Reflection on natural selection

[Tobiasly]

Originally posted by warch
Its amazing that there are thousands of different smells but only 4 different tastes.

Are there really only 4 different tastes? I mean, I've heard that your tongue has different regions for sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, but are all tastes really just different combinations of these in varying amounts?

Could all human taste sensations be artificially simulated by simply mixing 4 different chemicals in the correct proportion?