Scientists develop new 'white noise' smell

Posted on Tuesday, 20 November, 2012 | Comment icon

8 comments | News tip by: Simbi Laveau

Image credit: stockxpert

The fascinating new odor known as 'olfactory white' can only be experienced inside the laboratory.

In a similar way to which white noise is a mixture of sound frequencies, the new smell was put together by combining a large number of different compounds. The resulting odor is not so much the product of any one compound but the combination of so many that it becomes no longer possible to tell them apart, a veritable overload of the olfactory senses.

So what exactly does 'olfactory white' smell like ? Volunteers invited to sample the strange new concoction agreed that it fell somewhere between pleasantness and edibility. "The best way to appreciate the qualities of olfactory white is to smell it," the team wrote.

The smell is dubbed "olfactory white," because it is the nasal equivalent of white noise, researchers report today (Nov. 19) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Source: Yahoo! News

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Recent comments on this story

#1 Posted by JGirl on 20 November, 2012, 6:12

this doesn't seem right it would make more sense to say that with the mixtures that contained forty different compounds the olfactory sense possibly shuts down somewhat and the testers were sensing that rather than a familiar smell. this could also answer to why this smell is vague and rather bland.

#2 Posted by Simbi Laveau on 20 November, 2012, 6:20

I don't make the news ma'am,I just report it .

#3 Posted by JGirl on 20 November, 2012, 17:59

lol yes i know. i was not directing that at you - it just strikes me as illogical to arrive at the conclusion they did

#4 Posted by The Unseen on 21 November, 2012, 9:52

Man what a waste of time for them and us,Not to mention the money we give those idio..........why can't those fart brains work on something like a cure for cancer,Aids or something like that,I think they should be fired and ran out of town on a rail but not before getting tared and feathered.Makes me want to throw bricks at their heads.

#5 Posted by Abramelin on 21 November, 2012, 10:43

Things can be related: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_cancer_detection

#6 Posted by DKO on 21 November, 2012, 14:07

Maybe these scientists have never worked in the cancer field. They can't just start researching something they don't know much about.

#7 Posted by BiffSplitkins on 21 November, 2012, 14:51

I discover new smells all the time. Usually it's Taco Bell related though.

#8 Posted by Bling on 21 November, 2012, 18:29

My dog is always making new smells.

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