Yet for the average Londoner, our olfactory life goes unnoticed. This is more than coincidence — last year bioanthropologist Dr Kara Hoover warned that harsh city smells of rubbish and pollution are affecting our ability to detect nuances in scent that occur in nature. The term for this modern disconnect is ‘cultural anosmia’ and it can be more detrimental than we realise.

— Read more at Urban life is damaging our sense of smell — but reconnecting with the aromas around us has untold benefits at Evening Standard. You can find Kara Hoover's website, The Smell of Evolution, here.