sense of smell

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Scientists 'Astonished' by How Quickly We Distinguish Smells
Our Sniffers Are
Nothing to Sneeze at
NEW STUDY
Oct 15, 2024 9:21 AM CDT

Our Sniffers Are Nothing to Sneeze at

Study participants could determine order of smells arriving 60 milliseconds apart

(Newser) - It takes 180 milliseconds to blink but as little as 60 for the human nose to discern sequences of odors within a single sniff. That finding, emerging from a study published Monday in the journal Nature Human Behaviour , suggests humans, whose sense of smell is often considered weak, "are...

Scientists May Have Solved a Big COVID Mystery
Scientists May Have
Solved a Big COVID Mystery
in case you missed it
Dec 25, 2022 11:31 AM CST

Scientists May Have Solved a Big COVID Mystery

They say loss of smell might be from inflammation-driving T-cells helping to nix critical neurons in nose

(Newser) - Loss of taste and smell are among the symptoms of COVID that stick around after the infection itself has subsided, and now scientists think they may be on to why the latter happens. It may all come down to an unusual immune response in which T-cells that cause inflammation invade...

Wife's Sharp Nose Leads to New Test for Parkinson's

Joy Milne noticed her husband smelled different before his official diagnosis

(Newser) - A relatively simple way to detect Parkinson's might be possible thanks to a Scottish woman's unusually sharp sense of smell. As the BBC reports, researchers at the UK's University of Manchester say their newly developed skin-swab test proved to be 95% accurate in a new study published...

COVID's Toll on Sense of Smell Is Temporary
COVID's Toll on Sense 
of Smell Is Temporary
NEW STUDY
Jun 25, 2021 12:15 PM CDT

COVID's Toll on Sense of Smell Is Temporary

Study of 97 patients shows 96% recovery rate after 1 year

(Newser) - It was four months after testing positive for COVID-19 that Julie Carte discovered an unfortunate complication: The food she put in her mouth tasted like "poison." What's worse, "my own sweet and innocent baby’s scent started to make me feel sick to my stomach,"...

One Symptom More Common in Those With Mild COVID


One Symptom
More Common
in Those With
Mild COVID
in case you missed it
Jan 10, 2021 7:30 AM CST

One Symptom More Common in Those With Mild COVID

Patients reported smell loss in 86% of mild cases

(Newser) - A lost sense of smell is one of the odder symptoms of COVID-19. How often does it really happen? A new study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine puts some numbers to it. The study is based on a review of 2,581 patients seen at 18 hospitals in...

COVID-19 Smell Loss Study Supports an Infection Theory

The theory being that the coronavirus infects the brain and central nervous system

(Newser) - A small study out of Europe is the first to look at how smell loss associated with COVID-19 differs from that caused by a severe cold or the flu—and the findings bolster the theory that the coronavirus infects the brain and central nervous system, per a press release . A...

This Early Virus Sign Now Has Science Backing It Up
This Early Virus Sign Now
Has Science Backing It Up
NEW STUDY
Apr 15, 2020 10:30 AM CDT

This Early Virus Sign Now Has Science Backing It Up

Loss of taste, smell were documented anecdotally for COVID-19, but now there's research

(Newser) - Because up to half of COVID-19 patients may be asymptomatic or show very mild symptoms, it's important to be able to identify early, subtle signs of the disease. A new study published in the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology journal lends support to what's till now been...

Your Sense of Smell Is Just as Good as Fido's
Sniff Myth, Busted: Humans
Can Smell as Well as Dogs
new study
May 12, 2017 12:27 PM CDT

Sniff Myth, Busted: Humans Can Smell as Well as Dogs

Analysis of more than 1K olfactory studies challenges longtime belief

(Newser) - A dog's nose may be wetter than yours, but don't count yourself out when it comes to tracking a scent just as well as your canine companion. A new mega-study in the journal Science refutes the longtime belief that dogs' noses are vastly superior to our own, reporting...

$100K Project Uses 3-Foot Rats to Sniff Out Crime

It's not the first time their noses have been put to use

(Newser) - Giant African pouched rats that grow to three feet long can't see well, but their keen sense of smell has already made them indispensable in the hunt for anything from tuberculosis in humans to buried TNT in former war zones (they've already found 1,500 land mines in...

Simple Sniff Test May Diagnose Autism

Study: Kids with disorder don't react to pleasant or unpleasant smells

(Newser) - A surprisingly simple sniff test shows promise in detecting autism in kids—perhaps even in those who aren't yet toddlers because it doesn't involve responding to questions. Israeli researchers found that autistic kids don't react strongly to strong smells, of either the pleasant or unpleasant variety, reports...

Now You Can Smell Famous Death Scenes

Museum puts you in a morgue-like box to explore storytelling through scent

(Newser) - If you've ever wondered what it was like at the scene of someone's death, scientists in the Netherlands are taking you one morbid step closer. They've created a new and unusual museum exhibit that pipes the sounds and smells of four famous death scenes into boxes, like...

Your Sense of Smell May Predict Longevity

Seniors who couldn't detect common scents died sooner than peers

(Newser) - Seniors who want to gauge their own longevity might want to take a simple sniff test. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that older people with a lousy sense of smell were significantly more likely to be dead in five years than those who could easily detect common scents,...

Elephants Win Most Discerning Nose Award

They have twice as many olfactory genes as dogs and 5 times as many as humans

(Newser) - Dogs may hold the reputation as having the best noses among mammals, but when it comes to the number of genes associated with smell, the elephant stands alone. By a mile. New findings published in Genome Research suggest that African elephants have 2,000 active olfactory genes, the highest number...

For Moms, Smell of Newborns Is Like a Drug

Study shows that mothers' brains light up with pleasure at the scent

(Newser) - The smell of a newborn isn't just a pleasant sensation for moms—it might be closer to an addiction, a new study suggests. Montreal researchers found that when women who had given birth recently smelled an infants' pajamas, their brains' reward circuits lit up, reports LiveScience . The dopamine surge...

Scientists Figure Out Why Bad Wine Smells Bad

Yes, it's a tainted cork, but for a strange scientific reason

(Newser) - Those fluent in wine-speak sometimes refer to a wine being "corked"—meaning it has a nasty, musty smell upon being opened and doesn't taste so hot, either. Scientists have long identified the culprit as a chemical in the cork known as TCA, but new research from Japanese...

Moles Smell in Stereo
 Moles Smell in Stereo 
study says
Feb 6, 2013 3:21 PM CST

Moles Smell in Stereo

Study says they get signals from both nostrils

(Newser) - The common mole is blind and mostly deaf, which means it relies on its nose to find dinner. Not a problem: A study at Vanderbilt University makes the case that moles smell in stereo. Researchers who watched a mole sniff out a meal determined that the little critter relied on...

Dogs Can Smell Lung Cancer
 Dogs Can 
 Smell Lung 
 Cancer 
study says
Dec 6, 2012 8:20 AM CST

Dogs Can Smell Lung Cancer

Scientists hope to build 'electronic nose'

(Newser) - Dogs are lung cancer detection experts, a study finds. They "have no problem identifying tumor patients," says a researcher in Austria, and that could lead to earlier diagnoses. Dogs who smelled 120 breath samples were able to sniff out cancer 70% of the time, a very "encouraging"...

Psychopaths Have a Lousy Sense of Smell

 Psychopaths Have 
 a Lousy Sense 
 of Smell 
study says
Sep 21, 2012 1:35 PM CDT

Psychopaths Have a Lousy Sense of Smell

Study suggests it's no coincidence both originate in orbito-frontal complex

(Newser) - If you know someone with a terrible sense of smell, you might want to be careful around them. A new study suggests a link between a crappy olfactory and being psychopathic, AFP reports via Raw Story . Both phenomena have separately been linked to the same part of the brain, the...

We Can Determine Personality by Smell

Our ability to judge personality is nothing to sniff at

(Newser) - You are what you reek? It turns out that we can tell a lot about someone's personality just by their smell, according to the New York Daily News . Sixty people in Poland wore the same T-shirt for three nights, and did not use soap, smoke, drink, or "eat...

FDA: Get Off Smell-Killing Zicam Nasal Spray, Now

Agency received over 130 reports of loss of smell sense

(Newser) - The Food and Drug Administration is calling on consumers to stop using Zicam nasal treatments because they can permanently kill the sense of smell, the Wall Street Journal reports. Zicam is an over-the-counter cold and allergy medication sold in several forms; customers should reject internasal products that contain zinc. The...

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