Vampire bats help unravel the mystery of smell

The sense of smell is one of the most poorly understood of the five major senses. But now an international team of scientists led by Laurel Yohe of Stony Brook University suggests a new method to quantify olfactory receptors ...

Making sense of our evolution

The science about our our special senses - vision, smell, hearing and taste - offers fascinating and unique perspectives on our evolution.

A controversial theory of olfaction deemed implausible

Humans can discriminate tens of thousands of odors. While we may take our sense of smell for granted, it adds immeasurably to our quality of life: the aroma of freshly brewed coffee; the invigorating smell of an ocean breeze ...

Odor code for food is based on a few volatile substances

(Phys.org) —The actual flavor of a food is experienced through our sense of smell rather than with our tongue. However, of the large number of volatile compounds in foods, only about 230 are involved in the scent, as reported ...

Genomic and computational tools provide window to distant past

Out of the estimated 23,000 or more genes in the human genome, about 100 of them will differ—they will be present or not—between any two individuals. Genes lost or gained over time result from evolution and adaptation, ...

Genomic analysis solves the turtle mystery

The turtle has always been considered somewhat odd in evolutionary terms. In addition to lacking the hole in the skull—the temporal fenestra—that is characteristic of the egg-laying amniotes, the structure of its shell ...

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