Acupuncture and Olfactory Dysfunction

Traditional Chinese Acupuncture (TCA), where very thin needles are used to stimulate specific points in the body to elicit beneficial therapeutic responses, may be an effective treatment option for patients who suffer from persistent post-viral olfactory dysfunction (PVOD), according to new research in the April 2010 issue of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery.
Read more

Artist Credits Jasmine Visuals for Olfactory Sensations

The scent of jasmine, and the energizing influence it can have on the passerby, serves as the inspiration for Randa Ali Ahmad’s latest exhibition, Yasmin, currently on show at the Phoenix Tower, Phoenicia Hotel Complex.

“The jasmine’s perfume has a very positive effect on me,” says Ahmad. “I am surrounded by it and when I smell it in the morning or last thing at night it changes me and the way I look at the world.”

Having studied interior design – first at the Lebanese-American University and later at UCLA – Ahmad has exhibited between Los Angeles and Paris before returning to Lebanon in the mid-1990s, where she had her first show “Etats de Roses” at the Fadi Mogadgab Gallery in 1999. Since then she has held exhibitions almost annually. Her Yasmin dream-like canvases are laden with simple white stars representing jasmine flowers in bloom, while in the background figures, obscured to varying degrees by the flowers, are deployed in playful, carefree poses, as if dancing.

“When I first started painting, the jasmine was secondary to the figures,” explains Ahmad. “But as the series went on the jasmine became all encompassing, so much so that the figures ended up being only a vague form behind the flowers.”

Spectators may also be struck by the scent of jasmine that permeates the air of the exhibition. Interestingly, the artist attributes this - not to deployment of a scent machine - but to the realism of her works creating a psychosomatic reaction for the viewer.

Yasmin continues until April 11 at the Phoenix Tower, Phoenicia Hotel Complex. For more information visit www.randaaa.com

Sony’s New Playstation Makes Scents

The latest in gaming technology from the innovative minds at Sony smells like a winner!

Playstation® Scent™ is powered by OXYtracking technology, which allows scent information to be recorded onto Blu-Ray discs then released to an OXYtrack™ emitter fitted with ester dispensers. Just as a printer blends a finite number of ink cartridges to replicate every color imaginable, the ester dispenser combines a few “base scents” to create a myriad of impressions all across the scent spectrum.

Bundled with your OXYtrack ™ emitter, you’ll find an OXYtrack re-issue of Uncharted 2 - Among Thieves which enhances your journey through the streets of Tibet to the mythical valley of Shambhala with a multitude of oriental spices and incense. Future titles for the Playstation® Scent™ include Gran Turismo 5 and SOCOM 4, which will feature scents ranging from burning tires to tear gas and other weapon-specific scents.

A Whiff of Humor Down-Under

On April 1st, page seven of Australia’s Northern Territory News invited readers to scratch three brightly colored panels with a fingernail or coin and identify the resulting scent. So, was the newspaper actually incorporating microencapsulated scent technology to its previously unsmelly pages or - as the date suggests - was it a hoax?

Australians are a savvy lot, it appears. Among the readers to respond to the “identify the scent” challenge was Nic from Northlakes. “My scratch and sniff had a definite whiff of bullshit about it,” he wrote. “Nice try, NT News.”

“Even though readers may have suspected it was a prank, we still thought they’d give it a scratch and a sniff, just to be sure,” says NT News editor Julian Ricci. “We’ve put an April Fools article in every year, it’s just a bit of fun.”

Everything Smells…and that’s a GOOD Thing!

Scent is a biological mechanism used for recognition, communication, and signaling. Some scents alert us to danger. Other aromas contribute to our sexual arousal. Applied correctly, under the right conditions, scent also promotes health and improves cognitive functions, like memory, learning, and alertness.
Read more

« Previous Page