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...

Cape Town Hit With 'Worst Stench in My Life'

Odor was traced to a ship docked offshore on Monday

(Newser) - The smell that took over Cape Town was so putrid and far-reaching that authorities in the South African city launched an investigation into its source on Monday. It turns out it wasn't a sewage facility leak but rather an odor emanating from a ship docked in the harbor that...

New Zealand Mayor Reassures Residents: Keep Pooping

Lower Hutt has a serious odor problem right now

(Newser) - There's good news and bad news for residents of a New Zealand city. The good is that their mayor confirmed on Tuesday that they can continue pooping. The bad is that the air will smell regardless. The city of Lower Hutt near Wellington has been dealing with a two-month-long...

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...

Awful-Smelling Foam Is Invading This City

Toxic foam from polluted river has become the bane of Mosquera, a suburb of Bogota, Colombia

(Newser) - Playing in foam is usually fun—think bubble baths when you were a kid. But in the streets of one suburb of Bogota, Colombia, residents flee toxic clouds of the stuff wafting over from a nearby polluted river, bringing an unpleasant odor and suspected to be the cause of a...

Finally, Cause of City's 'Stench of Death' Is Revealed

Fire at California warehouse filled with beauty products led to plant die-off, which led to hydrogen sulfide in the air

(Newser) - In early October, residents in Carson, Calif., started picking up on a noxious smell emanating from the Dominguez Channel, with dozens of complaints called in daily to the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Some even noted they were suffering from fatigue, headaches, and respiratory issues, reports the Guardian . Now,...

France to City Folk: Deal With Sounds of the Countryside

Senate passes law to protect rural areas' 'sensory heritage'

(Newser) - In an attempt to stop rural French neighbors from being at each other's throats, France has just passed a law to protect the nation's "sensory heritage." What that means, in essence, per CNN : Weekenders visiting from more urban areas won't be able to stifle most...

New Research Takes 'Odious' View of History

The Odeuropa project gives European history a good whiff

(Newser) - Ever said, "Oh, that smells nasty?" Then you were part of history. Case in point: A team of scientists and historians is embarking on a plan to catalogue the smells of Europe over time and see what they say about society, the New York Times reports. The new $3....

Hyundai Tracks Down 'Dirty Socks' Smell
That Wasn't Just
a New-Car Smell
Nov 17, 2020 1:51 PM CST

That Wasn't Just a New-Car Smell

Hyundai says it's solved the mystery odor in some Palisades and will take care of it

(Newser) - When drivers opened the door to their new Hyundai Palisade, they often were hit with more than that new-car smell, or even pride of ownership. Some people described the odor as much like dirty socks, or body odor, or onions, or cabbage, or just simply "really bad." It...

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...

The Smell in This Canadian Town Is Just Unbearable

Fish sauce factory stopped operating in 2001, but the liquid is still causing problems

(Newser) - The residents of a small Canadian town say they've been plagued by a wretched smell for more than a decade. The CBC digs into the plight of St. Mary's in Newfoundland. It's home to 400 residents and the shuttered Atlantic Seafood Sauce Co. plant, which opened in...

Cops: Boy May Have Died After Breathing In Fish Smell

11-year-old from Brooklyn seems to have suffered allergic reaction as family cooked New Year's meal

(Newser) - Authorities are trying to figure out what caused the death of a Brooklyn boy, and it may be tied to a rare allergic reaction. The New York Post and New York Daily News report that the 11-year-old, named Camron Jean-Pierre or Camron Jean-Paul, got sick Tuesday evening while at home...

Passengers, Plane Crew Nearly Brawl Over Stinky Fruit

Sriwijaya Air flight in Indonesia temporarily grounded thanks to durian in cargo hold

(Newser) - The durian is known for being one of the grossest-smelling fruits in the world—think "turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock," as one food writer has described it, per Smithsonian . The late Anthony Bourdain once said after eating it, "Your breath will smell as if...

Plagued by a Man-Eating Tiger, India Has an Odd Idea
Plagued by
a Man-Eating
Tiger, India Has
an Odd Idea
in case you missed it
Oct 13, 2018 1:00 PM CDT

Plagued by a Man-Eating Tiger, India Has an Odd Idea

Calvin Klein's Obsession cologne may do the trick

(Newser) - Vets with tranquilizer darts, drones, and even a powerful breed of hunting dogs haven't been able to track down and take out a dangerous tiger in India suspected of killing 13. So now, forest rangers near Pandharkawada are turning to a bottle of something they hope will make the...

His Odor Grounded a Plane. A Month Later, He Died

It turns out Andrey Suchilin was suffering from necrosis, which was causing the smell

(Newser) - A story that began embarrassingly has ended tragically. People reports on the death of 58-year-old Andrey Suchilin, a Russian guitarist who spurred an emergency landing of a Transavia Airlines plane in Portugal. Per De Telegraaf via WJW , Suchilin's odor during the May 29 flight from Spain to the Netherlands...

Hunter's 'Stupid Mistake' Leads to Grisly Scene

And a malodorous one in Argyle, NY

(Newser) - The source of a stench that bedeviled the residents of Argyle, NY, this fall has been identified, and it's a grisly one. The Post-Star reports hundreds of pounds of rotting moose meat—including the animal's head—were the culprit. After tracing the smell to its source, the state...

One Whiff of Blood Molecule Separates Hunters, Hunted

Scent of E2D triggers widely different reactions in animals, including humans

(Newser) - Scientists have zeroed in on a molecule in blood whose very scent triggers alarm in humans but also beckons predators. In fact, one whiff of the E2D molecule causes animals of all kinds to act in "diametrically opposite" ways, suggesting that it's been around for eons and responses...

City Tells Man to Get Rid of His Seriously Smelly Driveway

Man used unwashed shells to pave driveway, then came flies and maggots

(Newser) - A Rhode Island town's long, smelly nightmare is finally over. Two weeks ago, a Tiverton resident used unwashed clam shells to pave an access road on his property, the AP reports. The shells still had bits of clam meat stuck to them, eventually drawing flies and maggots while creating...

Neighbor's Choice of Road Material Brings Stink, Maggots

And Rhode Island residents aren't happy about it

(Newser) - Crushed seashells are one of the best surfaces for making paths and driveways on your property, according to this helpful landscaping website . But some Rhode Islanders are learning the hard way it's ideal if the shells are cleaned first. Residents in Tiverton say a neighbor recently dumped thousands of...

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