrying it away. But the pattern of the surrounding plant debris is a mystery. What accounts for its arrangement around the candy?

Roy Levian, Lexington, Massachusetts, US

Ginseng oolong tea tastes like ordinary tea (a bit muddy to my palate) until you breathe in through your mouth, and then it feels sweet.  Or at least my sweetness sensors register something.  It's quite a different experience from drinking sweetened tea, which tastes sweet immediately.  Why is this?

When I have an upset stomach, I sometimes take a strong mixture of baking soda and water. Immediately after drinking this nasty, salty concoction (which works very well, by the way), I drink plain water to wash the taste away. This water invariably tastes extremely sweet, as if it contains sugar. What’s going on with my taste buds?

I have wondered this for years. It's because they are so smooth and shiny all over with no sign that they have been left on a surface to dry. It's the same with Malteasers and other similar spherical chocolate sweets. Do they make them in space?