1 00:00:03,800 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind from how stuff 2 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:16,960 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and I'm Julie Douglas. And uh, 4 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about smells smell and and don't turn 5 00:00:20,760 --> 00:00:23,119 Speaker 1: up the podcast. You made it this far into a 6 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:26,400 Speaker 1: podcast about smells. Yeah, because that's the thing. The sense 7 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: of smell is amazing, and it is mind blowing. We 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: we end up taking it for granted. But but it's 9 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: one of the strongest senses that we have. Out of 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:37,160 Speaker 1: all the five. It's the only one that interacts directly 11 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,600 Speaker 1: with the brain. And and just imagine how boring the 12 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:42,080 Speaker 1: world would be without it, and and and also take 13 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,080 Speaker 1: into account that we really haven't studied it seriously scientifically 14 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: until the last couple of decades, Like there was a 15 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:49,960 Speaker 1: but before that, if you were like, I'm going to 16 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: scientifically study smell, I'm really interested in how things smell 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: and what makes something stink, and what makes something smell good, 18 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,720 Speaker 1: and how something that could the same odor could sort 19 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: of smell good. If we thought of one thing and stink, 20 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:03,240 Speaker 1: if we thought it was the other people would laugh 21 00:01:03,240 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: at you. They would say a ha, ha, why don't 22 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: you go study ghosts or something? Right? Right? Right? Did 23 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:09,959 Speaker 1: they ever think that there would be a whole industry 24 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: that is uh built on smell, Like, for instance, if 25 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: you go into the gap, if you go into that retailer, 26 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: there is a specific smell that was created just for 27 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:22,880 Speaker 1: that store, keeping you the customer in mind, you know, 28 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: sort of fresh light smell to try to manipulate your Yeah. 29 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 1: It goes far beyond just the perfume industry or anything 30 00:01:29,080 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: of that nature. It gets into into what kind of 31 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: smells do people react to, how to how to smells 32 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: interact with our memories? Um, wine and then wine is 33 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:40,800 Speaker 1: a one smell appealed to say, one group of people 34 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: and not to another. It just gets it gets crazy. Yeah. Yeah. 35 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 1: And so today we're gonna talk about smells, but we're 36 00:01:46,600 --> 00:01:47,960 Speaker 1: don't trying to talk about it in a little bit 37 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: of an unorthodox way. And uh, I'm not lying here. 38 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about David Beckham's foot at one point. 39 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: Oh yes, yeah, yeah, So so let's get into it 40 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: all right. Well, a lot of this came from a 41 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: panel that I attended at the at the World Science 42 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:07,040 Speaker 1: Festival in New York in June of two thousand eleven. 43 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 1: We're both up there hitting various panels and this one 44 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:14,639 Speaker 1: was called Sense and Sensibilities, right, yes, take on, Jane Austen. Yeah, 45 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:16,080 Speaker 1: and it was a really cool one. Like all of 46 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: them barely got there in time, because it was like, 47 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,240 Speaker 1: you know, taking the train and then trying to figure 48 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: out where I was supposed to go, and then using 49 00:02:22,240 --> 00:02:25,840 Speaker 1: the phone to try and triangulate exactly where I was 50 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: and where it was. It was very and as you 51 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:30,280 Speaker 1: were looking at the phone bumping into the building and 52 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: realizing that was a building that you needed to hoof 53 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: it into. Yeah, and uh, it was a great panel. 54 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:37,519 Speaker 1: And one of the things they did they did a 55 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,560 Speaker 1: really interesting smell test where everybody had these different cards 56 00:02:41,800 --> 00:02:43,960 Speaker 1: under their well, they weren't under the chair, but they 57 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 1: were handed out to It was lightly It was just 58 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: that if they were under the chair and each one 59 00:02:47,800 --> 00:02:49,680 Speaker 1: has a number, and then you smell it and then 60 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,680 Speaker 1: they would vote to see what people thought the smell was. 61 00:02:53,639 --> 00:02:56,000 Speaker 1: So um, I thought we might just run through these 62 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,520 Speaker 1: real quick. Okay, let's do it all right. So this 63 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:00,360 Speaker 1: is we're going to count down from the top. This 64 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:02,760 Speaker 1: is number four, number four, and this is a little card. 65 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:05,240 Speaker 1: It has you gotta peel the plastic back. I can 66 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: smell something kind of smells kind of good, but it's 67 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: very faint langline. I don't know what that is. It's 68 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: a it's a like a lily smell. Okay, so you 69 00:03:17,360 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: can kind of a like a sweet plant kind of smell. 70 00:03:19,840 --> 00:03:21,800 Speaker 1: From what is number four? Then I will have up 71 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: to my nose. It is a Tahitian flower by the 72 00:03:24,360 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: name of t R So there you go. You were 73 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,200 Speaker 1: pretty close that I was gonna say Tahitian flower. Yeah, 74 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: well it's it's frequently used in you know, kind of 75 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: perfumey smells. Now number three mm hm, okay, this smells 76 00:03:38,360 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: like it sounds good, but because it also smells like 77 00:03:42,680 --> 00:03:47,680 Speaker 1: under arm plus like maybe a drier sheet. Oh that's 78 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: that's very spot on because it's musk, which is of 79 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: course musk, you know, musky odors, but musk is also 80 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,920 Speaker 1: an important ingredient, very in soap products. That's funny. I 81 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,120 Speaker 1: felt like I should I say I like that, us 82 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: I feel a little dirty and saying that I like this. 83 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: That was my initial squeeze directed directly from a muskrat, 84 00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: and then the final one. This is number one, and 85 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: this one is actually double wrapped, so you'll have to 86 00:04:09,920 --> 00:04:12,600 Speaker 1: take it out of the plastic. Hey, if it's double wrap, 87 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,400 Speaker 1: it's probably pretty pungent, right, Well, that would seem to imply, 88 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:20,359 Speaker 1: oh goodness, yeah it is. It's still strong after so 89 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:26,359 Speaker 1: many months. I mean, it's clearly smells like cheese, and 90 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 1: it's like a very pungent cheese. I mean, I'm not 91 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: gonna say it's cheddar, but it's it's strong. Yeah. This 92 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,559 Speaker 1: one was the most fun at this festival because people 93 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,200 Speaker 1: were throwing out various ideas from the audience, things of 94 00:04:39,800 --> 00:04:44,000 Speaker 1: such as, it's under arm, it's its feet, it's uh, 95 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: it's body odor, it's it's locker funk, it's and then 96 00:04:47,720 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: other people are saying it's Lindburger, it's Swiss, it's uh, 97 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,640 Speaker 1: you know, it's it's some sort of weird pots, Robert, 98 00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: what have I just put up to my nose? David 99 00:04:56,440 --> 00:04:59,159 Speaker 1: Beckham's feet Apparently this was taking This smell was taken 100 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: directly from David Beckham's foot funk and then made into 101 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:06,120 Speaker 1: a chemical form and then brushed under the all these 102 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: little cards and then handed out to people attending this 103 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,760 Speaker 1: particular panel. Alright, So I mean I read about not 104 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: necessarily this that you just put in my nose, but 105 00:05:16,839 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: that his foot has been studied before. I didn't realize 106 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 1: that was quite a specimen. I mean, his molecules are 107 00:05:24,320 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: they're they're just rumbling around my nose right now and 108 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: touching your brain. I should really say. Yeah, I have 109 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 1: to say it's a little bit disturbing, especially since I 110 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:38,919 Speaker 1: like cheese. Um, I really do. And that is that 111 00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:41,120 Speaker 1: is the weird thing, Like the same smell in a 112 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:45,120 Speaker 1: different context. Um, at least cheese fans would be like, oh, 113 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: that smells delightful. There was a an art opening I 114 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:51,440 Speaker 1: was helping at here in town that my wife was organizing, 115 00:05:51,480 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: and there was some cheese on hand, and so Bonnie 116 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: was unwrapping it and getting ready on the table, and 117 00:05:57,279 --> 00:05:59,680 Speaker 1: I was doing something else, like getting lighting or sound 118 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: ready for the event, and I smelled this odor and 119 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:03,719 Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, my goodness, we're about to have this 120 00:06:03,839 --> 00:06:05,679 Speaker 1: art event and a mouse has died in the wall. 121 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:07,720 Speaker 1: What are we gonna do? It's like, I don't I 122 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:09,080 Speaker 1: don't know how to get back there and get it, 123 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 1: Like clearly something has died. And then I found it 124 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:14,360 Speaker 1: out that knows this cheese and uh. And and then 125 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 1: later we had some friends that were attending it who 126 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: are big freendshophiles and really in cheese. They were like, oh, 127 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:23,039 Speaker 1: this smells great. Can we take it home and devour it? 128 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,359 Speaker 1: And we're like, yes, please, yes, please, please take the 129 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: dead mouse home because it is is stinking up the space. 130 00:06:28,360 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 1: So different different circumstances, different ideas about where the smell 131 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,480 Speaker 1: is coming from, has a huge impact on whether it 132 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 1: is a good smell or a bad smell. Different cultures, right, um, 133 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:41,600 Speaker 1: and there was a woman on this panel. Cecil told us, 134 00:06:42,320 --> 00:06:46,680 Speaker 1: the Norwegian odor artist. Oh, yes, she was awesome. Yeah. 135 00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,000 Speaker 1: I mean you know, by the way, this is all online, 136 00:06:49,040 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: so you can go to World Science Festival put in 137 00:06:50,839 --> 00:06:54,600 Speaker 1: sense s c e n T s s c n 138 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: s e uh sense and sensibilities and you can see 139 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: some of this stuff. It's great. She is uh. They 140 00:07:01,040 --> 00:07:04,040 Speaker 1: call her an udor provocateur, and she's really like a 141 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:06,200 Speaker 1: warrior for smell. In the same way that you hear 142 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: a lot of parents arguing that okay, you should not 143 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,680 Speaker 1: let a child say that a food is yucky, or 144 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,200 Speaker 1: you should not say, oh, this taste bad in front 145 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,080 Speaker 1: of a child, Like she takes it even farther than 146 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:19,119 Speaker 1: we should not talk about things stinking or smelling bad. 147 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 1: And I kind of on the same boat when it 148 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: comes to cheese, Like when I hear people talk about, 149 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: who I'm gonna try a stinky cheese, I'm like, don't 150 00:07:24,960 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: use that word. Use a different word for the thing 151 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: that you like. Don't say stinky. Say it's a pungent, pungent, 152 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:35,080 Speaker 1: pungent I like, or fragrant, expressive cheese, but don't say stinky. 153 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:36,360 Speaker 1: And that was one of the things she was talking about. 154 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:37,760 Speaker 1: It's like, we have to, you know, we have to 155 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:40,520 Speaker 1: bring up a new generation that has a more nuanced 156 00:07:40,520 --> 00:07:44,240 Speaker 1: way of talking about smell, because for a lot of people, 157 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:45,760 Speaker 1: it's just like, oh, that's a good smell, and that's 158 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: a bad smell. And it's a lot more complicated than that. Yeah, 159 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: And that's kind of what put her on her whole journey. 160 00:07:51,440 --> 00:07:53,880 Speaker 1: She said to herself, can I think beyond the dichotomies 161 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: of good and bad sense? And she certainly has plumbed 162 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:01,480 Speaker 1: the subject to like he has broken the other side. Yeah, 163 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: she makes me think of the guy um who who 164 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: the Kloica machine who who is very interested in feces 165 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: and his exploration of this in our relationship to this, 166 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: this smell, this, this this material, and she does it 167 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,160 Speaker 1: the same way with smell um and really forces you 168 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:21,280 Speaker 1: to think about the topic. Yeah. Yeah, but it's so, 169 00:08:21,360 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 1: it's very it's very very interesting that she dived into this, 170 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:27,960 Speaker 1: And I wanted to mention a couple of things that 171 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,600 Speaker 1: that make that even more intriguing. Um, And that's considering 172 00:08:32,679 --> 00:08:35,520 Speaker 1: what's actually happening to your inside your nose when you 173 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: are sensing a smell um. Like you said, it's the 174 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:41,480 Speaker 1: only sense with a direct connection to the brain. So 175 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,560 Speaker 1: when you breathe chemicals into your nose, you have proteins 176 00:08:44,600 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: that bind to millions of molecules, and these molecules rush 177 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: into your nose and they get really cozy with the 178 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,280 Speaker 1: nerve endings of your brains. With factory bulb and you 179 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:55,880 Speaker 1: have four hundred receptors trying to suss out the different 180 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: smells um. So say you're walking down the street in 181 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:01,400 Speaker 1: New York early on the sunny morning in July, You're 182 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,120 Speaker 1: gonna be bombarded with a bunch of different smells. Yes, 183 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,480 Speaker 1: it is a city of amazing stinks. For sure. It 184 00:09:07,640 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: is it is um or. You know, the day before 185 00:09:09,800 --> 00:09:12,600 Speaker 1: garbage pickup, right, it's it's um or. You go past 186 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: a pizza parlor and your your brain is trying to 187 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: make sense of all this old factory input. So um, 188 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:20,440 Speaker 1: it's it's very interesting when you think about it that way. UM. 189 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: And we think about vision is being really complex, but 190 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 1: when we're talking about vision or something like color blindness, 191 00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: really you're talking about three primary colors that you're perceiving. 192 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:33,240 Speaker 1: But when you're talking about smells, you're talking about fifteen 193 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:37,079 Speaker 1: thousand identifiable smells that are out there so far. Right, 194 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,640 Speaker 1: Like you said, this is a pretty young field, the 195 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: field of smells. And as we walk around, we're all 196 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: carrying around this database of of smells with us. Um Like, 197 00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:48,520 Speaker 1: not only the smells that we recognize in our in 198 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:50,559 Speaker 1: our mind, because I think we've all had that situation 199 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:52,280 Speaker 1: where we're walking down the street and with a different 200 00:09:52,600 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: smell will hit us out of nowhere, and suddenly we're 201 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: transported back to our childhood or something, right, and and 202 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:00,760 Speaker 1: sometimes we're not even sure what that odor was. It's 203 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:02,840 Speaker 1: not like, oh, the smell of fresh peaches that it 204 00:10:02,840 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: takes me back. I don't know why. I know you had. 205 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: All Italians are talking about peaches, but but I'm thinking 206 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:11,120 Speaker 1: about New York streets. I guess I don't know, but 207 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:12,880 Speaker 1: but more like you like, for me, it's like a 208 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: smell will hit me and I it will be an 209 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: unclassifiable smell, like I'm not sure what that odor is, 210 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: but it takes me back. But but so not only 211 00:10:21,280 --> 00:10:24,079 Speaker 1: those the odors of memory, but also just the odors 212 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: on our person in our coat. Well. I was actually 213 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:28,760 Speaker 1: thinking about that a lot today because I'm wearing this 214 00:10:29,200 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: vintage velvet jacket and it's one of my mom's curnies. 215 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,679 Speaker 1: Actually gave it to me, and it's really sweet, love it, 216 00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:38,800 Speaker 1: but it has this Yeah, it's very shiny, and it 217 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,439 Speaker 1: has the scent of her perfume on it. It's clean, 218 00:10:41,559 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: but obviously this is something that survived it and so 219 00:10:44,120 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: I feel like I'm wearing the autobiography of someone else 220 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:50,400 Speaker 1: right now, and it's a little disconcerting. Um just to 221 00:10:50,440 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: every once in a while smell this scent. But this 222 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:55,640 Speaker 1: is one of the things that se sell To Lost 223 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: the the odor artists really wanted to check out, and 224 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: she did the us by analyzing a bunch of coats 225 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: from the citizens and uh, I think it was the Montpelier, France. Yeah, 226 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: she took their coats and analyzed it. Um. Basically, she 227 00:11:12,559 --> 00:11:14,840 Speaker 1: used her her nose to try to figure out the 228 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:18,840 Speaker 1: different profiles of smell. And before anybody scoffed at that, 229 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:22,600 Speaker 1: this is actually, um, this is something that perfumers do 230 00:11:22,640 --> 00:11:24,880 Speaker 1: all the time. You can really train your nose to 231 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: detect the most minute smell or so this is something 232 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: that's real, by the way, and um ce cel Tolass 233 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: is like she's a giant in her field, so she's 234 00:11:34,760 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 1: pretty well respected. And she actually has created sense for 235 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,520 Speaker 1: product Um, Calvin Klein and all sorts of other people, 236 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,040 Speaker 1: so she knows what she's talking about here. Um. But anyway, 237 00:11:46,160 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: she has also just another little interesting fact about her. 238 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:53,640 Speaker 1: She has a smell archive preserved in seven thousand, six 239 00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:58,600 Speaker 1: hundred and thirty air tight jars which feature dirty fabric, 240 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,640 Speaker 1: chunks of fried fish or dried fish, rotten bananas, a 241 00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: hundred and fifty variations on dog poo, and her favorite 242 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,360 Speaker 1: aroma that of her thirteen year old daughter, which I 243 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: thought was really cool. So anyway, this this expert on 244 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,120 Speaker 1: odor takes these coats and analyzes them and what does 245 00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 1: she find, Well that there's a complex bouquet going on there. 246 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,000 Speaker 1: Right in the term that bouquet, there's some top notes 247 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:24,319 Speaker 1: and there are some bottom notes for sure. Yeah, like 248 00:12:24,360 --> 00:12:27,720 Speaker 1: there's a certain amount of like fecal odor. Yeah, yeah, 249 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 1: there was. There was one product coat that was analyzed 250 00:12:31,160 --> 00:12:34,880 Speaker 1: and had two percent dog feces, five percent soy sauce, 251 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: six percent gasoline smell, nine percent Jill Sander after shave. 252 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 1: By the way, this aftershave was not the after shave 253 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,560 Speaker 1: of her husband. It was of someone else. Um ten 254 00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:49,959 Speaker 1: percent codfish, twelve percent channel number five, which is the 255 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,120 Speaker 1: scent she wore, and twenty six percent tobacco sweat. Wow, 256 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: where is the cod fish coming from? I mean, she 257 00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:58,680 Speaker 1: must have just had a little codfish for for lunch 258 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: before she gave her codo her or they had one 259 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: of those freak days where like rained cod. Yes, yeah, 260 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 1: that was probably one of those days. Ye frogs the 261 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: day before than cod. But yeah, all this stuff is 262 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,319 Speaker 1: in our clothes and we're walking around and we think 263 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: that we're so clean, especially here, you know, in the 264 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,680 Speaker 1: United States, where we're obsessed with sanitizing ourselves and covering up. Well, yeah, 265 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: because I'm clean is an interesting topic just in and 266 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 1: of itself, because we over time have taken idea of 267 00:13:23,520 --> 00:13:28,520 Speaker 1: hygiene and the idea of spiritual purity and and intertwined 268 00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: the two to the point where in many cultures there's 269 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 1: just no pulling them apart again, right right, So, I 270 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,800 Speaker 1: mean it's just and she will say, uh, this artist 271 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:41,040 Speaker 1: that the West is way too obsessed with sanitizing and 272 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:42,720 Speaker 1: we should get a little bit more comfortable with the 273 00:13:42,720 --> 00:13:45,720 Speaker 1: different smells that we have, like the smell of fear, 274 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:52,439 Speaker 1: which we will talk about right after this. This podcast 275 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: is brought to you by Intel, the sponsors of Tomorrow 276 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: and the Discovery Channel. At Intel, we believe curiosity is 277 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:04,160 Speaker 1: the spark which drives innovation. Join us a curiosity dot 278 00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:10,200 Speaker 1: com and explore the answers to life's questions. So the 279 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,720 Speaker 1: smell of fear and this this really this boils down 280 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,000 Speaker 1: to to some of the you know, a lot of 281 00:14:16,000 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: what we can discuss about the evolution of our sense 282 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:20,400 Speaker 1: of smell in where a place. Because if you can 283 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: smell fear, and you hear that a lot, it's like, 284 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:24,800 Speaker 1: don't mess with that guy. He can smell fear. Don't 285 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: be weird around this dog. It can smell fear. The 286 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:30,000 Speaker 1: idea that that we're emitting some sort of odor, be 287 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:32,040 Speaker 1: that just a some be it just sort of a 288 00:14:32,080 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: body funk or an actual pheromone that says, I am afraid, right, 289 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:40,080 Speaker 1: I am on edge and a little terrified. Uh. It's 290 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:42,200 Speaker 1: it's a fascinating concept because you would not want to 291 00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:44,600 Speaker 1: emit that odor. You would want to admit the I'm 292 00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: pretty awesome and could beat up a dog kind of right, 293 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: right right, Because again here we have with these molecules 294 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:55,360 Speaker 1: being sucked up by our noses, and we are detecting 295 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: all of this on a very subtle level, which which 296 00:14:57,800 --> 00:15:01,640 Speaker 1: again this the odor artist is um using this to 297 00:15:01,680 --> 00:15:06,760 Speaker 1: try to explore, you know, all these different happenstances of 298 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: our humanity, like fear. So cecil to lost the artists 299 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:13,680 Speaker 1: we were talking about, she also went after this whole 300 00:15:13,720 --> 00:15:16,840 Speaker 1: fear smell thing, and she ended up this is two 301 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,240 Speaker 1: thousand six. Shed analyzed all these different examples of men 302 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: in a state of fear. These these were men, by 303 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,560 Speaker 1: the way, who had chronic states of fear. Right, It 304 00:15:25,600 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 1: wasn't just like every once a while they were scared, 305 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,000 Speaker 1: but for various reasons. They were under dress. Yeah, you know, 306 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:32,600 Speaker 1: maybe they were a veteran or something, and they were 307 00:15:32,600 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 1: able to, you know, summon this sphere for the experiment, 308 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:38,560 Speaker 1: and they took samples from their their under arms. And 309 00:15:38,920 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: in this in two thousand six, Cecil covered the walls 310 00:15:42,240 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: of an M. I. T. Gallery with and I mean 311 00:15:45,360 --> 00:15:47,480 Speaker 1: officially not you know, she didn't go in there, just 312 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: do it after the lights were out. She had she 313 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: had an exhibit. Yeah, imagine like basically imagine walking into 314 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: an exhibit hall and it looks like all the paintings 315 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: are gone and you're like, oh, I'm kind of bummed out. 316 00:15:58,360 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: I came here for an art show. And then you 317 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: is no, instead of going up and looking at a painting, 318 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,680 Speaker 1: you're going up to that blank canvas and you're sniffing. 319 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,240 Speaker 1: That's right, because this wall is a metaphor for the skin, right, 320 00:16:09,280 --> 00:16:12,680 Speaker 1: And she's basically she's chemically reproduced the molecules from the 321 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: sweat of these men that she studied who were suffering fear. 322 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:18,920 Speaker 1: And and you're going up and you're getting to smell 323 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,400 Speaker 1: different variations on that odor. And she she mentioned that 324 00:16:22,400 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: there was one individual who had who had been in 325 00:16:25,520 --> 00:16:28,000 Speaker 1: the war and uh, and he was smelling like an 326 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: Asian um fear odor and the dye was like brought 327 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: to tears because he was like, this really takes me 328 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:37,280 Speaker 1: back to this guy who during the war. Is that amazing? 329 00:16:37,360 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: It is amazing? Yeah, yeah, um. And and how she 330 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:43,200 Speaker 1: did this as pretty interesting too. She used micro encapsulation 331 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: technology to produce a gloss paint that releases its scent 332 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:49,480 Speaker 1: when gently touched. Scratch and sniff, yeah, scratch and stiff 333 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: wall of fear basically, so you have these nine different 334 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,760 Speaker 1: smells of fear, you know, from these nine different men 335 00:16:57,520 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 1: and uh, and all of these guys, like you said 336 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,400 Speaker 1: that they collected their sweat during um when they were 337 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: under duress. And one of them actually was a guy 338 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:08,800 Speaker 1: who engaged in s and M and so he collected 339 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,680 Speaker 1: his perspiration when he visited sex clubs. So he's he's 340 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: he has a fearful odor emitting from this upright, because 341 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: I mean that's part of his um. I mean, yes, 342 00:17:20,600 --> 00:17:23,440 Speaker 1: he was aroused, but it's he has to experience fear 343 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,000 Speaker 1: in order to be aroused. So they were collecting that. 344 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: So again that's what we're talking about, like very different situations, 345 00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,479 Speaker 1: but all of them fear based. Yeah, and so can 346 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: you imagine you're just kind of scratching and sniffing around 347 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,200 Speaker 1: this wall and you're getting these different profiles of smell, 348 00:17:37,280 --> 00:17:40,199 Speaker 1: and like you said, the guy that that perceived his 349 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:43,960 Speaker 1: friend in this one smell who wasn't obviously his friend 350 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,320 Speaker 1: is pretty amazing. Yeah, it kind of boils down to 351 00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:48,600 Speaker 1: two to some of the stuff we've talked about about 352 00:17:48,600 --> 00:17:50,480 Speaker 1: how their stuff going on in our brain, we're not 353 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,720 Speaker 1: conscious off like a lot of stuff under the surface 354 00:17:52,760 --> 00:17:57,240 Speaker 1: of the waves of human cognition, and and certainly the 355 00:17:57,280 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: processing of smells is just another one of those things. Always. 356 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,800 Speaker 1: I was just thinking about that too, like how we 357 00:18:02,119 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 1: arrive at an idea and we keep thinking we have 358 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 1: these aha moments, when in fact we talked about this before, 359 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 1: like do we actually have free will? But it's all 360 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: being Our perception is being colored all the time, and 361 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,240 Speaker 1: these ah ha moments rise to the surface after they've 362 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:19,840 Speaker 1: been vetted um in so many different subconscious ways, like 363 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:21,919 Speaker 1: you said, like smells. So again, like we discussed the 364 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: towards the top of the podcast, funky Smell, if we 365 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 1: pair that with a picture of a foot, were repulsed 366 00:18:27,800 --> 00:18:30,200 Speaker 1: pair it with a picture of you know, a fancy 367 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,520 Speaker 1: um hard or soft cheese, and we're more likely to salivate, 368 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:38,720 Speaker 1: right right, scratch us. If a wall, we're scared. Um. 369 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:40,879 Speaker 1: But yeah, I mean it is all in the way 370 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: that it's uh, it's packaged. And again you have the 371 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: odor artists responsible for making something called human bacteria cheese, 372 00:18:48,880 --> 00:18:51,480 Speaker 1: which brings the two together into one product. The fear 373 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:57,080 Speaker 1: in the fear and then the attraction to cheese, and 374 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,120 Speaker 1: here it is in one product. Yeah, yeah, I think 375 00:18:59,119 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: it's fascinating. She wanted to know what happens when I 376 00:19:01,560 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 1: grow an edible substance from my own body, uh bacteria 377 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,879 Speaker 1: and then eat it. Yeah yeah, So again she this 378 00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:13,800 Speaker 1: fascination with smell that she in bacteria. Um. She decided 379 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: that this body bacteria would be the ideal organism uh 380 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 1: to carry a smelly bacterium closely related to human armpits 381 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: and feet. She took working samples, She collected them from 382 00:19:26,880 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: friends and family, and then she simulated and coagulated them 383 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 1: into a range of ripe taste sensations like Daisy's armpit, 384 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:41,000 Speaker 1: Philosopher's toe, Chris Christina's hand, and Sile's foot. Well, if 385 00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:43,480 Speaker 1: I had to go for one hour ago for Philosopher's toe. Yeah, 386 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: I know that sounds like it could be uh nutty, 387 00:19:47,280 --> 00:19:49,480 Speaker 1: mild with a surprising end. Yeah, and there's a great 388 00:19:49,480 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 1: foot in mouth kind of metaphor going oh yeah, yes, yes, 389 00:19:52,880 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: nice nice um. But and you know you had we 390 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,280 Speaker 1: talked about David Beckham's foot before, and it turns out 391 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,320 Speaker 1: that I don't think she actually grew any cheese from 392 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 1: his samples, but she could, that's the the amusing thing. 393 00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:09,200 Speaker 1: She could, she absolutely could. But it turns out that 394 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,320 Speaker 1: his particular odor has the chemical construction most similar to 395 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:21,680 Speaker 1: a Belgian Limburger cheese. So there, So if you want 396 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:25,400 Speaker 1: to partake in in our reaction to David Beckham's foot, 397 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: just go find a nice lumburger and give it a whiff. 398 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 1: There you go, There you go. That's that's what we 399 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,600 Speaker 1: were smelling. But it really is an interesting idea that, 400 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:34,560 Speaker 1: you know, if you get very hard up for a 401 00:20:34,560 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: food source, you could actually sort of grow your own 402 00:20:36,760 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: cheese from your body. Right. Well, I met a hippie 403 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: girl once who had made mead like the alcoholic beverage 404 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: that the old ale like the old Ale a medieval 405 00:20:47,280 --> 00:20:50,280 Speaker 1: stuff and she had used like under her own under 406 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 1: armed funk too to like kick started. So well that 407 00:20:54,240 --> 00:20:58,399 Speaker 1: is artists and crafted mead right there. I mean I 408 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:00,679 Speaker 1: can't argue against that. I did not try it, but um, 409 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:05,480 Speaker 1: it existed, so I'm sure it probably was delicious. Who knows, Yeah, 410 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: I guess. I mean it just comes down to the 411 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 1: whole How do we semantically categorized something. How do we 412 00:21:10,359 --> 00:21:12,399 Speaker 1: distance something from its source. It's like I did a 413 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:15,840 Speaker 1: blog postal wall back titled U all water has been 414 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:18,040 Speaker 1: pooped in or something of that effect what I titled it. 415 00:21:18,160 --> 00:21:20,080 Speaker 1: But basically the argument is, at some point in the 416 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:22,520 Speaker 1: fact pass any water that we drink has been foul 417 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,159 Speaker 1: like it is, it is probably fallen out of a 418 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,920 Speaker 1: dinosaur's cloak at some point in the path. Well yeah, yeah, 419 00:21:29,119 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: and and but we don't really think about that because 420 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,840 Speaker 1: it's it's transferred through nature, it's gone down a stream, 421 00:21:35,040 --> 00:21:37,560 Speaker 1: and then here it is. It's so it's fresh water. Well, 422 00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:39,560 Speaker 1: companies and government will say to Okay, yeah, they're not 423 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:41,920 Speaker 1: gonna call it sewer treated water, but they're gonna say, ah, 424 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 1: it was um, you know, it was filtered through this 425 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,760 Speaker 1: underground compartment in which you know, and then charcoal blah 426 00:21:47,800 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 1: blah blah. So again there's the semantic distancing and this 427 00:21:51,119 --> 00:21:54,160 Speaker 1: idea of well, it may have had urine in at 428 00:21:54,200 --> 00:21:55,879 Speaker 1: one point, but by the time it reached you know, 429 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:58,640 Speaker 1: a mile out this way, it's fresh and pure, like 430 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 1: you know, Rocky Mountain spring. Yeah. I mean you don't 431 00:22:01,119 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: want to think about the fact when you go to 432 00:22:02,359 --> 00:22:05,680 Speaker 1: a restaurant there maybe human skin cell flakes on your food. 433 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: There are for sure, Yeah, I mean just it's just 434 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: gonna happen. But but yeah, it's like we we it's like, 435 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 1: how do we interpret this smell? How do we interpret 436 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: the source of something that is entering our lives or 437 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,400 Speaker 1: our bodies? Yeah, and I would be interested to know, like, Okay, 438 00:22:18,400 --> 00:22:20,840 Speaker 1: given all this information about smell, has has this changed 439 00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: your perception at all about smell the things that that 440 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: you detect? Um? You know it? Do you think it's 441 00:22:27,680 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 1: as mood altering? Is it as some people say it is? Well? 442 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,399 Speaker 1: I think we all have our favorite since you know 443 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:36,159 Speaker 1: that really kick starts like you were talking about, like 444 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:39,560 Speaker 1: coffee is an interesting one. Like there's a local coffee 445 00:22:39,560 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: shop that I go to a lot to write, um 446 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: called Joe's in case anyone wants to seek it out 447 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, I just don't bother me while I'm there, 448 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:51,119 Speaker 1: because I'm working. He's the guy with a blue shirt 449 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:53,920 Speaker 1: that says boards of Canada on it. Okay, yeah, yeah, 450 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,000 Speaker 1: I wear this every day. But I'll leave there smelling 451 00:22:58,040 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 1: like coffee. And while i'm they're like the small coffee 452 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:02,960 Speaker 1: is comforting. Occasionally they'll also be like a bomb that 453 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 1: walks in it, like reeks of right guard for some reason. 454 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 1: But but like sanitizing. Yeah, it's better than what lays beneath, right, 455 00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: but but any right, like, the smell of coffee for 456 00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:14,920 Speaker 1: me is very comforting. It's like a very like oh 457 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,720 Speaker 1: it's it's coffee time. It's it's like a thought like 458 00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:20,479 Speaker 1: personal creativity kind of a scent for me. But for 459 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:22,720 Speaker 1: you it's it's not a pleasant one, right, No, Because 460 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,040 Speaker 1: I used to smoke, and so I've spent all our 461 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,720 Speaker 1: time um in coffee houses. Uh, not smoking clothes cigarettes, 462 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,640 Speaker 1: don't worry that wasn't doing that, but writing and smoking 463 00:23:33,160 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: h And so every time I come home from a 464 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: coffee shop and I smell that that coffee smell, I 465 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:43,679 Speaker 1: I immediately think of like headache, like past Um, I 466 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 1: mean nothing like terribly nefarious, just just something that I 467 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: don't enjoy doing anymore, and I don't enjoy smelling. There 468 00:23:49,560 --> 00:23:51,120 Speaker 1: you go. I mean it's tied to memories, It's tied 469 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:55,040 Speaker 1: to past experiences and expectations. So yeah, it's the proost effect, right. 470 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,520 Speaker 1: I can't help but but have some sort of memory, 471 00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: especially since that's what it stimulates. I mean, smells stimula, 472 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,399 Speaker 1: it's communication memory. Um, I'll part to your bringing that 473 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,280 Speaker 1: are connected to all right, Well, well there you go, 474 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:10,720 Speaker 1: sort of an intro to how mind blowing smell can be. 475 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: And in a future podcast episode, we're going to talk 476 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,600 Speaker 1: about the future of smell and how technology can and 477 00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:21,600 Speaker 1: will enable us to manipulate this amazing Can we call 478 00:24:21,640 --> 00:24:23,320 Speaker 1: it the fifth sense? I don't know. I don't know 479 00:24:23,359 --> 00:24:26,560 Speaker 1: where it ranks in the numbers. I guess it depends 480 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: on how they execute it. I'm calling it the fifth cent. 481 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: How we can manipulate the fifth cent and uh and 482 00:24:32,080 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: and use it to enhance products, which I think is 483 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:38,160 Speaker 1: gonna be an exciting episode. But in the meantime, let 484 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,080 Speaker 1: us know what you think about the smells in your life, 485 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,879 Speaker 1: in this realm of scent that surrounds you like, like what, 486 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: how does a favorite smell factor into your life? How 487 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,480 Speaker 1: does a least favorite smell? And where do you stand 488 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:54,239 Speaker 1: on the whole cheese foot situation. You can let us 489 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 1: know by dropping by Facebook or Twitter. We are blow 490 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:59,119 Speaker 1: the mind on both of those, and certainly especially on 491 00:24:59,119 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: the Facebook is it's just a great place to interact 492 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:05,560 Speaker 1: with us, ask us questions, share things with other listeners. Uh, 493 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,400 Speaker 1: I really enjoyed. Yeah, we've had some great post front 494 00:25:08,440 --> 00:25:12,840 Speaker 1: people out there. Um. So, Also, you can take a 495 00:25:12,880 --> 00:25:16,680 Speaker 1: stab at creating a profile from your own jacket scent 496 00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:19,199 Speaker 1: profile and you can send us what you think that 497 00:25:19,359 --> 00:25:22,880 Speaker 1: is composed of uh, and you can email us at 498 00:25:23,119 --> 00:25:30,800 Speaker 1: below the Mind at how stuff works dot com. Be 499 00:25:30,880 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: sure to check out our new video podcast, Stuff from 500 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,400 Speaker 1: the Future. Join how Stuff Work staff as we explore 501 00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:39,560 Speaker 1: the most promising and perplexing possibilities of tomorrow.