Melanie Anderson, a PhD student at the University of Washington, introduces the Smellicopter: "a drone that uses a live antenna from a moth to navigate its way toward a smell".
Motivated to exercise
"Some people like to exercise more than others do, but why this is so is not well understood," lead author Sachiko Haga-Yamanaka of UC Riverside said in a news release. "Taken together, our results show vomeronasal receptors as trait locations for voluntary exercise behavior in mice."
"It's not inconceivable that someday we might be able to isolate the chemicals [i.e., smells] and use them like air fresheners in gyms to make people even more motivated to exercise," senior author Theodore Garland added.
— Read more in Need Motivation to Exercise? Olfaction Is a Primal Motivator at Psychology Today.
The pongs of the past
From the pungent scent of a cigar to the gentle fragrance of roses, smells can transport us to days gone by. Now researchers are hoping to harness the pongs of the past to do just that.
Scientists, historians and experts in artificial intelligence across the UK and Europe have announced they are teaming up for a €2.8m project labelled “Odeuropa” to identify and even recreate the aromas that would have assailed noses between the 16th and early 20th centuries.
— Read more in Scents of history: study hopes to recreate smells of old Europe at The Guardian (or, see University smells project to recreate historic industrial and perfumed aromas at BBC; Odeuropa awarded €2.8M grant for research project on European olfactory heritage and sensory mining at the Odeuropa site). Hat tip to Jiji!
Caramel or roses
A new study has revealed a genetic mutation that makes people who carry it be less susceptible to the smell of fish. For some of these people, fish's off-putting odor might even smell like caramel or roses.
— Read more in People With This Rare Gene Mutation Can't Smell Fishy Scents at International Business Times.
My husband’s aftershave is horrendous
Loss of smell and taste continued for months with little improvement. Then one day, out of the blue, tap water tasted really chemical to me. This was in July, and rapidly, everyday things became distorted in a vile way. My husband’s aftershave is horrendous. I can’t go out to eat or drink. I hold my nose to drink even water.
— For Kelly De-Gol, Covid-19 brought first anosmia, then parosmia. Read more in Why Losing Your Sense of Smell With Covid-19 Is So Traumatizing at Elemental.