Yet Another Science Show   /     Episode 8: Making Sense of Smell

Description

Smell is a powerful thing.  In fact, some say it’s the most powerful of our senses. But it’s not a well-understood sense by any means.  Every now and again, a new study appears with a new set of categories or a … Continue reading →

Summary

Smell is a powerful thing.  In fact, some say it’s the most powerful of our senses. But it’s not a well-understood sense by any means.  Every now and again, a new study appears with a new set of categories or a new angle, but for now, the definitive answer on how smell really works remains elusive. A recent study set the number of odour categories at 10, but the YASSers think that something about it just smells off. Take a listen to find out why. After a brief hiatus, the guys are back! Orad and Jesse introduce their new co-host Nina Pariser and discuss smell. Plus, our first legit voicemail!References Here are some scientific references we used while researching this show: Categorical Dimensions of Human Odor Descriptor Space Revealed by Non-Negative Matrix Factorization from PLOS one, 18 September 2013. An article in the BBC about smell. The Science of Scent, a TED Talk by biophysicist Luca Turin. How do dogs“see” with their noses?– Youtube video. The Smell Report from the Social Issues Research Centre. Photo Source: Armin Kübelbeck, CC-BY-SA, Wikimedia Commons

Subtitle
Smell is a powerful thing.  In fact, some say it’s the most powerful of our senses. But it’s not a well-understood sense by any means.  Every now and again, a new study appears with a new set of categories or a new angle, but for now, th[...]
Duration
0:36:18
Publishing date
2015-03-13 04:12
Link
http://yetanotherscienceshow.com/2015/03/episode-8-making-sense-of-smell/
Contributors
  Orad Reshef& Jesse Corbeil
author  
Enclosures
http://yetanotherscienceshow.com/podpress_trac/feed/470/0/YASS_0008_MakingSenseOfSmell.mp3
audio/mpeg

Shownotes

Smell is a powerful thing.  In fact, some say it’s the most powerful of our senses. But it’s not a well-understood sense by any means.  Every now and again, a new study appears with a new set of categories or a new angle, but for now, the definitive answer on how smell really works remains elusive. A recent study set the number of odour categories at 10, but the YASSers think that something about it just smells off. Take a listen to find out why.

After a brief hiatus, the guys are back! Orad and Jesse introduce their new co-host Nina Pariser and discuss smell. Plus, our first legit voicemail!

 

References

Here are some scientific references we used while researching this show: