1 00:00:03,160 --> 00:00:06,519 Speaker 1: You're listening to Part Time Genius, the production of Kaleidoscope 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: and iHeartRadio. Guess what will? 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 2: What's that mango mug? 4 00:00:14,600 --> 00:00:15,560 Speaker 1: You smell that mug? 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,480 Speaker 2: Mug like a mug of coffee or hot chocolate or 6 00:00:19,480 --> 00:00:23,000 Speaker 2: something like that. No, just like pure mug. Can't you 7 00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 2: smell that? It's like such a strong mug. I'm not 8 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:28,560 Speaker 2: sure what's happening here. I can't smell just an empty 9 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 2: ceramic mug, can you? 10 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:34,159 Speaker 1: Of course, this place is fragrant with mug right now. 11 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: I don't know that I've ever smelled mug. What's wrong 12 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: with me? So nothing? Everyone smells different stuff. It turns 13 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: out our sense of smell is so complex that there's 14 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: about a thirty percent difference between what I smell, which 15 00:00:48,840 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: is mug, and what you smell, which is nothing right now. 16 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,200 Speaker 1: But on top of that, new sensor being introduced into 17 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,880 Speaker 1: our environment all the time, and other sensor disappearing. 18 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 2: What do you mean, sensor disappearing like going extinct or something. 19 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:07,280 Speaker 1: Yeah, sometimes there are flowers that don't exist anymore. Civilization evolves, 20 00:01:07,319 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: but the case of the disappearing sense is a little 21 00:01:10,680 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: more complicated. And that's something I thought we could tackle today. 22 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 2: I love it. I find that super interesting. So let's 23 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 2: dig in. Hey, their podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. 24 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:42,760 Speaker 2: I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm joined by my 25 00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:46,000 Speaker 2: good friend Mangesh Shot Ticketer and sitting behind that great 26 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:49,360 Speaker 2: big booth. Oh wow, I was wondering what he was 27 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 2: going to do there. 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: So for all of our listeners, we have this gigantic 29 00:01:53,480 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: whiteboard that rotates. You know, I can flip to the 30 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: other side. And usually Dylan is pretty humble and sort 31 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: of subtle about what he does, but I could tell 32 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: he was very excited, and right as I went into this, 33 00:02:06,480 --> 00:02:10,120 Speaker 1: he flipped the board and there is the most accurate, 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,440 Speaker 1: anatomically drawn picture of a note. 35 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 2: I mean, we were. 36 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,600 Speaker 1: Talking brazen artist or medical student. 37 00:02:19,400 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 2: No, and that big of a show off. 38 00:02:21,080 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: He was really in this for the big reveal. But anyway, 39 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: let's dive in mango. What can you tell me about 40 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: disappearing smells? Let's get right into it. To understand why 41 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: certain smells have disappeared, we need a little primer on 42 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: the science of smell because it is super complex. So 43 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:41,800 Speaker 1: let's compare smell to the way we see light. Scientists 44 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: figured out in the nineteenth century that all the varied 45 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:48,480 Speaker 1: hues from red to violet are produced by just three 46 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: types of receptors in human retinas. But the nose, or 47 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: rather the clump of sensory neurons that are high inside 48 00:02:56,440 --> 00:03:01,400 Speaker 1: your nostrils, boasts about four hundred receptors, which is obviously 49 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:05,400 Speaker 1: way more complex. In two thousand and four, Richard Axel 50 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: and Linda Buck were award the Nobel Prize in Physiology 51 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: or Medicine for discovering that on these receptors there are 52 00:03:12,760 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: genes that encode them, and these genes sit on top 53 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: of specialized neurons which shoot information down leggy axons into 54 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: the brain, eventually landing on one of two olfactory bulbs. 55 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:27,640 Speaker 1: And this is where the smells are processed. But here's 56 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: the thing, we don't actually know which smells those receptors recognize. 57 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:36,040 Speaker 2: All right, So I'm scribbling down some notes here. You know, 58 00:03:36,040 --> 00:03:38,040 Speaker 2: I'm a pretty good note taker. So I've got hundreds 59 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 2: of receptors responding to some smells, driven by genetic encoding 60 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:46,280 Speaker 2: that sends those smells down into the old factory bulbs 61 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: in your brain. All so you can go, mmmm, saffron, 62 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 2: Did I get that? 63 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:53,360 Speaker 1: Right, Yeah, especially the saffron part. 64 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:54,600 Speaker 2: But nailed it. 65 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: On top of how your brain receives this information, you know, 66 00:03:58,440 --> 00:04:01,640 Speaker 1: the input of smells is much more complex than light. 67 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: Light is electromagnetic radiation, and the same three colored receptors 68 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:10,080 Speaker 1: can combine to process a range of wavelengths covering the 69 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: entire rainbow of visible light. But smells aren't wavelengths, and 70 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,720 Speaker 1: they aren't coasting along a smooth spectrum. They evolve a 71 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,880 Speaker 1: complex mix of chemical particles, all kind of bobbing around 72 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: in the air. So, in fact, there's this twenty fourteen paper, 73 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: it was in the journal Science where researchers at Rockefeller 74 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: University estimated that humans can distinguish, give or take at 75 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: least a trillion distinct smells on planet Earth. Plus all 76 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:39,960 Speaker 1: those odor receptors have lots of variants, like some of 77 00:04:40,000 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: them are less sensitive or fully non functional in large 78 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: chunks of the population. 79 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 2: Which is wise you were talking about. I guess you 80 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 2: and I have about thirty percent variation between what we 81 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 2: can each smell, Like some of my receptors are more 82 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 2: sensitive than yours and vice versa. 83 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: Right, So maybe you walk around smelling all sorts of 84 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: stuff that I've never smelled. But you know, additionally, there 85 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: seem to be about six hundred smell pseudogenes. 86 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 2: Wait, so what's a pseudogene? I mean, I fully know 87 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:10,359 Speaker 2: what a pseudo gene is, but I mean, for our listeners, 88 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 2: what can you tell them what a pseudogene? 89 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: You're right, you had that pseudogen poster over youre at 90 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:17,440 Speaker 1: bed in college. But it's for our listeners. A pseudogene 91 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: is a non functional segment of DNA that resembles functional genes, 92 00:05:22,240 --> 00:05:25,159 Speaker 1: and scientists think that there are about six hundred smell 93 00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: pseudogenes that don't code for working receptors in anybody alive today. 94 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:32,839 Speaker 2: Oh wow, so it means they just don't work or what. 95 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:36,039 Speaker 1: Yeah. So some researchers take this chunk of dormant DNA 96 00:05:36,120 --> 00:05:40,240 Speaker 1: as evidence of the noses terminal decline. But basically the 97 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:42,200 Speaker 1: theory is that we used to be able to smell 98 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 1: stuff that we can't smell anymore. 99 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,480 Speaker 2: That is so interesting, And is this nasal decline something 100 00:05:47,520 --> 00:05:49,359 Speaker 2: we should be worried about as a species. 101 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: I don't think so. I mean, we aren't the only 102 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: species that this has happened to. Bottlenosed dolphins and whales 103 00:05:56,160 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: gave up a lot of their sense of smell long ago, 104 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: possibly to free up headspace for echolocation. 105 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 2: Huh. I mean, but those are both underwater creature. So 106 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 2: why do you think we're losing our precious sense of smell? 107 00:06:08,080 --> 00:06:10,240 Speaker 1: Well, I mean, there could be a couple of reasons. 108 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,159 Speaker 1: One is evolution, right, like, our sense of smell started 109 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: roding when we changed the way we select our mates 110 00:06:16,080 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: and prioritizing other factors above scent. 111 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 2: That's not tracking for me because that's actually how I 112 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 2: chose my wife, But either way, go on, Okay. 113 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:28,040 Speaker 1: Well, the second is pollution. So basically, pollution particles can 114 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: pass through the olfactory bulb and directly into the brain, 115 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:35,640 Speaker 1: causing inflammation. In twenty sixteen, a team of British researchers 116 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 1: found that tiny metal particles in human brain tissue have 117 00:06:39,240 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: appeared to have passed through the ol factory bulb, which 118 00:06:42,360 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: is you know, it's obviously scary. 119 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you know. One thing I was thinking about 120 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 2: just the other day that it's the fact that we 121 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:51,160 Speaker 2: sort of all took the sense of smell for granted 122 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:52,320 Speaker 2: until COVID. 123 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true. I mean, obviously there are like chunks 124 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: of the population who don't have a sense of smell, 125 00:06:57,520 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 1: but COVID definitely made that concern more mean stream And 126 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: you know this happened to me, like I used to 127 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: have a much better sense of smell until I had COVID, 128 00:07:05,040 --> 00:07:07,360 Speaker 1: and then I haven't fully gotten it back. 129 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 2: M M, yeah, I remember pre COVID used to be 130 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 2: a much better three point shooter. I think something about 131 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 2: COVID just really yeah, gotcha there. But it's so weird, 132 00:07:15,400 --> 00:07:18,480 Speaker 2: like we experienced so much through smell, and until you 133 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:21,000 Speaker 2: lose that sense, you kind of take it for granted. 134 00:07:21,080 --> 00:07:23,680 Speaker 2: And of course everyone knows smells play a much bigger 135 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 2: role in triggering memories, sort of like PRUSD with his part. 136 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:31,240 Speaker 2: You know, I was going to say madelines, but but 137 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 2: sure is passing gas too. But when you were talking 138 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 2: about sinse that have disappeared, I was thinking about how 139 00:07:37,040 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 2: they're scientists actually trying to recreate smells from the past. 140 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:54,880 Speaker 2: But before we get into that, let's take a quick break. 141 00:07:58,040 --> 00:07:59,960 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Part Time Genius, where we're talking about 142 00:08:00,120 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: disappearing sense. So will. Before the break, you were telling 143 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: us about how scientists have begun to recreate scents from 144 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: the past using biomolecular tech, which you know sounds fascinating. 145 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 2: It really is, all right, So most smells stem from 146 00:08:13,840 --> 00:08:18,480 Speaker 2: biological materials. You've got plants, foods, human animal bodies, all 147 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,440 Speaker 2: sorts of biological materials like that, and they decay rapidly, 148 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 2: evaporate into the air, and once the source of the 149 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 2: smell is gone, the smell has disappeared. But if they 150 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 2: are imperceptible biomolecular residues left on these items from the past, 151 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: you think of things like incense burners or perfume bottles, 152 00:08:36,920 --> 00:08:40,240 Speaker 2: cooking pots, food stores, jars, all sorts of things like this. 153 00:08:40,800 --> 00:08:45,520 Speaker 2: Scientists can use chromatography to basically decode the smells, and 154 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 2: one German researcher has used some of these residues from 155 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 2: archaeological artifacts to reconstruct the scent of a five thousand 156 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 2: year old oasis. This was in Saudi Arabia. It's so interesting. 157 00:08:56,720 --> 00:08:59,320 Speaker 1: That's amazing. But I want to walk us through what 158 00:08:59,480 --> 00:09:00,800 Speaker 1: chromatography is actually. 159 00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 2: I feel like you should explain it, Manga, because I 160 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:05,240 Speaker 2: know what a huge chromatography head you are, so this 161 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 2: is all you. 162 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,079 Speaker 1: I mean. I did do a lot of chromatography and 163 00:09:09,720 --> 00:09:13,000 Speaker 1: gel electrophoresis and stuff like that. When you know, I 164 00:09:13,040 --> 00:09:15,360 Speaker 1: worked in a university lab in high school. But it's 165 00:09:15,440 --> 00:09:16,600 Speaker 1: been it's been a while. 166 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,439 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's been been a minute. But simply put, chromatography 167 00:09:20,559 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 2: is a process for separating components in a mixture, combined 168 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,760 Speaker 2: with mass spectrometry, which can detect different compounds. By calculating 169 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:33,360 Speaker 2: the weight of different molecules, scientists can essentially reverse engineer 170 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 2: the way a perfume smelled, and they do this by 171 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:38,000 Speaker 2: using the molecules left in the bottle. 172 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:42,280 Speaker 1: So then you could like potentially buy a perfume and 173 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: smell like an ancient Egyptian. 174 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:47,280 Speaker 2: Not just any ancient Egyptian, you could actually smell like 175 00:09:47,400 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 2: Cleopatra herself. 176 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:50,080 Speaker 1: What that's insane? 177 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 2: Yeah, I know. Cleopatra wore a perfume called mendagean and 178 00:09:54,080 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 2: sometimes referred to as the chanelle number five of ancient Egypt. Amazingly, 179 00:10:00,040 --> 00:10:04,959 Speaker 2: the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and documents describe recipes for several perfumes, 180 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:09,400 Speaker 2: including this one, but the precise ingredients and preparation methods 181 00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 2: those aren't quite as well known. So this Egyptologist named 182 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 2: Dora Goldsmith, and a historian of Greco Roman philosophy and science, 183 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:21,000 Speaker 2: named Sean Coughlin. They started experimenting with the ingredients. They 184 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 2: were looking at things like desert date oil, myrr cinnamon 185 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 2: pine resin, and they eventually produced the scent that they 186 00:10:28,400 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 2: suspect approximates what Cleopatrick wore. Is this very strong, but pleasant, 187 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:38,120 Speaker 2: long lasting blend of spiciness and sweetness. Apparently, it's pretty 188 00:10:38,120 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 2: cool they were able to recreate. 189 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: This, which you know, is fascinating, but it sounds a 190 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: little more like trial and error of using a recipe 191 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 1: rather than just going back to the molecules. 192 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,440 Speaker 2: Right, yeah, I mean there are two distinct methods. The 193 00:10:51,440 --> 00:10:55,319 Speaker 2: EU funded project ODOROPA puts it like this, if you're 194 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:59,240 Speaker 2: working from a historical recipe, as the Cleopatrick perfume people did, 195 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,160 Speaker 2: quote recreating a scent. Now, if you're using chemical analysis 196 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:08,080 Speaker 2: techniques of actual ancient scent molecules, you are then quote 197 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 2: reconstructing it. So researchers at ODOROPA have even created this 198 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:17,840 Speaker 2: heritage smell library that documents historically significant smells. 199 00:11:17,880 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: Oh wow. 200 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:21,800 Speaker 2: They yeah, they've reproduced the smell of the library at 201 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 2: Saint Paul's Cathedral in London of potpourri from the seventeen 202 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 2: fifties and even Royal Car P five B. 203 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 1: Royal Car P five B what is that? 204 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,360 Speaker 2: That would be the car used by Queen Elizabeth the second. 205 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 2: So they were able to reconstruct the smellscape of the 206 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 2: interior based on this analytical data. 207 00:11:40,880 --> 00:11:44,080 Speaker 1: That is so weird. I really hope that long after 208 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: I'm dead, no one tries to reconstruct the scent of 209 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 1: our prius because that would be all. But how exactly 210 00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: do they capture these, you know, historic scents. 211 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 2: Well, according to this one researcher, Cecilia Bimbibra, she uses 212 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 2: a method called the headspace technic where she places an 213 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 2: object inside a clean sealed bag, has this valve on it, 214 00:12:05,760 --> 00:12:09,040 Speaker 2: and then they seal the volatile organic compounds. These are 215 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,840 Speaker 2: the things that actually make up the odor. Then she 216 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,480 Speaker 2: inserts an absorbent carbon fiber into the valve to soak 217 00:12:15,559 --> 00:12:19,400 Speaker 2: up the ambient compounds that have been isolated inside, and 218 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,080 Speaker 2: once the carbon fiber is all loaded up with organic compounds, 219 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:26,880 Speaker 2: she runs it through a gas chromatographer. In the end, 220 00:12:26,960 --> 00:12:31,160 Speaker 2: it gives her this sort of electocardiogram, but really more 221 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 2: for smells, I guess, which she can use to identify 222 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 2: the various chemicals in a smell. 223 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,920 Speaker 1: I feel like you just have like a word salad 224 00:12:39,080 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: of scientific words. But it is it sounds pretty amazing. 225 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:46,719 Speaker 2: One day you'll understand it's pretty complicated. 226 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: It is also wild to learn about, like the very 227 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: precise and almost like clinical process of unpacking what is 228 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: such a human experience, right like, because you know you 229 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,200 Speaker 1: said it before, smell is so emotional and whether it's 230 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 1: pheromones or childhood memories or just the way home smells, 231 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:09,840 Speaker 1: right like, these are very human experiences. And you know, 232 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:11,640 Speaker 1: one of the things I thought was fascinating was I 233 00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:16,199 Speaker 1: found this study from twenty twelve where two researchers interviewed 234 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,200 Speaker 1: thirty residents of Krakow in Poland, and they were all 235 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: old enough to remember the transition in nineteen eighty nine 236 00:13:23,160 --> 00:13:26,439 Speaker 1: out of communism, and they tracked that transition with the 237 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:30,240 Speaker 1: smell of their neighbors cooking. Like the smell showed them 238 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: the degree to which they lacked privacy in these socialist flats, 239 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: and that all changed in the transition to capitalism. This 240 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: was kind of mind blowing to be in the nineteen 241 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:45,360 Speaker 1: forties Russians distanced themselves from capitalist America through smell. It 242 00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,040 Speaker 1: was like one of the propaganda things, and communists felt 243 00:13:48,080 --> 00:13:51,800 Speaker 1: that they were living in a fragrant world where everything smells, 244 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:55,319 Speaker 1: while Americans only experienced land sterile air. 245 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,440 Speaker 2: Wow. So I guess capitalism literally smells different than socialism. Yeah, 246 00:14:00,480 --> 00:14:01,360 Speaker 2: which actually. 247 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,720 Speaker 1: Makes sense, right. So think about how different cities have 248 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 1: a smell, like these potpourries of everything that contributes to 249 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:11,320 Speaker 1: that city's culture. Like there's a distinct smell when you 250 00:14:11,400 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: land in Beijing. I know when I've been to Bangalore, 251 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:17,880 Speaker 1: like in the monsoons, there's a distinct smell there and 252 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,120 Speaker 1: it immediately evokes certain memories. America has this too. I 253 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:22,640 Speaker 1: was talking to a friend who was telling me how 254 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:25,600 Speaker 1: the Denver airport has this distinct smell to her, and 255 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: so does the Path train in New York. But what's 256 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: interesting is that some cities and countries are actually making 257 00:14:32,200 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: an effort to recognize the value of their odors. So 258 00:14:35,240 --> 00:14:38,680 Speaker 1: in two thousand and one, Japan's environment minister classified the 259 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: country's top one hundred best smelling spots, which ran the 260 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,160 Speaker 1: gamut from hedges to grill deal. 261 00:14:46,240 --> 00:14:48,200 Speaker 2: I'd actually love to see this list, and it definitely 262 00:14:48,240 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 2: makes sense for a country that prides itself on stopping 263 00:14:50,640 --> 00:14:53,200 Speaker 2: to smell the scent of nature and forest bathing. 264 00:14:53,440 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, but Japan isn't the only one. In istanbul Coach 265 00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: University's Research Center for Anatolian'sviations has opened an exhibition called 266 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:05,760 Speaker 1: Sense in the City to explore four thousand years of 267 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:07,720 Speaker 1: civilization through its smells. 268 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 2: There is something just so cool about the fact that 269 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 2: you can land in another country, take this deep sniff 270 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:14,800 Speaker 2: and go yep, that's Athens. 271 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:19,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a huge component of travel experience. There's this 272 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: professor from Goldsmith's University, Alex Rhees Taylor, who specializes in 273 00:15:23,680 --> 00:15:28,600 Speaker 1: multisensory experience of urban space, and he says, quote, you 274 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: can learn a lot about a city's economy, a lot 275 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,000 Speaker 1: about its culture through the sense of smell. But he 276 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: also says that a lot of those specific smells are 277 00:15:36,840 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: starting to disappear and are being replaced by what he 278 00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:43,760 Speaker 1: calls a transnational aroma scape. And he goes on to 279 00:15:43,800 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 1: say this it is pretty much the same in every 280 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: global city now. Smells of pulled pork, flat whites, roasting 281 00:15:51,360 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: coffee beans is an increasing one, and microbreweries. There's a 282 00:15:55,120 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: global constellation of transnational aromas and flavors associated with transnational 283 00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,720 Speaker 1: class people that move around from city to city. 284 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,120 Speaker 2: I guess that's the smell of globalization. 285 00:16:05,360 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, kind of like the macdonalization of culture. Yeah. 286 00:16:08,640 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 2: Well, there's this community hell belief that the modern era 287 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 2: has been one of deodorization, that is, the belief that 288 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 2: we've gotten less smelly the more that we advance. Sure, 289 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 2: but what's interesting is that this isn't entirely true. So 290 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:23,680 Speaker 2: first of all, we've been dividing and judging people on 291 00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:27,400 Speaker 2: the basis of smell for centuries. Socrates thought that slaves 292 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,160 Speaker 2: smelled differently and that the use of perfumes threatened to 293 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 2: confuse the ability to tell them apart from free men. 294 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: That is so weird. I feel like the more you 295 00:16:36,600 --> 00:16:38,920 Speaker 1: learn about so creates less cool. He seems to be. 296 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, good callback to Bill and Ted there. And it 297 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 2: can start to get pretty discriminatory, as you pointed out, 298 00:16:46,560 --> 00:16:50,640 Speaker 2: with kind of racists and colonial ideas that actually aren't accurate. 299 00:16:51,040 --> 00:16:53,840 Speaker 2: Historian Mark Jenner has written how when society has quote 300 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 2: deodorized ourselves to an extent, we've swapped one set of 301 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:02,440 Speaker 2: smells for another, like fabriz plugins in every bathroom or 302 00:17:02,440 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 2: hospitals smelling like bleach, those kinds of things. 303 00:17:04,960 --> 00:17:08,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, or like pine trees hanging in every uber. But right, 304 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:11,159 Speaker 1: you know, back to what you were saying before. Because 305 00:17:11,240 --> 00:17:15,040 Speaker 1: smell is so emotional and really so cultural, it can 306 00:17:15,080 --> 00:17:18,000 Speaker 1: actually have a lot to do with power. So in 307 00:17:18,040 --> 00:17:21,200 Speaker 1: the early twentieth century along the California coast, there was 308 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,440 Speaker 1: an odor of squid and sardines that really polarized opinion. 309 00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:29,879 Speaker 1: The tourism industry thought this fishy smell was intolerable, but 310 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,439 Speaker 1: you know, the fishing industry just considered it. This minor 311 00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: note in the smellscape of modern ray and environmental historians 312 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: look at examples like this to see how conflicting interpretations 313 00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: of the same smell tend to be adjudicated according to 314 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: who has more power. 315 00:17:47,320 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 2: I always thinking about that. Speaking of power, remember at 316 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,880 Speaker 2: the beginning of the episode, you were actually talking about 317 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 2: how there are organic materials that are disappearing so their 318 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 2: sense will be extinct soon. 319 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: Yeah that was a long time ago, but yes, I 320 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:01,280 Speaker 1: remember that. 321 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Well there's this one smell in particular that 322 00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:08,560 Speaker 2: is extremely sought after by hot, rich people and it's 323 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:09,479 Speaker 2: called ood. 324 00:18:10,160 --> 00:18:13,840 Speaker 1: Oh I know oud, but not because I'm rich or hot, 325 00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: I just like colones. 326 00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,960 Speaker 2: Well then you probably also know that ood is in 327 00:18:19,040 --> 00:18:22,359 Speaker 2: a lot of luxury fragrances from brands like tom Ford, 328 00:18:22,480 --> 00:18:26,439 Speaker 2: Christian Dior, Joe Malone. But real ood comes from the 329 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 2: resin of wild agerwood trees. 330 00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:31,200 Speaker 1: Oh, I had no idea where the sun came from. 331 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:34,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, and apparently those trees are under serious threat from 332 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:39,120 Speaker 2: over harvesting. Kilo for kilo, ood is actually more costly 333 00:18:39,200 --> 00:18:41,800 Speaker 2: than gold. And as wild harvesting has been banned in 334 00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 2: Thailand and other South Asian countries, this is where the 335 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,719 Speaker 2: agerwood trees grow. There's been a boom in plantations growing 336 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 2: cultivated agerwood. But cultivated ood just isn't that good because 337 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:56,760 Speaker 2: it tends to get harvested when the trees are between 338 00:18:56,800 --> 00:19:00,720 Speaker 2: five and ten years old, and generally speaking, good ood 339 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:03,120 Speaker 2: you want to let the trees cook for really about 340 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 2: one hundred years, so a lot lot longer. 341 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:09,639 Speaker 1: Yeah, I let that ood cook. But that's right. But 342 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,560 Speaker 1: you know, Wil, there actually is precedent for recreating sense 343 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 1: from extinct plants. Well, that is super interesting and I 344 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:18,320 Speaker 1: want to get into that. But before we do that, 345 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. Welcome back to part time genius. 346 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:38,120 Speaker 1: We're talking about disappearing sense, all right, Mango, you were 347 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: just about to tell us about scientists recreating scents and 348 00:19:41,840 --> 00:19:46,840 Speaker 1: smells from extinct plants. I mean, the whole idea of 349 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:48,840 Speaker 1: this is really cool to me. But actually, do you 350 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:51,439 Speaker 1: remember in college I had an extra science credit I 351 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:53,760 Speaker 1: needed to take, and I was looking through the options 352 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: and I almost took organic chemistry because you know, one 353 00:19:57,320 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: of the things that said in the pathleot was that 354 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: you could learned to create the scent of pairs and 355 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: a lab. And I really love that. 356 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:07,239 Speaker 2: I love that that was like the reason you were 357 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,840 Speaker 2: going to take what was probably known as like the 358 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:13,359 Speaker 2: hardest weed out class in all of college. It would 359 00:20:13,359 --> 00:20:13,720 Speaker 2: have been a. 360 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,320 Speaker 1: Disaster, I know. And actually you're the one who convinced 361 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: me not to do it, because I chemistry, but the 362 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,480 Speaker 1: curiosity about how to make sense and a level almost 363 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:26,520 Speaker 1: tricked me into hating my senior year. But I hear you, 364 00:20:26,760 --> 00:20:30,880 Speaker 1: let's talk about these extinct flowers. So in twenty sixteen, 365 00:20:31,119 --> 00:20:34,679 Speaker 1: a team of biologists, researchers, and artists embarked on a 366 00:20:34,680 --> 00:20:39,440 Speaker 1: project called Resurrecting the Sublime, and using tiny amounts of 367 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:43,639 Speaker 1: DNA extracted from specimen of three flowers, a team of 368 00:20:43,680 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: scientists used synthetic biology to predict and resynthesize the gene 369 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,240 Speaker 1: sequences that could encode for fragrance producing enzymes and then 370 00:20:52,359 --> 00:20:57,000 Speaker 1: using those findings, this smell researcher and artist named Cecil 371 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: Tolas used her expertise to reconstruc the flowers smells in 372 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,680 Speaker 1: the lab, and she used identical or comparative smell molecules. 373 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,520 Speaker 2: Some guys, since she's like one of these super smellers 374 00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,879 Speaker 2: that helped create perfumes. But what were the extinct flowers? 375 00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, she's a nose like that's what they're called. But yeah, 376 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,000 Speaker 1: I'm gonna murder the pronunciation of these flowers, but bear 377 00:21:18,080 --> 00:21:27,040 Speaker 1: with me. The Hibiscadelphus wilderaneus or maui how kiwaii? 378 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 2: You murdered it? 379 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:33,320 Speaker 1: It's the plant's habitat was decimated by colonial cattle ranching 380 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:36,000 Speaker 1: and the final tree was found dying in nineteen twelve. 381 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: And then the second flower was the falls of the 382 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,600 Speaker 1: Ohio scurf pee, which was last seen in eighteen eighty 383 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,120 Speaker 1: one on Rock Island on the Ohio River. And then 384 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:49,159 Speaker 1: there's Windberg cone bush, which sounds like a person, but 385 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: it's actually a flower, and it was last described in 386 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,560 Speaker 1: London in a collector's garden in eighteen oh five, and 387 00:21:55,680 --> 00:21:58,919 Speaker 1: its habitat in Cape Town, South Africa was already lost 388 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 1: to colonial van so you know it had disappeared there 389 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:03,920 Speaker 1: and then was preserved in London for a bit. 390 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:06,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I do think it'd be so amazing 391 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 2: to smell extinct flowers, But I guess you'd have to 392 00:22:09,400 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 2: go to a lab where they recreated them. It's not 393 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,600 Speaker 2: like you can, you know, send off these smells or anything. 394 00:22:15,119 --> 00:22:18,119 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, there's something amazing about like the idea 395 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,400 Speaker 1: of smelling a new scent, right, Like it's like seeing 396 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:22,760 Speaker 1: a new color or something. It just feels unimaginable, But 397 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,920 Speaker 1: you know the idea of sending smells is pretty fascinating. 398 00:22:27,040 --> 00:22:30,760 Speaker 1: In twenty fourteen, a Harvard professor named David Edwards and 399 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: one of his students, Rachel Field, invented a prototype called 400 00:22:34,680 --> 00:22:37,560 Speaker 1: the O Phone, which was designed to let people send 401 00:22:37,560 --> 00:22:39,440 Speaker 1: smells like text messages. 402 00:22:40,240 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 2: WHOA, so, how does that even work? 403 00:22:42,440 --> 00:22:45,440 Speaker 1: Well? The phone had a lot of moving parts. There 404 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:49,160 Speaker 1: was the O snap app where you create an O note, 405 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:52,320 Speaker 1: which was a photograph and a smell created out of 406 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:54,680 Speaker 1: a palette of thirty two cents available in the app 407 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:58,920 Speaker 1: that could be combined into three hundred thousand possible combinations. 408 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: So like the sender would forward the OH note to 409 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,200 Speaker 1: an OPhone, the hardware portion of the enterprise which recreated 410 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:08,360 Speaker 1: the aroma from the O snap app, and the key 411 00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: component of the OPhone is the O chip, which you 412 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: know created the actual smell. 413 00:23:14,680 --> 00:23:17,040 Speaker 2: Yes, I mean, I guess you're not really sending a smell. 414 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,919 Speaker 2: You're more like describing it to a computer, and the 415 00:23:19,960 --> 00:23:23,399 Speaker 2: computer squirts out its best guess as to what you described. 416 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:25,920 Speaker 2: It kind of makes me feel like it's smell a vision, 417 00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:26,640 Speaker 2: but for a phone. 418 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:27,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, pretty much. 419 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 2: But it is approximating a mood through smell, And it's 420 00:23:30,560 --> 00:23:33,399 Speaker 2: sort of like those fancy candle stores that now you know, 421 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:36,879 Speaker 2: make these really specific smells to evoke a certain mood, 422 00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 2: like pasta water or video store or things like that. 423 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:43,439 Speaker 1: I love that video stores a smell. 424 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:46,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. The company that makes it describes it as quote, 425 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:52,240 Speaker 2: aromas of buttery, popcorn, plastic vhis tapes, dusty carpet, and 426 00:23:52,359 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 2: hints of candy to evoke the atmosphere of a classic 427 00:23:55,440 --> 00:23:57,760 Speaker 2: video store. And you have to admit, when you hear 428 00:23:57,840 --> 00:23:59,840 Speaker 2: those words, you can start to like smell it. 429 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:03,040 Speaker 1: Yeah, bring me back to my days working at biz art. 430 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,200 Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, the closest thing we have to time travel. 431 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,320 Speaker 1: It's amazing and I guess until we get our OPhones working, 432 00:24:09,359 --> 00:24:11,879 Speaker 1: we'll just have to rely on these candles. Anyway, I 433 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: really am amazed that you can recreate all these ancient scents. 434 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:17,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, it is pretty stunning. All right, Well, before we 435 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,680 Speaker 2: sign off, how about we make time for a little 436 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:20,200 Speaker 2: fact off. 437 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm into it. 438 00:24:29,359 --> 00:24:31,240 Speaker 2: Okay, Mango, here's a quick one. Did you know that 439 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:34,240 Speaker 2: Yale University found that Crayola crayons are one of the 440 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:39,359 Speaker 2: twenty most recognizable scents among American adults, and another survey 441 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:42,400 Speaker 2: eighty five percent of people remembered their childhood when they 442 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,159 Speaker 2: caught the scent of Crayola crayons. 443 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,439 Speaker 1: Which I guess makes sense. But uh, what were some 444 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 1: of the other scents on Yale's list? 445 00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:52,840 Speaker 2: Well, some of them aren't that surprisingly. There are things 446 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:57,119 Speaker 2: like coffee, lemons, bleach mothballs, which is such a strong 447 00:24:57,160 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 2: and terrible smell, baby powder, but also other name brand 448 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,879 Speaker 2: things like Ivory, soap, Vix, vapor rub, but weirdly, the 449 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:08,560 Speaker 2: Krayola scent comes because it's a derivative beef tallow or 450 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,919 Speaker 2: beef fat, which gives the crayons their sort of waxy feel. 451 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,120 Speaker 1: So, speaking of Crayola, here's one I didn't realize from 452 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,280 Speaker 1: mental fluss. Did you know that? In nineteen ninety four, 453 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:23,320 Speaker 1: Crayola released a line of food scented crayons called Magic Scent. 454 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:24,200 Speaker 1: Have you heard about these? 455 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 2: No? I had not. 456 00:25:25,280 --> 00:25:27,879 Speaker 1: Yeah, so it sounds like such a bad idea because 457 00:25:27,880 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: the crayons basically came in flavors like coconut, cherry, and chocolate, 458 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,080 Speaker 1: which obviously makes kids want to stuff them in their faces. 459 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 2: I mean, how would they not see this coming? Between 460 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:42,120 Speaker 2: beef flavor and those dessert flavors. How could you not eat? 461 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 2: I think I would try them. 462 00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:47,120 Speaker 1: Yeah, But by nineteen ninety five, the next year, apparently 463 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:49,600 Speaker 1: at least ten kids had eaten a lot of crayons. 464 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:52,359 Speaker 1: So Crayola changed the flavors to things that are a 465 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,679 Speaker 1: little less appetizing, to things like, uh dirt. 466 00:25:55,720 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 2: Apparently all right, Well, here's another one from a fragrance 467 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:03,679 Speaker 2: manufacturer called Aromaco, who says that in the not so 468 00:26:03,840 --> 00:26:08,600 Speaker 2: distant future, sweat maybe used like a fingerprint. According to 469 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,920 Speaker 2: the site quote, Israeli Kimis say that the food we eat, 470 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,920 Speaker 2: drugs we take, gender, and even state of mind all 471 00:26:16,000 --> 00:26:19,840 Speaker 2: combined to make each person sweat unique, which is super interesting. 472 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:21,960 Speaker 2: It makes sense. But I had not thought about that before. 473 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 2: And the manufacturer points to how Tel Aviv University's School 474 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:28,320 Speaker 2: of Chemistry has this lab where a team has been 475 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:31,560 Speaker 2: breaking down the components of human sweat. Is kind of 476 00:26:31,560 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 2: a new id that's crazy. 477 00:26:34,560 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, So here's a quick fact from Scientific American. I'm 478 00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: not sure if you've ever noticed this, but there's a sweet, 479 00:26:40,920 --> 00:26:44,719 Speaker 1: slightly pungent smell that comes before the rain begins, and 480 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: that smell is ozone. That's what ozone smells like. According 481 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,840 Speaker 1: to tropospheric chemists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, 482 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: the downdrafts that happen as a thunderstorm is brewing carry 483 00:26:58,119 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: the ozone from the atmosphere down to nostril level where 484 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:02,760 Speaker 1: we can smell them. 485 00:27:03,240 --> 00:27:05,800 Speaker 2: Wow. I mean, there definitely is a distinct smell there. 486 00:27:05,840 --> 00:27:07,760 Speaker 2: I had no idea that that's what that was though. 487 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:11,439 Speaker 2: All right, well, speaking of recreating sense, the Jorvik Viking 488 00:27:11,480 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 2: Center in York, England, decided they wanted to give visitors 489 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,280 Speaker 2: a better sense of what it felt like to be 490 00:27:17,320 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 2: in a Viking village. So, as Freddale, a scent consultant, 491 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 2: put it, previously, museums were a series of glass cases 492 00:27:24,320 --> 00:27:26,560 Speaker 2: which had their own musty smell, but not the one 493 00:27:26,560 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 2: that encouraged you to think about the past. So among 494 00:27:29,600 --> 00:27:35,359 Speaker 2: smells that are pumped through the exhibits are things like wood, smoke, apples, fish, leatherwork, 495 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 2: and goat pooh. 496 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:42,919 Speaker 1: Well, speaking of goat pooh. 497 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:44,199 Speaker 2: I think I accidentally set you up here. I'm not 498 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:45,399 Speaker 2: sure I like where this is going. 499 00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: So this is a terrible fact and you did accidentally 500 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: set me up. But have you ever heard of perosmia? 501 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 2: I don't think I have. 502 00:27:54,359 --> 00:27:58,360 Speaker 1: Apparently it is a scent disorder. So there's anosmia, where 503 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:02,560 Speaker 1: you can't smell anything, and then there's phantasmia, which or phantosmia, 504 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,399 Speaker 1: which is it's kind of like a phantom limb, you know, 505 00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: so you're smelling things that don't actually exist, the same 506 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: way people with phantom limbs feel like they have a 507 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,840 Speaker 1: leg even though it's been amputated. And then there's parosmia, 508 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,640 Speaker 1: which is just awful apparently it affects a very very 509 00:28:18,680 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: small part of the population. But everything smells like sewage 510 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:27,160 Speaker 1: and mud. It's just miserable. I read this account from 511 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:29,520 Speaker 1: this person in the Guardian who talked about getting this 512 00:28:29,600 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: awful cold and illness and it took away her sense 513 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 1: of scent. And then she got phantasmia first, where she 514 00:28:35,960 --> 00:28:39,120 Speaker 1: thought she was smelling a burning meat, so she kept 515 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: having her husband check the oven and look around the 516 00:28:41,480 --> 00:28:43,440 Speaker 1: house and it was just this made up scent in 517 00:28:43,480 --> 00:28:46,080 Speaker 1: her head. But then the worst thing happened and she 518 00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:51,080 Speaker 1: got parosmia, and suddenly everything smelled terrible. She lost her appetite, 519 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,040 Speaker 1: everything felt disgusting, and she thought she was losing her mind. 520 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: So actually, this is her quote from the article. To me, 521 00:28:58,600 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: chocolate tastes like biting in raw sewage, chicken is muddy 522 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:06,160 Speaker 1: and rubbery, Peanut butter and marmite are like trying to eat. 523 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say it, but let's just call it 524 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:12,960 Speaker 1: loose motions. And she says there are a couple of exceptions. Raspberries, 525 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,160 Speaker 1: carrots and parsnips don't taste vile, nor does gin, which 526 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:19,560 Speaker 1: really helps. But you know, she didn't know what to 527 00:29:19,560 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: do about this. She goes to a conference with people 528 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:25,200 Speaker 1: who suffered sort of these three similar traits, and she 529 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:27,600 Speaker 1: learned some hacks to deal with the situation. 530 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 2: I mean, this just sounds brutal, but like, what kind 531 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:32,120 Speaker 2: of hacks did she learn? 532 00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:36,560 Speaker 1: Yeah, basically masking the scent. So her friend, who was 533 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: a perfumer, made a strong scent out of violets and lilies, 534 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: and that was something she could actually smell. So she 535 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: puts that on herself to sort of, you know, cover 536 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:48,280 Speaker 1: up everything around her, and she carries around what she 537 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: calls a perosmia first aid kit. This includes things like 538 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 1: cinnamon drops to make drinks palatable and hot sauce to 539 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,920 Speaker 1: mask the taste of food. And you know, all of 540 00:29:57,960 --> 00:29:59,240 Speaker 1: it just sounds so miserable. 541 00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:02,400 Speaker 2: Yeah, it really does. I feel like we need a 542 00:30:02,400 --> 00:30:05,080 Speaker 2: palate cleanser for that last fact. So here's one that 543 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 2: I think is fascinating. Did you know that during the 544 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,560 Speaker 2: two thousand and eight World Series, the Tampa Bay Rays 545 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 2: Stadium commissioned a scent called Citrus Burst, so that when 546 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 2: fans entered the rotunda, instead of smelling hot dogs and 547 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:21,400 Speaker 2: stale beer, they would smell the pleasant scent of oranges. 548 00:30:22,040 --> 00:30:24,640 Speaker 1: I like that, but uh, don't they play at traffic 549 00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: out of field? 550 00:30:25,960 --> 00:30:28,760 Speaker 2: That's exactly right, so it has extra a meaning. But 551 00:30:28,880 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 2: the experiment went over so well that stadium owners started 552 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,480 Speaker 2: playing and pumping other scents into the stadiums just to 553 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:39,480 Speaker 2: please fans, including cotton candy and tops bubblegum. 554 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: I love that. You know, you did a nice job 555 00:30:42,560 --> 00:30:45,760 Speaker 1: of covering up my perosbia fact. So why don't I 556 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: give this one to you? 557 00:30:47,520 --> 00:30:49,040 Speaker 2: I was going to say, even if I had not 558 00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,960 Speaker 2: earned it, just that fact alone, I think by default 559 00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 2: I'm going to get it. But thank you so much. 560 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 2: That is it for this week's Part Time Genius. Thanks 561 00:30:57,120 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 2: so much for listening. If you like Part Time Genius, 562 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:01,800 Speaker 2: don't forget to raise the show, write his review, tell 563 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 2: a friend, and if you really want to get to us, 564 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 2: write our moms a note at PT Genius moms at 565 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 2: gmail dot com. They always pass these notes along to us. 566 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, they passed a few already, which are really really wonderful. 567 00:31:14,760 --> 00:31:17,520 Speaker 1: And I actually have a giveaway I mentioned this last week, 568 00:31:17,560 --> 00:31:20,800 Speaker 1: but we're gonna pick ten more random fans from everyone 569 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:23,280 Speaker 1: who writes in, and I'm going to send you a 570 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,560 Speaker 1: special gift to show you our appreciation. We're going to 571 00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 1: pony you express it to you. So let us know 572 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:30,400 Speaker 1: what you think about the show and what topics you 573 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,120 Speaker 1: want us to cover, especially that, and we'll put something 574 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:36,400 Speaker 1: in the mail for you from Will, Dylan, Marry and me. 575 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:51,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening. Part Time Genius is 576 00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,080 Speaker 1: a production of Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio. This show is hosted 577 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,479 Speaker 1: by Will Pearson and Me Mongagetikler and research by our 578 00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: good path Mary Philip Sandy. Today's episode was engineered and 579 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:07,440 Speaker 1: produced by the wonderful Dylan Fagan with support from Tyler Klang. 580 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,440 Speaker 1: The show is executive produced for iHeart by Katrina Norvel 581 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,760 Speaker 1: and Ali Perry, with social media support from Sasha Gay, 582 00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:19,400 Speaker 1: trustee Dara Potts and Viney Shorey. For more podcasts from 583 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:24,440 Speaker 1: Kaleidoscope and iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or 584 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:38,320 Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.