Human scent could one day be used as evidence in forensics and as diagnostic information in medicine.
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Articles on Odor
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Researchers explore what happens when ants can’t properly use smell to detect friend from foe.
Certain viruses like dengue and Zika can make their hosts smell tastier to mosquitoes. Luckily, vitamin A and its derivatives may help combat these odor changes.
Understanding how the brain translates smells into behavior change can help advance search and rescue technology and treatments for neurological conditions.
Two tongue tips are better than one – an evolutionary biologist explains why snakes have forked tongues.
If you think only humans engage in disinformation, think again. Here is a stunning example of a beetle manipulating the odors emitted from a rotting corpse to keep it hidden from competitors.
Scientists are experimenting with using dogs to sniff out people infected with COVID-19. But dogs aren’t the only animals with a nose for disease.
Brains recognize a smell based on which cells fire, in what order – the same way you recognize a song based on its pattern of notes. How much can you change the ‘tune’ and still know the smell?
Mmmmmmm. That smells delicious. Wait, how do you know that?
Like many plants, onions have defenses to ward off creatures that may want to eat them. Their secret weapon is a kind of natural tear gas.
A weather expert explains where petrichor – that pleasant, earthy scent that accompanies a storm’s first raindrops – comes from.
Perhaps you’ve noticed something unusual in the bathroom after you consume this healthy spring vegetable. A Speed Read explains there’s two parts to the stinky puzzle: production and perception.
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.
Top contributors
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Professor of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
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Trustees of ASU Professor, Arizona State University
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Postdoctoral Researcher, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida International University
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Project Manager of the NSF NeuroNex Odor2Action Network, University of Colorado Boulder
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Provost and Senior Vice President, Lehigh University
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Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Food Science, Framingham State University
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Assistant Professor of Neuroscience, California Institute of Technology
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Assistant Professor of Immunology, University of Connecticut
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Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of Florida
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Research Scientist in Epidemiology, T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University
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Instructional Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University
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Professor of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
