Jess Porter and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, have also been trying to train people's noses. They persuaded 32 students to wear blindfolds and ear defenders, and get down on all fours to see whether they could sniff out a trail of chocolate oil. Intrigued, I wanted to try it for myself, which is how I ended up on all fours in a London park.
— From The unsung sense: How smell rules your life in the New Scientist. Hat tip to Abyss!
Very interesting – thanks, Abyss!
I had a lot of fun last spring following my nose to flowering shrubs and discovered viburnums, which I’d never paid any attention to before. It was deeply satisfying in some primal way to follow the nose at night.
Some viburnums smell incredible! At the moment I have only unscented doubles, which is a shame, I should plant more.
If there was one city I’d just as soon not be deafened, blinded and asked to get down on all fours in, it would probably be Berkley.
Anywhere else, I’d be pretty open to, but the Bay Area overall, probably not.