1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: Lauren boke obam here. If you're like me, you love 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 1: the smell of old fashioned analog paper books, old books, 4 00:00:14,360 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: new books, and researchers at University College London suggests that 5 00:00:18,079 --> 00:00:21,119 Speaker 1: these scents aren't just nice, they're an important part of 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,280 Speaker 1: the human experience. In an extensive study of smells, heritage 7 00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 1: and historic paper published in the journal Heritage Science, the 8 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 1: authors argue the importance of documenting and preserving smells, but why. 9 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,480 Speaker 1: The researchers realized that visitors at St. Paul's Cathedral, Dean 10 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: and Chapter Library in London frequently comment on the aroma 11 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: of the space, saying they feel like they can smell 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: history thanks to our limbic system. Odors can make us 13 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: pretty emotional, especially when they evoke memories. Sense affect how 14 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: we experience different cultures and places and help us gain 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: more insight into and engage more deeply with the past. 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: The researchers posit that smells are part of our cultural 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,319 Speaker 1: heritage and have historical value and deserve to be identified, analyzed, 18 00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: and archived. Using chemical analysis and sensory descriptions, the study 19 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,240 Speaker 1: authors set about figuring out a way for scientists and 20 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: historians to do so. In one experiment, the researchers asked 21 00:01:18,680 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: visitors at the historic library to characterize the odors they smelled. 22 00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:27,000 Speaker 1: More than seventy i respondents considered the library smell as pleasant. 23 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: All of the visitors thought it smelled woody, while noticed 24 00:01:31,240 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: a smokey aroma, reported an earthy scent, and forty one 25 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: percent said they smelled vanilla. Other less frequent responses ranged 26 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: from musty, too pungent, and floral to rancid. In another experiment, 27 00:01:44,480 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: the study authors analyzed the responses of seventy nine visitors 28 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,680 Speaker 1: to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery UK to the 29 00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 1: smell of a historic book from a second hand bookstore. 30 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,360 Speaker 1: To capture the book smell, a piece of sterile gauze 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,680 Speaker 1: was soaked in five million leaders of an extract of 32 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:02,640 Speaker 1: the book odor and placed in an unlabeled metal canister 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: screwed shut to prevent visitors from peaking. The top three 34 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: responses when the visitors were prompted to describe the smell chocolate, coffee, 35 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 1: and old. The team then analyzed the volatile organic compounds 36 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: in the book and the library. Most odors are composed 37 00:02:19,480 --> 00:02:21,760 Speaker 1: of these v o c s, which are chemicals that 38 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:26,120 Speaker 1: evaporate at low temperatures. VOCs are often associated with certain 39 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:31,079 Speaker 1: smell types, for example, acetic acid smells sour, isoamal acetate 40 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,960 Speaker 1: smells like bananas. Using the data from the chemical analysis 41 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:39,160 Speaker 1: and visitors smell descriptions, the researchers created the Historic Book 42 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: Odor Wheel to document an archive the historic library smell. 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: Main categories such as sweet or spicy fill the inner 44 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: circle of the wheel. Descriptors such as caramel or biscuits 45 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,519 Speaker 1: fill the middle, and the chemical compounds likely to be 46 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: the smelly source, like for furral, fill the outer circle. 47 00:02:57,360 --> 00:02:59,680 Speaker 1: The researchers want the Book Odor Wheel to be an 48 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 1: inter disciplinary tool that untrained noses can use to identify 49 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:07,359 Speaker 1: smells and the compounds causing them, which could address conservators 50 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: concerns about material composition and degradation, inform artifact paper conservation decisions, 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:23,040 Speaker 1: and benefit olfactory museum experiences. Today's episode was written by 52 00:03:23,080 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: Shelley Dancy and produced by Tyler. 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