The science of smell is an exciting area of research.
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Articles on Body odour
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Fresh sweat doesn’t have a smell. It’s the bacteria that feast on sweat that cause the bad smell.
It all comes down to an oily secretion from special glands beneath our skin, which are very prevalent under the armpits, and more active at certain times.
Birds use body odour to smell out potential mates, and partners who are genetically unrelated to them smell more attractive.
Sweating is usually our body’s way of stopping us from overheating. But if excess sweating is a problem for you, there’s help.
In the future, traps for mosquito that spread the dengue and chikungunya virus could be made from the carbon dioxide in human breathe as well as body odour.
Top contributors
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McCall MacBain Postdoctoral Fellow, Dept. of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour, McMaster University
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Medical Entomologist at the School of Biological Sciences, University of Nairobi
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Research Fellow, The University of Queensland
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Senior Teaching Fellow, Medical Program, Bond University
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Associate Professor of Science & Medicine, Bond University
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Caroline Robinson is a Friend of The Conversation.
Associate Professor Podiatry, Charles Sturt University
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PhD Student in Cerebrovascular Physiology, The University of Queensland
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Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Dublin City University
