Olfactory Fact #192: Less is More Than Enough
October 16, 2008
Our sense of smell is so powerful that even the most potent odors we detect are actually only about 0.000,000,000,002 (two-trillionths) of a gram of scent.
Olfactory Fact #38: Your Heart Follows Your Nose
October 6, 2008
An astounding 75% of the emotions we feel are generated by the smells we encounter!
Olfactory Fact #20: This Candidate May Have Won by a Nose
September 28, 2008
In a semi-covert operation called The Perfume of the President, South Korean candidate Lee Myung-bak supplemented his campaign efforts by dousing the air at voting booths with the same signature scent he had been spritzing at his campaign rallies, Great Korea. Now-President Lee Myung-bak won the election with 48.7% of the vote–nearly as many as all other ten candidates, combined!
Olfactory Fact #150: It’s Not the Smell of Money that Fills Casinos
September 25, 2008
When the slot machine area of a Las Vegas casino was infused heavily with a pleasant scent, revenues shot up by 53%
Olfactory Fact #313: Benjamin Franklin Proposed Perfumed Flatulence
September 18, 2008
In 1781, Benjamin Franklin suggested that the yearly prize of an elitist Royal Society be awarded to the individual who managed to “…discover some drug wholesome and not disagreable, to be mixed with our common food, or sauces, that shall render the natural discharges of wind from our bodies, not only inoffensive, but agreeable as Perfumes.” Lest the sarcasm be lost, he concluded by informing the disdained philanthropists that their efforts were not “…worth a FART-HING.”
Olfactory Fact #18: 1-part Taste plus 2000-parts Smell equals Flavor
September 12, 2008
The taste buds of human beings can identify only 5 basic sensations: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and savory–all more subtle shades of taste are actually flavors, a co-mingling of those 5 recognizable tastes with the over-10,000 smells recognizable to humans.
Olfactory Fact #56: Just a Whiff of Grapefruit Can Slim You Down!
September 11, 2008
Not only does the scent of grapefruit affect age perception (see Olfactory Fact #55)–it also has an effect on liver enzymes that helps to curb cravings and facilitate weight loss!
Olfactory Fact #91: Our Perception Guides Our Reality
September 6, 2008
The same shampoo which ranked last in a consumer study on “general performance” was ranked first in a second test, although no ingredient in the formula had been altered except the fragrance!
Olfactory Fact #70: A Rose That Doesn’t Even Exist May Smell as Sweet
August 24, 2008
Phantosmia, sometimes triggered by head trauma or psychiatric illness, is an olfactory hallucination in which the brain detects a smell which is not actually present.
Olfactory Fact #146: He Sure Plays a Mean Pinball, but He Smells Just Like Everybody Else
August 18, 2008
Despite anecdotal evidence to the contrary, the loss of another sense–such as eyesight or hearing–does not enhance a person’s sense of smell.
