A Sting Operation

It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. No matter what line of work you’re in, there’s always somebody willing to do your job for less. Just ask any unemployed K-9 in danger of losing his plush civil service job to a wasp.

Yep. A wasp. According to W. Joe Lewis of the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and Glen Rains of the University of Georgia, wasps can be trained in minutes to sniff out drugs, bombs, and bodies. And their sense of smell, which can detect odors as faint as one part per billion, will outperform that of a dog 100% of the time.

The two researchers discovered in 1990 that wasps are able to detect the chemical distress signals sent out by plants which are under attack by caterpillars, swarming to the plants to lay their eggs inside the unsuspecting hosts. Further study revealed that the wasps could be quickly trained to associate virtually any scent, such as chocolate or vanilla, with the presence of an available egg host or food source. “So far we’ve really looked at a wide variety of things and they’ve been able to detect everything they’ve been exposed to,” says Rains. The pair have perfected the training process to the point that they can create an association between any odor and food with only three feedings over the course of five minutes–an important factor, because wasps only live for a couple of weeks.

So, will we soon be seeing wasps straining toward crime scenes at the ends of tiny little leashes?

Not exactly, says Lewis. “What we did was approach the idea of containerizing into a little small capsule area and then pulling the air sources over them. They converge to the inlet quickly and the little camera picks up that all the little dark bodies have suddenly converged around the intake hole in this device.”

Sharpening Up with Smencils

Whiff! aficionados are no strangers to the cognitive benefits of scent, which can increase comprehension, learning, and recall. Students who smell the same scent while being tested as they did while studying subject material are much more apt to recall the correct answers. So, what better way to freshen up your kids’ study time while also giving them an edge for that upcoming exam than Smencils?

Available in ten delicious fragrances including Bubble Gum, Chocolate, and Cotton Candy, the “world’s only gourmet-scented pencils” are guaranteed to maintain their smelly goodness for at least two years, whether stored in or out of their “freshness tubes.” And best of all, Smencils are made from 100% recycled newspapers, so they’re also a sweet a treat for the environment.

Multisensory Wargames

Several months back, we told you about Virtual Iraq, a modified version of the popular video game Full Spectrum Warrior being tested by the United States Department of Defense which augmented the sights and sounds of battle with the use of scent. Now, British soldiers being deployed to the Middle East may also soon be able to take an authentic walk through hostile territories before they set foot out of their own country.

The UK’s Ministry of Defense has invested £20,000 in development of the new virtual battleground, being pioneered by the Human Interface Technologies team at the University of Birmingham. Like Virtual Iraq, the UK version uses a “smell box” working in conjunction with a large plasma screen. As the user “walks” through various scenarios, the graphics and sounds are supplemented with scents such as body odor, sewage, mutton, spices, and gunpowder. Preliminary testing on the new system will first be carried out using students, who will provide feedback on the realism of the smells and be tested to determine whether the smells improve their memory of various elements of the game. “If our research proves that it works, come 2009, we will start trying it out on real soldiers,” says Professor Bob Stone, who has been researching and developing game-based training at the university for five years. “It could be rolled out across all the services. It would be Brit soldiers who would benefit.”

And, as with Virtual Iraq, the possibility of treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with the new system is being considered. “Smell is so closely linked to emotion and memory, it’s something that we need to take seriously,” says Professor Stone, who also believes the device might be up for sale to the general public within two to three years. “There is no doubt in my mind that the games companies are looking for an inexpensive version for the domestic market.”

No More “Hospital Smell”

From Chapter 24 of Whiff!:

The waiting room of a physician, a dentist, or a diagnostic laboratory presents a prime opportunity to provide a soothing atmosphere for patients. Perceiving a pleasant, mood-elevating scent can take the edge off of worry, and possibly reduce the blood pressure and pulse rate of the patient.

Northwest Hospital in Randallstown agrees. Their new non-traditional lobby, funded by a donation of $850,000 from the Howard S. Brown family, will feature natural lighting, soft music, and aromatherapy! “The concept is to eliminate the typical cleaning odor of hospitals to reduce the stress of those waiting,” says hospital president Eric Wexler.

Brian Sanderoff, pharmacist and CEO of natural pharmacy Your Prescription for Health, echoes Brown’s enthusiasm for the new scent-enhanced waiting room, suggesting a mixture of calming aromas including lavender, sandalwood, bergamot, and clary sage. “Because the nerves from the nose go directly into the brain, aromas are a direct way of affecting many aspects of brain function including emotion and mood.”

We at Whiff! are delighted with the forward-thinkers who have made this waiting room of the future a reality of the present, and look forward to Northwest and other hospitals venturing even further into the scent revolution. As detailed in Whiff!, examination rooms, operating rooms, and diagnostic clinics are all prime candidates for mood-enhancing scents. As we know that certain aromas can alter spatial perception, even the claustrophobia-inducing MRI could be rendered less stressful. And it’s important to remember that not only the patient is affected. The often over-worked and under-appreciated healthcare workers, from receptionist to nurse to surgeon, are breathing the same sweet therapeutic air.

The Science of Scent: A Feast for the Nose

How do we smell? Where do perfume ingredients come from and how has this changed throughout the ages, as science and technology have advanced? How many scented materials are there in the world and how many of them do we remember? And what about the highly skilled people who concoct these amazing scents and potions? Are perfumers born with better noses than the rest of us?

The Science of Scent is a fascinating event which explores the fundamentals of olfactory science and perfumery. The two-hour evening, hosted on November 19 by the Royal Institution of Great Britain and sponsored by Procter & Gamble, will open with an introductory session on the history and science of all-things-smelly and culminate in an interactive workshop which offers guests the opportunity to sample and mix their own compositions under the guidance of an experienced perfumer.

As the already-aromatic event includes odour evaluation, guests are requested to refrain from wearing any overpowering scents of their own.

A Sensa-ble Diet Plan

Chapter 12 of Whiff! relates a remarkable theory proposed by Steven Landau, founder of Scentsational Technologies, as to the recent explosion of obesity in America: “In the old days, moms would cook more often, so a home would typically be filled with aromas for hours on end. This, he asserts, helps to lend a feeling of satiation to the appetite before the meal. Now that the major sources of a family’s food supply are microwavable meals and fast food, aromas aren’t floating around the house inducing satiety. Therefore we are eating more today before we feel satisfied.”

It’s a fascinating idea with an unmistakable ring of common sense. So, why hasn’t the multi-million dollar diet industry latched on with a product geared toward staving our cravings through our nasal passages?

Enter, Sensa, the first weight-loss aid designed to satisfy our appetites by satisfying our noses. “Sensa works with your sense of smell to curb your hunger without affecting the taste of your food,” explains Dr. Alan Hirsch, founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago and creator of Sensa. “This induces something called ’sensory-specific satiety.’ It makes your brain perceive that you’ve eaten more than you have and, thus, you eat less and lose weight.”

Each Sensa Shaker has two sides, one sweet foods (fruit, pastries, cereal) and one for salty (meat, pasta, vegetables, popcorn), and is applied to food much like salt or pepper. And how does Sensa perform against traditional diet aid products? A clinical study concluded last June by Hirsch and colleagues charted the progress of nearly 1500 people who used the sprinkles on everything they ate for a period of six months, with no other changes in diet or exercise routine. “We found an average weight loss over six months of 30 1/2 pounds.”

Cut & Run or Duck & Cover?

When a lab experiment at CREATE Charter School in Jersey City went awry last Tuesday, an odorless vapor set off fire alarms and prompted evacuation of the facility. The Jersey City Fire Department was the first agency to respond, and it called in its Hazmat Unit when it learned the nature of the alarm.

Consider for a moment that last sentence: The Jersey City Fire Department was the first agency to respond, and it called in its Hazmat Unit when it learned the nature of the alarm. Emergency response teams could not have immediately known the “nature of the alarm,” let alone the students, because their warning came in the antiquated form of the one-sound-fits-all Read more

Roll-On Deodorant for the Home

As noted in Whiff!, the idea of scenting the air we breathe has been around since the invention of incense. In the last decade, innovative and inexpensive home scent delivery systems have exploded into a multi-billion dollar industry, and if there’s one common thread running throughout their design, it’s discretion. From the plug-in unit hidden behind the sofa to the tabletop dispenser camouflaged to blend with our knick-knacks, the scent systems in our homes strive to juggle high efficiency with low profile. The optimum system would provide 100% coverage with 0% visibility but, of course, that’s not possible, is it?

In a word, yes. Paint SCENTsations is an air freshener additive that literally makes a scent delivery system out of the paint on your walls. Just one ounce of Clean & Crisp or Vanilla Bean or, for those homes with particularly obstinate smokers or flatulent pets, Citrus Squeeze to a gallon of your favorite latex shade will produce a pleasant scent and eliminate odors for up to 12 months.

For realtors and property managers struggling to eliminate the odors left by former residents, says Simon Distributing President Pat Simon, the return on investment can be huge. “It takes between three and five gallons of paint to do the average apartment, so you’re talking about an additional $6 to $10, and you’re not adding any extra steps because you’re painting anyway.”

Endorphin Branding™ Hits the Big League!

The Whiff-Guys are thrilled that the Philadelphia Phillies will join the Tampa Bay Rays at St. Petersburg’s Tropicana Field to decide this year’s World Series champion, and it has nothing to do with our affection for baseball. We’re excited because Tropicana Field, the first domed sports stadium in Florida, has also become the first Major League Baseball stadium to step into the age of endorphin branding™ with their own signature scent!

Designed by the Texas-based sensory branding firm DMX, the new Citrus Burst scent of the Trop began wafting through the air from the moment baseball fans first entered for last night’s Game 1 of the Series. Vice-president of branding and fan experience Darcy Raymond and the Rays’ manager of customer service and stadium experience Eric Weisberg, who worked with DMX on the creation of Citrus Burst, expect to roll out additional scents for the 2009 season.

Huge congratulations from the Whiff-Guys to Tropicana Field for pioneering a Multisensory Grand Slam!

Endorphin Branding™: School Spirit in a Bottle

“Endorphin branding™ is the use of scent as a means of imprinting a highly emotional, positive experience in tandem with a targeted signature scent, which can be reintroduced at a later time to trigger and recreate the desired response.” -C. Russell Brumfield

For sports fans, few moments are more emotionally charged than the final touchdown that takes the game or that tie-breaking home run in the bottom of the ninth. For savvy scent marketers, it’s an opportunity heaven-sent. If the fans were endorphin branded™ by release of their winning team’s signature scent at that pennant-waving, game-changing moment, not one of them present would ever forget that scent or the emotional impact of the moment in which they first encountered it. (Of course, fans of the losing team would be likely to have a reverse reaction to that scent, but controlled release of the appropriate team’s scent into appropriate areas of the stadium would keep negative branding to a minimum.)

When Katie Masich wanted to create a fragrance line that people could connect with–a line that sparked a personal passion and emotional connection, she thought about the existing fragrances on the market: celebrities, fashion houses, etc. She knew people connected with these fragrances, but she wanted to tap into a connection people experienced first-hand. And one day it hit her: What about the passion students, alumni, and fans feel for their college?

Katie had hit right on the concept of endorphin branding™! She and her family formed Masik Collegiate Fragrances, an innovative perfume company which relies on such distinctive characteristics as school colors, history, landmarks, and campus trees and flowers to formulate individual signature scents for universities. Masik recently launched official fragrances for both Pennsylvania State and the University of North Carolina, and has specialized fragrances for five more colleges in the works.

So, what does UNC smell like? Champagne, lemon, jasmine and lavender, according to Masich, with a hint of rose, violet and jasmine. “It’s very romantic and it has Southern charm,” says Masich, who is currently working to develop scents for the Universities of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Louisiana State. “It really is about nostalgia. It’s all about bringing it back to that happy time–college.”

Masik Collegiate Fragrances are fully licensed by the colleges for which they are created, with a portion of the proceeds from each bottle sold donated to that university’s scholarship and athletic fund.

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