Scientists told what death smells like
Despite all the achievements of modern science, human death remains a mystery to us. We know catastrophically little about this stage of human life and collect information literally bit by bit. Only recently have scientists learned what death smells like. No, it's not just about the smell of decomposition, but about the aromas, both pleasant and not so much, exuded by a dead body at different periods of time.
It is well known that a sweet smell comes from the dead. Its origin was speculated about in ancient times, but due to the lack of technology, its nature could not be studied. Only in the 19th century, the German chemist and anatomist Ludwig Briger was able to determine the components of this smell. They turned out to be two substances — putrescine and cadaverine. They were products of the natural decomposition of proteins by putrefactive bacteria. The scientist, without hesitation, called them "corpse poisons".
But in humans, only putrescine is associated with death. And this happens on a subconscious level. An experiment was conducted at the University of Kent, during which participants were given samples with the smell of water, cadaverine and putrescine. Of the three scents, only the last one caused an inexplicable feeling of anxiety.
Psychologist Arno Wisman, who led the experiment, made a bold assumption about this. In his opinion, dying people smell putrescine, as decay processes begin in their body. This topic interested the scientist so much that he continued his experiments and learned a lot of interesting things.
Arno Wisman joined forces with his colleague from Arkansas Tech University by Ilan Srira. Together they gathered a group of 12 volunteers and asked them to smell just two samples. Scientists told the participants of the experiment that the smells were different, but in fact it was two containers with the same substance — putrescine.
The subjects reacted to both odors in exactly the same way. Under the influence of putrescine, everyone became focused, cautious and aggressive. Wisman and Srira explained this by natural memory. It is inherent in the subconscious of a person that the smell of death is a danger. Therefore, the body mobilizes forces to resist it.
But the opinion of psychologists is one thing, and what do chemists think about it? Researchers from The University of Huddersfield has determined that the so-called corpse smell does not appear immediately. First, the deceased person begins to exude the aroma of freshly cut grass. We learned this through a simple experiment. Carcasses of freshly slaughtered pigs were placed in sealed boxes. Air samples were taken from them every few minutes and they were immediately studied.
It turned out that immediately after death, the body begins to digest its cells. At the same time, hexanal is released — a substance with a pleasant smell of fresh mowing. It is present in freshly mown grass. Almost everyone likes this smell, and no one associates it with death.
So scientists have found that before death or immediately after it, the corpse of a person or animal smells nice. But the dying person himself, most likely, does not feel this smell. Most often, just before death, people lose their sense of smell and cease to distinguish any odors.
Scientists from Stockholm University conducted a 10-year study involving 1,774 participants. These people were between 40 and 90 years old. Every year, each participant was offered 10 different flavors and asked to describe them. It turns out that the perception of odors changes greatly with age. At the same time, people, shortly before death, began to recognize flavors worse. It was found that each incorrectly defined smell increased the probability of imminent death by 8 percent.
Investigating the smell of death may seem strange. But this is not the most unusual question related to our sense of smell. Not so long ago, scientists set out to find out how outer space smells. Do you think it's impossible? But no — the answer was received.