10 facts about smells

Nature has endowed man with five senses, and smell is an important element of our perception that allows us to know the world. There are a lot of smells around, and they are all so different. Although for many of us, the sense of smell does not play such an important role as sight or hearing, but it will not be superfluous to learn a dozen facts about smells.

1. The male butterfly Astias selene smells the female from 11 kilometers away.

2. A dog has 230 million olfactory cells in its nose, and we have 10-11, that is, twenty times less.

3. However, the dog can't find something that doesn't smell at all. The Czechs, who until recently were the only manufacturers of explosives that did not add odorous substances to it, greatly hindered the world community's fight against terrorists.

4. It's harder to train a dog for apples than for drugs. Dogs trained for fruits work at American airports, where the transport of small batches of vegetables and fruits is prohibited, so as not to import pests with them.

5. Animals cannot distinguish and react only one smell, which is necessary for a person. This happens, in part, because the olfactory cells completely change within a month. If dogs could distinguish only one smell, it would be possible to release, for example, odorous dollars, which would eliminate the problem of currency smuggling.

6. People's favorite smells are fresh bread, freshly cut grass and coffee. The smells of bread rolls and coffee not only excite the appetite, but also increase the desire to buy. Therefore, large stores often smell of coffee and fresh pastries.

7. Many animals have favorite smells. For dogs, for example, it is the smell of anise, for cats — valerian and mint, lions like good perfumes. But the camel is attracted by the smell of tobacco smoke.

8. The French perfume database has more than 8000 names in its catalog. Modern perfumes can consist of 300 different components. Over 6000 items of various raw materials are used to create perfumes.

9. A citizen living in the middle of a noisy civilization does not feel up to 70% of city smells. An African living in the wild is able to catch the scent of his friend who walked along a forest path a few hours ago.

10. It is known that the body distinguishes one smell from another in the olfactory bulb. Fish with their fantastic sense of smell have a huge bulb, and the brain is like pimples. In humans, it is the opposite. What for? It turned out that not only the bulb, but also the brain is engaged in processing information in a person — and only in him. Scientists now believe that once our brain began to grow because it began to serve the sense of smell. And then he got stronger, took on other functions and became what he became.