What is the smell?

S

Shadow1

Valued Senior Member
what is exactly the smell? i mean, our nose allows us to smell, and read the data, of the smell, and smell it that way we do, i mean, is the smell a kind of radiations? or a gas? well, i think it's mostly a gas, and, what is that gas? how does it form? how does it get, evaporated, or released?
 
Shadow1 said:
what is exactly the smell? i mean, our nose allows us to smell, and read the data, of the smell, and smell it that way we do, i mean, is the smell a kind of radiations? or a gas? well, i think it's mostly a gas, and, what is that gas? how does it form? how does it get, evaporated, or released?
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I don't think they know yet. There are a couple of camps, the vibrationists and the Shapists. The former thinking that something like organic spectroscopy is going on in the nose. See....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vibration_theory_of_olfaction

I just read a book about Turin - called The Emporer of Scent - who reinvigorated the vibration theory and is quite a character.

And then Shape theories

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shape_theory_of_olfaction

I think in the end it will be the vibrationists who win, though some experimentation at the very least failed to confirm their hypotheses.
 
You have receptor cells in your nostrils that react to contact with a specific molecule. There are many different types of cells (I don't know the number offhand but it's at least in the dozens) so you can sense many different types of molecules. Each cell is connected to a nerve and when this contact is made it sends a signal, notifying your brain of the contact. Each set of nerves of a specific kind is bunched and goes into a specific brain center, where your synapses intepret that contact as a specific "smell." Most of the odors we identify are actually combinations of many different molecules in various proportions.

However: Note that not all of these senses are conscious. In other words, some sensor cells make contact with their particular type of molecule and send a signal to the brain, but the brain does not alert you to it by giving you the sensation of a "smell." You can react unconsciously, as your brain generates a sense of fear, lust, competition, etc. These molecules that trigger "unconscious smells" are called pheromones.
 
sense of smell is one of our five senses. specific receptor cells receive molecules from air in our nose which then send message to brain. brain then interprets this message to the nature of smell which we then feel.
 
keith1 said:
You have the sense of honor about you.
And you would need that if you talked to dead people.
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Hmm, I've been known to talk to brain-dead people. Does that count? :D

With regard to my previous claim:
The traditional five senses are sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste /snip/ Humans are considered to have at least five additional senses /snip/ and six more
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Wiki. (Of course).
 
Dywyddyr said:
Hmm, I've been known to talk to brain-dead people. Does that count? :D

With regard to my previous claim:

Wiki. (Of course).
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Ahh, and a sense of humor as well. Thanks for getting the link. Someday we will not have the drudgery of research. The AI program will be listening in, and sensing our link needs, gluing an insidious pop-up to our mouse pointer...drop it in place if it senses jubilation from us...or deleting it, if it senses annoyance...
 
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BallisticBrian said:
ANyway, I can prove that sometimes, smell is a gas... this is my friend Simon...

youtube.com/watch?v=nikTTnGlnKE
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And what do you think these gasses are made up of?

(I'll give you a hint. Refer to Fraggle's post... Post #5)

That's right! Molecules!
 
Thanks to Dwyddyr's wiki link, I now know there really is such a thing as a smell-o-scope (FARNSWORTH!)

I had sinus surgery in December...I am now smelling things again for the first in quite some time and...I needed more deodorant...

The vibration theory could explain why I got this odd sensation when my sense of scent started returning; rather like a "ghost smell", as if I was getting an "impression" of scent, instead of the scent itself. There was a feeling of pressure in the region where the scent receptors are located coupled with this.

Now back to mostly smelling things provided I irrigate well and use antihistamines.

(I love the smell of napalm in the morning...smells like victory...)
 
Anyway, having once in my whole life experienced an olfactory hallucination, which is an extremely weird type of event, can confirm, that whatever processes go on in the nose and toungue, smell and taste are just thought processes at the end of the day.
 
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