We can see at a finer resolution than the spacing between individual photo-receptors in the eye – and it’s all down to our brains.
The smell of daffodils is a treat for most people, but some cannot experience the joy because they have lost their sense of smell.
Mila Supinskaya Glashchenko/Shutterstock.com
Our senses of taste and smell are linked to one another in ways that experts are continuing to explore. See if you can answer some questions for which experts have discovered some surprising answers.
Dogs can reliably sniff out human blood, even after two years of environmental degradation.
Jason Korbol/shutterstock
Matthew Savoca, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
A new study shows that anchovies – key food for larger fish – are attracted to plastic trash because it smells like food. This suggests that toxic substances in plastic could move up through food chains.
It’s time to stop being sniffy about the human sense of smell.
Nestor Rizhniak/Shutterstock
Move over, dogs. The latest evidence suggests humans can match most other animals when it comes to smelling – and even outperform them for certain scents.
What’s the smell you associate with your childhood home? Or road-trips? Or fear? Conceptual artist Cat Jones has created the Scent of Sydney for the Sydney Festival, exploring the city in smells.
How does your brain deal with the ambiguous and variable visual information your eyes collect? Neuroscientists think it bets on what’s the most likely version of reality.
Technology is catching up with dogs – and has additional advantages.
Stef
New research is narrowing the gap, creating technology with the detecting capabilities of canines but without the downsides of relying on a biological system.
Detecting drier or wetter conditions is crucial for insect survival. We’ve long known they can do this – now researchers have discovered the genetic and neural basis for their humidity-sensing system.
Nothing like a story with a happy (nerve) ending.
Naeblys
New breakthrough in how to test proteins linked to touch and movement could have major implications for strokes, diabetes, spinal injuries and much more.
Why does some kind of light touch make us want to scratch?
Image Point Fr
If you have taken a walk and would like to return home you need to have an idea of where you are in relation to your destination. To do this, you need to know which way you are facing and also in which…
Once a topic explored exclusively in science fiction, the notion of restoring sensory feelings to humans and to machines is now approaching reality. Scientists around the world are developing artificial…
Gentle physical contact activates a special type of nerve cell linked to emotion.
Jonathan McPherskesen/Flickr
A soft and tender caress between two people can trigger a flood of emotions, and now we may have some idea why. Research [published in Neuron](http://www.cell.com/neuron/abstract/S0896-6273(14%2900387-0…
Body shapes can now be ‘seen’ by congenitally blind people, thanks to special software.
►Milo►/Flickr
Congenitally blind people have been taught to perceive body shape and posture through “soundscapes” that translate images into sound, a study published today in Current Biology reports. Vision often dominates…