Rats use ultrasound to boost their sense of smell, suggests new study

You might not hear it, but rodents are known to speak to each other in voices so high-pitched that human ears can’t pick them up. Now scientists have found that these vocalizations might have a second purpose – they help them smell better.Continue Read… Continue reading Rats use ultrasound to boost their sense of smell, suggests new study

Your emotional contagion might be making your dog a pessimist

In the world of dogs and cats, it wouldn’t be a stretch to say that canines seem more optimistic and felines less so. But a dog’s optimism can apparently be dampened by their human’s emotional state, according to new research.Continue ReadingCategory: … Continue reading Your emotional contagion might be making your dog a pessimist

Now we know: Dogs can sniff trauma recollections on our breath

Two dogs in a small study were able to correctly identify what breath smelled like when it was linked to a memory of trauma. The finding might allow dogs to be even better friends when it comes to helping PTSD sufferers cope with their conditions.Conti… Continue reading Now we know: Dogs can sniff trauma recollections on our breath

5 video games we wanna smell, now that it’s kinda possible with GameScent

Games are onslaughts of sight and sound, and with rumbling controllers, even touch. But have you ever wondered what all 1,000+ Pokémon smell like? Because we have. With the news of a weird device called GameScent, we’ve rounded up a list of which game … Continue reading 5 video games we wanna smell, now that it’s kinda possible with GameScent

Time cell discovery reveals the bizarre way the nose powers actions

From sniffing out diseases and explosives, to some clever animal and dinosaur adaptations for life, the nose and its broad olfactory functions are an important, if somewhat underappreciated, part of many animals’ sensory systems.Continue ReadingCategor… Continue reading Time cell discovery reveals the bizarre way the nose powers actions

The nose knows: 8 diseases that dogs are good at sniffing out

It’s been estimated that dogs smell up to 10,000 times better than us. That’s in part because they have about 220 million scent receptors, whereas humans have a mere 5 million. But dogs also inhale in short breaths up to 300 times a minute, meaning tha… Continue reading The nose knows: 8 diseases that dogs are good at sniffing out

Face-worn tech could help bring smell-o-vision to the world of VR

While we’ve seen multiple attempts to produce real-world odors in VR environments, many have involved rather cumbersome wearable devices. Chinese scientists have developed a much more streamlined system, which is applied to the skin below the user’s no… Continue reading Face-worn tech could help bring smell-o-vision to the world of VR

Lab-grown ancient nose receptors reveal how our ancestors smelled

Our ancestors probably didn’t smell good, but did they smell well? A new study has grown odor receptors from Neanderthals and Denisovans, and tested their sensitivities to different smells compared to modern humans.Continue ReadingCategory: Biology, Sc… Continue reading Lab-grown ancient nose receptors reveal how our ancestors smelled

Wheeled robot uses a locust antenna to identify odors

While we’ve heard about a number of “electronic noses,” the devices are rarely as sensitive as their natural counterparts. That’s why Israeli scientists have taken a new approach, by incorporating a locust antenna into an odor-identifying robot.Continu… Continue reading Wheeled robot uses a locust antenna to identify odors