this link.
Steph
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Lemony or Masculine: Olfactory "Fingerprints" (Noseprints?)
New research by Secundo et al shows individuals have an olfactory "fingerprint" or "noseprint" ;-) which may be useful in early detection of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. The fingerprint may also be used in organ and bone marrow matching in a non-invasive manner.
The researchers asked the subjects about a variety of smells (i.e., "is this smell lemony or masculine?") and mapped the results as above. They discovered that an individual's "noseprint" did not vary significantly over 30 days (as the two maps in the middle and on the right in the illustration above). However, the individual on the left has a very different olfactory noseprint or fingerprint.
Additional information about the study is summarized at
this link.
Of course, some noseprints or fingerprints may take a little longer to map:
What are you thoughts on this study? Are data points based on things like "lemony or masculine" good mapping markers?
Smell you later, ;-)
P.S Paul's comment about being prescient about smells and "Nostrildamus" made my day!
this link.
You can’t fool me, Steph. The top picture shows models in an ad for a new product: Topical sunscreen for when one ventures out into rainbow-generating sunlight.
ReplyDeleteOlfaction has always been the red-headed stepson of the senses, even trumped by touch (which may be better than being touched by Trump… you’ll have to ask Ivana, Marla and Melania).
Yes, since that ol’ factory that produced limburger cheese and lutefisk was shut down by the Department of Health, it has been converted, fittingly, into a hazardous waste dump. (Just a thought: I don’t think guys know what “masculine” smells like. It’s like asking a skunk what a skunk smells like.)
Speaking of which, more people know what “olfactory” means than should be the case, thanks to a guy whose first name smacks of a different sense: Louden Wainwright the Third (of July is tomorrow, at least here in CDTville).
LegoLimburger
Yes, "masculine" smell seemed a bit too subjective to me, too, Lego.
Delete"Lemony" I get. . .
Thanks for Louden's link. I can never hear that song too often! (Well, maybe. . .)
For some reason "lemony" makes me want to snicker.
DeleteLemony Snicket!
DeleteMaking headway and footwear this time. . .
Have a go at this quiz.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely!
Steph,
DeleteGreat quiz!
I was so sure I had it, but it turns out I don’t.
I typed in:
3,4,5
4,5,8
1,6,7 and got Yes, yes yes!
Then I typed in:
1, 9, 8
And got a No!
(I just now realized that you probably provided us a clue.)
LegoStillHaven’tFoundWhatI’mLooking4
It seems they use the absolute value of the numbers. . .
DeleteI bet you have, Lego!
Years ago, our ambulance squad acquired respirators for use when treating patients with TB or other contagious respiratory conditions. Everyone had to get fit tested, to determine the proper size mask. You put on a mask that fit snugly, and the tester squirted this allegedly orange scented solution at you, and as long as you couldn't smell it, the fit was okay. Of course, they had you sniff the stuff first without a mask, to make sure you could detect it at all. Guess who couldn't get fit tested?
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Did it smell "masculine" instead ;-) or did it have no smell at all? Couldn't they have used different scents for the fit test for folks like you?
DeleteThere probably are other solutions available, but we didn't have them. I'm likely doomed anyway. I've been through the 3-shot hepatitis b immunization series 3 times already. I just don't make antibodies, it seems.
DeleteOnly hep-B antibodies? Or do you not make other antibodies? Wonder if it's connected to your olfactory fingerprint. . .
DeleteI'm quite healthy, so it's clear my immune system works well in general. But the hep b vaccine doesn't impress it. There's so much individual variability that it would be surprising to find a connection to that olfactory quirk. (I smell quite well in general, too.). Or to my extreme right handedness, red-green color blindness, or other wierdnesses.
DeleteWe just can't tell how you smell over the internet. . .
DeleteMuch too good not to share:
ReplyDeleteParking ticket comma
"Truck-drivin' parks, camps, imbibes, eats, shoots, and leaves."
DeleteIf she wasn't "parking" in the biblical sense, imbibing in the excessive sense, or shooting engangered pandas, she should remain off the hook and scott-free.
Lego(OnDeathRowAndAfterDiggingHisOwnGrave)EatsFriesShakesAndBerriesHimself
If the U.S. Supreme Court followed that logic, the Affordable Care Act would be history.
DeleteThis is likely not the right time for this (serious stuff) but "Comma, comma, comma, comedian." That's what I hear in that Karma Chameleon song. An appropriate mondegreen for this week, I suppose.
DeleteLego, do you ever use commas in your ever changing moniker?
New feathered dinosaur discovered in China
ReplyDeleteThat abstract impressed me with how far we haven't come since the Linnaeus' day, when all descriptions of new species had to be written in Latin.
DeleteLatin honors for all!
DeleteNursing a sick wife in London involves popping out to the chemist for paracetamol and a fever thermometer I have to translate from Celsius, whilst looking right to avoid being run over.
ReplyDeleteYikes! Sorry to hear that, jan. At least she has a caring PA by her side.
DeleteKeep looking right!
Is your wife feeling better and are you a °C >>> F expert now?
DeleteAll's well, thanks.
DeleteIs there much mention of Independence Day in the UK today, Jan?
ReplyDeleteWhy are there no knock knock jokes about Independence Day?
Because Freedom rings. . .
Happy 4th, PEOTSers All!
No, but when I was walking through regents park yesterday, there was incredibly loud rock music coming from the American ambassador's residence there. Just letting everyone know, I guess.
DeleteI take it back. Plenty of firecrackers going off in this neighborhood (St Johns Wood).
DeleteCool. Plenty here in Plume too (after the small town parade and ice cream social). The melodrama last night was a hoot. Plenty of booing and hissing. Best song of the night "Loans Lift Me Up!"
DeleteI did make it to Clare College at Cambridge last week, but didn't get to see anything about Hallucigenia, as most of the college buildings were closed for commencement activities. The town was mobbed, with lots of robed graduates, as well as family, alumni, faculty, and the usual hordes of tourists. Spotted the Rosalind Franklin Building at Newnham College there, as well as blue commemorative plaques honoring Watson & Crick, Alan Turing, and others. And the weird Corpus Clock.
ReplyDeleteThat Corpus Clock is very weird! Glad to hear about the Rosalind Franklin Building also.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, writing and science need to be a little more separate.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, indeed they do! Fascinating article.
DeleteMarie Curie--what a chemist AND physicist!
Can writing and science ever TRULY be separated?
DeleteJust a random question.
No.
DeleteEven reams and reams of data need some writing to tie it all together.
And then there's pulling together today's PEOTS. . .
X
XXX
XXXX
XXXXXX
XXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXX
Spacing crashed on impact. That was supposed to be a bell curve. . .
DeleteI got the idea.
DeleteI think.
Thanks.
I think.
Any blogmistress has to expect a certain amount of flaming from the commenters. All the more so when the blog topics include global warming, igneous rocks, magma plumes and other hot topics. So where else should our host turn when seeking an Official PEOTS Couturier?
ReplyDelete(And why would anyone be surprised to find lingerie at a clothing store called Frackin' Hot?)
Hmmmm, I never saw any of the roustabouts working on 30' lengths of drillpipe in east Texas in lingerie.
DeleteI will consider this local Colorado store as our official couturier though. . .
Where do you find this stuff, jan?
DeleteNew post entitled "Ethiopian Welo Opals: Oh Pals!" is now up including a "Where's Waldo?" type challenge.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy!