What Exactly Is Smell?

[megashawn]

First of all, what exactly is smell? It seems to me to be one of the most powerfull forces on earth. Think about it, what else will clear a crowded room quicker then strategely placed stink bombs?

Seriously though, has anyone ventured out far enough as to discover what exactly smell is?

 

[FZ+]

"Smells" are certain chemical tracers that are sensed by smell sensors in the nose. The mechanism itself is complicated... refer to:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/question139.htm

 

[radagast]

Smell/taste is the most primative (in terms of origins) of all the senses. Even bacteria smell/taste their environment. It is the chemical sensory organ/sense. Though we differentiate smell and taste, for the sake of this discussion, I am considering the same.

Smell, being most primative, is the quickest to illicit a powerful emotional or attractive/repulsive reaction. Unlike intense light and sound, smell illicits no pain reactions, but still triggers a powerful repulsive reaction (in cases of repulsive smells). A smell can trigger a memory quicker and more reliably than any other sense. For most animals, smell is considered one of the most important senses, used for hunting, avoiding predators, finding mates, and identifying friends.

 

[Tail]

I think I read somewhere that there are two ways a man can smell. One will be like a girl's father/brother etc., and they won't be sexually attracted to that one. They'll love the other one, though...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by radagast
Smell/taste is the most primative (in terms of origins) of all the senses. Even bacteria smell/taste their environment. It is the chemical sensory organ/sense. Though we differentiate smell and taste, for the sake of this discussion, I am considering the same.

Radagast,

I don't follow what you mean when
you say smell/taste is the most
primitive of sences in terms of
origins. I think the word "prim-
itive" is bothering me.

Although it is easy to see that
taste and smell are more closely
related than, for example, vision
and smell, I don't believe it is
accurate to regard them as the
same sence, for the sake of this
discussion. How do you arrive at
the conclusion they can be regard-
ed as the same sence? What is the
similarity? My concern is that you
are oversimplifying things.

-zooby

 

[zoobyshoe]

Originally posted by megashawn
Seriously though, has anyone ventured out far enough as to discover what exactly smell is?

I'm not sure if you mean PF post-
ers or biologists. If you mean the latter then you would be aston-
ished at how much research has
gone into all of our sences.Not
just the five that are commonly
ticked off when naming the sences
but a few more people don't even
realize they have. (I don't mean
E.S.P.)

It is interesting that a lot of
money is spent researching the
sence of smell for purely com-
mercial reasons by perfume compan-
ies. Much of this research is guarded as an industrial secret.

zoob