On today's Please Explain, we get nosey with smell. Biophysicist Dr. Luca Turin and psychobiologist Dr. Charles Wysocki explain what odors are, how our noses work, and what kind of information humans can gather by smell.
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Comments [4]
The olfactory is the most mysterious of all the other senses.
There is a great novel The Perfume which is wonderfully turned into an unforgettable film by the great German director Tom Tykwer which I invite you to see it. I've seen it for more than 10 times & I'm still eager to see it again...
Take care of your nose & "...like to breath through it..." Jack Nicholson in China Town!
Cheers.
Hamid.
www.videopix.co.uk
http://videopix.zenfolio.com
Following the comments regarding the smell of just born infants; dogs and mammals in general lick the placenta off the 'infant', 'knowing' it and thereby recognising it thereafter as its own progeny and allowing it to suckle. Thereafter the mother recogonises the suckling 'baby' as her own.
Please explain why or how smell is so connected to memory. There are certain aromas that can bring me back to my childhood (a VERY long time ago!) or vacation spots instantly.
Please explain the connection between smell and taste. Sometimes when I have a cold and my nosed is stuffy, food doesn't have much of a taste.
Also doesn't food smell differently in space? I've heard this happens when astronauts are in orbit, but I don't fully understand why.
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